Pluricentric Languages in an Immigrant Context: Spanish, Arabic and Chinese [Reprint 2011 ed.] 9783110805444, 9783110165777

Table of contents :
List of maps
List of figures
List of tables
List of abbreviations
Chapter One – Establishing the context of the study
1.1. Introduction
1.2. The pluricentricity of Spanish, Arabic and “Chinese”
1.3. Australia’s linguistic diversity
1.4. Australia’s immigration program
1.5. Language policy
1.6. The demography of Spanish, Arabic and Chinese in Australia
1.7. The shift to English from Spanish, Arabic and Chinese in Australia
1.8. Language maintenance institutions
1.9. The theoretical foundations for this study
1.10. Methodology
1.11. Closing remarks
Chapter Two – The Spanish-speaking groups
2.1. Introduction
2.2. The Spanish-speaking community in Australia: size, birthplace, residence, age, religious affiliation
2.3. Chile- and Spain-background Australians
2.4. Research findings
Chapter Three – The Arabic-speaking groups
3.1. Introduction
3.2. The Arabic-speaking community in Australia: size, birthplace, residence, age, religious affiliation
3.3. Lebanon- and Egypt-background Australians
3.4. Research findings
Chapter Four – The Chinese-speaking groups (Cantonese and Mandarin)
4.1. Introduction
4.2. The Cantonese- and Mandarin-speaking community in Australia: size, birthplace, residence, age, religious affiliation
4.3. Chinese-Australians
4.4. Research findings
Chapter Five – Multiple dimensions of language maintenance
5.1. Introduction
5.2. Survey findings in the light of the 1996 Census
5.3. Age and generation
5.4. Demographic considerations
5.5. Cross-cultural variation in responses to research
5.6. “Older” and “newer” vintage groups
5.7. Some language maintenance factors
5.8. Disruption scale – arresting and reversing language shift
5.9. Core values
5.10. Marketplace value
5.11. The “language of God”
5.12. Different types of pluricentric languages
Notes
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
References
Index of names
Index of subjects

Citation preview

Pluricentric Languages in an Immigrant Context

1749

I

1999

Ϊ

Contributions to the Sociology of Language 82

Editor

Joshua A. Fishman

Mouton de Gruyter Berlin · New York

Pluricentric Languages in an Immigrant Context Spanish, Arabic and Chinese

by Michael Clyne Sandra Kipp

w DE

G

Mouton de Gruyter Berlin · New York

1999

Mouton de Gruyter (formerly Mouton, The Hague) is a Division of Walter de Gruyter & Co. KG, Berlin

© Printed on acid-free paper which falls within the guidelines of the ANSI to ensure permanence and durability.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication

Data

Clyne, Michael, 1939— Pericentric languages in an immigrant context : Spanish, Arabic and Chinese / by Michael Clyne, Sandra Kipp. p. cm. - (Contributions to the sociology of language; 82) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 3-11-016577-5 (alk. paper) 1. Sociolinguistics - Australia. 2. Immigrants - Australia - Language. 3. Language maintenance - Australia. 4. Spanish language — Social aspects - Australia. 5. Arabic language — Social aspects - Australia. 6. Chinese language — Social aspects - Australia. I. Kipp, Sandra. II. Title. III. Series. P40.45.A87C53 1999 306.44'0994-dc21

Die Deutsche Bibliothek — Cataloging-in-Publication

Data

Clyne, Michael: Pluricentric languages in an immigrant context: Spanish, Arabic and Chinese / Michael Clyne ; Sandra Kipp. - Berlin ; New York : Mouton de Gruyter, 1999 (Contributions to the sociology of language ; 82) ISBN 3-11-016577-5

© Copyright 1999 by Walter de Gruyter G m b H & Co. KG, D-10785 Berlin All rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Printing: Werner Hildebrand, Berlin. Binding: Lüderitz & Bauer GmbH, Berlin. Printed in Germany.

Acknowledgements

This volume is based on parts of a project "Community languages in multicultural Australia", commissioned and financed by the former Bureau of Immigration, Multicultural and Population Research in Melbourne under the directorship of John Nieuwenhuysen. We are grateful to the Bureau and especially to Trevor Batrouney and Lesleyanne Hawthorne for their support, encouragement and ideas. We also thank the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs for agreeing to let us use some of the data in this publication. We are pleased to record our warmest gratitude to the many people who gave so generously of their time, effort and privacy to support this project. It would be impossible to name all of them. However, we would like to especially acknowledge the following: Susan Assily (Arabic), Aojia Chen (Mandarin), Mona Jabbour (Arabic), Van Lee (Cantonese), Marta Lopez (Spanish), Ruth Wong (Mandarin), and Simone Ebert for research assistance, Stuart Campbell and his colleagues at the University of Western Sydney for advice on the design of the questionnaires, Josephine Wee for administrative assistance, the focus group participants for the three language groups, and the countless families and individuals who took the time and trouble to complete the questionnaires. We are indebted to Anya Woods for her meticulous technical assistance in the production of the manuscript and for compiling the indexes. Our thanks are also due to Joshua Fishman for his inspiration, advice and support and to a number of referees, who must remain anonymous, for their helpful suggestions. M.C. S.K.

Contents

List of maps List of

xi figures

xi

List of tables

xii

List of abbreviations

xxi

Chapter One — Establishing the context of the study 1.1. Introduction 1.2. The pluricentricity of Spanish, Arabic and "Chinese" 1.3. Australia's linguistic diversity 1.4. Australia's immigration program 1.5. Language policy 1.6. The demography of Spanish, Arabic and Chinese in Australia . . 1.7. The shift to English from Spanish, Arabic and Chinese in Australia 1.8. Language maintenance institutions 1.9. The theoretical foundations for this study 1.10. Methodology 1.11. Closing remarks

1 1 2 8 12 14 29

Chapter Two —The Spanish-speaking groups 2.1. Introduction 2.2. The Spanish-speaking community in Australia: size, birthplace, residence, age, religious affiliation 2.3. Chile-and Spain-background Australians 2.4. Research findings 2.4.1. Focus group A 2.4.2. Survey data

30 34 36 51 62 63 63 63 65 69 69 77

viii

Contents

2.4.2.1. 2.4.2.2. 2.4.2.3. 2.4.2.4. 2.4.2.5. 2.4.2.6. 2.4.2.7. 2.4.2.8. 2.4.2.9. 2.4.2.10. 2.4.2.11. 2.4.2.12. 2.4.2.13. 2.4.2.14. 2.4.2.15. 2.4.3.

Informants by age, gender, generation and year of arrival . . . 77 Languages spoken 79 Language use in the home 79 Language preference at home 83 Language use outside the home 84 Religious affiliation 91 Contact with country of origin 94 Media use 97 Library/books from country of origin 106 Attitudes to bilingualism, language and ethnicity 108 Motivation for language maintenance 112 Perceptions of support for language maintenance 114 Other language issues 121 Language proficiency 124 Focus group Β 129 Summary 132

Chapter Three—The Arabic-speaking groups 3.1. Introduction 3.2. The Arabic-speaking community in Australia: size, birthplace, residence, age, religious affiliation 3.3. Lebanon-and Egypt-background Australians 3.4. Research findings 3.4.1. Focus group A 3.4.2. Survey data 3.4.2.1. Informants by age, gender, generation and year of arrival . . 3.4.2.2. Languages spoken 3.4.2.3. Language use in the home 3.4.2.4. Language preference at home 3.4.2.5. Language use outside the home 3.4.2.6. Religious affiliation 3.4.2.7. Contact with country of origin 3.4.2.8. Media use 3.4.2.9. Library/books from country of origin

137 137 137 142 148 148 160 160 162 163 166 167 174 177 179 188

Contents

3.4.2.10. 3.4.2.11. 3.4.2.12. 3.4.2.13. 3.4.2.14. 3.4.2.15. 3.4.3.

Attitudes to bilingualism, language and ethnicity Motivation for language maintenance Perceptions of support for language maintenance Other language issues Language proficiency Focus group Β Summary

ix

189 194 195 202 204 210 213

Chapter Four — The Chinese-speaking groups (Cantonese and Mandarin) 217 4.1. Introduction 217 4.2. The Cantonese- and Mandarin-speaking community in Australia: size, birthplace, residence, age, religious affiliation 217 4.3. Chinese-Australians 223 4.4. Research findings 226 4.4.1. Focus group A 226 4.4.2. Survey data 236 4.4.2.1. Informants by age, gender, generation and year of arrival . . 236 4.4.2.2. Languages spoken 238 4.4.2.3. Language use in the home 241 4.4.2.4. Language preference at home 245 4.4.2.5. Language use outside the home 248 4.4.2.6. Religious affiliation 257 4.4.2.7. Contact with country of origin 261 4.4.2.8. Media use 264 4.4.2.9. Library/books from country of origin 271 4.4.2.10. Attitudes to bilingualism, language and ethnicity 272 4.4.2.11. Motivation for language maintenance 277 4.4.2.12. Perceptions of support for language maintenance 278 4.4.2.13. Other language issues 284 4.4.2.14. Language proficiency 285 4.4.2.15. Focus group Β 290 4.4.3. Summary 294

χ

Contents

Chapter Five — Multiple dimensions of language maintenance .. 5.1. Introduction 5.2. Survey findings in the light of the 1996 Census 5.3. Age and generation 5.4. Demographic considerations 5.5. Cross-cultural variation in responses to research 5.6. "Older" and "newer" vintage groups 5.7. Some language maintenance factors 5.8. Disruption scale — arresting and reversing language shift . . . . 5.9. Core values 5.10. Marketplace value 5.11. The "language of God" 5.12. Different types of pluricentric languages

299 299 299 313 316 316 319 322 325 327 328 329 330

Notes Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five

339 340 340 341 342

References

345

Index of names

357

Index of subjects

359

List of figures xi

List of maps Map 1.1: Map 2.1: Map 3.1: Map 4.1:

Australian states, territories and capital cities 15 Concentration of Spanish speakers in Melbourne, 1991 . . . 64 Concentration of Arabic-speakers in Melbourne, 1991 . . 138 Concentration of "Chinese" speakers in Melbourne, 1991 220

List of figures Figure 1.1: Language by residence, 1991, Arabic, Chinese and Spanish 29 Figure 1.2: Birthplace groups by residence, 1991 29 Figure 1.3: Language shift in the first generation, Chile and Spain, 1996 31 Figure 1.4: Language shift in the second generation, Chile and Spain, 1996 31 Figure 1.5: Language shift in the first generation, Lebanon and Egypt, 1996 32 Figure 1.6: Language shift in the second generation, Lebanon and Egypt, 1996 32 Figure 1.7: Language shift in the first generation, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China born, 1996 33 Figure 1.8: Language shift in the second generation, Hong Kong and Taiwan, 1996 33 Figure 2.1: Spanish speakers by birthplace, 1996 63 Figure 2.2: Spanish speakers by age in Australia, 1996 65 Figure 2.3: Informants by age and generation, Chile group 77 Figure 2.4: Informants by age and generation, Spain group • 78 Figure 3.1: Arabic speakers by birthplace, 1996 137 Figure 3.2: Arabic speakers by age, 1996 139

xii List of tables

Figure 3.3: Figure 3.4: Figure 3.5: Figure 3.6: Figure 4.1: Figure 4.2: Figure 4.3: Figure 4.4: Figure 4.5: Figure 4.6:

Religion by Lebanon born, 1991 Religion by Egypt born, 1991 Informants by age and generation, Egypt group Informants by age and generation, Lebanon group "Chinese" by variety, 1996 Cantonese speakers by birthplace, 1996 Mandarin speakers by birthplace, 1996 Language by birthplace (Hong Kong), 1996 Language by birthplace (Taiwan), 1996 Age by language, 1996, Cantonese and Mandarin speakers Figure 4.7: Hong Kong-born by religion, Australia, 1991 Figure 4.8: Informants by age and generation, Hong Kong group . . . Figure 4.9: Informants by age and generation, Taiwan group

139 139 160 161 217 218 218 219 219 221 222 236 237

List of tables Table 1.1: Table 1.2: Table 1.3: Table 1.4: Table 1.5: Table 1.6: Table 2.1: Table 2.2: Table 2.3: Table 2.4:

Community languages in Australia, 1996: No. of home users and changes since 1991 10 Settler arrivals by eligibility category, 1990-1996 13 Country of origin by eligibility category, 1995-1996 . . . . 14 Schools teaching Arabic, Mandarin and Spanish at secondary level in Victoria, 1997 25 Year 12 examination enrolments, 1995 and 1996, Victorian Certificate of Education, and Australia-wide 27 Language shift in Australia, 1996 34 Informants by age and gender, Chile group 77 Informants by age and gender, Spain group 78 Language use in the home as a child, Chile group 79 Language use in the home between father and children, Chile and Spain groups 80

List of tables

Table 2.5: Table 2.6: Table 2.7: Table 2.8: Table 2.9: Table 2.10: Table 2.11: Table 2.12: Table 2.13: Table 2.14: Table 2.15: Table 2.16: Table 2.17: Table 2.18: Table 2.19: Table 2.20: Table 2.21: Table 2.22: Table 2.23: Table 2.24:

xiii

Language use in the home between mother and children, Chile group 80 Language use in the home among children and adults, Chile and Spain groups 81 Language preference in the home by age, Chile and Spain groups 83 Language preference at home by generation, Chile group and Spain group 84 Language use in the workplace, Chile and Spain groups . . 84 Social networks by generation, Chile and Spain groups . . . 87 Social language preference by generation, Chile group and Spain group 87 Use of Spanish shops/businesses by generation, Chile and Spain groups 90 Use of Spanish-speaking professionals by generation, Chile and Spain groups 90 Religious affiliation by age, Chile and Spain groups 91 Importance of religion by age, Chile and Spain groups . . . 92 Attendance at religious services by generation, Chile and Spain groups 93 Importance of religion by generation, Chile group and Spain group 93 Visits to country of origin by generation, Chile and Spain groups 95 Letters to country of origin by generation, Chile and Spain groups 95 Telephone calls to country of origin by generation, Chile and Spain groups 96 Use of Spanish language radio by age, Chile and Spain groups 97 Radio use by generation, Chile and Spain groups 101 Television use (Spanish language) by age, Chile and Spain groups 101 Television use by generation, Chile and Spain groups . . . 103

xiv List of tables

Table 2.25: Video use (Spanish language) by age, Chile and Spain groups 104 Table 2.26: Video use (Spanish language) by generation, Chile and Spain groups 105 Table 2.27: Attitude to bilingualism by age, Chile and Spain groups . 108 Table 2.28: Attitude to ethnic identity by age, Chile and Spain groups 109 Table 2.29: Attitude to language and ethnicity by age, Chile and Spain groups 110 Table 2.30: Attitudes to bilingualism, ethnicity and language by generation, Chile and Spain groups Ill Table 2.31: Motivation for language maintenance by generation, Chile and Spain groups 114 Table 2.32: "Spanish speakers in Melbourne are supportive of language maintenance" by generation, Chile and Spain groups . . . 115 Table 2.33: "Other Australians are supportive of Spanish" by generation, Chile and Spain groups 117 Table 2.34: "More Australians should learn Spanish" by generation, Chile and Spain groups 118 Table 2.35: "Other groups are better off' by generation, Chile and Spain groups 119 Table 2.36: "How well do you speak Spanish?" by age, Chile and Spain groups 125 Table 2.37: "How well do you understand Spanish?" by age, Chile and Spain groups 125 Table 2.38: "How well do you read Spanish?" by age, Chile and Spain groups 125 Table 2.39: "How well do you write Spanish?" by age, Chile and Spain groups 125 Table 2.40: Language proficiency by generation, speaking, Chile and Spain group 126 Table 2.41: Language proficiency by generation, listening, Chile and Spain group 126

List of tables

xv

Table 2.42: Language proficiency by generation, reading, Chile and Spain group 127 Table 2.43: Language proficiency by generation, writing, Chile and Spain group 127 Table 2.44: Reading of Spanish newspapers, magazines and novels by generation, Chile and Spain groups 128 Table 2.45: Writing of notes to others and letters in Spanish by generation, Chile and Spain 128 Table 2.46: Summary of Spanish-speaking groups 133 Table 3.1: Informants by age and gender, Egypt group 160 Table 3.2: Informants by age and gender, Lebanon group 161 Table 3.3: Language use in the home as a child, Egypt and Lebanon groups 163 Table 3.4: Language use in the home between father and children, Egypt and Lebanon groups 164 Table 3.5: Language use in the home between mother and children, Egypt and Lebanon groups 164 Table 3.6: Language use in the home among children and adults, Egypt and Lebanon groups 165 Table 3.7: Language preference in the home by age, Egypt and Lebanon groups 166 Table 3.8: Language preference in the home by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups 167 Table 3.9: Language use in the workplace, Egypt and Lebanon groups 168 Table 3.10: Social networks by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups 170 Table 3.11: Social language use by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups 170 Table 3.12: Social language preference by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups 171 Table 3.13: Club membership by age, Egypt and Lebanon groups . . . 172 Table 3.14: Use of community language facilities by age, Egypt and Lebanon 173

xvi List of tables

Table 3.15: Use of Arabic-speaking businesses and professionals by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups 173 Table 3.16: Religious affiliation, Egypt and Lebanon groups 174 Table 3.17: Importance of religion by religious affiliation, Egypt and Lebanon groups 174 ι

Table 3.18: Social use of language in a religious setting, Egypt and Lebanon groups 175 Table 3.19: Religious affiliation by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups 176 Table 3.20: Particular religious affiliation by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups 176 Table 3.21: Importance of religion by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups 177 Table 3.22: Contact with country of origin by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups 178 Table 3.23: Use of Arabic language radio by age, Egypt and Lebanon groups 179 Table 3.24: Radio use (Arabic language) by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups 182 Table 3.25: Television use (Arabic language) by age, Egypt and Lebanon groups 182 Table 3.26: Television use (Arabic language) by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups 185 Table 3.27: Video use (Arabic language) by age, Egypt and Lebanon groups 185 Table 3.28: Video use (Arabic language) by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups 187 Table 3.29: Attitude to bilingualism by age, Egypt and Lebanon groups 189 Table 3.30: Attitude to ethnic identity by age, Egypt and Lebanon groups 190 Table 3.31: Attitude to language and ethnicity by age, Egypt and Lebanon groups 191

List of tables xvii Table 3.32: Attitude to bilingualism, ethnicity and language by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups 192 Table 3.33: Motivation for language maintenance by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups 195 Table 3.34: "Arabic speakers in Melbourne are supportive of language maintenance" by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups . 196 Table 3.35: "Other Australians are supportive of Arabic" by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups 198 Table 3.36: "More Australians should learn Arabic " by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups 199 Table 3.37: "Other groups are better o f f ' by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups 200 Table 3.38: "How well do you speak Arabic?" by age, Egypt and Lebanon groups 204 Table 3.39: "How well do you understand Arabic?" by age, Egypt and Lebanon groups 205 Table 3.40: "How well do you read Arabic" by age, Egypt and Lebanon groups 205 Table 3.41: "How well do you write Arabic?" by age, Egypt and Lebanon groups 205 Table 3.42: Language proficiency by generation, speaking, Egypt and Lebanon groups 206 Table 3.43: Language proficiency by generation, listening, Egypt and Lebanon groups 206 Table 3.44: Language proficiency by generation, reading, Egypt and Lebanon groups 207 Table 3.45: Language proficiency by generation, writing, Egypt and Lebanon groups 207 Table 3.46: Writing of notes to family/friends and letters in Arabic by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups 207 Table 3.47: Reading of Arabic newspapers, magazines, religious books and novels by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups . . . 208 Table 3.48: Language proficiency by religious affiliation, speaking, Egypt and Lebanon groups 208

xviii List of tables Table 3.49: Language proficiency by religious affiliation, listening, Egypt and Lebanon groups 208 Table 3.50: Language proficiency by religious affiliation, reading, Egypt and Lebanon groups 209 Table 3.51: Language proficiency by religious affiliation, writing, Egypt and Lebanon groups 209 Table 3.52: Summary of Arabic-speaking groups 214 Table 4.1: Informants by age and gender, Hong Kong group 236 Table 4.2: Informants by age and gender, Taiwan group 237 Table 4.3: Use of Taiwanese by age, Taiwan group 240 Table 4.4: Taiwanese use patterns by age, Taiwan group 240 Table 4.5: Language use in the home as a child, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 241 Table 4.6: Language use in the home between fathers and children, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 242 Table 4.7: Language use in the home between mother and children, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 242 Table 4.8: Language use in the home among children and adults, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 243 Table 4.9: Language preference in the home by age, Hong Kong group 245 Table 4.10: Language preference in the home by age, Taiwan group . 246 Table 4.11: Language preference in the home by generation, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 247 Table 4.12: Language use in the workplace, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 248 Table 4.13: Social networks by generation, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 253 Table 4.14: Social language preference by generation, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 253 Table 4.15: Club membership by age, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 254 Table 4.16: Use of Chinese-speaking shops and businesses by generation, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 256

List of tables

xix

Table 4.17: Use of Chinese-speaking professionals by generation, Hong Kong group and Taiwan group 257 Table 4.18: Religious affiliation, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups . . . 257 Table 4.19: Religious affiliation by generation, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 259 Table 4.20: Religious institution by generation, Hong Kong group and Taiwan group 260 Table 4.21: Importance of religion by generation, Hong Kong group and Taiwan group 260 Table 4.22: Use of Cantonese/Mandarin radio by age, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 264 Table 4.23: Use of Cantonese/Mandarin television by age, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 265 Table 4.24: Television use by generation, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 267 Table 4.25: Use of Chinese videos by age, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 268 Table 4.26: Use of Chinese videos by generation, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 269 Table 4.27: Attitude to bilingualism by age, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 272 Table 4.28: Attitude to ethnic identity by age, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 273 Table 4.29: Attitude to language and ethnicity by age, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 274 Table 4.30: Attitudes to bilingualism, ethnicity and language by generation, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 275 Table 4.31: Motivation for language maintenance by generation, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 278 Table 4.32: "Cantonese/Mandarin speakers in Melbourne are supportive of language maintenance" by generation,Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 279 Table 4.33: "Other Australians are supportive of Cantonese/Mandarin" by generation, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 281

xx List of tables

Table 4.34: "More Australians should learn Cantonese/Mandarin" by generation, Hong Kong group and Taiwan group 282 Table 4.35: "Other groups get a better deal" by generation, Hong Kong group and Taiwan group 282 Table 4.36: "How well do you speak Cantonese/Mandarin?" by age, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 286 Table 4.37: How well do you understand Cantonese/Mandarin? " by age, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 286 Table 4.38: "How well do you read Chinese?" by age, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 286 Table 4.39: "How well do you write Chinese?" by age, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 287 Table 4.40: Language proficiency by generation, speaking, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 287 Table 4.41: Language proficiency by generation, listening, Hong Kong group and Taiwan group 288 Table 4.42: Language proficiency by generation, reading, Hong Kong group and Taiwan group 288 Table 4.43: Language proficiency by generation, writing, Hong Kong group and Taiwan group 288 Table 4.44: Reading of Chinese newspapers, magazines and novels by generation, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 289 Table 4.45: Writing of notes to others and letters in Chinese, Hong Kong and Taiwan groups 289 Table 4.46: Summary of Chinese-speaking groups 295 Table 5.1: Home language use by birthplace group 301 Table 5.2: Language preference in the home by birthplace group and generation 304 Table 5.3 Social networks by generation 305 Table 5.4 Social language use by generation 307 Table 5.5 Social language preference by generation 308 Table 5.6 Self-rated literacy skills, second generation 310 Table 5.7 "Old" and "new" migrations and their characteristics . . . 321 Table 5.8 Stations in language shift 336

List of abbreviations

List of abbreviations ABS AGPS CL ESL Gl G2 LOTE NEI NFD NLLIA VSL

Australian Bureau of Statistics Australian Government Printing Services Community Language English as a Second Language First Generation Second Generation Language Other Than English Not Elsewhere Indicated Not Further Defined National Languages and Literacy Institute of Australia Victorian School of Languages

xxi

Chapter One — Establishing the context of the study

1.1. Introduction Australia is a country of diversity — in its landscape, in its climate and in its people. A history of indigenous culture spanning 40,000 years has been overlaid in the last two centuries with cultures from Europe, Asia, the Americas and the Middle East, and the bearers of these cultures have brought with them, in addition to their food, their festivals and many other traditions, a multiplicity of languages. Some languages, such as German, have had a continuous presence in Australia from the earliest days of European settlement. Others, such as Cantonese, have seen periods of greater and lesser importance, while still others, such as Thai and Korean, are relatively new arrivals. All form part of an emerging and uniquely Australian identity as a multicultural, multilingual nation with a strong European heritage and an increasing orientation towards Asia and the Pacific, alongside its indigenous cultures and its historical ties with Britain. Australia's major cities, with their diverse and dynamic linguistic profiles, could be described as a sociolinguist's paradise. One of our aims in this book is to identify the factors and mechanisms operating in the processes of language maintenance and language shift in one of these major cities — Melbourne — through the study of four of the languages and language communities present as a result of immigration. In doing so we will consider individual factors, group factors, intragroup and intergroup relations, as well as the policies and attitudes of the community into which they have all been received. The actual language used (e.g. transference and code-switching patterns, grammatical change) will remain outside the scope of this study. The languages we have chosen are Arabic, Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin) and Spanish. They are all languages of international and economic significance, and they are all part of a "newer" wave of

2 Establishing the context of the study

migration to Australia (as opposed to languages such as German, Dutch, Italian, Hungarian, and Maltese, which represent an older, largely postwar, migration). Even so, they represent different vintages and types of migration, from unskilled to highly skilled, and from refugee to voluntary. In addition, they are all pluricentric languages, i.e. languages which have been brought to Australia by people from different countries, with separate national varieties and with different sets of linguistic norms (Clyne 1992:1). For each language we have selected two birthplace groups, representing in most cases the major source countries of migration for these languages in Australia. We will consider Arabic from Lebanon and Egypt, Cantonese from Hong Kong, Mandarin from Taiwan, and Spanish from Chile and Spain. Immigrants from Spain now constitute a relatively small proportion of Spanish speakers in Australia, in comparison with speakers from Latin American countries. We have, however, chosen to include "Spanish Spanish" because of its status as the major "European" variety of Spanish and because information from previous censuses have indicated a sizeable difference in the maintenance of Spanish from Spain and from Spanish-speaking Latin America. This "pluricentricity" gives rise to the second major aim of this book — to examine the role of such languages in constituting "communities" in Australia which may be based on language rather than on national origins. For example, does the language act as a unifier, or do the national varieties act as dividers? What are the factors within the host community which foster unity or division? These two issues — language maintenance and pluricentricity — are ones which have not previously been brought together in one study.

