LANGUAGE MAINTENANCE AND SHIFT

- Language shift: it happens when the language of the wider society (majority) displaces the minority mother tongue language over time in migrant communities or in communities under military occupation. Therefore when language shift occurs, it shifts most of the time towards the language of the dominant group, and the result could be the eradication of the local language

Q What factors lead to language shift?

Economic, social and political factor

1-The dominant language is associated with social status and prestige

2-Obtaining work is the obvious economic reason for learning another language

3-The pressure of institutional domains such as schools and the media

Demographic factors

1-Language shift is faster in urban areas than rural

2-The size of the group is some times a critical factor

3-Intermarriage between groups can accelerate language shift

Attitudes and values

1-Language shift is slower among communities where the minority language is highly valued, therefore when the language is seen as an important symbol of ethnic identity its generally maintained longer, and visa versa.

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    Language death and Language loss:

When all the people who speak a language die, the language dies with them.

With the spread of a majority group language into more and more domains, the number of contexts in which individuals use the ethnic language diminishes. The language usually retreats till it is used only in the home, and finally it is restricted to such personal activities as counting, praying and dreaming.

Q How can a minority language be maintained?

1- A language can be maintained and preserved, when it's highly valued as an important symbol of ethnic identity for the minority group.

2- If families from a minority group live near each other and see each other frequently, their interactions will help to maintain the language.

3- For emigrate individuals from a minority group, the degree and frequency of contact with the homeland can contribute to language maintenance.

4- Intermarriage within the same minority group is helpful to maintain the native language.

5- Ensuring that the minority group language is used at formal settings such as schools or worship places will increases language maintenance.

6- An extended normal family in which parents, children and grandchildren live together and use the same minority language can help to maintain it.

7- Institutional support from domains such as education, law, administration, religion and the media can make a difference between the success and failure of maintaining a minority group language.

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- Language revival: some times a community becomes aware that its language is in danger of disappearing and takes steps to revitalises it.

Example:

In Indonesia there are so many ethnic languages which are used. Example, Javanese language. if there is a big community who tend to use the Javanese language every day, this language will be shifted because the community still using this language (Javanese Language).