Interaction of L1 attrition, language attitudes and identity in Lithuanian diaspora
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Meilutė Ramonienė
Abstract
Researchers note that the complex process of language attrition is influenced by a plethora of multifaceted factors, among which attitudes and identity play significant roles. The aim of this paper is to analyse the way in which language attitudes and identity are related to Lithuanian L1 attrition in Lithuanian emigrant communities residing in various countries worldwide. This is achieved by studying the extralinguistic factors, such as convictions about the importance of the heritage Lithuanian language in life, feelings associated with the Lithuanian language, identification with the culture and history of the native and/or host country and the country itself. The quantitative data comes from large-scale Lithuanian diaspora surveys and is used to analyse the link between self-perceived L1 attrition, language attitudes, and identity. The analysis is illustrated by citations from the in-depth interviews that constitute the qualitative part of the data. The study’s results show that there is a correlation between the perceived Lithuanian L1 attrition and both language attitudes and identity. The language attitudes of those emigrants who perceive their L1 attrition are less positive towards the L1, and they identify less with Lithuanian culture and Lithuania when compared to those who do not perceive attrition.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- (Im)mobility infrastructure and the production of the linguistic precariat
- Imagination and investment: unraveling academic identity in Chinese doctoral candidates’ publishing journeys in U.S. higher education
- “As a Muslim…”: on the importance of intercultural responsibility in transnational cultural exchanges
- The role of speaker categorization in South Korean attitudes toward North Korean accents
- Translanguaging for the construction of instructional immediacy in a Mandarin–Japanese crosslinguistic class
- In search of Polish in the multilingual cityscape: analysing the urban spaces of Ealing, London
- Precarious privilege: identity (re)construction among international students returning to South Korea
- Genre effects on alignment and writing quality in the continuation task by Chinese EFL learners
- Study abroad experiences in homestay: where complexity, dynamicity, and individuality stay
- Special Issue: Cognitive, Affective and Social Dimensions of Migration; Guest Editors: Fabienne Baider and Sviatlana Karpava
- Editorial
- Cognitive, affective and social dimensions of migration
- Research Articles
- On the move: social and linguistic acculturation in a small society
- Greek Cypriot and immigrant students’ attitudes and perceptions of acculturation, ethnic identity and self-esteem in the Republic of Cyprus
- Russian-speaking immigrants’ adaptation in Canada
- First language loss effect on bilingual autobiographical memory: examining memory phenomenology
- Interaction of L1 attrition, language attitudes and identity in Lithuanian diaspora
- Language teaching in the 21st century: incorporating culturally sustaining pedagogies for social and cognitive justice in education
- Conceptualising children’s linguistic rights in formal education in Greece