1.2. The pluricentricity of Spanish, Arabic and "Chinese" 1.2.1.

Spanish

The position of Spanish is in many ways the most straightforward of those comprising this study, as we are concerned with two national varieties,

The pluricentricity of Spanish, Arabic and "Chinese " 3 both based upon Castilian Spanish (as opposed to Catalan, Galician or Basque, for example). Spanish is used by over 266 million speakers in more than 20 countries (Lyovin 1997:48) and has official status in Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Cuba, El Salvador, and many other South and Central American nations. As Thompson (1992) puts it, each of the twenty-odd Hispanic countries has its own linguistic norms, some of which it shares with some other countries, usually, though not always neighbours, and some of which it possesses uniquely. This variation is clearly evident in the speech of even the highly educated. (Thompson (1992:45) The predominant differences are between Spanish from Spain and Spanishes from Latin America. The economic and demographic strength of the Latin American national varieties creates a parallel to the binary between British and American English, i.e. between the more traditional European and the more widely used New World variety. Each of the national varieties of Spanish is subject to codification by its own national language academy. Thompson (1992:53) points out that some Spaniards still regard their variety as the norm and that this is sometimes still reflected in textbooks for Anglophone students. Major differences between the Spanish and Latin American varieties are to be found in phonology, morphophonology, the pronoun system, grammatical forms, and the lexicon (Thompson 1992: 63-64). While there are a number of languages other than Castilian Spanish which enjoy regional official status in Spain, there are sizeable minorities speaking indigenous languages in Chile and many other Latin American countries.

1.2.2.

Arabic

The languages we have selected are pluricentric in quite different ways. In the case of Arabic, we are concerned with two national varieties (Lebanese and Egyptian Arabic) as well as an international Standard Arabic. The

4 Establishing the context of the study

latter is an official language in the countries of the Arab League, a continuous band of territory stretching from Morocco to Iraq and including Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, Syria, Algeria and Tunisia (Campbell et al. 1993). Norms for Standard Arabic cannot be discussed without reference to the diglossia that exists in the Arab world (Ferguson 1959). In this case the Η language (Standard Arabic) is used in writing and formal situations, while an L variety is employed in everyday communication. Standard Arabic is syntactically the same as the language of the Koran, and is not used as the language of everyday communication in any of the Arab nations (Abd-el-Jawad 1992). Rather, it is a manifestation of "shared Arabness", and the national language academies, whose policy is conservatively puristic, promote convergence rather than national divergence and change. Modern newspaper Arabic (a written variety), while exemplifying what may be termed "Standard Arabic", needs to be distinguished from the more conservative Koranic Arabic, and does in fact display some degree of national variation. Most of the Arab countries see themselves as part of a single Arab nation united by language and Islam (Abd-el-Jawad 1992:279). It is generally in the L variety that nationally distinctive features come to the fore, and there are a number of these, in phonology, lexicon, intonation and grammar. As most Arabic speakers in Australia are from the Lebanon or Egypt, and the majority of both groups of immigrants are Christians, the national spoken varieties of Arabic might be expected to play a more significant role in Australia than they do in the Middle East. To the Christians, Classical Arabic lacks the mystical quality that it has for Muslims. The Egyptian Copts use Coptic, an ancient Semitic language, as their liturgical language, and while the Lebanese Maronites do employ a Classical Arabic liturgy, some of them have also developed their L variety into an Η variety, which they prefer to call Lebanese rather than Arabic (some Arabic speakers have recorded their language as "Lebanese" in Australian censuses). Given that Egypt is viewed as a source of teachers for the Middle East, its vernacular may be regarded as being more "acceptable" than that of the Lebanon, for example (R.B. Kaplan, personal citation).

The pluricentricity

of Spanish, Arabic and "Chinese " 5

It has been suggested (Campbell et al. 1993) that in a society such as Australia, where English as well as two varieties of Arabic vie for communicative load in the individual, Standard Arabic is likely to be the loser in spite of generally negative attitudes to the L variety of Arabic among many Arabic speakers.

1.2.3. Chinese "Chinese", on the other hand, comprises a range of largely mutually unintelligible varieties called fangyan (inappropriately translated as 'dialects') linked by a common writing system based on meanings, not on phonemes or morphemes. There are currently two major variations of this writing system being practised: the "full" script, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong (among other places), and the "simplified" script developed and used in the People's Republic of China (PRC). A simplified romanisation known as pinyin originated in the PRC. Modern Standard Chinese (putonghua or 'common language' in the PRC, guoyu or 'official language' in Taiwan or huayu, 'Chinese speech', in Singapore) is based on Mandarin, which is indigenous to the area around Beijing. Thus, there are two levels of pluricentricity: 1. according to fangyan (Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, etc.); and 2. according to the national variety of Mandarin, which has different norms in different countries (PRC, Taiwan, Singapore). Diglossia is also present. The traditional fangyan of Taiwan is Taiwanese (Tai-Yii), a Hokkien variety, with Hakka used by about 10 per cent of the population as a first language. However, Mandarin has become the Η language, used in all the official domains (e.g. law, administration, education) and also the L language in many families. There has been some attempt in Taiwan in recent years, largely on a party political level, to elevate the status of Taiwanese to an Η language. The use of Taiwanese has increased in the media, as has a widespread debate on the desirability of an autonomous orthography, with the expression of national identity as

6 Establishing the context of the study the main motivating factor (Ping Chen 1996). This would support the opposition Democratic Progressive Party's agenda of ultimately replacing Mandarin with Taiwanese as Taiwan's national language (Hsiau 1997). The status of Mandarin as the official language of Taiwan is connected with the continuation of power in the hands of the Mainlander elite (Kaplan—Baldauf 1997:202-203). Generally, Mmdann/putonghua (hereafter referred to as Mandarin) is a language with a high market value, being the official language of both the PRC and Taiwan, and one of the official languages of Singapore. According to Lyovin (1997:127), it has 740 million speakers, compared with 54 million for Cantonese, and is being increasingly adopted as a lingua franca among overseas Chinese communities. In spite of the growing importance of Mandarin world wide, however, it has been taught in only a very small number of schools in Hong Kong, the other birthplace group for this study. The main contact with Mandarin in Hong Kong has been through entertainment (particularly the cinema, but also popular songs and television), which has led to some degree of listening comprehension but poor oral skills. During the 1970s Cantonese films took over from Mandarin films in terms of popularity (Lord 1987), and subsequently the exposure to Mandarin for a large part of the population dropped. The recent changes in Hong Kong's political status will, however, lead to much more widespread attempts to learn Mandarin in Hong Kong. The actual means by which this will be accomplished is still a matter for debate, as English will also retain an important role in Hong Kong society. Lord (1987) regards the status of Cantonese as uncertain, given that only in Hong Kong (and possibly Macau) has it had official status. In addition to this isolation, Lord suggests that even as an official language it lacks standardisation, to the extent that few people ascribe any importance to it as a vehicle of wider communication. He is also critical of the standard of written Chinese as taught in Hong Kong, and points to the danger of producing "cultural eunuchs" proficient in neither Chinese or English:

The pluricentricity of Spanish, Arabic and "Chinese " 7

...not only does the average Hong Kong secondary school student feel insecure when writing English, but (sic) feels equally insecure and perhaps more insecure when writing Chinese. (Lord 1987:9) Hong Kong under British rule had two official languages: Cantonese and English. Cantonese has gained prestige in recent years as a commercial language, not only in Hong Kong but internationally, since it links the various overseas Chinese populations that are important traders throughout the Asia-pacific region. It is also widely spoken in the south of mainland China, and in many parts of the world, reflecting the long history of migration from southern China. It should be noted that English has enjoyed official status in Hong Kong for 148 years, although, with 98 per cent of its population of Chinese origin in 1981, Hong Kong is a far more racially homogeneous city than most in Britain and other western countries. Some 25 per cent of the population claim to speak English (30 per cent of men/20 per cent of women), although it is not clear how well they speak it. Lord (1987) points out that the position of English in Hong Kong has changed from that of a purely colonial language, largely restricted to government circles, law, etc., to that of an important vehicle of communication. This he ascribes to the growth of Hong Kong, particularly during the 1970s, as a major international trading, business, banking and communications centre. He is however critical of the standard of English achieved by the majority of people in Hong Kong, and quotes a study (Yu 1979) which found that two fifths of the students from English medium schools, and four fifths of the students from Chinese medium schools, did not have adequate English for vocational or social purposes. While the lingua franca of Westerners in Hong Kong is English, the lingua franca of Chinese is Cantonese, and it has been suggested (Gibbons 1987:7) that this is the result of a high degree of "enclosure", i.e. Chinese and expatriates essentially live in isolated communities, and there is little interaction. English use in internal communication is predominantly limited to official writing, and Chinese rarely speak English to one another. It is only in the post war era that Cantonese has come to be treated

8 Establishing the context of the study

as a partner with English (with some negative attitudes on both sides), and for the Chinese population, while proficiency in English correlates with educational level, prestigious employment and income, Cantonese remains the language of solidarity with other Chinese. The language of commerce between Chinese and Westerners is English. The spread of the Englishspeaking "pop" culture may also need to be taken into account when considering the language attitudes of the young, and Gibbons identifies a distinct and identifiable Hong Kong culture among the under 30 age group, particularly marked in the areas of cinema and pop music.

1.3. Australia's linguistic diversity All of the languages chosen for this study have been present in Australia to some extent for a long period of time, although the major waves of migration this century have occurred after World War II (there was also a major wave of Chinese immigrants at the time of the gold rushes). The pattern of settlement in Australia in the post-war years has been strongly urban, largely due to the involvement of the immediate post-war immigrants with Australia's developing secondary industries, and has continued in this vein as the result of chain migration, family reunion, and the growth of Australia's major cities as commercial and trading centres. In 1996, 87.4 per cent of all overseas-born resided in one of Australia's major cities (ABS 1997). The majority of overseas-born and their descendants live in either Sydney or Melbourne (67.8 per cent), although relative concentrations between the two cities vary from language group to language group. Melbourne, for example, attracted the largest numbers of immigrants from the immediate post-war years up until 1971. This reflected the stronger specialisation of manufacturing in Melbourne, the fact that Melbourne was historically the centre of finance capital, and the presence in Melbourne of the head offices of many major firms. Melbourne still has the highest national concentrations of Italian, Greek, Maltese and Turkish speakers, as well as speakers of many other languages. In the period 1971-1996, however, which saw a dramatic

Australia's linguistic diversity 9 increase in immigration from Asia, Sydney absorbed more immigrants than Melbourne, and has developed a profile that is correspondingly more Asian than Melbourne, which has added the "newer" languages at a slower rate. Dwyer et al. (1993) attribute Sydney's attraction for immigrants during this period at least partly to labour-force restructuring in Sydney, with manufacturing sector job loss, but substantial expansion in the tertiary employment sector (business services, finance, growing concentrations of banking and private corporation head offices). This has been coupled with a decline in manual workers in the immigrant workforce, which also reflects the change in Australia's priority needs since the immediate postwar years.

1.3.1. Data source Statistics on language use, and ones calculated from these on language maintenance, are derived from responses to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) census conducted in August 1996. In Australia a total population census is conducted every five years. The Census form includes a question on language use, and exactly the same question has been used in the last three censuses to 1996, which greatly facilitates comparisons and the establishment of trends. The question is: "Does this person regularly use a language other than English at home?" Where people used more than one community language at home, they were requested to indicate which one was used the most, and that one was counted in the statistics. Given the established importance of the home domain in the maintenance of community languages, the statistics can have predictive value for the future language demography of Australia. The main disadvantage of restricting the language use question to the home is the underestimation due to the widespread use of community languages outside the home (especially by those young people who are no longer living in the parental home), and the difficulty of describing language use of single-person family units. This disadvantage applies much less to the "newer" languages

10 Establishing the context of the study

such as Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin and Spanish than to more established community languages such as Dutch, German, Italian and Maltese. The 1996 Census processed more languages than any previous Australian census — 240 in all, including 48 indigenous languages.

1.3.2.

Distribution of community languages

Some 14.6 per cent of the total Australian population used a language other than English in the home in 1996 (ABS 1997). Sydney has the highest proportion of home users of languages other than English (26.4 per cent) followed by Melbourne with 25.4 per cent. Sydney and Melbourne are traditionally the multicultural centres of Australia, although their relative positions have reversed in this regard since the last census, a change which can be attributed to the clustering of "older" languages in Melbourne and of "newer" ones in Sydney. The proportion is 14.9 per cent in Adelaide, 13.5 per cent in Perth, and 9.2 per cent in Brisbane, while the national capital, Canberra, has 13.4 per cent. As of August, 1996, the ten most widely spoken community languages in Australia were: Table 1.1:

Italian Greek Cantonese Arabic Vietnamese German Mandarin Spanish Macedonian Tagalog

Community languages in Australia, 1996: No. of home users and changes since 1991 Number of home users 375 752 269 770 202 270 177 599 146 265 98 808 91 911 91 254 71 347 70 444

Percentage change from 1991 -10.3% -5.6% +24.2% +9.0% +32.7% -12.8% +68.4% +0.9% +10.7% +19.2%

Apart from showing the traditional strength of languages such as Italian, Greek and German in Australia, and the growth of the "newer" languages from Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, this table indicates that the languages of this study — Arabic, "Chinese" and Spanish — are all major

Australia's linguistic diversity 11 languages in the Australian context which have seen increased use between 1991 and 1996.

1.3.3. Changes in Australia's linguistic demography Australia's linguistic diversity has increased in the 5-year period between the last two censuses, with languages from Asia and the Pacific becoming a more substantial component of the linguistic mosaic. Within the top ten languages there have been substantial increases in the number of home users of not only languages from Asia such as Mandarin (68.4 per cent), Vietnamese (32.7 per cent) and Cantonese (19.2 per cent), but also Macedonian (10.7 per cent). Tagalog and Mandarin have appeared for the first time in the "top ten", displacing Polish and Croatian. The emergence of sizeable new ethnic communities is particularly obvious among languages presently totalling around 20,000 to 30,000 speakers, but with substantial increases in the number of home users. The biggest increases among such languages are to be seen in Tamil (54.9 per cent), Korean (51.4 per cent), and Hindi (49.6 per cent), followed by Russian (27.9 per cent). On the other hand, some widely used community languages with a long history in Australia have experienced decreases in their number of home users. These include Maltese (down 13.5 per cent), Dutch (13.5 per cent), German (12.8 per cent), and Italian (10.3 per cent). The numbers for Greek have declined for the first time since language use data have been collected in the Australian census (down 5.6 per cent). Of the mediumsized language communities (between 45 000 and 70 000 approximately), the numbers using French and Hungarian at home are down, by 13.3 per cent and 11.1 per cent respectively. The profile of Chinese in Australia, always diverse, is also beginning to change. Although 59 per cent of speakers of Chinese varieties in Australia speak Cantonese, the number of speakers of Mandarin has seen a far greater increase than Cantonese in the years between 1986 and 1991, possibly reflecting the growing importance of Taiwan (where Mandarin is the official language) as a source country of migration. Mandarin is now

12 Establishing the context of the study spoken by 27 per cent of speakers of Chinese varieties in Australia (this figure is not, of course, made up solely of speakers from Taiwan, but also includes large numbers of speakers from mainland China as well as from other parts of Southeast Asia). In addition, there are 10,035 speakers of Hokkien (the most widely used Chinese variety in Singapore), 7,163 speakers of Hakka (spoken in East Timor, Vietnam, Taiwan, and many other regions of Southeast Asia), and 5,092 speakers of Teochew (spoken in Singapore and Malaysia, among other countries).

1.3.4. Indications for the future Some 41.9 per cent of Arabic speakers in Australia are Australian-born. For Cantonese and Mandarin the percentages are 18 and 11 respectively, reflecting recency of arrival. Some 20.9 per cent of all Spanish speakers were born in Australia. This relatively low percentage would reflect the comparatively large numbers of Central and South American speakers of Spanish who have arrived since the 1980s. The languages of this study are all heavily represented in the youngest age groups of the population, further indicating their future importance in Australia. Arabic-speaking ΟΙ 4 year olds form the fourth largest such community language group in Melbourne (behind Greek, Vietnamese and Italian) with 11,766 speakers, followed by Cantonese with 9,994 speakers. Spanish and Mandarin have 4,256 and 4,637 0-14 year-old speakers respectively.

1.4. Australia's immigration program Because of changing national factors (both social and economic), Australia's immigration program has seen constant fluctuations over the past fifty years in terms of size and emphasis. At present, the major eligibility categories are: •

Family, where prospective immigrants must be sponsored by a relative who is an Australian citizen or a legal permanent citizen living in

Australia's

immigration

program

13

Australia (it should be noted that this category also includes a large skills component); • Skill, which consists of a number of categories for people with skills or background that will make an economic contribution to Australia; and • Humanitarian, which comprises the traditional refugee program and also other special assistance categories. In recent years, the greatest number of immigrants have entered Australia via the Family Program, followed by skilled immigrants and those who have come under humanitarian programs. The proportion of the total intake represented by these categories is, however, subject to fluctuation in response to the economic and social climate within Australia and the source countries. At the time of writing this book, for example, the government is committed to increasing the skills component of the migration program: We are determined to turn the emphasis of the migration program towards skilled migrants. The 1996-1997 Migration Program incorporates a significant shift towards skilled migrants, with more places in the Independent and Business Skills categories while maintaining a commitment to family reunion migration (Media release, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, February 20, 1997). The pattern of settler arrivals by eligibility category since 1990 is shown in the following table: Table 1.2:

Settler arrivals by eligibility category, 1990-19961 1990-91

1991-92

1992-93

1993-94

1994—95

1995-96

Family

44%

45%

42%

48%

42%

47%

Skill

40%

38%

29%

18%

23%

20%

6%

7%

14%

16%

16%

14%

Category

Humanitarian

14 Establishing

the context of the study

In terms of eligibility, different source countries present different profiles. Although the balance between the various eligibility categories for each language group is clearly not static, and we have information from respondents from a range of migration "vintages", the 1995-1996 situation for the country of origin groups2 involved in this study was as follows: Table 1.3:

Country of origin by eligibility category, 1995-1996 3 Family

Chile Egypt Hong Kong Lebanon Taiwan

246 380 1 596 1 198 414

(93.5%) (75.3%) (36.5%) (90.0%) (25.2%)

Skill 13 44 2619 26 959

(4.9%) (8.7%) (60.0%) (2.0%) (58.5%)

Humanitarian -

65 29 3 -

Total -

(12.8%) (0.6%) (0.2%) -

263 504 4 361 1 326 1 638

1.5. Language policy While the social and political climate within the host country certainly impacts on an immigration program in terms of size and emphasis, it also impacts on the community language groups that are able to establish themselves in the host country as the result of such an immigration program. In order to assess the influence of the host society on community languages of different vintages, we will discuss the evolution, formulation and implementation of language policy in Australia in so far as it relates to community languages. Australia is a federation of six states (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania) and two territories (Northern Territory, Australian Capital Territory).

Language policy

Map 1.1:

15

Australian states, territories and capital cities

Constitutionally, the federal and state governments have jurisdiction over different spheres of responsibility. School education, an area particularly targeted by explicit language policy, is a state prerogative. Apart from State schools, there are Catholic schools and "independent" schools, largely affiliated with a Christian denomination other than the Roman Catholic church, or with another religious or ethno-religious group (Jewish, Islamic, etc.). Most, but not all, independent schools charge substantial fees. Some of the schools affiliated with the Anglican or Uniting Churches are modelled on British "public" schools. Non-government schools are attended by over one third of Australian schoolchildren.

16 Establishing the context of the study

1.5.1. Implicit language policy For most of its history since white colonisation, Australia has not had an explicit language policy. However, there has been, and continues to be, tension between English monolingualism as a symbol of the British tradition, (Australian) English monolingualism as a marker of Australia's independent national identity, and multilingualism as both social reality and part of the ideology of a culturally diverse and outreaching Australian society (Clyne 1991:Chapter 1). Pluralistic features of some of the six British colonies that preceded the Australian federation (1901), including bilingual education, gave way to aggressive monolingualism by the time of the First World War, setting the tone for the next five and a half decades, including the period of mass migration after World War II. The expectation of non-English-speaking migrants by Australian governments and Australian society was rapid language shift to English. An English as a Second Language program was instituted for adults in 1948 and for schoolchildren in 1970. Language maintenance efforts, for instance in education, libraries and the media, had to be organised and financed by the communities themselves. Even so, there were restrictions on the use of what were then called "foreign languages" in the public domain. For example, radio stations could not broadcast in languages other than English for more than 2.5 per cent of total transmission time (total typically 16 to 17 hours a day at the time). Included in the 2.5 per cent were mandatory English translations of any announcements in another language. Any interpreting needs were expected to be fulfilled by young children, fellow patients, fellow workers, cleaning staff, and the occasional multilingual staff of stores and banks. Assimilationist policy and practice continued until the early 1970s, by which time some positive, but still implicit, language policies were being adopted. In the period between 1972 and 1982, lobby groups in favour of multiculturalism succeeded in achieving some positive changes in the status and functions of what as from the mid-70s were called "community languages"; these were achievements that are still of significance in Australia. Although English remains the undisputed national language and

Language policy 17 lingua franca — there is no "official" language as such — public announcements are disseminated in a wide range of languages, some in up to 30, according to need. The Federal Government conducts a telephone interpreter service in about 90 languages which is utilised by Britain during quiet periods when it is night in Australia. Not only have restrictions on radio transmission time been lifted, but government and government-subsidised multilingual radio stations broadcast in more than sixty languages. For example, Melbourne has three such stations, in addition to four language-specific stations and several public stations with some programs in community languages. The formerly monolingual English medium of television has been revolutionised since 1980 by a nationwide government network showing films in languages other than English, with all programs except news broadcasts sub-titled in English. In addition, there are public access multilingual television stations in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane (see Map 1.1). This has demonstrated that languages other than English are also worthy of the airways and can be the vehicles of excellent films. Local public libraries now have holdings of adults' and children's books, periodicals, cassettes, and sometimes videos in the main community languages of the district that they serve. All these developments were initiated before there was an explicit national languages policy. During the 1970s there was also a major policy shift towards pluralism in language education. The range of languages taught in secondary schools was increased in some states, including Victoria (where the research for this study took place), to include or expand programs in some of the major community languages and in several Asian languages, notably Indonesian, Japanese and Mandarin. As from 1973, the number of languages examined as Matriculation subjects began to rise each year, with the dropping of restrictive conditions for the introduction of such subjects. The number of languages examined currently stands at 43, including Farsi, Hungarian, Khmer, Latvian, Turkish, Australian indigenous languages, and Australian Sign Language, with provision arrangements between the state authorities for low candidature languages to be examined nationally. Not all schools offer all languages. The state departments of education in Victoria, New

18 Establishing the context of the study

South Wales and South Australia make provision on Saturdays for students to take languages not offered in their own schools. The Victorian School of Languages (VSL), for example, now operates from thirty centres and currently runs programs in 40 languages. Each centre offers a number of languages. The VSL and its equivalents also offer distance education. (This is in addition to Saturday schools run by ethnic communities.) Meanwhile, several states introduced some languages other than English into the primary school, with South Australia and Tasmania pioneering post-World War II developments in the 1960s and 1970s respectively. New South Wales and particularly Victoria (from the early 1980s) developed larger schemes around supernumerary (as opposed to peripatetic) language teachers. There are now 20 languages taught in Victorian primary schools and 98 per cent of children in state primary schools are participating in some kind of second language program. Some of the above developments were facilitated by other changes at the time, such as the extension of radio space, the devolution of school decision-making in some states to the schools themselves, and the universities' surrender of control over end-of-school examinations.

1.5.2. Explicit language policy The push for an explicit language policy came from a coalition of academic linguists, language teachers, teacher organisations, ethnic, Aboriginal and deaf groups with the support of senior members of some government departments. In 1982, the then Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser, commissioned an inquiry by a bipartisan committee of members of the Upper House of Parliament, the Senate, to inquire into the need for a coherent and comprehensive national languages policy. The Federal Department of Education produced a document entitled Towards a National Language Policy, setting the parameters of the inquiry into all aspects of all languages used in Australia and establishing the complementarity of English and the other languages in all future language

Language policy

19

policy. The inquiry took 18 months, heard evidence from 94 witnesses, and received a further 241 submissions. The committee's report, A National Language Policy (Senate 1984), raised the issues to be addressed in a policy and laid down the guiding principles which are still considered the basis for language policy in Australia: 1. Competence in English for all. 2. The maintenance and development of languages other than English (both indigenous and community languages). 3. The provision of services in languages other than English. 4. Opportunities for learning second languages. The Australian federal system sometimes works to the advantage of progress in that either the federal government may push a policy ahead of the states or some states may advance a policy or keep its momentum going until the federal government regains the initiative. The latter occurred with language policy. It should be remembered that in Australia, the states constitutionally have responsibility for school education and therefore hold an important key to language policy. During a period of inactivity on the part of the Federal Government, with the Senate report and responses in hand, South Australia and Victoria both developed their own policies based on earlier reports and making major recommendations along the lines of the guiding principles of the Senate inquiry report. The policies recommended a role for schools in furthering the maintenance of community languages through language and bilingual programs and the teaching of languages other than English from the beginning of primary school. These state policies were reflected in the National Policy on Languages drafted by Joseph Lo Bianco (Lo Bianco 1987) which set out actual policy recommendations and implementational strategies for English and ESL teaching, languages other than English and Aboriginal education in schools, languages in the media and in libraries, research, and curriculum development. It was based on the insights of local and overseas research

20 Establishing the context of the study

and suggested budgetary allocations, as well as presenting a rationale for maintaining and/or developing bilingualism in all Australians, based on a balance of social equity, cultural enrichment, and economic strategies. All this was accepted by the parliament. The emphasis in the National Policy on Languages was on education, as by 1987 responsibility for the policy was vested in the Minister for Education. By about 1990, economic rationalism and short-term economic objectives had come to dominate government policy, including education policy. By then the relevant department was entitled "Employment, Education and Training". The balanced approach in the National Policy on Languages yielded to a stress on the achievement of labour market needs, an emphasis on the languages of major trading partners, especially in Asia, and a de-emphasising of languages of smaller ethnic groups with less immediate economic implications. This line was reflected in Australia's Language: The Australian Language and Literacy Policy (Dawkins 1991), a top-down document. This report introduced an ideological divide between "language" and "literacy" which was to reappear later in the debate on languages other than English in the curriculum. On the surface the dichotomy was absurd because literacy was not possible outside language (except in a metaphorical sense). However, "literacy" was seen here as functioning only in English and "language" was associated with other languages. "Literacy" was projected as essential for survival. It was not clear whether "language" was to be interpreted as a now affordable luxury, or perhaps an investment. The Australian Language and Literacy Policy, while reaffirming the philosophy of the National Policy of Languages, considered that "priority attention must be given to languages of broader national interest to Australia. Australia's location in the Asia-Pacific region and our patterns of trade should continue to be a factor in this selection of priorities" (Dawkins 1991:15). Among the innovations of this report was the prioritisation of 14 languages: Aboriginal languages, Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Modern Greek, Russian, Spanish, Thai and Vietnamese. From these, states were required to nominate eight priority languages.

