Dvikalbystė Oslo lietuvių šeimose

Collection:
Mokslo publikacijos / Scientific publications
Document Type:
Knygos dalis / Part of the book
Language:
Lietuvių kalba / Lithuanian
Title:
Dvikalbystė Oslo lietuvių šeimose
Alternative Title:
Bilingualism in Oslo-based Lithuanian families
Authors:
Hilbig, Inga
In the Book:
Emigrantai: kalba ir tapatybė II : keturi sociolingvistiniai portretai / mokslinė redaktorė Meilutė Ramonienė. Vilnius: Vilniaus universiteto leidykla, 2019. P. 183-241
Subject Category:
LT
Dvikalbystė / Bilingualism; Migracija / Migration.
Summary / Abstract:

LTPristatomo darbo tikslas – išanalizuoti dvikalbystę su lietuvių kalba emigrantų iš Lietuvos šeimose Osle, labiausiai susitelkiant į vaikų lietuvių kalbos vartojimą, jų turimas kalbines kompetencijas, lietuvių kalbos derėjimą ir konkuravimą su daugumos – norvegų kalba (ir kita ar kitomis šeimos kalbomis, jei šeima mišri). Taip pat siekiama išsiaiškinti tėvų taikomas vaikų dvikalbystės ugdymo strategijas ir konkrečias priemones, tėvų kalbines nuostatas, emigracijos šalyje gaunamą paramą vaikų dvikalbystei su mažumos kalba, lūkesčius dėl vaikų lietuvių kalbos ateities. [Iš teksto, p. 185]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Dvikalbystė; Emigrantų kalba; Kalbos išlaikymas; Linguistic behaviour; Emigrant language; Knowledge and use of Lithuanian by Lithuanian emigrants.

ENThis chapter seeks to investigate bilingualism with Lithuanian in Oslo-based Lithuanian families. The main focus is given to children’s linguistic behaviour and the way Lithuanian as a minority language co-exists and competes with Norwegian as the majority language. The study also examines the linguistic behaviour of Oslo-residing Lithuanian parents, the strategies and tools they apply in developing their children’s bilingualism, their motivation, linguistic attitudes and expectations. In the single-ethnicity families examined, the parents address each other and their children in Lithuanian. Although this is perceived as natural behaviour, it may be challenging to maintain consistency in the environment of the dominant Norvegian language. Nonetheless, Lithuanian occupies a strong position in these families and the children’s acquisition of the language is often and to a great extent stimulated via parental input. In the majority of the families, children use Lithuanian in their interaction with the parents; however, some children tend to respond in Norwegian even when they are addressed in Lithuanian by their parents. As the children grow up, they start identifying increasingly more strongly with the local language and culture, they obtain a better understanding of the prestige and power of the dominant language, they seek peer recognition and challenge the boundaries of linguistic behaviour imposed by their parents. While it is known that this type of bilingualism, i.e. sequential bilingualism of same-ethnicity emigrant families tends to be better balanced in comparison to that of simultaneous bilinguals from inter-ethnic families, the minority language may still remain insufficiently developed, functionally reduced and undergo attrition.In the inter-ethnic families constituted of a Lithuanian and a member of another nationality, Lithuanian mothers communicate with their children in Lithuanian, whereas the fathers use their native language in parent-children interactions. The children are also exposed to a third language, i.e. the language that their parents use to communicate with each other which is usually English. In these multilingual families, Lithuanian is used less often and to a lesser extent than in the intra-ethnic families. However, it is very important that the competitor of the minority languages, i.e. Norwegian formally remains outside the home domain, especially if the parents’ proficiency in it (and in each other’s languages) is rather low. Their children have the need to use and get used to using all the languages they are exposed to in their environment since their early childhood, they perceive them all as necessary and hence they remain active in their usage. When children use two minority languages at home, it may be difficult to ensure their sufficient input and, in the long run, both minority languages may also be overtaken by the majority variety. Nevertheless, it is likely that the children from these families will be more balanced bilinguals in comparison to those of inter-ethnic Lithuanian-Norwegian families. In the inter-ethnic Lithuanian-Norwegian families, Norwegian is not only the dominant language of the external environment but also the home language, i.e. the language used by the fathers and husbands, the language of inter-partner communication as well as the common language of the whole family. As a result, its competition against the minority language is very high. The mothers’ use of Lithuanian in their interaction with the children is not as natural and its maintenance in the family requires great self-control and considerable efforts.When the input of Lithuanian in daily life is insufficient, in the long run the children not only find it difficult to use, but they go as far as to stop comprehending it altogehter which leads to disturbances in communication. Although these children are exposed to and need to acquire only two languages, one of them has the status of a powerful language of social environment and thus the linguistic balance is badly broken. The children in these families do not have a pragmatic need to know and learn Lithuanian, it is perceived by them as a burden which may lead to conflicts and problems in relationships. Children who are addressed by their mothers in Lithuanian, systematically respond in Norwegian. In turn, the latter situation affects the mothers’ behaviour: some of the mothers have already replaced Lithuanian with Norwegian in their interaction with the children and, as a result, their children no longer speak Lithuanian. Home is usually the only environment in which the emigrants’ children can hear and use Lithuanian. Those who came to Norway later into their childhood, speak Lithuanian more fluently and with greater willingness than their younger siblings many of whom were already born in Norway. However, the children’s reactions to the languages of their environment, their skills, inclinations and choices only partly depend on such issues as the order of birth, the number of children in the family, the age difference between them, the ethnic composition of the family and other objective factors. The nature of bilingualism manifested by different children in the same families and by children in different families, has revealed that there are various subjective factors that may contribute to the success of bilingualism. [...]. [From the publication]

Subject:
Kalbotyra / Linguistics
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Updated:
2022-01-17 20:28:22
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