Language Choice: English or Russian? (190,00 руб.)

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Министерство образования и науки Российской Федерации Ярославский государственный университет им. П. Г. Демидова Natalia Kasatkina LANGUAGE CHOICE: ENGLISH OR RUSSIAN? Ярославль 2011

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УДК 81'24 ББК C 550.563 К 22 Рекомендовано Редакционно-издательским советом университета в качестве научного издания. План 2010/2011 учебного года Рецензенты: Leslie Dupont, PhD University of Arizona, College of Education; Karen C. Spear Ellinwood, PhD, University of Arizona, Research Specialist College of medicine, Dept of cell biology & molecular medicine; Olga Schegoleva, PhD, Associate Professor. Kasatkina, N. LANGUAGE CHOICE: ENGLISH OR RUSSIAN? К 22 / N. Kasatkina; Yaroslavl Demidov State University. – Yaroslavl: YSU, 2011. – 184 p. ISBN 978-5-8397-0846-4 The resolution of the language question—whether to maintain the mother tongue, shift to the mainstream language, or try to maintain two or more languages in the family– creates a lot of psychological complications and linguistic reflections. The present book explores how external variables and internal controversies affect the choice of language by an individual family member as well as the family as a whole unit, and how this choice, in its turn, impacts the relationships within the family. This study draws on the several theoretical domains of immigration, psychology, and language acquisition. The Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) data set helps to address the quantitative part of this book, while the qualitative part is based on in-depth case studies of four immigrant families. Building on the fundamental position that development happens as the result of the resolution of controversies, I suggest that there are four levels of controversy located in the language-choice model: societal, family, personal, and eventual outcomes of these three levels. Four ―language choice‖ profiles, designated as ―Amotivational,‖ ―Instrumental,‖ ―Intrinsic,‖ and ―Intrinsic +,‖ have emerged out of the theoretical and research findings. The findings show that the crucial characteristics of the families who chose to maintain the mother tongue and foster bi-literacy in their children are the following: (1) a stress on knowing the country of origin and its culture; (2) a declared desire within the family that the children be different from the parents‘ perception of American children; (3) an emphasis by the parents on the children's ―Russianness‖ and on the formation of that ethnic identity; and (4) an emphasis on a consistently realized, strong language policy at home. УДК 81'24 ББК C 550.563 ISBN 978-5-8397-0846-4 2 Yaroslavl Demidov State University, 2011

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TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................... 9 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 10 RESEARCH QUESTIONS.......................................................................................... 14 ORGANIZATION OF THE BOOK ................................................................................. 14 CHAPTER 1 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................ 16 IMMIGRANTS FROM THE FORMER SOVIET UNION TO THE UNITED STATES ........................ 17 REASONS FOR IMMIGRATION .................................................................................. 21 ACCULTURATION: GENERAL THEORETICAL ASSUMPTIONS AND PECULIARITIES OF RUSSIAN IMMIGRANTS IN THE UNITED STATES .............................................................. 24 PROBLEMS RUSSIAN IMMIGRANTS FACE ................................................................... 28 LANGUAGE CHOICE .............................................................................................. 34 HERITAGE LANGUAGE ACQUISITION ......................................................................... 37 LANGUAGE SHIFT ................................................................................................ 39 LANGUAGE CHOICE AND LEVELS OF DECISION-MAKING PROCESS .................................... 41 John Berry ...................................................................................................... 42 A. S. L. Lam ..................................................................................................... 44 Robert Gardner .............................................................................................. 46 DISCUSSION OF THE MODELS ................................................................................. 48 OPPOSITIONS AND CONTROVERSIES AT THE SOCIETAL LEVEL .......................................... 50 MULTILINGUALISM VERSUS MONOLINGUALISM .......................................................... 51 Additive versus Subtractive Perspectives ........................................................ 52 Ours versus Theirs Pronominal Oppositions .................................................... 53 MOTIVATORS ..................................................................................................... 54 Oppositions/Controversies at the Individual Level .......................................... 54 Language Acquisition as a Need (Deficiency versus Growth Needs) ............... 54 Instrumental versus Integrative Orientations ................................................. 56 Intrinsic-Extrinsic Dichotomy .......................................................................... 58 Status versus Solidarity .................................................................................. 60 3

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DISCUSSION ....................................................................................................... 61 CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................... 62 CHAPTER 2 METHODOLOGY ........................................................................ 64 VALIDATION OF DATA ........................................................................................... 71 Question 1. How do parents and children in immigrant families from the former Soviet Union negotiate their conflicting language orientations and practices? ................................................................. 72 Question 2. In what ways do multilevel decision-making processes influence the language practices of immigrant families in the United States? ........................................................................... 74 Question 3. What factors affect the choice of language immigrant families speak within different domains? ......................................................... 75 Question 4. What specific motives trigger changes in children’s English language acquisition and Russian language and culture? .................. 77 THE FAMILIES ..................................................................................................... 80 The Holod family ............................................................................................ 80 The Rhapiro family ......................................................................................... 82 The Gorodec family ........................................................................................ 84 The Horoshun family ...................................................................................... 86 CHAPTER 3 DATA ANALYSIS ......................................................................... 88 THE FAMILY LEVEL ............................................................................................... 93 What specific motives trigger changes in children’s English-language acquisition and Russian language and culture maintenance? ........... 95 Conclusion: Perception and Emigration .......................................................... 97 Conclusion: Reasons for Emigrating ............................................................... 99 The Holod Family .......................................................................................... 100 The Rhapiro Family ....................................................................................... 101 The Gorodec Family ...................................................................................... 101 Conclusion: Parental Attitudes and Children's Language Acquisition ........... 102 Conclusion: Motivation and Language Behavior .......................................... 105 4

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How do parents and children in immigrant families from the former Soviet Union negotiate their conflicting language orientations and practices? .................................................................................... 105 Conclusion: Generational Perceptions of Cultural Identity ............................ 111 Conclusion: Language—War or Peace? ........................................................ 114 When do parents, grandparents, and their children speak Russian and English? ......................................................................... 114 Conclusion: Literacy Practices or “Language Enclaves” ................................ 118 In what ways do multilevel decision-making processes influence language practices of immigrant families in the United States? ...................... 119 Language Policy Established at Home .......................................................... 119 Conclusion: Language Policies at Home ....................................................... 123 What factors affect the choice of language immigrant families speak within different domains? ....................................................... 123 Conclusion: Factors Affecting Language Choice ............................................ 128 DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................... 130 KEY FINDINGS ................................................................................................... 140 Documenting Language Loss across Three Generations ............................... 140 “Unconscious Immigration” and “Jew by Passport” ..................................... 141 Perception of Identity in the Three-Generational Household ........................ 142 Enclave: American or Russian ....................................................................... 143 Logistic Regression—What Predicts Russian Language Maintenance?......... 144 Language Choice Profiles.............................................................................. 145 CHAPTER 4 CONCLUSION........................................................................... 147 LEVEL 1: CONTROVERSIES AT THE SOCIETAL LEVEL ..................................................... 148 LEVEL 2: CONTROVERSIES AT THE FAMILY LEVEL ....................................................... 149 Language as Problem versus Language as Right and Resource .................... 149 Ours versus Theirs Pronominal Oppositions .................................................. 150 LEVEL 3: CONTROVERSIES AT THE PERSONAL LEVEL ................................................... 150 LEVEL 4: OUTCOMES OF THE THREE LEVELS OF CONTROVERSY ..................................... 151 IMPLICATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH .................................................................. 153 5

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