Language policy 21 Although there was no directive against the teaching of non-prioritised languages, the teaching of such languages has decreased in some schools. The eight languages could be turned into cash in so far as schools or school systems would receive $300 per capita for students successfully completing the Year 12 examination in any of them. Most states have prioritised the languages with the highest enrolments (see below) to maximise their financial benefits and this has tended to favour the languages of large communities (e.g. Greek, Vietnamese). The Australian Language and Literacy Policy was supplemented by a further prioritisation of four Asian languages (Mandarin, Indonesian, Japanese, and Korean) based on the report Asian Languages and Australia's Economic Future (Rudd 1994). This policy states that 60 per cent of Australian school students should study one or more of these four languages, and 40 per cent of students should study one or more languages outside this group. This led to the National Asian Languages and Studies in Australian Schools Strategy (NALSAS) under which funds would be provided for the necessary expansion of Mandarin, Indonesian, Japanese and Korean teaching. Nationally, this change of emphasis led to a shift in balance from socially motivated language maintenance to economically motivated language learning, especially of Asian languages of perceived economic importance. What linked the sociocultural and economic motivations for multilingualism and second language acquisition was the policy of "productive diversity" (promulgated by the then Prime Minister Paul Keating in November 1992), based on the premise that Australia will benefit economically (especially in trade and tourism) from its linguistic and cultural diversity. Potentially, this would enhance the position of those whose language skills and cultural competence is at present being underutilised and would also encourage language maintenance among the second and third generations of Australians of non-English-speaking backgrounds. Australian businesses have so far varied in their response to this policy. While there appears to be a widespread belief among the business community that English is sufficient for export purposes, there is also plenty of evidence on the "case study" level to suggest that careful

22 Establishing the context of the study

development and utilisation of language resources can indeed give a competitive edge to the business venture that is prepared to develop them (Kippe/ al. 1995:7-10).

1.5.2.1. The problem of language labelling Languages have defied the labels that politicians and others have chosen to give them. With the emphasis on business migration, i.e. the category of immigrants accompanied by the entry of large amounts of capital, the Asian languages targeted for economic reasons have also become community languages of importance. This holds true not only for Chinese (Mandarin), but also for Korean, Indonesian, and — in a different way — for Japanese, which is spoken in Australia by increasing numbers of temporary residents, business people and their families. There are now more speakers of Indonesian in Sydney than of Hungarian or Dutch, and more speakers of Korean than of Turkish. At the same time, Arabic and Spanish are languages of regions that can no longer be ignored in terms of trade potential for Australia. The importance of Latin America has been highlighted by a report on Australia's relations with Latin America commissioned by the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade (1991). In 1997, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade, Mr Tim Fischer, launched a report (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 1997) directing attention to the significance of the Middle East to the Australian economy. Each Australian state and territory now has its own language policy. While all of them have made some gesture in the direction of making languages other than English an integral part of the education of all school pupils, there is considerable variation in the explicit policies. On the one hand New South Wales requires all children to take a language other than English for at least 100 hours during their secondary education, soon to increase to 200 hours. On the other hand, Victoria will, by 2000, require all children to take a language other than English for at least eleven years, starting from the first year of primary education.

Language policy

23

Some states are ignoring federal stipulations about ratios of Asian priority languages to other languages, and indeed the limitation to eight priority languages. Some distribute the funds obtained for eight languages among far more languages. Victoria has prioritised a balance of European and Asian languages and a balance of "trade" and community languages. It has established four tiers of languages (Victoria 1993): 1. Key languages: French, German, Italian, Modern Greek, Indonesian, Japanese, Mandarin, and Vietnamese. 2. Languages for priority development: Arabic, Korean, Russian, Spanish, and Thai. 3. Languages of particular significance (particularly in a given geographical area), e.g.: Australian Sign Language (Auslan), Croatian, Hebrew, Khmer, Koorie (Aboriginal) languages, Macedonian, Maltese, Serbian, Turkish. 4. Other languages, usually taken at the Victorian School of Languages. Mandarin has been officially prioritised in all states and territories, Arabic in New South Wales only (in keeping with the demographic situation)4, and Spanish in New South Wales (up to 1994 when it was replaced by Vietnamese), Queensland, Tasmania, and the Australian Capital Territory. Not only the Victorian requirement, but even the New South Wales one, is fraught with difficulties due to the shortfall in qualified teachers, especially for some languages and in primary schools. In both states, some primary school children are receiving their only input in the second language through twice-weekly satellite programs beamed in one of seven languages. The "economic" rationale has, however, led to an unprecedented interest in and support for languages other than English in education. This has not affected all languages to the same extent. Mandarin has become such a desirable commodity that measures have had to be devised to protect it from those who "owned" it (see below, assessment procedures) and those speakers (of other Chinese varieties) who aspire to make it their own. It has become part of the tension around a group who, due to wealth,

24 Establishing the context of the study

diligence, and professional training, did not have to start at the bottom of the social escalator like previous groups of immigrants. The other two languages of this study are not at present perceived as quite so important, even though Spanish (as a first language rivalling English) and Arabic (as the second language of the Muslim world and parts of Africa) certainly deserve to be taken more seriously in education and other domains in Australia. Geography also works against Arabic. With the recent emphasis on closer economic relations with the Asia-Pacific region, a strong instrumental motivation could be said to exist for the learning of the languages of that region. In the context of this study, this would encompass Chinese and, to a lesser extent, Spanish (see Wurm et al. 1996).

1.5.2.2. The present state of language policy It is now seven years since the release of The Australian Languages and Literacy Policy, and it is more than due for updating. It has been partly superseded by a number of single-issue policies such as those on literacy (Lo Bianco —Freebody 1997) and Asian languages (Rudd 1994), the latter no longer being fully implemented itself. Many people still have notions of what Australian language policy constitutes, based on Lo Bianco (1987) and Dawkins (1991), especially the guiding principles. These policies have influenced the development and content of the various states' and territories' languages-in-education policies, which vary greatly depending on circumstance and perceived need. However, the need for a comprehensive and cohesive national language policy has not diminished, and it is time for a review and renewal of such a policy.

1.5.2.3. Distribution of language in schools An important policy development has been the mainstreaming of community language teaching. Just as the main responsibility for broadcasting and library resources has passed from the communities themselves to the public sector, community language teaching is not now

Language policy

25

relegated to part-time ethnic community schools, although these still exist and play an important part in language development, especially in the primary sector (and in NSW also up to the final year of secondary school). Decisions on the language(s) chosen for teaching at a particular school are in the hands of the school council and principal, and, although this will involve balancing out a number of factors, all the languages we are researching — Arabic, Chinese and Spanish — are taught in mainstream (state and Catholic) schools as well as in the Victorian School of Languages and its equivalent in Sydney. Arabic is not taught in the South Australian Secondary School of Languages, although Mandarin and Spanish are. It should be stated that a large number of students in Australia attend non-government schools — in Victoria, this constitutes over one third of secondary pupils. Although most of these schools are either Catholic or affiliated with the Anglican or Protestant churches, there is an increasing number of Eastern Orthodox, diverse Jewish, Islamic, fundamentalist Christian and non-denominational parent-controlled schools. All the Islamic schools teach Arabic. However, only one of them has students in the final year of secondary school. The "spread" of day schools teaching the three project languages at secondary level is as follows: Table 1.4:

Language Arabic Mandarin Spanish

Schools teaching Arabic, Mandarin and Spanish at secondary level in Victoria, 1997 State 8 26 10

Catholic -

8 3

Independent 4 32 1

Total 12 66 14

1.5.2.4. Assessment and background speakers Assessment methods in languages other than English have, to a large extent, reflected changes in teaching methods. As one of the "key learning areas", national curriculum frameworks have been developed for all languages other than English taught in schools. These are geared towards

26 Establishing the context of the study

communicative language teaching. Accordingly, assessment procedures have moved away from translation and formal grammar exercises to the development of oral and written discourse, including the production of imaginative, evaluative and informative writing, the acquisition of registers, role-play, and extracting information. These are the kinds of skills that all students have a need to acquire, and ones that those with a home background and/or in-country experience in the language will generally be in a good position to develop. With the push towards making languages other than English (LOTEs) mainstream and compulsory subjects, which has included LOTE bonuses at university entrance level in some states, an issue has arisen that has not been evident in public discussion since the 1960s, namely: Are candidates entitled to take as a subject a language in which their family has a background, or does that give them an "unfair" advantage? This has become an issue through a standardisation procedure based on "global scores". This system, intended to make scores in all subjects comparable, can have the effect of severely lowering a grade if there are many students with a high competence taking the subject, thereby detracting from the value of the assessment to indicate the competence of the student in the language. In most states, all students taking a language other than English are now required to fill in a "LOTE Form" requiring information on their background and their language use in the home. In Victoria, there are currently separate examinations for background and non-background speakers in Chinese and Indonesian, and a differentiation is also planned for Russian and Spanish. The LOTE Information Form itself may be taken into account in standardisation of assessment and in university admission procedures. A recent study of upper secondary students taking a LOTE in which they have some kind of background (Clyne et al. 1997) demonstrated that there is a wide diversity of "backgrounds", which could result from exposure at home, community or the wider family, in-country visits and student exchange, and primary school learning of the language. That is, "background" is not confined to ethnic background, and home exposure to the language in some families with an ethnic background can

Language policy

27

in fact be very limited. Different backgrounds result in quite different resources, and also in different needs, many of which are not currently being addressed in the classroom. There is a serious danger that the casualties of the standardisation process will be second and third generation Australians who have only a limited background in their community language but who, together with their parents, have worked very hard to maintain and develop it out of commitment to a multicultural Australia, and now feel that they are being penalised for it. The mainstreaming of community languages in Australia, together with the diversity of backgrounds and competencies among "background" speakers, introduces a very complex set of issues, which have also been confronted in the United States, particularly with regard to Spanish, the "majority minority" language (Valdes 1995). How do teachers construct curricula which will cater for the needs of "background" and "nonbackground" students, as well as the broad range of "background" students present in most classes? While Australia's language policies have justifiably received the international reputation of being enlightened, they have not always been fully implemented. If Australia's language and education policies are truly directed to enabling people to develop their potential to the full, then they must result in encouraging bilinguals to feel good about their bilingualism. Many of the language programs and assessment procedures currently in place fail to achieve this goal (see, for example, 4.4.2.13; also Clyne et al. 1997). In order to put into some kind of context the languages under discussion, the following table shows the examination enrolments at Year 12 level for 1995 and 1996 in Victoria and throughout Australia. Table 1.5:

Spanish Arabic Chinese

Year 12 examination enrolments, 1995 and 1996, Victorian Certificate of Education, and Australia-wide5 Vic 1995 197 161 753 (321 of these undertaking "Chinese as a second language")

Vic 1996 201 167 697 (CaSL6:254)

Aust 1995 728 524 2479 (CaSL:360)

Aust 1996 767 569 2361 (CaSL:281)

28 Establishing the context of the study The distinction between "Chinese" and "Chinese as a Second Language" only exists in some states. The conditions for enrolments in the latter subject vary between states, but the takers usually include students with a limited home background in a Chinese variety. In Victoria, the 1997 Victorian Certificate of Education (final year secondary) examinations demonstrated an interesting pattern of outstanding results. In Arabic and Spanish, most of the students with top results (11 out of 13 in Arabic, 17 out of 19 in Spanish) were taking the language at a centre of the Victorian School of Languages (on Saturday mornings), and the remainder were taking the language in state secondary day schools. The culturally "distinctive" schools in which Arabic is taught were notably absent. In Chinese, 23 of the top 47 students were taking the subject in independent schools, 13 were doing it at the VSL, 10 in parttime ethnic schools, and one at a state secondary school. Of the 31 students with the highest results in "Chinese as a Second Language", 11 took the language at an independent school, eight at the VSL, and six each at state and part-time ethnic schools (Based on Herald-Sun 1997). The predominance of fee-paying church schools in the case of Chinese may reflect both the financial capability of the families involved as well as the resources available to such schools and the use that they make of them. The success of students from the VSL indicates the considerable opportunities also offered by government provisions. In a study of final year secondary examination students taking Arabic, Chinese or Spanish (their community language) there was found to be an interactive relationship between the choice of language subject, proficiency in that language and attitude towards the language (Clyne— Kipp 1997c). Those studying the language of their background generally came from homes where it was used more, and they tended to differentiate it from English in form and function more than those not taking the language as a subject. The language studies also appeared to improve not only their language proficiency, but also their confidence in their language proficiency and their literacy level. They also displayed stronger attitudes towards the advantages of bilingualism, the desirability of the maintenance of ethnicity, and the role of language in achieving this.

The demography of Arabic, Chinese and Spanish in Australia

29

1.6. The demography of Spanish, Arabic and Chinese in Australia All of the languages addressed in this study have their largest concentrations in Sydney and Melbourne. 80%

70.2%

60%

47.7% 28.9%

40%

47.8% 24.6%

20.8%

20%

• Sydney • Melbourne

0% Arabic

Figure 1.1:

Chinese

Spanish

Language by residence, 1991, Arabic, Chinese and Spanish

While it is clear from this figure that all three of the languages under consideration are most strongly represented in Sydney, findings based on Sydney may be less than typical of other Australian cities where numbers are smaller, and the change in ethnolinguistic is less dramatic. Melbourne, while still claiming considerable numbers of speakers of the languages under consideration, has not undergone the rapid changes that Sydney has in its ethnolinguistic profile, and may in fact represent a set of circumstances and conditions more comparable with that of other major Australian cities. Even within the birthplace groups for these languages, there is some variation between state of residence:

Lebanon

Figure 1.2:

Egypt

Hong Kong

Taiwan

Birthplace groups by residence, 1991

Chile

Spain

30 Establishing the context of the study

Figure 1.2 indicates, for example, that the Lebanon-born are the most concentrated group, and that Victoria has a larger relative share of the Egypt-born than of the Lebanon-born. Victoria has a slightly higher proportional share of Hong Kong-born than of Taiwan-born, and a slightly higher proportion of Chile-born than of Spain-born. The Taiwan-born are the group with the largest proportion outside of both New South Wales and Victoria — Queensland, with 32 per cent of the total, is the most popular of the other states (and almost twice as popular as Victoria). For the Spainborn, the group with the next highest proportion of its population outside of NSW and Victoria, the most popular of the other states is Western Australia, with 7.2 per cent of the total. As well as varying concentrations between different cities, immigration patterns have also created concentrations within cities, not all of which have remained static. Maps showing the concentration within Melbourne of the languages of this study are provided in Chapters 2, 3 and 4.

1.7. The shift to English from Spanish, Arabic and Chinese in Australia 1.7.1.

Spanish

Language shift for the first generation is calculated as the percentage of persons born in Chile (or Spain) who now claim to speak only English at home. It is clear from Figure 1.3 that the language shift rate for the Spainborn is considerably higher than that for the Chile-born. Victoria has lower shift rates for both Chile-born and Spain-born than the national average.

The shift to English from Spanish, Arabic and Chinese in Australia

31

22.4% 77

9.8%

7ή°/„

• Chile • Spain

I * Victoria

Figure 1.3:

AUST

Language shift in the first generation, Chile and Spain, 1996

In the second generation, as shown by Figure 1.4, the language shift rate for the Spain-born is still considerably higher than that for the Chile-born, although the proportional difference is lower than it was for the first generation. Victoria still has slightly lower shift rates for both birthplace groups than the national average.

70% 60% 50% 40% 30%

38.0% 31.3%

• Chile • Spain

20% 10%

0% Victoria

Figure 1.4:

AUST

Language shift in the second generation, Chile and Spain, 1996

1.7.2. Arabic According to the 1996 Census the language shift rates for the first generation from Lebanon and Egypt were as follows:

32 Establishing the context of the study 25% 18.3%

20%

20.0%

15%

• Lebanon • Egypt

10% 5.4%

5.5%

5% 0% Victoria

Figure 1.5:

AUST

Language shift in the first generation, Lebanon and Egypt, 1996

Language shift for the first generation is calculated as the percentage of persons born in Lebanon (or Egypt) who now claim to speak only English at home. In the case of Egypt, of course, which itself is a country with a diverse linguistic profile, language shift cannot be assumed to be purely a shift from Arabic. According to the 1996 census, 43.4 per cent of first generation settlers from Egypt spoke Arabic, 14.6 per cent spoke Greek, 11.7 per cent spoke Italian, and 10 per cent spoke other languages (other than English). In the case of Lebanon, on the other hand, 90.2 per cent of the Lebanon-bom spoke Arabic (including Lebanese). For the second generation, the language shift figures are as follows: 70% 59.4% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20%

17.6%

20.1%

• Lebanon • Egypt

10% 0% Victoria

Figure 1.6:

AUST

Language shift in the second generation, Lebanon and Egypt, 19967

The shift to English from Spanish, Arabic and Chinese in Australia

33

The second generation language shift figures are calculated as the percentage of the population with one or both parents born in Lebanon (or Egypt) who speak only English at home. As can be seen from Figures 1.5 and 1.6, the shift rates for the Lebanonborn are considerably lower than those for the Egypt-born, and the shift rates for Victoria are slightly lower overall than the national average.

1.7.3.

Chinese

Within the first generation, the language shift rates (the proportion of the population only speaking English at home) calculated for the Hong Kongborn was 9 per cent, lower than that for many community language groups, but higher than that calculated for the Taiwan-born (3.4 per cent). 9.0%

10% 8%

7.8% • Victoria

6% 4·?%

4%

3.4%

• Australia

2%

0% Hong Kong

Figure 1.7:

40%

Taiwan

Language shift in the first generation, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China born, 1996 33.3%

35.7% 25.9%

30% • Victoria 20%

• Australia

10% 2.1% 0% Hong Kong

Figure 1.8:

Taiwan

Language shift in the second generation, Hong Kong and Taiwan, 1996

34 Establishing the context of the study Victoria has lower shift rates for the Hong Kong-born than the aggregated national rate, but a slightly higher shift rate for the Taiwan-born. This pattern is repeated for the second generation. For purposes of comparison, Table 1.6 indicates the range of language shift in the first and second generations of Australia's major ethnic communities. Table 1.6:

Language shift in Australia, 1996s

Birthplace Austria Chile France Germany Greece Hong Kong Hungary Italy Japan Korea, Republic of Lebanon FYROM 9 Malta Netherlands Other South America Poland PRC Spain Taiwan Turkey

First generation language shift (%) 48.3 9.8 37.2 48.2 6.4 9 31.8 14.7 15.4 11.6 5.5 3 36.5 61.9 17.2 19.6 4.6 22.4 3.4 5.8

Second generation language shift (%) 89.7 38 77.7 89.7 28 35.7 82.1 57.9 57.6 18 20.1 14.8 82.1 95 50.5 75.7 37.4 63 21 16.1

1.8. Language maintenance institutions As Fishman has demonstrated in a succession of studies, notably 1966, 1985 and 1991, language maintenance is fostered by a range of institutions set up by the ethnolinguistic communities themselves or established by government and utilised by members of the communities. We can differentiate between those institutions whose sole or primary function is language maintenance, e.g. Saturday schools, theatre groups, and literature circles, libraries, newspapers, radio and television programs, and those

Language maintenance institutions 35 with other primary functions, but which nevertheless further language maintenance because they are conducted in the community language and offer members the opportunity to use the language in a range of contexts. These include religious congregations, social and sporting clubs, welfare societies, ethnic shops, restaurants, and guest houses. Folk-singing groups probably fall somewhere the two types of institutions because of the close link between the language and the object of the activity. Some of the institutions are now predominantly part of state-run or supported multicultural initiatives — radio, television, libraries, secondary level language programs. However, we should distinguish between radio and television programs provided by a state network and public access ones where a range of community members participate in the production of programs. Here there will usually be less regulation of standard or purist norms, but, on the other hand, more people will have the opportunity or the need to use the language in a public domain. However, individual entrepreneurs running the ethnic language press in Australia often have strong regulatory tendencies in language. Welfare societies tend to be organised by ethnic communities or by language-based multi-ethnic bodies. Some of the language-specific religious congregations are affiliated with, or have been established by larger, "mainstream" institutions such as the Roman Catholic, Baptist, Anglican or Uniting Churches10. Others are ethno-specific and language specific immigrant religious denominations, such as the Greek, Syrian and Serbian Orthodox Churches and the Coptic Church. The intended future of the congregation, whether transitional or perpetuating, will vary accordingly and there has been a marked change in the position of the mainstream institutions in the direction of pluralist policies (Clyne 1991:131-137.) However, the attitudes and language maintenance of the second generation is crucial to the survival chances not only of ethnic religious congregations but also of most of the institutions.

36 Establishing the context of the study

1.9. The theoretical foundations for this study For many decades, researchers from a range of disciplines have been intrigued by the way in which languages have been maintained and lost in immigrant contexts. They have studied scores of languages brought to immigrant countries by successive waves of new arrivals and have identified factors responsible for differential patterns of language maintenance and shift. Cultural, societal, individual and historical factors relating to both the country of origin and the host country have been described. The use of immigrant languages in specific domains has been shown to strengthen the maintenance and intergenerational transmission of a language. In order to provide a framework in which the Australian communities of Arabic, Chinese and Spanish speakers can be described, as well as a framework in which findings can be presented, we will now discuss, briefly, some models of language maintenance as developed by a number of researchers.

1.9.1. Factors, clear-cut and ambivalent, influencing language maintenance Kloss (1966) employs the American situation (and German-English language contact in particular) to identify factors which clearly promote language maintenance and factors which are ambivalent, in that they can promote either language maintenance or language shift, sometimes depending on the combination of factors. Excluding factors that are irrelevant to Australia (Clyne 1979:3), Kloss' clear-cut factors are:11 Early point of immigration·, and Sprachinseln (language enclaves) The first factor refers to the arrival of the language community early in the history of settlement in a classical immigration country, and appears to have encouraged language maintenance in Australia only in so far as it was related to the settlement of speakers of a particular language in rural

The theoretical foundations for this study

37

Sprachinseln (language enclaves). An example is the early formation of German enclaves in South Australia, western and north-western Victoria, and southern Queensland where German was maintained as the main language of the community for three to five generations (Clyne 1981:1521; Kipp 1981). Only one of the languages chosen for this study had a significant presence in Australia before this century (Chinese), and this group of languages was not characterised by rural enclaves. There was a high relative concentration of speakers of Chinese in urban "Chinatowns" during the first half of the twentieth century, but numbers were small and the communities were not revitalised by new arrivals or by any degree of natural increase. Today "Chinatowns", like historic ethnic concentrations of other groups, serve as shopping and social centres where the language and culture are present though the domicile areas are now elsewhere. Membership of a denomination with parochial schools This has been shown to promote language maintenance in the Australian context only if the schools are conducted bilingually (Clyne 1991: 87; Kipp 1981). Although some sectors of the Arabic-speaking community in Australia — Copts and Maronites — run their own day schools, they are not conducted bilingually, and the role of Arabic is strongly influenced by parental concerns that their children not be disadvantaged in English, or "marginalised" in Australian society (see 4.2.1). Premigration experience with language maintenance Premigration experience with language maintenance prior to the country of immigration (i.e. in the country of origin) predisposes the group to a motivation to maintain a language or culture in the context of another, dominant, language or culture, as well as giving them experience of the ways in which this can be achieved.

38 Establishing the context of the study

In the context of this study, for instance, people from Egypt " (for example, German, French, Italian and "Maltese" speakers) come from a country with a long history of multiculturalism, and tend to have maintained high levels of multilingualism in Australia, while the Hong Kong Chinese come from a society in which English was the only official language for many decades after the establishment of British rule, and "role-sharing" or diglossia (English/Cantonese) is well established, with the more recent addition of Mandarin as a result of the reversion of Hong Kong to the PRC. Ambivalent factors are: Educational level of the immigrant

While a higher educational standard facilitates a higher culture around the community language and a greater range of cultural activities, it also brings immigrants closer to the cultural life of the dominant group, multiplying possible points of contact and thus promoting language shift. A lower level of education, on the other hand, promotes isolation from the dominant culture, although it also precludes many activities which may help to strengthen the community language. Numerical

strength

Large groups can afford more extensive language maintenance efforts, and can exercise a greater political influence, but cannot avoid multiple contacts with the dominant language group in the same way as closely-knit smaller groups can. Each of the languages studied has a "larger" and a "smaller" birthplace group, and concentration in settlement patterns also varies. Clyne—Kipp (1997b) demonstrates, for Australia at least, the importance of speaker concentration rather than raw numbers in language maintenance patterns. It was found that languages are maintained best in the State in which they form the highest proportion of the entire population.

The theoretical foundations for this study

39

Linguistic and cultural distance from the dominant group While these can favour language shift in that they render preservation of identity difficult, they can also allow groups and individuals to spend more time on language maintenance, as less effort is needed to acquire the dominant language and culture. The development of instruments for the measurement of linguistic and cultural distance is somewhat problematic, and different indices will produce different results. However, on the basis of typology and genetic relationship and in terms of cultural history, it could be argued that the Spanish-language group is more closely akin to mainstream Australia than the other two groups studied (Arabic and Chinese). Within these latter groups, however, there is a wide range of types and degrees of difference. For example, the Hong Kong Chinese not only come from a highly westernised country, they also tend to settle in predominantly middle to upper class ("non-immigrant" areas) and share the values of other middle to upper class Australians. Some sectors of the Lebanese community, on the other hand, particularly many Muslim immigrants of the mid-1980s, are not well educated, not well off financially, have had no previous experience of English or of modem urban life, and are separated from mainstream Australia by the added factor of religion. On the basis of statistics which indicate very different language maintenance rates of closely related languages in Australia, Clyne (1991:88) suggests that cultural distance from the host society might function as a clear-cut factor in language maintenance while language distance is clearly ambivalent. Attitude of majority to language or group Suppression of a language and/or culture can lead to assimilation or to greater efforts to maintain both, while favourable attitudes and policies can encourage pluralism or a more humane and gradual entry into the mainstream accomplished by language shift. The ambivalence of this factor is heightened by the additional considerations of self-identification

40 Establishing the context of the study and political factors in the homeland. For example, Clyne (1991:95) indicates at least three ways in which refugees from Nazi Germany (and occupied Austria) in Australia have responded to resettlement and the circumstances which precipitated this resettlement (Anglo-assimilation, German cultural retention, Jewish identification). The attitude of the majority group, as well as the community language group's perceptions of itself and the host community, also tends to be time-specific and variable between vintages of migration. Both the Arabic and the Spanish-speaking communities of this study represent at least two "vintages" of migration — immediate post-war migration, where the policies of the host society were strongly assimilationist in nature, and "1970s onwards", where policies of multiculturalism were being put in place, services of many different sorts were being provided and the expectations of immigrant groups correspondingly adjusted. The "visibility" of the various groups under consideration is also different, with the Chinese (long excluded from Australia) tending to suffer from any "anti-Asian" sentiment within the community. World events such as the Gulf War also have their influence, with the entire Arabic-speaking community in Australia suffering as a result of the negative portrayal of Arabs in the media at that time, and the resultant stereotyping of all "Arabs" as radical, dangerous, fundamentalist Muslims. Inter-ethnic differences Different groups have different sociocultural characteristics which may promote or militate against language maintenance. These remain difficult to quantify or to explain, although a number of models have been put forward in an attempt to do just that. One of these is "core value" theory (see 1.9.2.1 below). Most of the above factors cannot be considered in isolation. For example, small language distance and smallness of group size may be ambivalent factors but in combination might be strong enough to resist the effects of

The theoretical foundations for this study 41

prior language maintenance experience, as in the case of Frisian speakers. (Frisian is spoken at home by only 69 people in Australia despite a considerable postwar migration from the province of Friesland in the Netherlands.) Frisians, like Sorbs in the 19th century, who quickly lost their first language, tended to co-settle with a group with whom they shared religious and some cultural ties (Dutch in the case of the Frisians and Germans in the case of the Sorbs). A combinatorial model for language maintenance and shift has been developed especially for Spanish in Australia by Martin (1996). The model is presented in schematic form, with factors such as age, period of residence, family networks, birthplace, residence within Australia, occupation, religious affiliation arranged in a number of clusterings, one of which indicates the predominance of language shift (where the average level of Spanish of children is low), one of which indicates the predominance of language maintenance (where the average level of Spanish of children is high), and two intermediary clusterings, one of which is described as "ambivalent" (where the outcome may be high or low levels of Spanish) and one of which is described as "transitionally ambiguous" (where there is a predominantly "fair" level of Spanish). Some factors in the most highly "shift prone" position were birth in Australia, exogamy and Anglo-Saxon in-laws, while at the other end of the scale were factors such as unemployment, poor English and high concentration of Spanish speakers in suburb of residence. While the schema does allow for the representation of the relative importance of a number of factors, it still does not address the issue of factors operating in combination with each other. In the final analysis, it is the interplay of societal, group and individual factors that determine the maintenance of a language (Hyltenstam—Stroud 1996; Gal 1979).

42 Establishing the context of the study

1.9.2. Predictive models of language maintenance 1.9.2.1. Core value theory Smolicz (1979, 1981) has developed the theory of "core values", based on empirical research on language maintenance in Australia using a humanistic sociological approach. He and his students have tested the theory on an increasing number of ethnolinguistic groups (e.g. Smolicz— Secombe 1988; Smolicz et al. 1989-1990). He contends that each group has particular cultural values that are fundamental to its continued existence as a group, and members rejecting those values run the risk of exclusion from the group. He sees language as a more crucial core value to some cultures and ethnic groups than to others. For example, according to Smolicz, language is a "cultural core value" for Greeks and Poles and these groups are thus more likely to maintain their language in a minority situation, while the Dutch rapidly lose their language under similar conditions, since it is not vital to the maintenance of their ethnicity. To some groups, other values are more vital than language. For instance, family cohesion has been offered as the core value of Italians. However, there seems to be variation in core values across generations and between sub-groups within the larger group or ethnolinguistic community (Clyne 1991:91-102). As with Kloss's framework, combinations can influence the outcome. For instance, postwar Greek immigrants and their children, who have had an unusually successful history of language maintenance, have been helped by the interrelation of religion, language and a sense of "belonging" as cultural core values.

1.9.2.2. Marketplace value While Smolicz's core value theory focuses on the symbolic function of language, and its contribution to group membership, there are other frameworks which accentuate the economic value of language. The notion of the "marketplace", introduced by Bourdieu (1982), concentrates on the material or instrumental function of language. The notion contends that a

The theoretical foundations for this study

43

language will persist for as long as it is useful in socioeconomic terms. Haugen (1980:114), who had developed the concept independently, writes: Language competence is a skill with a market value that determines who will acquire it...Even...the first language we learn...will be maintained only if it serves as a medium of communication with speakers with whom we wish to communicate. This concept of market value can thus be said to encompass both socioeconomic advantage and communicative function. Coulmas (1992) has developed this notion in the context of globalisation. De Vries (1983) uses the term "linguistic capital", which he sees as providing economic and social status. A low level of linguistic capital will either preclude participation in the labour force or ensure high levels of vulnerability and marginalisation in the labour market, which in turn will affect earning capacity and social status. Grin (1996) provides an overview of literature surrounding language and economics, much of which is concerned with the description of the economic disadvantage of various groups of speakers (largely in Canada and the United States), and the agendas underlying language policy and planning (research which has also included the European Union and addresses the issues surrounding indigenous minority languages). Although Grin includes a section on "Language spread, maintenance and shift", the research cited is largely concerned with the economic costs involved in promoting a particular language, and he is critical of several attempts to date to develop analogies between linguistic interaction and the marketplace (e.g. Bourdieu 1982). This criticism is based firstly on the argument that treating a language purely in economic terms ignores the huge (and critical) symbolic weight that it carries for its speakers, and secondly on the claim that economic terminology to date has been treated as an extended metaphor only, with no attempt being made to identify the necessary parameters of price, quantity, supply and demand. Grin does, however, concede that where a choice is present, economic factors may be relevant in that choice, on a group or an individual level:

44 Establishing the context of the study

Any degree of spread can be self-sustaining or not, depending on speakers' linguistic abilities, the respective level of difficulty of the languages considered, and the benefits and costs incurred by speakers when selecting one or other combination of linguistic skills. (Grin 1996:23) The concept of marketplace value is an important one for immigrant languages in the Australian context, particularly for languages of international importance like the three chosen for this study which, being pluricentric, offer economic opportunities beyond those in any one country of origin. It may be expected to have particular relevance for the Chinese situation, in that not all Chinese varieties are accorded equal status in terms of school provision and international importance.

1.9.2.4. Fishman's predictive model Fishman (1985:158-166) proposes sets of measures for the prediction of the relative survival rates of community languages: 1. The number of community language claimants, adjusted for average age. 2. The institutional resources for language maintenance, and other factors, e.g. religious and racial distance from the mainstream, in addition to period of major immigration. 3. A compromise between 1 and 2. Among problematic aspects of this model are the definition of "mainstream", the difficulty in quantifying language maintenance institutions, and the inclusion of institutions in which a language used specifically for religious or liturgical purposes is maintained (Clyne 1991:106-107). However, there is no doubt that subjective and objective distance from the mainstream is an important determining factor (see 1.9.1). Fishman's model provides a good basis for any discussion on the future of community languages, taking into account Fishman's (1985) own

The theoretical foundations for this study

45

cautionary warning about predictions of future language use due to the unpredictable and intervening variables between mainstream and sidestream, including immigration intakes and ethnic revivals.

1.9.2.5. Reversing the process of language shift Because the language communities we are dealing with are of recent vintage in the Australian scene, we are concerned more with the development and mechanism of language shift than with attempts to reverse it. Nevertheless, Fishman's model of reversing language shift (1991) is of substantial theoretical value in pinpointing where a society or a community is in supporting community and/or indigenous languages. It diagnoses difficulties in reversing language shift and, by extension, in maintaining languages, suggesting means of improving the situation "in a sociolinguistically informed way" (Fishman 1991:1). As there is a chapter specifically based on Australia, the theory provides a point of reference for comparing the situation under review here with others in the world today. The typology which Fishman has devised is based on an 8-stage Gradual Intergenerational Disruption Scale (GIDS) in which the higher the rating is the lower are the language continuity prospects of the community or group. The ratings are implicational in that the higher ones imply the lower ones. The highest ratings apply especially to most of the indigenous languages in Australia. The ratings are: Stage 8: Most users are socially isolated old people and the language has to be reassembled from their speech and memories to be taught to others. Stage 7: Though most users are socially integrated, they are beyond childbearing age. Stage 6: Attainment of intergenerational informal oracy and its demographic concentration and institutional reinforcement. Stage 5: Community language literacy in home, school and community (including ethnic schools) but no extra-communal reinforcement of the literacy.

46 Establishing the context of the study

Stage 4: Community language in the compulsory years of schooling, including language education and bilingual education. This constitutes the first inroads into the mainstream structures and can be regarded as risky because this development can be revoked by the representatives of the majority. Another possibility is for this to take place in sidestream schools (e.g. Greek, Orthodox, Jewish, Islamic schools). Stage 3: Use of the community language in the "lower work sphere", including in communication between the minority and the mainstream. Stage 2: Community language in government services and mass media but not in the higher spheres of either. The significance of these for inter-generational language transmission is not very great. As Fishman (1991:270) points out, there is not a great deal of second generation readership of ethnic newspapers or second generation listening of community language radio programs. Whether this can be attributed to low language proficiency and lack of commitment to the language, as Fishman suggests, can be tested in our data in the following three chapters. On the other hand, service provision in community languages is largely to meet the needs of the first generation (who prefer the community language to English in public service encounters) and is not directly in the interests of second generation language maintenance. Stage 1: Higher education, central or regional government activity, national media, and higher/specialised work sphere. As Fishman (1991:276) points out, there is very little activity in these areas. On consideration of the above factors, Fishman (1991:277) concludes that "Australian policies and processes constitute a positive but ineffective approach to RLS on behalf of recent immigrant languages and a negative but potentially effective approach to RLS on behalf of Aboriginal languages".

The theoretical foundations for this study

47

1.9.3. Domains of language use Domains (Fishman 1965, 1966, 1985; Cooper 1967; Greenfield 1970) are contextualised spheres, or total interactional contexts of communication, such as home, work, neighbourhood, school, and local religious units. Language can be maintained in one or more domains even as it is being replaced in others, and there has been considerable attention given by researchers to the relative importance of the various domains of use, and the contribution that they make to the overall maintenance of a minority language.

1.9.3.1. Language in the home The home has often been cited as a key element in language maintenance — if a language is not maintained in the home domain, then it cannot be maintained elsewhere (see, for example, Haugen 1973:63-64; Bettoni 1981; Clyne 1967). It is also the domain on which our estimation of language shift and maintenance in Australia is based, given that the language question in the last three Australian censuses (1986, 1991, 1996) has been on language use in the home. Fishman's (1985) opinion is that the ability to compartmentalise English and keep it out of the central language maintenance domains of home (and church) leads to effective language maintenance, as it promotes a situation of "stable diglossia". Referring to the reversal of language shift, he maintains that it cannot be accomplished at all if it is not accomplished at the intimate family and local community levels. The difficulty for planners in this regard is that the natural collective processes of home and family are not easily accessible to or influenced by social planning. More easily planned measures (such as schools, or the mass media) are further from the nexus and may contribute to rhetoric rather than to action.

48 Establishing the context of the study

1.9.3.2. Language and religion Religious institutions can play a number of roles in the life of an immigrant, depending on the institution involved, the language spoken, the stance taken towards language and cultural difference, and the sorts of activities offered. For immigrants with strong religious convictions, religious institutions may also play a very important part in the settlement process. It has even been suggested (Lary et al. 1994; Inglis—Wu 1994) that an immigrant who may not previously have regarded him or herself as particularly religious may turn to the church (or mosque, or temple) in Australia as an additional "identifier" and for practical help in the clearly very difficult process of settling in a new country. Religious institutions can be important to language maintenance in various ways (Fishman 1985:251): they foster stable sociocultural patterns; they counteract or mitigate the impact of the rapid rate of social change which typifies modern life; and they sometimes sponsor schools. Central to any discussion on religious institutions with relation to language maintenance is, of course, the degree to which the religious institution in question is committed to the community language. The relation between language and religion varies and is complex. Some religious groups regard a particular language as central to the practice of their faith, others consider language as totally independent of it, and still others consider the link dispensable in the long term, given that there is a limited time span during which the individual's faith and religious practice is tied to the original community language (Clyne 1991:132-137). Fishman (1985) points out that in the US today religious institutions compete for clientele much as businesses do, and minority languages can be seen as hindrances in such competition, whether it be for attendance, or for "souls", or both. At some point, therefore, religious institutions may cease to be bulwarks and instead "may well become perpetrators of a coup de grace. Language maintenance is seldom their avowed purpose" (Fishman 1985:251). An additional issue, which is very relevant to the maintenance of Arabic, is the issue of "religious classicals", i.e. languages which are particularly

The theoretical foundations for this study

49

related to the practice and continuance of religious ritual, and which are not the vernacular, everyday language of the community concerned. Fishman cites (Koranic) Arabic, Old Testament Hebrew, Ecclesiastic Greek and Latin as examples of "religious classicals", and adds "no matter how highly regarded, how well taught and how fluently learned, they remain additional languages for specific functions and do not become the mother tongue of subsequent generations" (Fishman 1991:360). They may, however, become very important in maintaining boundaries between the host culture and the minority culture, a factor that Fishman regards as the basic issue in language maintenance. Their very existence does in fact presuppose a group or religious community that is separate from the mainstream religious institutions of the host country.

1.9.3.3. Language and social networks Milroy—Li Wei (1991) present a model of language choice based on social networking, using the example of the Tyneside Chinese community of Newcastle (in the UK). The "network" concept, based on Milroy (1980), and originally adapted from Mitchell (1969:74) suggests that individuals create personal communities which provide them with a meaningful framework for solving the problems of their day-to-day existence. Language choice patterns in such communities will rely largely on their history of language contact and the nature of their social organisation (Li Wei 1995). Milroy—Li Wei contend that, for practical reasons, social networks are generally "anchored" to individuals, and interest focuses on relatively "strong" first order network ties (generally something between 20-50 individuals). Such close-knit social networks seem to have a particular capacity to maintain and even enforce local conventions and norms, including linguistic norms.

50 Establishing the context of the study

1.9.3.4. Language and education Schools may be important to language maintenance in a range of ways. They represent the "formal" as opposed to the "informal" mode of language acquisition, and the acquisition of formal, decontextualised registers as opposed to informal, contextualised ones. They address matters such as literacy, which is often not addressed through the home, and without which access to community language resources is limited. They also tend to support standard language acquisition rather than the acquisition of regional varieties, and parents often look to the schools to teach their children the "proper" or "correct" way of saying things, particularly if the educational standard of the parents is low, or a nonstandard variety is spoken in the home. Schools can provide access to literature and culture which may not be pursued in the students' homes, and thus multiply the contacts students have with the community language culture and language. It has been suggested (Kipp 1981) on the basis of oral interviews among the last generation of bilinguals in a former German-speaking enclave in Victoria that schools have not in fact been shown to influence language maintenance in the long term unless there has been an element of bilingual education present — that is, unless content matter has actually been taught and discussed through the medium of the community language. Language maintenance efforts for their own sake, even when they involve schooling for young people, are not as successful if there is no community languagemedium component to the instruction process (with or without an emphasis on a language maintenance ideology). This introduces one of the major potential roles of an educational institution — to provide a real and significant function for the community language in the life of the student by using it as the means to a demonstrable end, thus enhancing its market value. Fishman (1985) has, however, argued that schools cannot bring about language maintenance. They can only support it where it is already occurring in the home and community.

Methodology

1.10. 1.10.1.

51

Methodology Introduction

We have presented a "thumbnail sketch" of the maintenance of Arabic, Chinese and Spanish in Australia by means of census statistics (1.7) and we have explored some of the theoretical models that have been developed to explain or interpret figures such as these (1.9). While the analysis of census material yields much valuable general information about language retentiveness in the home (which is generally regarded by researchers as the key domain for language maintenance or language shift) and it can facilitate comparisons between trends in a large number of languages, there are a number of things that it does not tell us. It does not, for example, tell us anything about language use outside the home of the informant (in the homes of others, with extended family, in the work situation, etc.), and almost certainly greatly underestimates the actual use of community languages in Australia. It does not tell us anything about the dynamics of language use within the home (who is using the community language to whom and how much?) and it does not tell us whether or not a speaker is literate in the language. It tells us nothing about language preference as opposed to language use. Language preference may well be a better predictor than present use of the linguistic choices of the younger generation when they move out of the family home and set up establishments of their own. The empirical research which forms the bulk of this book was designed in part to overcome some of these problems, and to elaborate on material already gained from Census data. The aim was to account for, as well as to describe, patterns of language use and behaviour, and for this reason both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies were used.

1.10.2.

The empirical research

This research, which focuses on ethnolinguistic variation in patterns of language use and maintenance, required insights into community dynamics

52 Establishing the context of the study

and community structures. Some of these were gleaned from the demographic study of languages in Australia, some had been acquired by the researchers through their own contacts and previous research experience. However, it was through key members of communities and the employment of language-specific/ethno-specific research assistants that links with the community were established, which informed many aspects of this research. As an initial strategy we employed the concept of the "focus group", one that has traditionally been associated with the fields of business and marketing, but one that lends itself very well to research of the kind carried out in this project. Greenbaum (1988:10) describes a focus group as a "discussion about a topic of particular interest [to a client organisation] of among eight to ten people...The participants in the group have some common characteristics that relate to the topic discussed in the group". In the case of the present research, the topic of common interest was interest in, or use of, the community language(s) under investigation. Greenbaum (1988:18) goes on to describe in more detail the philosophy behind focus group methodology, which in his opinion is firmly based in the "group process". That is, the dynamics of group interaction will yield more useful information than would otherwise be available. Most people feel more comfortable talking about almost any subject when they are involved in a discussion as part of a group, and the interaction among the members of a group will tend to result in the participants' being more talkative due to the stimulation generated by the feelings of others in the group. In the case of the present study, where attitudes were being canvassed, and where there were at least two major "subgroups" involved, this "discussion/interaction" process was particularly important. It was also important that people had the "safety" and relative anonymity of a group setting in order to feel able to express themselves with honesty on questions of government policy making and implementation, for example. Greenbaum (1988:99) also makes mention of "postgroup discussion" in his analysis of the focus group process. The purpose of such a meeting is to "discuss the findings of the group that was conducted and develop a consensus among the assembled group as to the main points of the

Methodology

53

session". Such a postgroup discussion can also address "appropriate next steps...often this will consist of the implementation of a quantitative research study in order to develop projectable input based on the hypotheses that came out of the focus group sessions". We adopted this methodology in this study, with minor variations. As part of the first focus group held with each language group, we canvassed opinions and information which assisted us in the preparation of quantitative survey instruments. In many cases we also used contacts provided by focus group members to access informants for the more quantitative part of the research. We then held a second focus group meeting for the three language groups, in which we presented an outline of the findings of the written survey and asked for advice and opinion on their validity and implications.

1.10.2.1. Focus group A A range of people from different sections of the relevant community were invited, all of whom would offer some specific perspective or view of language maintenance and its role in their group. Invitees were selected with the help of language-specific research assistants, all of whom were members of the relevant communities, together with key members of the communities who were already known to, or identified by, the chief researchers. The following groups were targeted for inclusion: • • • • • •

mainstream schools in which the language is taught, and part-time ethnic schools electronic media and the ethnic press religious groups social welfare organisations secular and sporting organisations any "umbrella organisation" functioning within and on behalf of the community

54 Establishing the context of the study

•

"unorganised" members of the community, i.e. people not belonging to any ethnic-specific interest group or organisation

While overcommitment and similar factors sometimes deterred some of the invited guests from participating, we were most impressed by the enthusiasm with which members of the focus groups sat for hours debating issues such as are set out below. The considerable goodwill and quite disinterested co-operation (we could offer no material incentive in return for their time and expertise) that they showed us was invaluable to the project. Apart from their role as informants to discuss the specified focus questions (see below), the members of the focus group provided an entry into the various sub-groups and networks within the relevant community. They assisted us in setting parameters for the quantitative surveys and further qualitative research, as well as providing information on groupings and networks, which was also invaluable to the project. The agenda of this first round of focus groups was as follows: 1. General introduction of project (including mention of tape recorder). Members of the group were also informed that they could answer questions or provide information in either English or the community language involved, as the language-specific research assistants were also present, and able and willing to act as interpreters (in some cases they held formal interpreting qualifications). 2. General introduction of participants. 3. Outline of organisations: •

numbers involved

• • •

origin of members activities the main aims of the organisation

Methodology

•

55

the role played by language in the activities of the organisation

4. Discussion of the importance of maintaining "ethnic" identity in Australia. 5. Discussion of the importance of language in the maintenance of "ethnic" identity in Australia. 6. Discussion of the success the community group has met with in maintaining their language in Australia. 7. Discussion of the ways in which community languages can be maintained in Australia. For example: • • • • •

media ethnic schools contact with country of origin grandparents social networks

8. Discussion of the main difficulties in maintaining the community language in Australia. 9. Discussion of the conditions underlying the use of the community language and the use of English by people from the relevant community. 10. The question of a particular geographic centre for the community language in Melbourne (i.e. somewhere where videos in the language can be hired, or where there are shops, restaurants, etc., where the language is spoken). 11. Discussion of how easy it is for children born in Australia to become literate in the community language. This question was particularly relevant to the Arabic and Chinese groups because of the differences

56 Establishing the context of the study

between the script/writing system of English and the community language. 12. Discussion of the motivation of children born in Australia, or who have received much of their education in Australia, to learn the language of their parents. 13. Views on whether the community language should be more widely learned by other Australians and about the mainstream school provision for the community language. 14. Views on Australia's "multicultural" policies, and whether they have had any direct positive impact on the maintenance of the language. In addition to these general questions, each group was also asked a small number of questions particularly relevant to that particular group. For example, an additional question for the Arabic focus group was: "What role does Arabic play in the religious life of Arabic speakers? (Muslim vs Christian)". The Chinese and Spanish groups were held at Monash University, which is conveniently situated to at least some of the concentration areas relevant to those groups. The Arabic group, on the other hand, met at a migrant resource centre in an area with a large number of Arabic speakers in an inner northern suburb of Melbourne. The focus groups commenced in the early evening (7.30 pm), and in some instances continued for more than three hours. Basic refreshments were provided by the host organisation.

1.10.2.2. The written survey It was incumbent upon the language-specific research assistants (on the criteria indicated below), to select and make contact with the respondents for the written surveys, in many cases with the help of focus group members. Two surveys were developed, one for the first generation, which contained more open-ended questions and qualitative content and one for

Methodology

57

the second generation, which gathered largely quantitative information. Both research instruments were developed in English and the community language (one is a translation of the other). In selecting informants, the research assistants bore in mind the following sampling factors: For the "first generation " (Gl)

I.

questionnaires:

Informants should have been born, and at least partially educated, in the appropriate birthplace.

II. We gathered ten "family case studies" from each birthplace group (a total of 20 for each language group) — these "family case studies" were sometimes made up of individuals, but often included more than one informant. In these instances, each individual aged 15 years and over filled in a questionnaire, in the language of their choice. III. At least one each of the following was aimed for: A. individuals or families with a religious affiliation (different affiliations as relevant to the language group) B. individuals or families with a social club affiliation C. individuals or families with no particular affiliation D. a family with children partially or wholly educated in the country of origin E. a family with children at pre-school age F. a family with children in primary school G. a family with children in secondary school IV. A sampling of ages from 15-65+ was aimed for, and a roughly equal proportion of males and females.

58 Establishing the context of the study

For the "second generation " (G2) questionnaires: I.

Informants needed to be born in Australia of (Chile/Spain/Taiwan, etc.)-born parents.12 Twenty such informants for each birthplace group were required (a total of 40 for each language group).

II. There should be: A. roughly equal numbers of informants from the following age groups: [15-19], [19-24], [25-34] (for some communities, such as the Taiwan group, this was not possible, because of the recency of migration of the majority of the group) B. a roughly equal number of males and females (in each age grouping) C. in communities such as the Arabic-speaking community, a roughly equal number of informants from the major religious persuasions It should be noted at this point that there was not complete uniformity in numbers between first generation informants in the three groups. This was due to the involvement of more (and/or larger) family groups in some samples. Although every effort was made to include a uniform age and gender spread, this was also not always easy. The questionnaire was a long and detailed one, and we were completely dependent on the goodwill of the respondents, as we could offer no concrete remuneration. The ease of networking also varied from community to community, depending on many factors (see also 5.5). What we have however achieved for the first generation is at least ten case studies (i.e. separate family groups or individuals) over a wide range of occupations. Some of the inconsistencies within the samples have actually proven to be quite helpful. The fact that we have, for example, a relatively large proportion of younger informants in the Spain group first generation has enabled us to examine more closely the relative effects of generation and age. That is, are certain characteristics typical only of the second generation, or are they perhaps more typical of a younger age group, regardless of birthplace? The second

Methodology

59

generation informants represent a fairly typical spread of ages relative to the group from which they were chosen, and also represent as wide a range of occupation as possible (given that most of the Taiwan group informants, for example, were still students). We have already mentioned the impossibility, due to the age of the migration, of fully fulfilling the conditions for the Taiwan group "second generation". Due to this inability we have, however, been able to make some assessment of the effects of limited elementary schooling in the country of origin on literacy practices ten years or so further on. The questionnaires were administered over a period of some six months, coded and entered into a computer using the SPSS13 software package. Qualitative comments made during the course of the questionnaire, but not lending themselves to the coding process, were collected and organised into subject groupings via word processor. Where these are included in the text of the present study, they are acknowledged in the following way: by case number (so that it is possible to identify comments by the same speaker), by birthplace group, by questionnaire administered, by gender, and by age grouping. So, for example, (57 Chile Β f 35-44) would indicate a comment made by informant number 57, who is a second generation informant ("B") from the Chile group, female, and in the 35-44 age bracket. "A" indicates first generation. In all cases the research assistants aimed to administer the questionnaires personally. In most cases this involved face-to-face contact, in some cases the questionnaires were administered via telephone.

1.10.2.3. Focus group Β The cycle was completed by a second focus group meeting. The purpose of this was to gain responses of the same or a similar group (to the first focus group) to issues resulting from the findings of the project. In analysing the results, numerous questions arose that required interpretation, and several inconsistencies emerged. It was such questions that provided the agenda for the second focus groups. An additional motivation was to inform the

60 Establishing the context of the study focus group members of the results, and again they were able to comment on these from their own experience and perceptions. The meetings began with a brief summary of findings from the study relevant to the language group in question, achieved through a series of overhead transparencies and accompanying comments. This was done under the following headings: •

home language use

•

use of language in the wider community

•

•

actual language use versus language preference (particularly for the second generation) use of professionals and businesses employing the community language contact with the country of origin

•

use of media in the community language

•

literacy

•

attitudes towards bilingualism and the maintenance of ethnicity

•

perception of community attitudes towards the community language

•

A number of issues were then raised, which had been foreshadowed by written information that was sent to the informants prior to the focus group meeting. Different groups were asked different things, although some questions such as the one (below) on social networking were asked of all groups. As an example of one particular agenda, we present here the points raised at the second Spanish language focus group: •

There is a considerable difference over most of the areas researched between informants aged under 35 years and informants aged over 35 years. Do you think this is generally true of the Spanish-speaking community?

•

Younger Spanish speakers appear to see literacy as very difficult, in so far as they express very little confidence in their ability in this area, despite the commonality of script. Our G2 Arabic informants, for

Methodology

61

example, displayed a generally higher confidence in their written skills. Why do you think this might be so? •

There are indications that Spanish-speaking school children tend to use Spanish as an "in-language" at school — to tell jokes, to talk about other groups. There is also mention of a particular variety of "Spanish/English" among the same young people ("woggy", "Spanglish"). Do you think this is a general phenomenon among Spanish young people?

•

The pattern of language use and attitudes among the Spain-background informants appears to more closely resemble that of longer-established groups in Australia (such as Poles, Hungarians, Germans and Maltese, for example), regardless of the time of migration of the informant in question. Chile-background informants, on the other hand, tend to behave more like other migrant groups whose largest numbers have arrived since the mid-1970s. Would you agree?

•

Do you think there is the perception among Spanish speakers of a "Spanish-speaking community" (i.e. one that includes speakers from different countries of origin and uses Spanish as its unifying force) or are perceptions of community more based on country of origin?

•

How much "social networking" is there between Spanish speakers from different countries of origin?

•

Although information from other sources would suggest that there may be within the school system a definite predominance of "Spanish" Spanish at the expense of Latin American Spanish, this was not evident from the surveys, or was only evident in very minor way. Could we discuss this?

It was discovered in the process of bringing together focus groups, identifying potential survey respondents, and conducting the research, that there were cultural differences in the way in which people from different

62 Establishing the context of the study

cultures and language backgrounds responded to the tasks involved. We will elaborate upon these differences in Chapter 5 (5.5) of this study.

1.10.3.

A note on

statistics

Although the information was analysed using the SPSS software package, and there was thus the capability of performing a variety of statistical tests for significance, it was felt that the corpus, when divided into its constituent parts, was not large enough to render this a profitable or informative exercise. Accordingly, we have made use of the frequency and cross-tabulation functions available to us, and based our discussion on raw figures and percentages of subgroups.

1.11. Closing remarks In this chapter, we have provided briefly the theoretical, methodological, historical and demographical basis for this study. The next three chapters contain a description of the data and the interpretation of the results. Each of the chapters will concentrate on one of the languages: Spanish, Arabic, and Chinese.

Chapter Two — The Spanish-speaking groups

2.1. Introduction This chapter begins with a brief description of the Spanish-speaking community in Australia. Then follows a discussion of issues arising from the first Spanish focus group. We go on to present a range of findings from the individual surveys carried out among Melbourne's Spanish-speaking community, drawing comparisons between the two selected background groups: Chile and Spain. We conclude with a discussion of the second and final focus group meeting, and a brief summary of findings. A progressive summary, in the form of italicised passages, is also provided during the course of the chapter.

2.2. The Spanish-speaking community in Australia: size, birthplace, residence, age, religious affiliation Spanish is the official language of 21 countries (one European, one African, and 19 Latin American), and has had a sizeable presence in Australia since the 1940s (Grassby 1983). The immigration has been both economic and political, and has covered a wide range of source countries. In 1996, there were 91 254 home users of Spanish in Australia, making it the eighth most widely used community language nationally. This number represents both Australia-born and overseas-bom, with the majority of the latter born in Chile, and other Latin American countries. Other iso/ 0

Australia

2

1

%

1

1

s

Pam

%

Other Latin

America 27%

_hije 23%

Figure 2.1: Spanish speakers by birthplace, 1996

64 The Spanish-speaking groups Some 49 per cent of the Spanish speakers in Australia in 1996 lived in Sydney, with a further 25 per cent living in Melbourne. The concentration of Spanish speakers within Melbourne is shown in Map 2.1.

Spanish Whittlesea Hume Nillumbik

Melton Yarra Ranges

17 1 3 „ Wyndham

15

V P V U ^

19 16

l.-V 20

yzc 13

1 Melbourne 2 Pore Phillip 3 Hobsons Bay 4 Maribyrnong 5 Brimbank 6 Moonee Valley 7 Moreland 8 Darebin 9 Yarra 10 Stonninglon 11 ' Glen Eira 12 Bayside 13 Kingston 14 Monash 15 Boroondara 16 Whitehorse 17 Manningham 18 Banyule 19 Maroondah 20 Knox 21 Greater Dandenong 22 Frankston

Map 2.1:

Cardinia 'Casey' 22

Mornington Peninsula

0

10

20

Kilometres

Concentration of Spanish speakers in Melbourne, 1991

Chile- and Spain-background Australians

65

As can be seen from Figure 2.2, the community is a relatively young one, with 52.5 per cent under 35 years of age in 1996.

65+ 55-64 45-54 35-44 25-34 15-24 0-14

Τ 5

10

15

20

% of Spanish-speaking population

Figure 2.2:

Spanish speakers by age in Australia, 1996

At the time of the 1991 Census, 85.1 per cent of Chile-born persons in Australia, and 86.5 per cent of Spain-born persons, identified themselves as Christians, which was somewhat higher than the proportion of the total Australian population (74.1 per cent). The majority of the Spanish speakers from the two background groups under consideration identified themselves as Catholic. The proportion of Spain-born Catholics was slightly higher (80 per cent as against 72 per cent), with slightly more of the Chile-born registering "other Christian".

2.3. Chile- and Spain-background Australians The earliest significant migration of Spanish speakers occurred largely as the result of the Spanish Civil War (Valverde 1994), and consisted of Spain-born. The postwar sugar crisis resulted in the emigration of a further 5 000 Spanish nationals to Australia, and an agreement was reached with the Spanish government in 1958 regarding assisted passages, an agreement which was then extended to include other occupations. In accordance with the immigration policies of the postwar years, the bulk of immigrants were

66

The Spanish-speaking

groups

unskilled or semi-skilled workers. The years of the Franco dictatorship (from mid 1960s) first interrupted, then slowed the flow of Spanish immigrants to Australia, with the fast growth of the Spanish economy in the 1960s and political changes in Spain also resulting in a significant level of remigration to Spain from many countries in the world, including Australia. By the time Spain joined the European Community in 1986, migration to Australia was practically non-existent, and some return migration to Spain had already taken place. The numbers of Spain-born in Australia did not essentially change from 1971 (14 629) to 1991 (14 785) (Martin 1996). By 1996 it had dropped to 13 637. There was very little immigration from Latin America in the immediate post-war years, largely due to the classification of Latin Americans as "Southern European" / "mixed race" / "non-European", as well as the high cost of travel to Australia and the difficulty even within South America of travelling to the points at which one could apply for permission to emigrate to Australia. The early 1970s saw the first significant numbers of South American immigrants, following the advent of repressive political regimes in the region, although the bulk of Latin American immigrants at this time did not arrive as political refugees (most political refugees went to Europe). Salvadorans are the only Spanish-speaking national group who came to Australia predominantly as refugees (peaking in the late 1980s). The Chilean migration comprised four major "vintages": 1. Until 1970 A mixed migration, composed of skilled workers and technicians with assisted passage, and of business managers and professionals without such assistance. It was also possible for Northern Europeans, resident in Chile for at least five years, to apply to emigrate to Australia, and a number of these arrived during this time.

Chile- and Spain- background Australians

67

2. 1970-1973 The migration of a greater proportion of business managers and other members of Chile's bourgeoisie, following the election of Salvador Allende in 1970. Most were educated, with some knowledge of English, and some arrived with capital. Unlike later migrants, they did not choose to live in areas with a high migrant concentration. 3. 1973-1976 The Socialist government of Salvador Allende was toppled in 1973, and in the two years immediately following the coup around 3 000 Chileans came to Australia, mainly left-wing supporters who fled the country to save their lives. The Australian government of the time allowed some of them to enter as refugees. 4. 1976 onwards There has been a very high level of interest in migration to Australia from Chile, with around 4 000 applications a month received. Motivating factors continue to be both economic and political. Numbers of immigrants declined during the early 1980s, due to a modification in the "points test" and an overall reduction in the migrant intake, although the Special Humanitarian Program was extended to include Chileans and 3 081 entered Australia in this way in the period between 1982 and 1992. There has also been extensive use of the family reunion program. Unlike the Spain-born, the Chile-bom population has increased substantially during the last twenty years, from 3 691 in 1971 to 23 828 in 1996. Because of their urban background, Latin Americans (including Chileans) have settled chiefly in cities, and have also tended to settle in particular regions of cities. The lack of significant post-independence contact between Latin America and Spain, and the wounds left by wars of independence in Latin America, have prevented a high degree of inter-nation contact and co-operation, and this is reflected in the initial lack of co-operation in Australia between Spanish and Latin American immigrants (Valverde 1994). There have also

68 The Spanish-speaking groups been significant political differences amongst Spanish-speaking immigrants to Australia, contributing to the establishment of clubs and organisations based on national origin rather than on the commonality of the Spanish language (Martin 1996). According to Martin, nationalistic attitudes always play a part in social encounters between Spanish speakers from different countries, ranging from the praising of the country of birth over other Spanish-speaking countries to implicit or explicit exclusion, stereotyping or animosity towards nationals of other Spanish-speaking countries. The opposition is, Martin claims, most clearly seen between the largest groups.

For

the

purposes

of this

study,

this

would

include

the

"Spaniard/non-Spaniard" distinction as well as the "Chile'V'rest of Latin America" distinction. Martin makes reference to both of these situations in the following ways: •

Spaniard/non-Spaniard — "Latin Americans usually say that Spaniards are blockheads. Spaniards, in response to that, also stereotype. They say that Latin Americans do not know how to speak Spanish" (Martin 1996:136)

•

Chilean/rest of Latin American — other Latin Americans resent what they see to be an over-emphasis on Chilean nationalism in events such as the September

18th celebration of Chile's

first independent

government from Spain (Martin 1996:136) A further cause of friction between the Spanish and Latin American communities of Spanish speakers in Australia was the change in the status of some Spanish ethnic Saturday Schools after their inclusion in the (Spanish government sponsored) Overseas Spanish Teaching Program in 1981. Historically, although South Americans had set up their own schools from the beginning of sizeable migration in the 1970s, where they were not numerically strong they sent their children to the ethnic schools set up by the Spanish community. The introduction of the Spanish Teaching Program led to job loss by many original teachers, and represented a threat to Latin American teachers in particular, as well as placing the Castilian variety of

Research findings 69

Spanish in a position of predominance at the official Australian level. In addition, original Spanish ethnic schools stopped accepting new students of non-Spain background. This led to an outcry on the basis of discrimination, particularly in light of the fact that these schools were also attracting Australian government funding. It also had the effect of strengthening and multiplying Latin American schools, although these were then clearly unable to base themselves on any one national group, which had, if only on a de facto basis, been the practice up to that point. (Martin 1996) The "Spanish-speaking community", then, as Martin sees it, is on the one hand a construct of the Anglo-Saxon majority, which does not discriminate between Spain and Latin American born, to the point where Latin Americans complain that they are automatically assigned Spanish nationality when people know they speak Spanish. On the other hand it is a construct of the political perception within the community that none of the groups by itself is numerically sound enough to have a strong voice in the struggle for rights in which other "ethnic" communities have had more success (Martin 1996:137).

2.4. Research findings 2.4.1. Focus group A A range of people were invited to the Spanish focus group meeting, according to the procedures set out in 1.10. In the event, the meeting was attended largely by members of welfare organisations, media groups and ethnic schools. This probably reflects the perceived importance of language as an educational goal and as "school business" (many potential focus group members from all language groups suggested at first that we should contact the educators in the community rather than people such as themselves, who were "not involved with language matters"). It also reflects the role of language as an important facilitator of interaction and social contact, and as the unifying force in the service provision carried out by these groups. Whereas language is clearly also used in social clubs and church organisations, the Spanish language per se may be seen as

70 The Spanish-speaking groups secondary to a range of other social or spiritual goals, whereas in a welfare organisation which deals with new arrivals or elderly people, it may be seen as absolutely necessary to effective operation. It may also be expected that people with a particular interest in the Spanish-speaking community and its place in Australian society would also be more likely to attend a focus group meeting of this sort, and a number of people who attended were indeed involved in more than one organisation or activity — for example, active in welfare work, ethnic media and social/sporting clubs.

2.4.1.1. Ethnic schools Note: There are three Spanish language ethnic schools in Victoria14. We invited representatives from two of these, one from a south-east Melbourne suburban area heavily settled by Latin American Spanish speakers and one from an area of Spain-bom concentration in Melbourne's western suburbs. Both schools are situated in lower middle class/working class areas. While the western suburbs are predominantly industrial and working class, the south-eastern suburbs represent a broader socioeconomic range. School A (western suburbs) caters for approximately 100 children (from 8 to 12 years of age), and holds classes on Friday evenings, from 6-9pm. The school, run by a parent committee of eight, is now 20 years old, and the children who attend are mainly from Latin American background, and mainly Australia-born. Numbers have increased steadily year by year, and there are now five classes based on age level and language proficiency. There is a large library, and the class books come from both Mexico and Spain, supplemented by other materials developed by the principal and staff of the school. After leaving the school, which caters for late primary-age students, most children go on to continue Spanish either at the Victorian School of Languages (VSL)15 or at other schools in the area. School Β (south-eastern suburbs) has also been established for 20 years, and caters for children from preparatory (first year of primary schooling, generally ages 5 to 6) to Year 8 (age 13-14). Student birthplaces include

Research findings 71

Spain, El Salvador, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Uruguay, Malta and Australia, and over 80 per cent speak Spanish at home, while some understand Spanish but communicate in English. A separate class was held in recent years for children from non-Spanish-speaking backgrounds, but these children are now being integrated into other classes, having reached a suitable standard. Many of the books used are from Chile, and other resources are also developed within the school and gathered from other sources. There is a constant need to teach about different cultures because of the diverse backgrounds of the students, and it is usually done depending on the background of children enrolled at any time. Both of the Spanish schools represented have problems with premises — rent is expensive, because they are used by other organisations for the rest of the week it is impossible to display children's work, and the schools are always blamed for anything that goes wrong or goes missing. Although the schools were chosen partly because of the expectation that they would cater for different populations, both are attended predominantly (see above) by children of Latin American background.

2.4.1.2. Soccer club One of the school representatives was also involved in a soccer club, and he noted a tendency for young children (from about the age of 8) to be very keen to become part of the "Australian" way of life and to reject all things Spanish. In their late teens and early twenties, however, he felt that they tended to return to Spanish organisations such as soccer clubs, and to be equally keen to identify with their Spanish or Latin American heritage. In some cases they may also begin to relearn the language of their early childhood.

2.4.1.3. Welfare and employment organisations (3) Welfare organisation A is an umbrella organisation involved in community development for Spanish-speaking people in Victoria. Two of the staff are

72 The Spanish-speaking groups

from Chile, one is from Colombia and one from Uruguay. Workshops and activities are run, including training programs for work opportunities (in conjunction with the Department of Employment, Education and training). Ongoing support is also given to sporting, social and folkloric clubs (with fund-raising, for example). Clientele is mainly Chilean, followed by people from Spain and Central America. Language is the unifying factor for all these different groups, although the elderly tend to use more Spanish than the younger people. Welfare organisation Β is a service provider, set up initially to help with the settlement needs of newly arrived migrants. It now provides: • • • • • • • • •

casework assistance (mainly in Spanish) help for the elderly isolated help for isolated women youth services a disabled sporting group adult ESL classes (for which there is a waiting list) counselling family counselling adult literacy classes in Spanish

The organisation tries to consult the community on an ongoing basis in order to stay abreast of current needs. Lastly, a youth oriented employment group coordinator spoke about the attitudes of some of the young people in the program towards language maintenance and the maintenance or development of "identity" in Australia. She said that they felt Spanish should be preserved, although they were a little vague as to why this should be so. When pressed, they said that it was one way to "feel better", and to communicate better with parents. They also pointed out that Spanish contained the terms of endearment of their childhood. The young people in the above group had recently been shown a movie about the conquest of South America, and appreciated the sense of background it created for them. Coming to Australia at an early age, they

Research findings 73

felt that they did not really belong in either country, and it was thought by the coordinator of the program that this sense of displacement would depend on how deeply the parents were rooted in the culture of their country of origin, and how much of this sense of culture they were able to pass on to their children.

2.4.1.4. Networking in the Spanish-speaking community in Melbourne Members of the focus group indicated that social life in Latin America is very different from social life in Australia, particularly for young people, to the extent that many do not want to come back to Australia after a visit "home" to Latin America. They thought that the difference may lie in the strong attachment to neighbourhood in Latin America (as opposed to the very high mobility in Australia), and the customs of friendship that arise as a result. These neighbourhood patterns have not tended to repeat themselves in Victoria (ie. settlement of people from the same region in the country of origin). There are many festivals, dinner dances and discos, which are well attended by the Spanish-speaking population of Melbourne (the consensus of the focus group was that most Spanish speakers would attend at least one such function every year). At these functions, adults speak Spanish and teenagers may speak Spanish if addressed in Spanish, but speak English amongst themselves. It was noted that if parents do not address their children in Spanish, the children will not answer in Spanish, and very probably will not learn the language at all, retaining only passive knowledge. Most group participants said that most of their friends were from a Spanish-speaking background. There is a thriving "pop" culture from Latin America, and many bands around Melbourne that play Spanish music and songs on Friday and Saturday nights. Young people also tend to gather at the Queen Victoria Market (Melbourne's main food and general market, situated on the northern fringe of the central business district) at the weekends for Spanish music and busking. Soccer is also very popular among the young people,

74 The Spanish-speaking groups

more popular these days than the folkloric groups which had formed the basis for much of the socialising between young people in the past.

2.4.1.5. Importance of language maintenance The main importance of language maintenance was seen in terms of communication between children and parents, and children and grandparents. Language was seen very strongly as the conveyor of feeling, and inter-generational communication breakdown was reportedly common where parents and adolescent children have different dominant languages. There is a wide variety of practice in Spanish-background homes as far as language use is concerned. At the extremes, there are parents who actively discourage their children from speaking Spanish in an attempt to learn English from them (a phenomenon noted by some earlier studies on community language maintenance in Australia, e.g. Johnston 1972:64-65), and there are parents who try to force their children to speak nothing but Spanish. In the latter cases the result is very often that the children refuse to have anything at all to do with Spanish.

2.4.1.6. Success of language maintenance The consensus within the focus group was that language that is not maintained in the home cannot be maintained by other means, although the language in the home is often limited, and parents display different levels of commitment and come from different educational backgrounds. The children must generally go to school to become literate and to learn "proper" grammatical Spanish. Ethnic schools are beset by problems in terms of premises, staffing, resources and time allocation, while less Spanish is taught in state schools than previously, due to the failure of the government to prioritise Spanish (see also 1.5).

Research findings 75

2.4.1.7. Language maintenance differential The general opinion of the focus group was that Spanish speakers from Latin America tend to maintain Spanish better than Spanish speakers from Spain. One group member thought that this was because most migrants from Spain (including his own grandmother) left Spain for good, never intending to return, and therefore with no strong motive to maintain Spanish. Many Latin Americans, on the other hand, come intending to stay only a couple of years, and maintain Spanish for their return, even if this never eventuates. Another group member thought that the difference in language maintenance rate was largely a function of length of residence in Australia, with the bulk of the Spaniards migrating in the 1940s, and therefore represented by the second and third generations today. The Latin American migration, on the other hand, is a more recent, and still continuing, one.

2.4.1.8. Media The group felt that it was "spiritually good" for Spanish background people to be able to listen to the music, etc, of their own country. While most of the programs are directed towards older people, a national ethnic broadcaster has begun a segment in the Spanish language for young people, where young Spanish speakers speak on topical issues. This is edited heavily to avoid English transfers from computer jargon, etc. The general opinion was that most of the films on the national ethnic television station are outdated and boring, neither interesting nor topical for Australian Spanish speakers. While there are several places where one can get videos in Spanish, it was felt that on the whole young people preferred pop music, as the videos (largely movies) contain specialised vocabulary (double entendre, political "in" jargon, unfamiliar slang).

76 The Spanish-speaking groups

2.4.1.9. Problems in maintaining Spanish It was generally agreed within the focus group that environment plays a very important role in language use, and that the strength of English in the Australian context is such that Spanish cannot compete in most domains of use. It was also felt that it was unrealistic to expect children to continue speaking the language of their parents in the way that their parents had spoken it in their country of origin. Members of the community language group are also from many educational backgrounds, and the parental expectations of part-time Spanish schools are often too high. It was suggested by a group member that the instrumental value of Spanish in Australia is being overlooked, by both parents and the Australian government. Spanish, he claimed, is not just a language for the home, but an important language for trade and industry as well, and children acquire language much more willingly and effectively if there is an instrumental reason for doing so. Schooling was seen to be a problem, at ethnic schools in terms of resourcing and at the VSL in terms of organisation (many different age and proficiency levels are placed in one group). It was also felt that children of Spanish-speaking background tended to be discriminated against in language assessment, and that this would not be solved by having two examinations — one for students with background in the language, and one for students with no background. There does not seem to be a problem with the differing "norms" of different national varieties, as most teachers recognise this and try to accommodate it. It was suggested (in line with the comment on soccer clubs mentioned above) that there is a period between Grade 2 (approximately) and Year 10 (approximately) where children do not want to come to Spanish school, but want to identify fully with the mainstream Australian society, and with their school peers. It was generally agreed that the channels of communication between government, industry, trade and community language groups are inadequate, and that much instrumental motivation for language learning is thus being lost, although the basic ideals of "multiculturalism" are good. It was also suggested that the government has its priorities wrong in orienting

Research findings 77

itself so strongly towards Asia, as South America may turn out to be more important to Australia in the longer term.

2.4.2. Survey data 2.4.2.1. Informants by age, gender, generation and year of arrival 2.4.2.1.1. Chile group16 Age and gender Table 2.1:

Informants by age and gender, Chile group

Age group '15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64

Male 7 6 1 3 1

Female 8 2 1 3 1

Generation 14 -i 12

15-24

Figure 2.3:

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-64

Informants by age and generation, Chile group

All informants over the age of 35 are first generation (Gl) Australians, and the large majority of those under the age of 35 are Australia-born (i.e. second generation (G2) Australians).

78 The Spanish-speaking groups

Year of arrival Some 33 per cent of first generation informants arrived in Australia between 1968 and 1975, and the remaining 67 per cent arrived between 1975 and 1988.

2.4.2.1.2. Spain group Age and gender Table 2.2:

Informants by age and gender, Spain group

Age group 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Male 8 9 1 2

Female 10 3 1 2 1 1_

1

Age and generation As with the Chile group, all informants over the age of 35 are first generation Australians, and most of the informants under the age of 35 are Australia-born. There is a slightly higher proportion of Gl informants in the youngest two age groups than is the case with the Chile group. 14 12 10 • Gl

8

• G2

15-24

Figure 2.4:

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-64

65+

Informants by age and generation, Spain group

Research findings 79

Year of arrival Some 32 per cent of first generation informants arrived between 1976 and 1980, 53 per cent arrived between 1981 and 1986, and the remaining 15 per cent arrived between 1986 and 1992.

2.4.2.2. Languages spoken All informants from the Chile group could speak both English and Spanish. The vast majority of informants reported using both these languages regularly. One informant reported speaking only English, and one reported speaking only Spanish. One informant was also fluent in French. An almost identical situation pertained with the Spain group, the only differences being that no-one claimed to speak English only, and one informant claimed to be able to speak only Spanish.

2.4.2.3. Language use in the home 2.4.2.3.1. As a child Table 2.3:

Language use in the home as a child, Chile group

Language Spanish Spanish/English

Spoken to child by mother Chile Spain 31 (94%) 36 (92%) 2 (6%) 3 (8%)

Spoken to child by father Chile Spain 32 (97%) 38 (97%) 1 (3%) 1 (3%)

In both birthplace groups, the vast majority of informants grew up in homes where Spanish only was spoken to small children. Mothers from both groups were slightly more likely to speak Spanish and English to their children than were fathers, and use of both Spanish and English was almost completely limited to the Australia-born.

80 The Spanish-speaking groups

2.4.2.3.2.

At the time of the interview (ie. in the informants' families at their present stage of life)

Table 2.4:

Language use in the home between father and children, Chile and Spain groups

Language spoken Spanish Mainly Spanish Spanish/English17 Mainly English English Not available18

By father to children Chile Spain 11 27 (69%) (33.3%) 1 2 (5%) (3%) 18 (55%) 7 (18%) 1 (3%) -

2

-

(6%)

-

3

-

(8%)

To father by children Chile Spain 9 (27%) 24 (62%) 1 2 (5%) (3%) 19 (58%) 9 (23%) 1 1 (3%) (3%) 1 (3%) 2 (6%) 3 (8%)

The majority of informants from the Chile group reported the use of both English and Spanish between fathers and children. Where "Spanish only" was reported, this was slightly more likely to be from father to children than from children to father. There was only one instance of "English only" reported, and this was from children to father. The majority of interactions between fathers and children from the Spain group took place in Spanish, with a slightly higher proportion of Spanish being used from fathers to children than from children to fathers. No-one reported using only English. Table 2.5:

Language use in the home between mother and children, Chile group

Language spoken Spanish Mainly Spanish Spanish/English Not available

By mother to children Spain Chile 8 (24%) 18 (46%) 1 (3%) 23 (70%) 18 (46%) 2 (6%) 2 (5%)

To mother by children Spain Chile 6 (18%) 16 (41%) 2 (5%) 24 (73%) 19 (48%) 2 (6%) 2 (5%)

There were fewer instances of "Spanish only" reported in mother/children interactions in both groups than was the case with father/children interactions, and a correspondingly higher instance of "Spanish/English." No-one reported using only English. As with fathers, a slightly higher proportion of "Spanish only" use was reported from mother to children than from children to mother.

Research findings 81

Table 2.6:

Language use in the home among children and adults, Chile and Spain groups Among children Spain Chile

Language spoken Spanish Spanish/English English Not available

-

4 22 2

-

(14%) (79%) (7%)

5 23 8

(14%) (64%) (22%)

Among adults Chile Spain (80%) 20 (63%) 31 (9%) 1 3 (3%) 2 (6%) (22%) 7 7 (18%)

While the most used language among children from the Chile group was clearly English alone, the most used language among adults was Spanish alone. Out of the 12 cases where grandparents were mentioned, 10 sets of interactions were in Spanish only, one was in Spanish and English, and one was mainly in English. The most used language among adults from the Spain group was also Spanish (a higher proportion than for the Chile group), and the most used language among the children was English (a lower proportion than among the Chile group). No children used only Spanish among themselves, and no adults used only English among themselves. Of the five instances where grandparents were mentioned, three sets of interactions were only in Spanish, and two were in Spanish and English. It is clear that the interlocutor principle cuts into domain-based choice of language: "I prefer to use English at home, but I don't use it in front of my grandmother." (404 Spain Β f 15-24) The preference for Spanish in communication with the older generation can be rationalised in terms of politeness: "It's more respectful to use Spanish to older people." (138 Chile Β f 15-24) Language choice among children may not be consistent over interlocutor "groups" but may also, for example, vary between siblings:

82 The Spanish-speaking groups

"I speak Spanish to my brother, but both Spanish and English to my sister." (364 Chile Β 15-24) In summary, there were more child-father interactions reported in Spanish than child-mother interactions in both groups, and more child-mother interactions in both Spanish and English than child-father interactions in Spanish and English. There was marginally more Spanish reported from parents to children than from children to parents. In both groups the preference among adults was for Spanish, and among children for English. A community language becoming principally a language for communication with the older generation has been observed in Australia, and beyond, by a number of researchers, e.g. Gal (1979), Smolicz—Harris (1976), Clyne (1991:79-85), Kipp (1981). There was, however, only one instance of "English only" reported between parents and children (from a child to a parent), and thus no complete language shift. The Spain group did, however, report more than twice the number of Spanish language child-father interactions than did the Chile group, and approximately twice the number of Spanish child-mother interactions. Although no instances of "Spanish only" was reported among children in either group, the Spain group recorded a lower instance of "English only" than did the Chile group. The Spain group also recorded a higher instance of "Spanish only" among adults than the Chile group.

Research findings 83

2.4.2.4. Language preference at home Table 2.7: Age group

Language preference in the home by age, Chile and Spain groups

Prefers Spanish

Ch. 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Sp.

1 7% 2 25% 2 100% 6 100% 2 100% -

Prefers English with siblings and Spanish with adults Ch.

1 6% -

2 100% 4 100% 1 100% 2 100%

Sp.

1 7% 1 13%

-

1 8%

Prefers English

Ch. 11 73% 5 63%

No preference

Sp. 16 89% 6 50%

Ch. 2 13% -

No response

Sp.

Ch. -

2 7%

Sp. 1 6% 2 17%

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

English was preferred by the majority of informants from both groups under the age of 35, and Spanish was preferred by all informants over 35. In the "under 35" group, the correlation of first generation (Gl) with preference for Spanish and second generation (G2) with preference for English was almost complete among the Chile group. One G2 informant from the Spain group also preferred to speak Spanish, while 6 Gl informants in the 15-35 age group preferred English. In this respect, the younger first generation informants are behaving more like second generation informants.

84 The Spanish-speaking groups By generation: Table 2.8:

Language preference at home by generation, Chile group and Spain group

Gl

S S/E Ε with siblings, CL with parents Ε No preference Depends on interlocutor

Chile group 92% 0% 0% 8% 0% 0%

Spain group 47% 0% 0% 32%" 5% 10%

G2

S S/E Ε with siblings, CL with parents Ε No preference Depends on interlocutor

5% 10% 10% 75% 0% 0%

5% 0% 5% 80% 10% 0%

We have examined in some depth both the home languages use and the home language preferences of the two Spanish-speaking groups. We have found that more Spanish was used among adults than among children, and that interactions with grandparents took place almost exclusively in Spanish. We have found that the Spain group was characterised by a higher level of Spanish use between adults and children, less exclusive use of Spanish among children, and less exclusive use of English among adults. English was preferred in the home by the majority of informants under the age of 35, and Spanish was preferred by all informants over the age of 35. We will now look at the patterns of language use outside the family home.

2.4.2.5. 2.4.2.5.1. Table 2.9:

Language use outside the home Work Language use in the workplace, Chile and Spain groups

Language used in the workplace English/Spanish English

Spain

Chile 3 23

(12%) (88%)

5 24

(17%) (83%)

In both groups, the great majority of informants used only English in the workplace. Of those that used Spanish and English, most were involved in

Research findings 85

service occupations: two were dental workers, two were waiters, one was a community worker, one was a factory worker, and two were students with part-time jobs.

2.4.2.5.2. School There was very little reported use of Spanish at school from either group (of the 6 students from each group still at school, only three overall stated that they used Spanish in the school context at all), and all those who answered the question said that they preferred to speak English at school. One informant from each group was learning Spanish at day school.

2.4.2.5.3. Wider community With whom do you mainly socialise outside

work/home/school?

While the vast majority of informants over the age of 35 from the Chile group socialised mainly with members of the same language group, a smaller majority of informants under the age of 35 socialised with a mixture of "same language group and the wider community", and a significant proportion interacted only with members from the wider Australian community. There were fewer informants in the 25-34 age group than in the 15-24 age group who socialised mainly with the same language group, which may reflect the obligation on children still at home to take part in the social life of their parents to a certain extent. In the Spain group, all of the informants over the age of 35 mixed mainly with others from the same language group, although only a minority of the 15-34 year olds did this, the majority claiming that they socialised mainly with members of the wider Australian community. This was particularly marked for the 15-24 year olds. While it is clear that Spanish-speaking networks exist for the older people (and thus presumably the parents of the younger informants) it is equally clear that the Spain-background youth are not as closely identified with these networks as are their parents.

86 The Spanish-speaking groups

What language(s) do you use when socialising? No informant under the age of 35 from the Chile group socialised entirely in Spanish, and the majority did so in English. On the other hand, no informant from this group over the age of 35 socialised entirely in English, and the majority did so in Spanish. While the majority of informants under the age of 35 from the Spain group used English when socialising, a significant minority used both English and Spanish. The majority of informants over the age of 35 used Spanish when socialising. Which language do you prefer to use socially? Almost all informants from both groups under the age of 35 preferred to socialise in English, and the larger reported actual use of both English and Spanish would tend to indicate the necessity of interacting with older people who either cannot speak English or who prefer Spanish (cf. earlier comment about "respect" and the use of Spanish to older people). The preference of the over 35 age group was more in line with actual practice, with the majority from both groups preferring Spanish. In summary, all informants from the Spain group who were over 35, and all but one of the Chile group informants in the same age group, socialised mainly with members of the same community language group. Less than 15 per cent of informants under 35 (from both groups) reported doing this. However, whereas the majority of under 35 year olds from the Chile group reported socialising with a mixture of "same language group" and "wider Australian community", the majority of under 35 year olds from the Spain group reported socialising mainly with members of the wider Australian community. Although the majority of informants from the 15-34 age category in both birthplace groups reported socialising largely in English, the informants from the Spain group reported a higher use of English only, reflecting the greater degree of interaction with non-Spanish speakers. The majority of

Research findings 87

informants over the age of 35 in both groups reported using Spanish socially. In both birthplace groups, the preference for English in the 15-34 age category far outstripped the actual reported use of English, reflecting the role of Spanish in communication with older people. By generation: With whom do you socialise? Table 2.10:

Gl

G2

Social networks by generation, Chile and Spain groups Same Mixed Other No response Same Mixed Other No response

Chile group 69% 15% 15% 0% 10% 55% 30% 0%

Spain group 42% 16% 26% 16% 5% 40% 55% 0%

Which language do you prefer socially? Table 2.11: Social language preference by generation, Chile group and Spain group Gl

G2

S E/S Ε No response S E/S Ε No response

Chile group 77% 16% 8% 0% 0% 0% 100% 0%

Spain group 53% 5% 37% 5% 0% 0% 100% 0%

There was complete agreement between the second generation informants from both groups about the language they preferred to use socially, and the higher proportion of Gl Spain group informants who preferred to use

88 The Spanish-speaking groups

English was once again contributed by the "young Gl" (in this instance, five 15-24 year olds and one 24-35 year old). For this variable (language use in a social setting), it would appear that age, rather than generation as such, is the deciding factor.

2.4.2.5.4. Club membership The majority of informants from both groups did not belong to clubs or similar organisations. All five of the Chile group informants who were members of clubs belonged to a Chilean folkloric group, and two also belonged to a soccer club. Of the three Spain group informants who belonged to clubs, two belonged to the Spanish Club and one was a Spanish broadcaster on national Spanish-language radio. In all cases, Spanish was reported as the most frequent language used.

2.4.2.5.5.

Use of shops, etc, where Spanish is spoken, and consultation of Spanish-speaking professionals

Only seven Chile group informants (21 per cent) said that they frequented a shop or business where Spanish was spoken. All but one of these were over 45 years of age. The remaining informant was in the 15-24 age bracket. Four of those who said they frequented a Spanish-speaking business did so monthly, two on a daily basis and one only occasionally. Seven informants (21 per cent) consulted a Spanish-speaking professional, three of these in the 15-24 age group, and three in the 45-54 group. In six instances the professional was a doctor, and in the seventh a dentist. Four of these informants spoke Spanish with the professional, and three spoke English. All those who spoke English were Australia-born. In the Spain group, eleven informants (or 28 per cent of the total) frequented shops/businesses where Spanish was spoken. These informants came from all age groups, with the highest proportion of those who never frequented Spanish-speaking businesses coming from the 25-34 year olds (92 per cent). Some 54.5 per cent of those who frequented Spanish-

Research findings 89

speaking businesses did so only occasionally, and a further 27 per cent did so on a monthly basis. No-one claimed to do so every day. Nine Spain group informants (or 23 per cent of the total) claimed that they consulted a Spanish-speaking professional. As with the Chile group, the only professionals mentioned were doctors and dentists. Use was spread over all age groups but the 45-54 year old group, none of whom consulted a Spanish-speaking professional. As with the Spanish-speaking businesses, the highest proportion of non-use came from the 25-34 year olds (92 per cent). Five informants spoke English to the professional, one spoke mainly English, two spoke Spanish, and one spoke Spanish and English. All the informants who spoke English, and the one who spoke mainly English, were Australia-born. In summary, the majority of informants from both groups neither frequented Spanish-speaking businesses nor consulted Spanish-speaking professionals, although the proportion who did was marginally higher for the Spain group than for the Chile group. The pattern of use of Spanishspeaking businesses was an occasional rather than a regular one, and was lowest in the 25-34 age groups, where the practices of the parental home were no longer operative. The only professionals mentioned were doctors and dentists (no accountants or lawyers as appear in the other language groups), which seems to reflect an ease with most of the routines of public life. The realm of personal health and wellbeing may well be one which is particularly hard to discuss in a second language, encompassing as it does a broad range of cultural expectations and practices (not only language). An informant from another language group did in fact express this ("I find it hard to deal with Australian doctors, even when my children interpret for me" — 11 Taiwan A f 45-54), and it may well be that a similar situation still exists for Spanish speakers regardless of their confidence with English in a range of other areas. The fact that a number of Australia-born are visiting these professionals, and dealing with them in English, may reflect in the first instance patterns of family use, which may well be discontinued

90 The Spanish-speaking groups

once the informant has set up a home of his/her own (note high proportion of non-use among the 25-34 year olds). By

generation:

Spanish Table 2.12:

shops/businesses Use of Spanish shops/businesses by generation, Chile and Spain groups Chile group 46% 5%

Gl G2

Spanish-speaking Table 2.13:

Gl G2

Spain group 37% 20%

professionals

Use of Spanish-speaking professionals by generation, Chile and Spain groups Chile group 23% 20%

Spain group 16% 30%

The lower use of Spanish businesses and professionals among the Spain group Gl reflects the practices of the younger Gl, which is more in line with that of the second generation. The relatively higher proportion of Spain group G2 who claimed that they consulted Spanish-speaking professionals may be due to the sampling procedures — five out of the six informants who said that they did consult a Spanish-speaking professional (doctor/dentist) were in the 15-24 age group, and were thus more likely to visit a professional selected and used by their parents. The parents of this second generation group will be a largely different first generation group than that interviewed for this study.

Research findings 91

2.4.2.6. Religious affiliation Attendance at religious services The majority of informants from both groups did not attend religious services. The highest attendance rate was in the 45+ age group, and the lowest in the 25-44 age group. Table 2.14:

Religious affiliation by age, Chile and Spain groups

Age group 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Attends religious services Chile 5

Spain (33%)

-

-

-

-

-

-

2 -

(100%) -

2 1 -

4 1 2

(11%) (8%) -

(67%) (100%) (100%)

Importance of religion Although religion was relatively more important to those over 35 years of age from the Chile group, a majority of all informants (61 per cent) felt that religion was very important, or fairly important, to them. This is in contrast to the relatively low level of churchgoing evident from the previous question, and may say something about the practice of Catholicism as against Islam or evangelical Protestantism. In the Spain group, on the other hand, a small majority of informants (57 per cent) felt that religion was not very important or not at all important, only two informants felt that it was very important, and the remainder felt that it was important.

92 The Spanish-speaking groups Table 2.15: Importance of religion by age, Chile and Spain groups Age group 15-24

Religion very important Spain Chile 1 7%

25-34

-

-

35-44

-

-

45-54

_

_

55-64

1 50%

1 100% 1 50%

65+

-

Religion fairly important Chile Spain 8 8 53% 50% 4 3 38% 33% 1 50% 5 83% 1 50% -

1 25% -

1 50%

Religion not very important Spain Chile 5 5 33% 31% 3 5 38% 42% 1 2 100% 50% 1 17%

1 25%

Religion not at all important Chile Spain 1 3 7% 19% 2 3 25% 25% -

_

-

2 50%

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Use of language within the church The informants from the Chile group reported that the language of prayer, singing, sermon and ritual was English in 73 per cent of cases and Spanish in the remaining 27 per cent. Some 40 per cent of those who attended religious services said that the social interaction took place in English, 30 per cent said that it took place in Spanish, and the remaining 30 per cent said that they had no real social interaction during or after church services. This relative lack of the need for social interaction may be characteristic of Catholic religious practice, which is centred around attendance at Mass. The situation for the Spain group was similar, with some 67 per cent of informants reporting that the language of ritual, sermon, prayer and singing was English, and 33 per cent reporting Spanish in all those areas. Some 67 per cent said that the language of social interaction was Spanish, 17 per cent said that it was English, and 17 per cent said that there was no real interaction. In summary, although the numbers actually attending religious services in both groups were similar, the Chile group contained a higher proportion of informants who felt that religion was important (or very important) to them. Most informants attended churches where the entire service was in English,

Research findings 93

although both groups reported a higher use of Spanish socially within the church context. This was more marked for the Spain group (67 per cent) than for the Chile group (30 per cent). A proportion of informants from both groups reported that they had no real social interaction at their church, a phenomenon which was not reported by either of the other language groups, and which may, as stated above, reflect the particular nature of the practice of Catholicism, with its focus on attendance at Mass. By generation: Attendance at religious services Table 2.16: Attendance at religious services by generation, Chile and Spain groups Chile group 15% 10%

Gl G2

Spain group 16% 15%

Importance of religion Table 2.17: Importance of religion by generation, Chile group and Spain group Chile group

Spain group

Gl

"very" "fairly" "not very" "not at all"

8% 62% 31% 0%

11% 24% 35% 29%

G2

"very" "fairly" "not very" "not at all"

5% 50% 30% 15%

0% 50% 35% 15%

The importance attached to religion was in all cases higher than the actual attendance figures would suggest. There was, however, clearly a lower level of importance attached to religion in the Spain group Gl than in any of the other groups. This could reflect a number of things, one of which is obviously the sampling factor. The larger number of young Gl in the Spanish sample could also be operative (three of the five informants who

94

The Spanish-speaking

groups

felt that religion was not at all important were in the 15-24 age group, as were three of the six informants who felt that religion was not very important). There were, however, also five older Gl informants who felt that religion was either not very important or not at all important, and this could well be a reaction to political events in their homeland prior to migration.

2.4.2.7. Contact with country of origin All informants from both groups said that they had friends or relations in their country of origin. Slightly more of the Chile group informants said that they wrote to them (64 per cent as against 59 per cent of the Spain group), and more telephone calls were also made by the Chile group (97 per cent as against 82 per cent). However, slightly fewer of the Chile group informants wrote in Spanish (91 per cent as against 100 per cent of the Spain group). All informants from both groups who telephoned did so in Spanish. While 21 per cent of the Chile group informants who telephoned their country of origin did so on a monthly basis, this was the case for only 13 per cent of the Spain group informants. Approximately 70 per cent of informants from both groups said that they had been back to visit their country of origin, but only 17-18 per cent of these said that they visited more than five-yearly. Some 58 per cent of the Chile group first generation said that they had house guests from Chile (as against 15 per cent of the Spain group who had house guests from Spain), but 42 per cent of these said that this happened less than five-yearly (this was 100 per cent for the Spain group). Only two informants said that they had guests from Chile yearly or more frequently. About one third of informants from both groups had spoken to a visitor or a newly arrived migrant within the last month, while about one fifth could not remember when the last time had been. In summary, the informants from the Chile group displayed an overall stronger connection with their home country than did the informants from the Spain group. While both groups comprised a relatively high proportion

Research findings 95

of informants who wrote to and telephoned their original home country, the Chile proportion was higher on both counts. While the rates for visiting the country of origin were remarkably similar, Chile group informants reported many more house guests from the home country than did Spain group informants. While the guests from Chile were not very frequent occurrences, they were more frequent than were the guests from Spain. The rate of contact with newly arrived migrants or Spanish-speaking visitors in Australia was very similar between the two groups, and relatively low (around 33 per cent had done so within the last month, around 20 per cent could not remember when the last time had been). By generation: Do you visit country of origin? Table 2.18:

Gl G2

Visits to country of origin by generation, Chile and Spain groups Chile group 69% 70%

Spain group 63% 80%

In the case of this variable, it is not the younger Gl reflected in the lower rate of visiting for the Spain group Gl, but the older Gl. No informant over the age of 55 said that (s)he visited the home country. Do you write letters to country of origin? Table 2.19:

Gl G2

Letters to country of origin by generation, Chile and Spain groups Chile group 92% 45%

Spain group 68% 50%

The lower rate of letter writing among the Spain group Gl is due in part to a relatively lower rate of letter writing in the 24—35 group (who have left the family home, and no longer feel the pressure from family to do so?). There is, however, a slightly lower rate of letter writing in all age groups of the Spain group Gl than in the Chile group Gl.

96 The Spanish-speaking groups

Do you telephone country of origin? Table 2.20:

Gl G2

Telephone calls to country of origin by generation, Chile and Spain groups Chile group 100% 95%

Spain group 84% 80%

The Spain group Gl informants who did not telephone their home country were in the 15-34 age group (two from the 15-24 group and one from the 24—35 age group). We have seen from the preceding analysis of language use outside the home that the vast majority of people over the age of 35 socialised mainly with members of the same community language group. Less than 15 per cent of informants under the age of 35 reported doing so. However, while the majority of under 35 year olds from the Chile group reported socialising with a mixture of "same language group" and "wider Australian community ", the majority of under 35 year olds from the Spain group reported socialising mainly with members of the wider Australian community. The preference for English among the under 35 year olds far outstripped the actual reported use of English, reflecting the role of Spanish in communication with older people. All G2 informants said that they preferred to use English socially. The great majority of informants used only English in the workplace, and of those who used both English and Spanish, most were involved in service occupations. There was very little reported use of Spanish at school, and all those who answered the question said that they preferred to speak English at school. The majority of informants neither frequented Spanish-speaking businesses nor consulted Spanish-speaking professionals. The pattern of use of Spanish-speaking businesses was an occasional rather than a regular one, and was lowest in the 25-34 age group. Doctors (and dentists) were the main professionals mentioned. The majority of informants did not attend religious services regularly. Of those who did, most attended churches where the entire service was in English, although the use of Spanish socially within the church context was reported. This was more marked for the Spain group than for the Chile group. A proportion of informants from both groups reported that they had

Research

findings

97

no real social interaction at their church, a phenomenon which was not reported by either of the other language groups in this study. The Chile group displayed an overall stronger connection with home country than did the informants from the Spain group. Chile group informants wrote and telephoned more, and although the rate of visits to the home country was similar for both groups, Chile group informants had more house guests from "home " and had them more frequently. We will now discuss the role of the media in language maintenance for our informants. 2.4.2.8. Media use 2.4.2.8.1. Radio Table 2.21:

Use of Spanish language radio by age, Chile and Spain groups

Age group

Listens to Spanish radio Chile

15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

-

1 1 4 2 -

-

(13%) (50%) (67%) (100%) -

Spain 3 -

1 1 1 2

(17%) -

(50%) (25%) (100%) (100%)

For the Chile group, radio listening became progressively more prevalent in the 35+ age groups. Nobody from the 15-24 age group said that they listened to the radio in Spanish. The comment was frequently made that young people don't listen to Spanish radio, for example: "Young people don't listen to the radio — only older people do." (140 Chile Β m 15-24). The indications are that it is Spanish radio that the young people are not listening to, and not radio per se. The younger informants frequently entered English pop/rock stations in the space provided for Spanish radio use, and their radio listening habits appear to be fairly much in line with those of the mainstream Australian population of a similar age. One informant did in fact note:

98 The Spanish-speaking groups "Radio would be more interesting for young people if it were more like English stations." (138 Chile Β f 15-24). However, even if young people themselves do not listen to Spanish radio stations from choice, the indications are that they are often exposed to the programs that their parents listen to: "I don't listen to the radio myself, but I often hear bits and pieces of my parents' programs (and videos, and tapes, etc.)" (138 Chile Β f 15-24). No informant from the Chile group listened to the radio on a daily basis, and 50 per cent of those who listened said that they did so on a weekly basis. All said that they were happy with the programs, although one informant suggested that they would be better if there were "more music and less talk." Some 58 per cent of Chile group informants thought that radio was helpful in terms of language maintenance for young people. The only age group where most informants did not think that radio programs helped with language maintenance was the 45-54 age group, which may be the group with most experience of raising teenagers in the Australian context. Although the relatively low rate of use among the younger age groups was clearly a factor for those that said radio did not help with language maintenance, other issues were also raised, such as program content, frequency, and the sort of language used: "Radio programs are very limited in terms of language maintenance as well as not having enough air time. Books and magazines would help more." (25 Chile A m 45-54) "Spanish radio programs not frequent enough to be of any use to language maintenance." (26 Chile A f 45-54) "Language used on radio uses too much slang to be of much benefit to students." (204 Chile Β f 15-24)

Research findings 99

Notwithstanding the clearly stated objections to Spanish radio as a tool of language maintenance, and the fact that the figure of 58 per cent is considerably lower than the proportions who felt that TV and videos were helpful in language maintenance, the proportion who thought that radio did help with language maintenance is still higher than the actual use of the medium would seem to support. The attitude can perhaps be summed up thus: "Radio would help language maintenance if young people were made to listen to it." (390 Chile Β f 15-24) Although the progression is not as smooth as with the Chile group (note 45-54 group), the older informants from the Spain group also tended to listen to more radio than the younger informants. A number of comments were made by Spain group informants concerning the relevance of Spanish radio to young people, including: "Radio is not interesting for younger people." (24 Spain Β f 25-34) "I don't think young people really listen to the radio (in Spanish)." (198 Spain Β m 25-34) "There should be programs (radio) especially for primary school children." (199 Spain Β f 15-24) Nobody listened daily, only one informant listened weekly, and the rest listened only occasionally. Some 67 per cent of Spain group informants said that they were happy with the programs, with 33 per cent saying that they were not. Suggestions for improvement included: • • • •

there should be better music for young people there should be more variety the programs should be longer, and there should be more music there should be more intelligent people presenting

100 The Span ish-speaking groups

Some 67 per cent (once again, high in relation to low usage among the younger age groups) of informants said that radio in Spanish helped language maintenance in young people. There were, however, a number of objections to radio as a tool of language maintenance, some of them very strongly expressed: "There are a lot of mistakes made on the radio — this is not a good way to learn language." (139 Spain A m 24-35) "Radio programs do not help with language maintenance — they're too boring and it will turn people off Spanish." (381 Spain A m 25-34) "Radio the way it is now does not help with language maintenance. I think radio has the potential to be used as an educational device, but the Spanish radio programs here are rubbish." (411 Spain A m 45-54) "To be educational, radio has to appeal to a younger audience." (199 Spain Β f 15-24) In summary, marginally more of the Chile group (24 per cent) than of the Spain group (21 per cent) listened to Spanish radio programs. Radio was listened to more by older informants than younger informants in both groups, although there was a marginally higher listening rate among the 15-24 year olds in the Spain sample. There was also a lower listening rate among the 45-54 year olds in the Spain sample. Comments from both groups would suggest that radio is perceived as catering for the older population of Spanish speakers. No informant in either group listened to the radio daily, although weekly listening was more common in the Chile group than in the Spain group (as well as reporting more listeners, the Chile group thus also listens more frequently). More of the Spain group than the Chile group thought that radio helped language maintenance in the young, despite the fact that the objections from the Spain sample were more strongly expressed than those from the Chile sample. In both cases, the figure seems high given the very low rate of usage among the young people.

Research findings 101

By generation: Do you listen to Spanish radio? Table 2.22:

Radio use by generation, Chile and Spain groups Chile group 62%

Gl G2

Spain group 32% 10%

-

The lower rate of Spanish radio listening among the Spain group Gl is due to the fact that 90 per cent of the "young G l " did not listen to Spanish radio programs. Once again, the age factor seems to be more important than the generation factor.

2.4.2.8.2. Table 2.23:

Television Television use (Spanish language) by age, Chile and Spain groups

Age group 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Watches Spanish television Chile 8 5 2 6 2 -

(53%) (63%) (100%) (100%) (100%) -

Spain 12 8 2 4 1 2

(67%) (67%) (100%) (100%) (100%) (100%)

All informants from the Chile group over the age of 35, and the majority of those under the age of 35, listened to Spanish television, although 83 per cent of these said that they did so only occasionally. This almost certainly reflects the frequency of programs, which is low. Some 57 per cent of those who watched Spanish television watched movies, with a further 22 per cent watching both movies and series (series would presuppose a greater commitment over a period of time than movies). Almost all viewers (95 per cent) said that they were satisfied with what was offered, although several suggestions for improvement were made. These included:

102 The Spanish-speaking groups

• • •

there should be more variety, and more programs from Chile there should be more variety, particularly series and documentaries there should be more programs

Some 91 per cent of informants thought that Spanish television helped with language maintenance for young people, and there were very few negative comments made (cf. radio). Variety was the main issue: "They only play films on Spanish TV." (204 Chile Β f 15-24) As for the Chile group, all Spain group informants over the age of 35, and the majority of those under the age of 35, watched Spanish television, although the majority (86 per cent) said that they watched it only occasionally. Once again, movies (76 per cent) and movies/series (14 per cent) were the most popular categories. All informants said that they were happy with the programs offered, although a number of suggestions for improvement were made: • • • •

there should be more programs there should be better films and more programs there should be more recent programs there should be more comedy

Some 97 per cent of informants thought that Spanish television helped language maintenance in the young, and comments made were less numerous and on the whole more positive than was the case for radio: "Like radio, to be educational TV has to appeal to a younger audience." (199 Spain Β f 15-24) "Young people pick up a lot of slang, etc., from TV (helps them if they travel)." (198 Spain Β m 25-34) As a general comment on the role of television in language maintenance, it could be said that there are direct and indirect effects of watching television

Research findings 103

in a community language. The direct effects include greater exposure to the language, exposure to a peer group register that may be lacking in Australia (see comment on "slang", above), and exposure to the cultural context of the language. The indirect effect consists in the fact that time spent watching television in the community language equates with less time available for exposure to English language television. In summary, all informants over 35 years of age, in both groups, watched Spanish television, and the majority of informants under the age of 35, although marginally more informants under 35 watched in the Spain group. Over 80 per cent of informants in both groups said that they watched it only occasionally, and this may well reflect the frequency of programming rather than the inclination of the viewers. Informants in both groups complained about the lack of programs, as well as the lack of recent programs and the lack of variety within the programs. This lack of variety is reflected in the fact that the majority of informants reported watching only movies and series and the comment was made that this is in fact almost all that is offered. Over 90 per cent of informants in both groups said that they felt Spanish television promoted language maintenance, with the support marginally stronger in the Spain group. By generation: Do you watch Spanish television? Table 2.24:

Gl G2

Television use by generation, Chile and Spain groups Chile group 92% 55%

Spain group 84% 65%

A slight tendency is indicated for the Chile group to watch more television in the first generation, and the Spain group in the second generation.

104

The Spanish-speaking

groups

2.4.2.8.3. Videos Table 2.25: Video use (Spanish language) by age, Chile and Spain groups Age group

Watches Spanish videos Chile

15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

5 2 1 6 1 -

Spain (33%) (25%) (50%) (100%) (50%) -

1 2 -

1 1

(6%) (17%) -

(100%) (50%)

Although most of the Chile group informants over the age of 35 watched Spanish videos, the majority of informants under the age of 35 did not (cf. television). Only one informant (15-24) said that (s)he watched videos every week. The rest did so only occasionally. Movies were the most popular form of video (60 per cent), with a further 13 per cent watching films / series / documentaries. Some 67 per cent said that the videos were made in "Spain and South America", while 20 per cent said that they were made in Chile, and 13 per cent did not know where they were made. Some 97 per cent of Chile group informants said that they felt videos were helpful in language maintenance for young people. No specific comments were made on the topic of videos. The vast majority of Spain group informants under the age of 55 did not watch Spanish videos. All informants who said that they watched them said that they watched them only occasionally. Some 60 per cent watched movies, and 40 per cent watched movies and series. Some 60 per cent of the videos were made in Spain, and 40 per cent in Spain and South America. Some 92 per cent of Spain group informants said that they felt Spanish videos helped language maintenance in the young. No further specific comments were made. In summary, video watching was less prevalent in the Spain group than in the Chile group, particularly in the 15-24 and 45-54 age groups. This may be characteristic of members of a predominantly "older" migration vintage,

Research findings 105

where media such as videos were less common, and it may also reflect a lower level of availability in some geographical areas of Melbourne. The generally lower level of video use among the younger age groups for both Chile and Spain would tend to bear out the opinion of the focus group that young people also find videos inaccessible because of the type of video available, and the type of language used (see 2.4.1.8). Spain group informants tended to watch more videos produced specifically in their country of origin, while a smaller number of the Chile group specified videos produced in Chile. There was a higher proportion of "Spain and South American" videos watched by the Chile group, and we have no way of knowing what sort of balance this indicated. By generation: Do you watch Spanish videos? Table 2.26:

Gl G2

Video use (Spanish language) by generation, Chile and Spain groups Chile group 77% 25%

Spain group 21% 5%

Both first and second generation use of videos is considerably higher for the Chile group, and may be characteristic of a "newer" group of migrants with a greater awareness of, and expectation of, a range of facilities available in their community language.

2.4.2.8.4. Tapes, cassettes, CDs The vast majority (all of the Chile group, and all but two of the Spain group) of first generation informants from both groups listened to tapes or CDs in Spanish. Music and rhythms predominated, which may indicate that the tapes contribute more to cultural maintenance than to language maintenance directly. Traditional Spanish music was one of the things specifically mentioned by the focus group as being "spiritually good" for

106 The Spanish-speaking groups

Spanish-speaking migrants in Australia (2.4.1.8), and this phenomenon was also noted by members of the other language groups in this study, particularly the Arabic speakers. We have already noted the "indirect" effect of parents' tapes, radio programs, etc. on the second generation: "I don't listen to the radio myself, but I often hear bits and pieces of my parents' ... tapes, etc." (138 Chile Β f 15-24).

2.4.2.8.5. Internet, etc. The Internet and other computer-based facilities were used by a small majority of informants in both groups, with their use concentrated in the younger age groups. Despite the potential for using Spanish, and being exposed to Spanish through this newest of technologies, it seems that facilities are being used predominantly in English, and may in fact be multiplying English language contacts rather than contributing to Spanish ones. In general terms, the English-language domination of the Internet may pose a serious problem for language maintenance, although the technology could theoretically greatly benefit it.

2.4.2.9. Library/books from country of origin A similar proportion of informants from both groups (around 95 per cent) reported that there were books in Spanish at their local library, although only 39 per cent of Spain group informants said that they used their local library (compared with 58 per cent of Chile group informants). Of those that did use their library, slightly more of the Chile group said that the last book they had borrowed was in Spanish. A small minority of informants in both groups had reading material sent to them from their respective countries of origin. Some of these (children's books, novels) may have been available to them in Australian libraries,

Research findings 107 others (dictionaries, encyclopedias, magazines) may have been more specialised. As of the end of January 1996, there were 1592 books in one of the libraries servicing Melbourne's south-east (where many Latin American Spanish speakers live). Some 25 per cent of these are out at any given time, borrowed by a Spanish-speaking membership of 1949 (no further statistics are available as to country of origin). Magazines from Chile and Argentina are also held, and 80 per cent of these are out at any given time. It is clear from this discussion of media use patterns that, apart from tapes and CDs, which were used by almost all the first generation informants, television was the most universally utilised electronic medium (although both quantity and quality of programs was criticised). Radio was the least used, and was perceived as catering for the older population rather than for the youth. Videos were relatively popular among the Chile group, less so among the Spain group. Music and rhythms predominated among the tapes and CDs used, which may indicated that they contribute more to cultural maintenance than to language maintenance directly. The Internet and other computer-based facilities were used by a small majority of informants, mostly in the younger age groups, and largely in English. Although there was similar awareness among both groups about the availability of Spanish books at their local library, more use was made of these facilities by the Chile group than by the Spain group. Having analysed at some length the language use patterns and preferences of the informants in our corpus we will now consider some of the attitudes which may influence these patterns.

108 The Spanish-speaking groups

2.4.2.10. Attitudes to bilingualism, language and ethnicity Being able to speak two languages "very helpfiil "/"helpful "/"neither an advantage nor a disadvantage "/"not important "/"a disadvantage "

The overwhelming majority of informants from both groups thought that being able to speak two languages was "very helpful" or "helpful", although the support for the proposition was strongest in the age groups above 25. All three informants who took a neutral or a negative stance were from the Spain group. Table 2.27: Age group 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Attitude to bilingualism by age, Chile and Spain groups

"very helpful"

"helpful"

Ch. 4 27% 6 75% 2 100% 5 83% 2 100%

Ch. 11 73% 2 25%

-

Sp. 12 67% 7 58% 2 100% 3 75% -

2 100%

1 17% -

Sp. 4 22% 4 33%

-

1 100%

"neither adv. "not "disadvantage" nor disadv." important" Ch. Sp. Ch. Sp. Ch. Sp. 1 6% 1 8%

-

-

-

-

-

-

1 25% -

"no response" Ch. Sp. 1 6% -

-

-

Research findings 109

Maintaining ethnic identity "very important "/"important "/"unimportant "/"a disadvantage " Table 2.28: Age group 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Attitude to ethnic identity by age, Chile and Spain groups "very important" Chile Spain 1 4 7% 22% 1 4 13% 33% 1 50% 3 2 50% 50% 1 (50%) 1 (50%)

"important" Chile Spain 9 11 60% 61% 5 4 63% 33% 1 2 50% 100% 3 2 50% 50% 1 1 (50%) (100%) 1 (50%)

"unimportant" Chile Spain 5 3 33% 17% 2 4 25% 33%

"disadvantage" Chile Spain

While the majority of all Chile group informants thought that it was at least important to maintain their ethnic identity in Australia, there was an element of dissent from the under 35 year olds, stronger in the 15-24 year olds. While the majority of the 15-35 year olds thought that the maintenance of ethnic identity was important, rather than very important, the 35-55 year olds were evenly split on this issue. Although the majority of all Spain group informants also felt that the maintenance of ethnic identity was at least important, there was an element of dissent from the 15-34 year olds, stronger in the 25-34 year olds. A higher proportion of informants overall thought that such maintenance was "important" rather than "very important."

110

The Spanish-speaking

groups

Importance of the community language to the maintenance of ethnic identity "crucial "/"very important "/"important "/"a disadvantage " Table 2.29: Attitude to language and ethnicity by age, Chile and Spain groups Age group 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

"very important" "crucial Spain Chile Spain Chile 1 5 4 8 44% 7% 27% 28% 1 2 5 5 17% 63% 42% 13% 1 1 2 100% 50% 50% 4 2 4 100% 67% 33% 2 100% 1 100% 1 50%

"important" "a disadvantage" Chile Spain Chile Spain 10 5 67% 28% 2 4 1 33% 8% 25% -

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

1 50%

-

While all Chile group informants felt that knowledge of Spanish was at least important to the maintenance of ethnic identity, support for this proposition was weakest in the 15-24 age group, followed by the 25-34 age group. It was strongest in the 45-54 age group. The majority of all Spain group informants also felt that the community language was very important to the maintenance of ethnic identity, with the only very strong support coming from the 15-35 year olds (stronger in the 15-24 group). Most of the weakest support, however, also came from these groups).

Research findings 111

By generation: Table 2.30:

Attitudes to bilingualism, ethnicity and language by generation, Chile and Spain groups Being able to speak two languages

+++ ++ + +/—

NR +++ ++ + +/—

NR

+++ ++ + +/NR

Maintaining ethnic identity

Chile N/A 85% 15% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Spain N/A 74% 16% 0% 0% 5% 5%

Chile 0% 39% 61% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Spain 0% 32% 58% 0% 11% 0% 0%

0% 40% 60% 0% 0% 0% 0%

0% 60% 30% 10% 0% 0% 0%

0% 10% 55% 0% 35% 0% 0%

0% 25% 50% 0% 25% 0% 0%

Importance of language to ethnic identity Chile Spain 39% 21% 46% 58% 15% 21% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 10% 40% 50% 0% 0% 0% 0%

15% 50% 30% 0% 5% 0% 0%

crucial very important/helpful important/helpful neutral not important/helpful negative impact no response

There was stronger support for bilingualism among the Chile group first generation, and among the Spain group second generation, with the only ambivalent or negative responses coming from the Spain group. Overall, bilingualism was supported well over both generations of both groups. At least half of the informants in both generations over both groups felt that it was important to maintain an ethnic identity in Australia. There was more overall support, and more stronger support, from the first generation than from the second generation. The only Gl informants to feel that the maintenance of ethnic identity was unimportant came from the Spain group (one from the 15-24 group

112 The Spanish-speaking groups and one from the 25-34 group), another indication that the younger Gl of this group may be behaving more like the G2. Only one informant (Spain group G2) considered that language was not important to the maintenance of ethnicity in Australia. The strongest support came from the Chile group first generation, and the weakest from the Chile group second generation. The Spain group Gl who felt that the maintenance of Spanish was crucial to the maintenance of ethnic identity were in the 15-34 age bracket, further differentiating between the Spain group 35+ (more indifferent to language maintenance) and the Chile group 35+ (more retentive) on this issue. The Spain group G2, on the other hand, outrate the Chile group G2 at both of the stronger levels of support. Consideration of the attitudes of our informants to the three issues of bilingualism, ethnic identity, and the interface between the two has demonstrated that the first issue is the most straightforward. The overwhelming majority of informants from both groups thought that being able to speak two languages was "very helpful" or "helpful", although the support for the proposition was strongest in the age groups above 25. At least half the informants from both generations felt that it was important to maintain an ethnic identity in Australia. There was more overall support, and more stronger support, from the first generation than from the second generation. The only Gl informants to feel that the maintenance of ethnic identity was unimportant were under 35, which may indicate that age, rather than generation, is the operative factor here. The overwhelming majority of informants from both groups considered that language was at least important to the maintenance of ethnicity in Australia. We will now consider some of the motivational issues underlying language maintenance.

2.4.2.11. Motivation for language maintenance Survey informants were given the following options and asked to choose the one that was most important to them: "to retain one's identity" / "to

Research findings 113

participate in the culture of the country of origin" / "to communicate with relatives and friends" / "to get a better job" / "to maintain contact with the country of origin" More than half of the Chile group informants aged between 15 and 35 felt that communication with parents, etc. was the major factor, with "culture" being the next most important factor. The 35+ age group was more "scattered" in their responses. Only two informants (45-54 age group) felt that identity was the most important motivator for language maintenance. This pattern was repeated in the Spain group, with some three quarters of the 15-35 year olds giving "communication with parents, etc." as the most important factor in language maintenance. Only two informants (one from the 15-24 group and one from the 45-54 group) gave "identity" as the major factor. "Culture" was correspondingly less important for this group over all age groups. The relative weakness of the "identity" issue (particularly in light of the preceding discussion), and the relative strength of the "communication" factor for the younger informants are thus characteristic of both groups. The instrumental aspect of the latter motivation is seen throughout the findings, for example in the actual versus preferred oral use of language (2.4.2.4, 2.4.2.5.3).

114 The Spanish-speaking

groups

By generation: Table 2.31: Motivation for language maintenance by generation, Chile and Spain groups20

Gl

Identity Participation in culture of origin country Communication with relatives To get a better job Contact with country of origin Culture/communication

Chile group 15% 0% 15% 0% 23% 0%

Spain group 11% 11% 47% 0% 0% 11%

G2

Identity Participation in culture of origin country Communication with relatives To get a better job Contact with country of origin Culture/communication

0% 20% 55% 0% 0% 0%

0% 10% 80% 0% 10% 0%

The higher proportion of the Spain group Gl who regarded communication with relatives as the most important motivating factor for language maintenance indicates once more the presence of a young Gl, although not all Gl informants who cited this factor were in the 15-24 age group (five were 15-24, four were 35+). There is thus a larger concentration on this factor in both generations than is the case with the Chile group (cf lower level of actual contact with country of origin, 2.4.2.7).

2.4.2.12. Perceptions of support for language maintenance Spanish speakers in Melbourne are supportive of language maintenance "agree strongly " / "agree " / "disagree " / "disagree strongly " Although the majority of informants over all age groups in both groups were in favour of this proposition, there was very little strong agreement, and there was a small element of dissent, largely among the younger informants. The Spain group registered a higher proportion of "don't know" answers.

Research findings 115

By generation: Table 2.32:

"Spanish speakers in Melbourne are supportive of maintenance" by generation, Chile and Spain groups

language

Gl

"agree strongly" "agree" "don't know" "disagree" "disagree strongly" no response

Chile group 0% 69.2% 8% 23% 0% 0%

Spain group 11% 53% 26% 11% 0% 0%

G2

"agree strongly" "agree" "don't know" "disagree" "disagree strongly" no response

10% 65% 15% 5% 0% 5%

5% 85% 10% 0% 0% 0%

The second generation from both groups generally recorded stronger agreement for the proposition presented in this question than the first generation. This could be either because they are not as well informed as the first generation, or because they simply took a different view of the situation. The strongest disagreement (over both generations) came from the Chile group, and the greatest incidence of "don't know" from the Spain first generation. The disagreement in the Chile group Gl came from post-1975 arrivals, and the strongest agreement from 1975 arrivals. In the Spain group, the disagreement in the Gl came from 1981 arrivals. Other Australians are supportive of Spanish "agree strongly" / "agree" / "don't know" / "disagree" / "disagree strongly " There was a significant proportion of "don't know" answers in both groups, although this was slightly larger in the Spain group (44 per cent) than in the Chile group (40 per cent). The perception of support or lack of support for a community language could arise from the following areas:

116 The Spanish-speaking groups

•

matters of public policy (eg. prioritisation of Spanish in schools, availability of interpreters or translated material, radio and television scheduling) "People don't give Spanish the importance it deserves. It is more widely used than many other languages that get better treatment in Australia — for example, Italian, Greek, Indonesian." (200 Chile A m 45-54) "Greek, Italian and now Asian languages are more favoured than Spanish." (25 Chile A m (45-54)

•

general height of profile within the community ("visibility" of the Spanish-speaking community through shop signs, restaurants, festivals, etc.)

Vietnamese, Greek and Italian are better off, with visibility and shop signs, etc. "it's not fair for the rest of the people." (138 Chile Β f (15-24) "Other groups have more resources. You have to look twice as hard to find a Spanish service or professional than any other language group, e.g. Greek, Asian. It's more everyday things rather than community services, like if you walk into any shop where a shopkeeper speaks Greek, they advertise the fact that they speak Greek. With Spanish speakers, it's not seen as a resource." (396 Spain Β m 15-24) •

purely personal experience (comments from Australian-background friends, acquaintances, teachers, etc.)

In the Chile group, more informants disagreed with the proposition (30 per cent) than agreed with it (24 per cent). There was practically no strong support for the proposition, and disagreement was spread over all age categories. In the Spain group, on the other hand, more informants agreed

Research findings 117 with the proposition (31 per cent) than disagreed with it (21 per cent). The disagreement came from the 15-34 year olds (all were Australia-born). Once again, there was practically no strong support. By generation: Table 2.33:

"Other Australians are supportive of Spanish" by generation, Chile and Spain groups

Gl

"agree strongly" "agree" "don't know" "disagree" "disagree strongly" no response

Chile group 0% 31% 31% 39% 0% 0%

Spain group 5% 47% 16% 0% 0% 0%

G2

"agree strongly" "agree" "don't know" "disagree" "disagree strongly" no response

5% 20% 45% 25% 0% 5%

0% 40% 30% 30% 0% 0%

The Spain group supported the proposition more strongly than the Chile group in both generations, particularly Gl, where there was no disagreement at all from the Spain group. Although there was a degree of dissent in the Spain group G2 (marginally higher than that for the Chile group), there was still a greater degree of agreement than was the case for the Chile group. The overall pattern could again indicate an "older" migration, where social conditions were different, and resources or services in Spanish were neither forthcoming nor expected. More Australians should be encouraged to learn Spanish "agree strongly" / "agree" / "don't know" f "disagree" / "disagree strongly " The majority of informants in both birthplace groups agreed with this proposition, and there was no disagreement.

118 The Spanish-speaking groups By

generation:

Table 2.34:

"More Australians should learn Spanish" by generation, Chile and Spain groups

Gl

"agree strongly" "agree" "don't know" "disagree" "disagree strongly" no response

Chile group 0% 85% 15% 0% 0% 0%

Spain group 37% 47% 16% 0% 0% 0%

G2

"agree strongly" "agree" "don't know" "disagree" "disagree strongly" no response

15% 50% 30% 0% 0% 5%

5% 70% 25% 0% 0% 0%

There was more agreement in the Gl than in the G2 for both groups, more strong agreement from the Spain group Gl and more overall agreement from the Spain group G2 than from the Chile group G2. This would tend to suggest that the Gl at least is convinced of the value of Spanish in the international context: "Spanish should be a subject at all schools because it is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world." (374 Spain A f 65+) Do other ethnic groups get a better deal than yours?

More Spain group informants than Chile group informants did not have an opinion on whether other ethnic groups get a better deal. More Chile group than Spain group informants (particularly in the older age categories) felt that other groups were advantaged. School programs and television time allocation topped the list for both groups, with school programs slightly more important for the Chile group, and television time allocation slightly more important for the Spain group. Where it was felt that other groups were better off, the groups mentioned were Italians, Greeks and "Asians." They were seen to be both better

Research findings 119

organised and more highly favoured than the Spanish-speaking community. The perception that Spanish speakers are less organised and more "fragmented" than other groups may well be contributing to the clearly widespread perception that there are more members of other groups and this explains their favoured position. Although there are in fact (as of the 1996 Census) more speakers of Italian, Greek and Chinese varieties in Australia than speakers of Spanish, Spanish is one of the top ten community languages in Australia and its use increased by 22.3 per cent between the 1986 and 1991 Censuses (registering a smaller increase of 0.9 per cent between 1991 and 1996). It is not a "minor" language in any sense of the word, and the importance of Spanish internationally is clearly recognised by informants, particularly Gl informants (see above). The lack of "cohesion" between different Spanish-speaking groups expressed by several informants, as well as a perceived lack of political will, may be perpetuating the actual or perceived position of disadvantage expressed in the surveys, as well as the opposing view that there is actually no discrimination operating. By generation:

Table 2.35: "Other groups are better off' by generation, Chile and Spain groups Gl G2

Chile group 39% 40%

Spain group 16% 40%

While the proportion of G2 believing that other groups get a better deal than Spanish was the same between the two groups, considerably more of the Chile group Gl than the Spain group Gl believed that this was the case. Once again, this could be due to the "older" status of the Spain-born in Australia. It may also indicate an awakening of expectations within the second generation. Some further comments:

120 The Spanish-speaking

groups

"I think each group gets benefits according to how hard they try to achieve them. A lot of them are community based, so it's up to the community group." (205 Chile Β m 25-34) "It's probably just that there are greater numbers of migrants from other countries, so they seem to have more benefits/attention." (202 Chile Β m 24-35) "Other groups used to be years ago, but now things are the same for all of us. The Asians get discriminated against now." (371 Chile A m 5564) "Other language groups seem to have more services. But I think that's because those communities have been here longer. Now a lot more Spanish speakers are coming and things will probably change." (169 Spain A m 65+) "Other groups seem to be better coordinated than Spanish. There is only one Spanish church in Melbourne, and many for other groups." (170 Spain A f 55-64) "Spanish should be a subject at all schools because it is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world." (374 Spain A f 65+) "I don't think other groups are better off. I think they have more of a reputation for being an organised community group. For example, "the Greek community", and "the Italian community". You don't hear "the Spanish or Spanish-speaking community". (385 Spain A m 15-24) We have seen that informants were characterised by a low degree of interest in identity as a motivation for language maintenance and a high instrumental motivation (largely the need to communicate with friends and family). This instrumental motivation is seen throughout the findings, for example, in the actual versus preferred oral use of language among young people. Most informants felt that other Spanish speakers in Melbourne are

Research findings 121 supportive of language maintenance, a situation that was reversed with regard to perceived support of other Australians for Spanish, where the majority either disagreed or had no opinion. The Chile group was more likely than the Spain group to feel that other groups were better off than they were. We will now consider some language issues pertaining to Spanish, as well as the self-rated proficiency in Spanish of the informants.

2.4.2.13. Other language issues Has your Spanish changed since you have been in Australia? Some 74 per cent of Chile group informants and 68 per cent of Spain group informants thought that their language had changed since coming to Australia. Reasons included (in order of frequency of occurrence): • • •

I mix it with English now it hasn't evolved as it would have in Chile/Spain I have lost fluency

•

it's improved since my University course

A comment: "I consider English my first language because I was so young when I came here. I'm not as fluent in Spanish as a person my age should be." (409 Spain A f 15-24) Is Spanish from Chile different from Spanish from Spain? Most informants in both groups felt that Spanish from Chile was different from Spanish from Spain, and the main reasons given were "accent" and "vocabulary". "Spanish" Spanish was generally seen as being more "formal" than Chilean Spanish.

122 The Spanish-speaking groups

Is "Spanish " Spanish being imposed in the Australian school system? Most Chile group informants (67 per cent) said that they did not know whether Castilian was being imposed within the school system, 25 per cent said that they thought it was not being imposed, and only 8 per cent said that they thought that it was. This would tend to contradict Martin's (1996) suggestion that Castilian Spanish from Spain is both being imposed in the Australian school system and perceived as being imposed. Focus group comment (see 2.4.2.15) would tend to bear out our survey findings that the issue is not a particularly controversial one, at least in Melbourne. Some 79 per cent of Chile group informants said that they thought it should not be imposed, and the remaining 21 per cent didn't know. Some general comments on "Spanish" Spanish/ "Chilean" Spanish from the Chile group: "Latin America and Spain are different countries with different cultures — they should have their own distinctive languages." (37 Chile Β m 15-24) "Spanish Spanish is imposed through translations rather than exams, e.g. drivers licence books can sometimes be hard to understand because Spanish terms are used (eg. carril rather thanpista for lane)." (25 Chile A m 45-54) "Spanish from Spain is not the most correct Spanish." (26 Chile A f 45-54) "Grammatical rules are the same for all Spanish-speaking countries — the differences in language are mainly cultural (ways of expressing things), and should therefore be maintained." (140 Chile Β m 15-24) " I support the richness of diversity as long as it does not deform the language. Spanish speakers should learn the language as listed by the Royal Academy." (137 Chile A m 24-35)

Research findings 123

"Everyone learns it the way they do because that's the right version for them. It's a very rich language and if everyone has to speak it the same it will be boring like English." (200 Chile A m 45-54) "The differences are between countries and cultures. They shouldn't be made to conform to one way of speaking." (204 Chile Β f 15-24) Nobody from the Spain group thought that Castilian was being imposed in the school system, although a considerable proportion (67 per cent) did not know. Some 62 per cent thought that it should not be imposed, while 14 per cent (from 35-64 years of age) thought that it should. Some 24 per cent did not know. Some comments on "Spanish" Spanish/ "Chilean" Spanish from the Spain group: "Spanish Spanish is more pure, but it is correct that Latin Americans use their own form to maintain their identity." (21 Spain A m 45-54) "It is important to teach about the differences, so students can become aware of all the different forms of Spanish." (24 Spain Β f 25-34) "One of the interesting things about Spanish is the diversity of expressions and cultural differences." (139 Spain A m 24-35) "Each Spanish-speaking group should not lose touch with its heritage." (199 Spain Β f 15-24) "Chilean is more melodic and colourful (Spanish in contrast sounds dry and strict)." (198 Spain Β m 25-34) "The way they speak is correct for their country." (169 Spain A m 65+) "To a certain degree [Chileans should be taught Spanish from Spain] — some of the words they use are not correct." (170 Spain A f 55-64)

124 The Spanish-speaking groups

"The language comes from Spain, and kids should learn it in its pure form." (373 Spain A f 35-44) In summary, no informant from the Spain group, and only one from the Chile group, felt that Spanish from Spain was being imposed in Australian schools, although a considerable proportion (67 per cent of both groups) said that they did not know if this was happening. No informant from the Chile group felt that it should be imposed, compared with 14 per cent of the Spain group (35-64). So, while there is slightly more perception of imposition on the Chilean side, and slightly more will to impose on the Spanish side, the issue is obviously not a vital one for this particular set of informants. Comments from both groups stressed the positive aspects of diversity, as well as the close links between language and culture.

2.4.2.14. Language proficiency Having considered at some length the actual and preferred use of language, as well as attitudes towards bilingualism, support/discrimination and Spanish itself, it is appropriate to include some information on the selfrated language skills of informants in the survey. It is important to note at this point that self-rating is far from an ideal form of measurement, in that results can be inflated or deflated depending on the perceptions of informants as to what constitutes "good" language use. These perceptions may depend in turn on the domains in which the language is habitually used. For example, someone who uses Spanish only at home for routine purposes may consider that his/her language is good, or very good, in that it perfectly fulfils its function, while another informant who is also studying the language at school may consider that same "home" language to be inadequate in many areas.

Research findings 125 Table 2.36: Age group 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+ Table 2.37:

Age group 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+ Table 2.38: Age group 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+ Table 2.39: Age group 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

"How well do you speak Spanish?" by age, Chile and Spain groups "very well" 'Veil" "not well" Chile Spain Spain Chile Chile Spain 7% 17% 67% 83% 27% 38% 17% 63% 83% 100% 100% 50% 75% 50% 25% 100% 100% 100%

"not at all" Chile Spain -

"How well do you understand Spanish?" by age, Chile and Spain groups "very well" 'Veil" Chile Spain Chile Spain 13% 17% 80% 83% 38% 17% 63% 83% 100% 100% 67% 100% 33% 100% 100% 100%

"not well" Chile Spain 7%

"not at all" Chile Spain

-

"How well do you read Spanish?" by age, Chile and Spain groups "very well" 'Veil" Chile Spain Chile Spain 6% 40% 78% 25% 17% 50% 67% 100% 100% 67% 100% 17% 100% 100% 100%

"not well" "not at all" Chile Spain Chile Spain 60% 12% 6% 25% 17% 17%

"How well do you write Spanish?" by age, Chile and Spain groups "very well" Chile Spain 6% 8% 13% 50% 100% 33% 75% 100% 50% -

"wellChile 20% 50% 50% 67% -

Spain 39% 50%

"not well" Chile Spain 67% 50% 38% 33%

-

25% 100% 50%

-

"not at all" Chile Spain 13% 6% 8%

126 The Spanish-speaking groups Similar tendencies were present in both groups, with older informants more confident than younger informants, and oral skills being rated more highly than literacy skills. There were very few informants who claimed absolute lack of skills in any area, and they were younger informants, and in the areas of reading and writing. There was thus no complete language shift reported. The Spain group informants over 35 were generally more confident than the Chile group informants, where a number of 45-54 informants showed a slightly lower level of confidence in all areas. By generation: Table 2.40: Language proficiency by generation, speaking, Chile and Spain group

Gl

"very well" 'Veil" "not well" "not at all"

Chile group 69% 31% 0% 0%

Spain 53% 47% 0% 0%

G2

"very well" 'Veil" "not well" "not at all"

10% 70% 20% 0%

15% 85% 0% 0%

Table 2.41: Language proficiency by generation, listening, Chile and Spain group

Gl

"very well" "well" "not well" "not at all"

Chile group 77% 23% 0% 0%

Spain group 58% 42% 0% 0%

G2

"very well" 'Veil" "not well" "not at all"

15% 80% 5% "0%

15% 85% 0% 0%

Research findings 127 Table 2.42: Language proficiency by generation, reading, Chile and Spain group

Gl

"very well" 'Veil" "not well" "not at all"

Chile group 69% 15% 15% 0%

Spain group 58% 42% 0% 0%

G2

"very well" 'Veil" "not well" "not at all"

5% 45% 50% 0%

5% 70% 20% 5%

Table 2.43: Language proficiency by generation, writing, Chile and Spain group

Gl

"very well" "well" "not well" "not at all"

Chile group 46% 39% 15% 0%

Spain group 37% 37% 26% 0%

G2

"very well" "well" "not well" "not at all"

35% 0% 55% 10%

5% 45% 40% 10%

In the areas of speaking and listening, there was evidence of the perception of attrition from the first generation to the second generation, with less G2 informants feeling that they speak or understand Spanish "very well" (and more opting for "well"). The findings in this area for the Chile group and the Spain group (G2) were very similar, although there was a lower level of confidence among the Spain group Gl than among the Chile group Gl. This is almost entirely due to the presence of a "young" Gl sample for the Spain group — all but one of the informants who thought they spoke Spanish "well" belonged to the 15-34 age bracket (half from the 15-24 bracket and half from the 25-34 bracket), and all of those who thought they understood Spanish "well" came from the 15-34 bracket (once again, half from each of the subgroups). With the Chile group, on the other hand, most of the informants who thought they spoke and understood Spanish "well" rather than "very well" came from the 45-54 age bracket.

128

The Spanish-speaking

groups

There was a generally lower level of confidence overall evident in reading and writing, although the Spain group G2 appear to be more confident in these areas than the Chile group G2. Writing was perceived to be more difficult than reading. Reading and writing practices within the groups surveyed supported the relative lack of confidence of the younger age groups, particularly the second generation. Table 2.44:

Gl G2 Table 2.45:

Gl G2

Reading of Spanish newspapers, magazines and novels by generation, Chile and Spain groups Reads Spanish newspapers Chile Spain 85% 58% 5% 20%

Reads Spanish magazines Chile 23% 10%

Spain 32% 5%

Reads Spanish novels Chile 77% 10%

Spain 63% 20%

Writing of notes to others and letters in Spanish by generation, Chile and Spain Writes notes to others in Spanish Chile Spain 38% 42% 25% 30%

Writes letters in Spanish Chile Spain 92% 68% 45% 50%

The items mentioned in Figures 2.44 and 2.45 represent the most common items reported by the informants. It is interesting to note that the second generation of both groups reported writing more often than they reported reading, and this may be due to the fact that the particular items of writing mentioned were ones in which the language preference of the addressee may be particularly significant. The instrumental nature of language use among the younger generation is again emphasised. The younger profile of the Spain group Gl is also evident, with the younger informants again behaving more like the G2.

Research findings 129

2.4.2.15. Focus group Β After holding the original focus group and collating information gained from the surveys, some further questions were identified for which clarification was needed. For this reason a second focus group was convened, both to bring community members up to date with findings and to canvas their views on a number of further issues. The questions raised for discussion were: •

The pattern of language use and attitudes among the Spain-background informants appears to more closely resemble that of longer-established groups in Australia, regardless of the time of migration of the informant in question. Chile-background informants, on the other hand, tend to behave more like other migrant groups whose largest numbers have arrived since the mid-1970s. Would you agree?

Response: This was confirmed in a number of ways. Firstly, there was a widespread perception that the Spain-born group has been in Australia for much longer than the Chile-born group, and this was often offered as an explanation for discrepancies in survey findings, even when it was pointed out that the informants in question (both Chile and Spain group) had been in Australia for comparable periods of time. It was pointed out that the immediate postwar immigrants from Spain were brought to Australia largely as manual labourers, whereas the educational level among the Chile-bom, who also entered as part of the Humanitarian and Special Assistance programs, was considerably higher, as were their educational and cultural expectations of Australia. In terms of visiting the country of origin, where Spain group G2 displayed a relatively high rate of return for holidays to Spain, it was felt that this group, having been here longer and having been able to establish themselves in work and their children in (possibly) higher education, may have more resources for travel than the Chile group G2. In addition, immigrants under Humanitarian programs may be more likely to migrate as individuals rather than as families, and may therefore feel the need in the

130 The Spanish-speaking

groups

first generation to maintain a higher level of contact with the home country. It was also pointed out that it was quite usual for Australians to visit Europe, and when in Europe to include on their itinerary a country with which they have family ties. Chilean Australians, however, do not have such links with a country in Europe. In the immediate post war period immigrants came to Australia with the expectation that they would not ever visit their country of origin. •

There is a considerable difference over most of the areas covered in the survey between informants aged under 35 years and informants aged over 35 years. Do you think this is generally true of the Spanishspeaking community?

Response: This was confirmed by members of the group. Points also made which may be relevant to the older/younger distinction were the necessary concentration of younger immigrants on the settlement process to the detriment of the maintenance of their first culture, and the tendency of older immigrants (from late 40s onwards) to want to return to their "roots" and recapture their original ethnic identity (seen in patterns of club membership, for example). •

There are indications that Spanish-speaking school children tend to use Spanish as an "in-language" at school — to tell jokes, to talk about other groups. There is also mention of a particular variety of "Spanish/English" among the same young people ("woggy", "Spanglish"). Do you think this is a general phenomenon among Spanish young people?

Response: The answer was a definite affirmative, both in terms of language as an identifying factor (Spanglish), as well as a means of excluding others. The popularity of Latin American music among young people of many national

Research

findings

131

backgrounds, particularly in recent years, was felt to have encouraged Spanish-background young people to think of their culture more positively. One member of the group said that his teenage son felt proud to be a "wog" where music was concerned. •

How much social networking is there between Spanish speakers from different countries of origin?

•

Do you think there is the perception among Spanish speakers of a "Spanish-speaking community" (i.e. one that includes speakers from different countries of origin and uses Spanish as its unifying force), or are perceptions of community more based on country of origin?

Response: The Chile-background group were described as a very homogeneous group, both politically and in terms of their migration vintage (see also Bureau of Immigration, Multicultural and Population Research 1995b). Because of this, and their large numbers in some areas of Melbourne, they tend to socialise mainly within their own group, and display a high level of national feeling as a group. They hold their own fiesta, and generally act independently of other Spanish-speaking, even other Latin-American Spanish-speaking, groups. The Spain-background group, on the other hand, were seen as being more open in their social networking, as well as smaller in number and more dispersed throughout the metropolitan region. The Spain-background group was also felt to have a more "European", cosmopolitan outlook than the Chile-background group, which contributes to their more open social networks and leads to a higher level of contact with other immigrants of European background and related languages — for example, the Italians. The Chile-born were seen to be more highly organised in terms of clubs and organisations, with some 20+ clubs scattered throughout Melbourne, as opposed to one "Spain" Spanishspeaking club.

132 The Spanish-speaking

•

groups

Although information from other sources would suggest that there is within the school system a definite predominance of "Spanish" Spanish at the expense of Latin American Spanish, this was not evident from the surveys, or was only evident in very minor way. What do you think the situation is?

Response: It was felt that the older generation Spaniards, especially the less educated, believe that Castilian norms should be imposed. However, this is not accepted by Latin Americans, nor by more recent or more educated Spanish migrants. There is a belief that Chilean Spanish, as the national variety of the largest Spanish-speaking group, predominates in Australia. There is also a perception that all the varieties are now influencing one another and that a pluralistic attitude abounds.

2.4.3.

Summary

2.4.3.1. Demography and history There were 91 254 speakers of Spanish in Australia in 1996, placing it seventh among the "top ten" community languages nationally. The largest proportion of these speakers were born in Chile (23 per cent), followed by other Latin America (27 per cent), Australia (21 per cent) and Spain (11 per cent). The community is a relatively young one, with 52.5 per cent under 35 years of age in 1996. Most are Catholics. They are concentrated in Sydney (49 per cent) and Melbourne (25 per cent). The earliest significant migration of Spanish speakers originated from Spain and arrived in Australia during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Migration from Latin America became significant only after 1970.

Research findings 133 2.4.3.2.

Language use and attitudes

Table 2.46:

Summary of Spanish-speaking groups

Both Spanish-speaking groups

Variations within this pattern

Adults used more Spanish in the home, children used more English.

Chile group showed a lower level of exclusive Spanish use between children and adults than the Spain group, together with more exclusive use of English among adults.

All informants over the age of 35 preferred to use Spanish at home, most informants under 35 preferred to speak English at home. Most informants over the age of 35 socialised mainly with members of the same community language group, while most of the under 35s had more diverse networks.

The Chile group under 35s were typically part of mixed networks, while the Spain group under 35s were typically part of "English only" networks.

While the majority of the over 35s preferred to speak Spanish socially, the majority of the under 35s preferred English. The majority neither frequented Spanish-speaking businesses nor consulted Spanish-speaking professionals (doctors and dentists were the main professionals mentioned). Radio was the least used of the media, and listened to more by older than younger people. Television was the most universally —> Videos were generally more utilised electronic medium, followed popular among the Chile group than by videos. among the Spain group. Internet and other computer-based facilities used by a small majority of informants, mostly in the younger age groups and mostly in English.

134 The Spanish-speaking groups Both Spanish-speaking groups

Variations within this pattern

All informants had friends or relatives in the country of origin. Communication was more often by telephone than through letters. The majority of informants from both groups had been back to their country of origin.

Chile group informants were more likely than Spain group informants to telephone or write to the country of origin, and also more likely to have house guests. Chile group informants reported more frequent visits to the homeland than Spain group informants.

Overall strong support for bilingualism, weakest in the 15-24 age group. Overall support for the maintenance of ethnic identity, with some disagreement in the younger age groups. Overall support for the importance of language to maintenance of ethnic identity. Communication with friends and family the most important motivator for language maintenance. Most informants felt that Spanish speakers in Melbourne were supportive of language maintenance (G2 recorded stronger agreement than Gl). There was overall limited support for the notion that other Australians are supportive of Spanish.

-> There was less agreement among the Chile group than among the Spain group that other Australians are supportive of Spanish.

A minority of both groups felt that other groups were "better off' than they were.

—> Spain group Gl was less than half as likely as the Spain group G2, or both generations in the Chile group, to feel that other groups are getting a "better deal".

Research findings 135 Both Spanish-speaking groups

Variations within this pattern

Older informants were more confident in their language proficiency than younger informants, and oral skills were rated more highly than literacy skills.

It is clear from Table 2.46 that while there is much commonality between the language use patterns and attitudes of Spanish speakers from the two birthplace groups selected, there are also a number of differences. We shall return to these in Chapter Five in our general discussion of results and their implications for the broader study of language shift and immigrant languages. In the meantime, we will consider the Arabic speakers in our corpus.

Chapter Three — The Arabic-speaking groups

3.1. Introduction This chapter begins with a brief description of the Arabic-speaking community in Australia. Then follows a discussion of issues arising from the first Arabic focus group. We go on to present a range of findings from the individual surveys carried out among Melbourne's Arabic speaking community, drawing comparisons between the two selected background groups: Egypt and Lebanon. We conclude with a discussion of the second and final focus group meeting, and a brief summary of findings. A progressive summary, in the form of italicised passages, is also provided during the course of the chapter.

3.2. The Arabic-speaking community in Australia: size, birthplace, residence, age, religious affiliation Spoken at home by 177 599 Australian residents, Arabic is the fourth most widely used community language nationally, and has seen an increase of 9 per cent in the years between 1991 and 1996 (Clyne—Kipp 1997a). This number represents both Australia-born and overseas-born, with the vast majority of the overseas-born population in 1996 born in Lebanon.

Other 11%

Iraq 3%

Australia 42% Egypt

Lebanon 36%

8%

Figure 3.1:

Arabic speakers by birthplace, 1996

138 The Arabic-speaking groups

Arabic is the most concentrated of all the languages of this study, with 69 per cent of the Arabic-speaking population living in Sydney. Melbourne is home to 22 per cent, with only 9 per cent living outside these two capital cities. For the concentration of Arabic speakers within Melbourne, see Map 3.1.

y^rafric Whiulesea t Hume ' Niilumbik

Melton Yarra R a n g e s 1

15

19 /

16

3 _ Wyndham

11-y

14

C

2»

\izr 13 21 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

Melbourne Port Phillip Hobsons Bay Maribyrnong Brimbank Moonee Valley Moreland Darebin Yan-a Stonnington Glen Eira Baysidc Kingston Monash Boroondara Whitehorsc Manntnghain Banyule Maroondah Knox Greater Dandenong Frankston

Map 3.1:

Cardinia Casey 22

Mornington Peninsula

0

10

20

Kilometres

Concentration of Arabic-speakers in Melbourne, 1991

The Arabic-speaking community in Australia

139

As can be seen from Figure 3.2, the Arabic-speaking population is a very young one, with 68.4 per cent under 35 years of age in 1996, and a very large school-age population.

α

55-64 yrs

1 '

35-44 yrs

1 ι

15-24 yrs 0-4 yrs

Figure 3.2:

I

' I

1

1

1

5

10

15

20

25

Arabic speakers by age, 1996

One of the determining factors in the use of Arabic among Australians of Lebanese and Egyptian background may be expected to be their religious affiliation, given the centrality of the Koran and Classical Arabic to Muslims. The religious composition of the two groups in 1991 was as follows: Other Orth 3%

Other inc N/S 13%

Greek Orth 7%

Figure 3.3:

Religion by Lebanon born, 1991 other, incl N/S \-jy0

Greek Orth

19%

Figure 3.4:

40%

2%

Religion by Egypt born, 199121

140 The Arabic-speaking groups

As can be seen from Figures 3.3 and 3.4, the largest proportion of both groups in Australia are Catholic. Members of the Greek Orthodox and Coptic Orthodox Churches make up the next largest groups for the Egyptborn, while Islam is the next most important religious affiliation for the Lebanon-bom. Of the Catholic group from Lebanon, some three quarters belong to the Maronite denomination, which is found only in Lebanon and the diaspora. The Maronites originated in Syria in the seventh century, before spreading to the mountainous regions of north Lebanon. They have retained their local independence under a Maronite patriarch, locally elected and merely ratified by the (Roman) Pope, and the denomination has also preserved its ancient Syriac liturgy, still commonly in use in all Maronite churches with minor emendations to ensure conformity with the Roman profession and papal obedience (Atiya 1968:392). Maronites are the largest religious group in Lebanon, and have played an important part in the religious and social history of the country. About nine per cent of the Lebanon-born are Melkite Catholics, a sect which originated in the eighteenth century when some members of the Orthodox church changed their allegiance from the Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch to the Catholic Pope of Rome. Although the Melkite Church today is also a Patriarchate of the Church of Rome, its mass, like the Orthodox, is a Byzantine liturgy (Bureau of Immigration, Multicultural and Population Research 1994; Atiya 1968). The majority of Lebanon-born Muslims in Australia are members of the Sunni sect (around 33 per cent of the total Lebanon-born), while much smaller numbers are adherents of the Alawite sect (around two per cent) and the Shiite sect (around one per cent) (Bureau of Immigration, Multicultural and Population Research 1994). Muslims in Australia are a relatively recently arrived group, most immigration dating from the outbreak of Civil War in Lebanon in 1975, and the Turkish migration of the 1970s and 1980s. Before that time, the vast majority of Arabic speakers in Australia were not Muslim, and, even now, Arabic speakers only represent some 38 per cent of Australian Muslims (Bouma 1994). Muslims have the lowest rate of religious outmarriage of any religious group in Australia (Gariano 1993), with an outmarriage rate of only 6 per cent (7.8

The Arabic-speaking community in Australia

141

per cent for males, 4.1 per cent for females). The low rate of outmarriage may indicate at least two things: the importance of religious identity for Muslims; and the fact that a strong Muslim community able to channel and facilitate the marriage patterns of its youth has already been established (Bouma 1994:36). Penny—Khoo's (1996) study found that Australian women married to Lebanese Muslim men had by and large accepted the traditional role of the Muslim woman, going so far in some cases as to learn Arabic and adopt the hijab. The children with Muslim fathers had learnt to speak Arabic well, while the language ability of children from other types of mixed marriages was variable. Many of the post-war settlers from Egypt were of Greek, Italian, Maltese or Armenian descent, and thus a considerable majority of the Egypt-born Christians in Australia identify with the Greek Orthodox and Catholic denominations, and tend to affiliate themselves with others from these ethnic groups who were not born in Egypt. The numbers of Egyptian Muslims and Coptic Christians emigrating to Australia increased after the mid-1960s (Bureau of Immigration, Multicultural and Population Research 1995a:36). Most of the Copts in Australia belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church, although there are also small numbers of Coptic Catholics (see also 3.4.1.2). The Copts are descendants of the ancient Egyptians who were Christian prior to the (Arab) Muslim conquest of Egypt in the seventh century. Coptic (a Hamito-Semitic language developed out of Egyptian dialects in the third century) was banned by the Arabs in 997 and survives today only in the Coptic liturgy. About 90 per cent of Copts marry other Copts. The various Coptic communities in Australia exhibit a considerable amount of cohesion. Religion provides the focus for this cohesion, and is the most important source of self-identification. The churches provide Sunday schools, libraries, regular newsletters and magazines, youth groups, and classes in Coptic and Arabic language studies. Most Egypt-born Muslims arrived in Australia in the 1970s. They were mostly of Arab origin and associated closely with other Middle Eastern Muslims. While the Christian Egypt-born were relatively quick to establish

142 The Arabic-speaking groups

their own religious organisations or fit into existing ones, Egypt-born Muslims, not being so numerous nor so heavily concentrated as the Lebanese Muslims, have not been able to form similarly strong networks, based on both nationality and religion, which have answered many settlement needs for the Lebanese Muslims (Batrouney 1988). Even within the Lebanese community, the mosque did not emerge as a focus for welfare and assistance until the 1980s (see also 3.3.1.2).

3.3. Lebanon- and Egypt-background Australians 3.3.1 . Lebanon-background Australians 3.3.1.1. The situation in Lebanon The territory of present-day Lebanon was under the control of the Ottoman Empire for some 400 years from 1516 until the outbreak of World War 1. Complete independence was gained in 1943, when constitutional arrangements recognised 17 different religious communities, which were allocated positions in government in accordance with size and significance. The dominant role of religion in Lebanon dates from the times of Ottoman control, when the country was divided into communities of religious believers — both structural and temporal powers were held by traditional religious leaders. This history of religious diversity and political involvement of religious leaders is one of the factors that has hindered the development of Lebanon as a unified nation.

3.3.1.2. History of settlement of Lebanon-born in Australia There are three major periods in the history of migration from Lebanon to Australia (Bureau of Immigration, Multicultural and Population Research 1994):

Lebanon- and Egypt- background Australians

143

1. 1880-1947 In 1911 there were 1527 Lebanon- and Syria-born in Australia, and this had grown only to 1886 in 1947. The majority were Maronite, Melkite and Orthodox Christians, and most were from farming stock, with their loyalty first to extended family, and second to other members of their village, who typically shared their religion. Almost all became hawkers or pedlars, settling eventually in small businesses. In the early years of the century about half lived outside major metropolitan areas, but, over time, the majority congregated in major cities. The family was the principle focus of Lebanese ethnicity, due to the lack of a cohesive religious or national identity, and also Australia's assimilationist policies of that time. The only place Arabic was preserved was in ethnic churches, which were largely superfluous to the religious interests of the second generation (McKay— Batrouney 1988). The descendants of immigrants from this period now extend to five or six generations, and have seen a significant decline in traditional Lebanese values and practices. 2.

1947-1975

In 1947 there were 1886 Lebanon-born in Australia. By 1966 this had grown to 10 688, and by 1971 to 24 218, largely due to the Arab-Israeli War in 1967 and continuing conflict in Lebanon. By 1976 the number had reached 33 424. Most of these immigrants were Christians, and nearly all had received some formal education in Lebanon. They emigrated largely to improve their standard of living, and most (77 per cent) settled in New South Wales. They typically went first into the manufacturing industries, and then into business, and present an example of substantial upward mobility in terms of educational progress and occupational achievement. In contrast to the first wave of immigrants they were more likely to establish their own churches. In 1955 Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Church (Melbourne) was opened, and in 1973 the first Maronite archbishop was appointed to Australia.

144 The Arabic-speaking

groups

The fact that there were already a number of Lebanese-Australian groups that these immigrants could join proved beneficial for second wave immigrants in many ways. It helped to overcome isolation and loneliness (particularly given the number of single men in this migration wave), it provided them with role models of successful immigrants, and also provided employment opportunities for the newly arrived. There were, however, some problems of identification with the early wave, many of whom had been known, and had considered themselves as, Syrians. There was also the issue of control over churches and associations established by pioneer immigrants, and several organisations formed breakaway groups. The continuing chain migration of friends and relatives from Lebanon strengthened the concentration of Lebanon-born in the areas of initial migration (in this case, New South Wales and Victoria, with the Druse becoming concentrated in SA due to initial migration to that state). 3. 1975 onwards In October 1976, following the outbreak of civil war in Lebanon in 1975, entry restrictions to Australia were eased on humanitarian grounds to allow Lebanese already living in Australia to sponsor members of their families. This was extended until February 1977, and saw the entry of nearly 1 000 Lebanon-born immigrants per month. Between 1971-1981 more than 16 000 new arrivals were recorded, and by 1986 there were 56 332 Lebanonborn in Australia. This had increased by 1991 to 68 787, and by 1996 to 70 331. This influx of family migration had several effects on the Lebanonborn community in Australia. Firstly, it led to the further clustering of Lebanese immigrants in existing areas of concentration of settlement, and secondly, it put enormous pressure on the existing Lebanon-born population in terms of organisation and financial support. This was particularly true for the Muslim population, who had been slower than the Christian community to establish community organisations and churches. The problems for the Muslim community were exacerbated by the fact that there were steadily increasing numbers of Muslim immigrants in the latest wave of immigration, mainly from around Tripoli and the north.

Lebanon- and Egypt- background Australians

145

Between 1975 and 1977 14 000 Lebanese Muslims arrived in Australia (about 60 per cent of the total Lebanese arrivals) (Humphrey 1988). This represented an instance of accelerated chain migration, as nearly all were sponsored by relatives in Australia. Although the first mosque had been established in the early 1960s in Sydney, it was not until the 1980s that mosques emerged as a focus for welfare and assistance. Not only did the latest wave of migrants put an enormous financial and organisational strain on existing settlers in Melbourne, but they also threatened their self-perception, as a Christian, propertied, upwardly mobile, business oriented community (Batrouney 1988). Older settlers left established Lebanese community organisations (notably the Australian Lebanese Association) which had been unable to maintain unity among Melbourne Lebanese in the face of political and religious division. There have also been considerable settlement problems for the newest wave of immigrants, and there has been a high rate of unemployment among them, which may reflect any or all of the following factors: •

• • • •

lack of English proficiency (reflected in economic insecurity, often exacerbated by limited native-language ability and education and lack of appropriate English language tuition). The reportedly widespread hope (cited by Batrouney 1988) that the family will one day return to Lebanon may also restrict the development of English language skills among the children. recency of arrival disruption to education and work experience due to civil war decline in number of jobs in the manufacturing industries discrimination in recruitment by Australian employers

3.3.2. Egypt-background Australians 3.3.2.1. The situation in Egypt Egypt was also under the rule of Ottoman Turks from 1517-1914, although control ceased to be effective soon after the brief occupation of Napoleon's

146 The Arabic-speaking

groups

army (1798-1801), which ushered in a time of rapid Europeanisation. Although there had been communities of Italian and Greek speakers in Egypt since the Middle Ages (in the case of Greek, since the founding of Alexandria), and also a Jewish population, the first major presence of Europeans in modern times came with the Napoleonic occupation. After the withdrawal of the French, many officers and administrators remained in Egypt, to be employed by Muhammed Ali (the governor of Egypt under the Ottoman Turks) in his program of modernisation and industrialisation. The administration of Muhammed Ali also ushered in a period of increased immigration from France, Italy and Greece, which began to dwindle seriously only after World War 2, and disappear rapidly after 1956. Until 1820, Italian was the most commonly used foreign language in Egypt, to be succeeded by French. Muhammed Ali's grandson, Ismail (1863-1879), continued and strengthened the trend towards Europe, and his strongly proEuropean policies (possibly politically motivated in an attempt to obtain independence from the Ottoman Empire) provided the basis for a Europeanised Egyptian elite in government, education and letters. The European population of Egypt grew from a few thousand in 1860 to over 100 000 in 1876. Ismail also promoted the establishment of private, nonIslamic schools in Egypt, and Greek schools in particular prospered during his administration. By 1860 Arabic had replaced Turkish as the national language of the State. In 1914 Egypt was declared a protectorate of Britain, and became a constitutional monarchy in 1923. In 1952 a group of army officers forced the abdication of King Farouk and Egypt proclaimed itself a Republic, under the leadership of Colonel Gamal Abdul Nasser. A complete political and economic reconstruction was undertaken, and in 1956 Colonel Nasser proclaimed a new Egyptian constitution and was elected as Egypt's first president, pursuing a strong "pan-Arabic" and "pan-Islamic" policy emphasis. In 1977 Anwar Sadat, who succeeded Nasser, became the first leader to seek an accommodation with Israel (following the Six Day War in 1967), and, in 1979 (with mediation by the United States), both sides signed a peace accord. Egypt's agreement with Israel met with hostility from other

Lebanon- and Egypt- background Australians

147

Arab states, and some severed diplomatic relations. In 1981 President Sadat was assassinated by Islamic militants, and succeeded by Hosni Mubarek. By 1987 Egypt was becoming increasingly less isolated in the Arab world, reclaiming membership of the Arab League in 1989. In 1990 the Arab League headquarters returned to Cairo (from Tunis), and in 1993 Mubarek was re-elected for his third six-year term. There have been outbreaks of social unrest (often in response to economic hardship) and continuing conflicts between government and Islamic militant factions. (The above overview is based on Bureau of Immigration, Multicultural and Population Research 1995a, Howell 1929 and Vatikiotis 1991.)

3.3.2.2. History of settlement of Egypt-born in Australia There were only 108 Egypt-born in Australia in 1901, growing to 803 by 1947. It is likely that most of the pre-World War II population of Egyptborn were of European descent, from the groups mentioned above. The majority of the Egypt-born currently in Australia arrived between 1947 and 1971, many as a direct result of the pan-Islamic policies of Colonel, and then President, Nasser. The vast majority were Christians. Since 1971, when the number stood at 28 226, the rate of entry has declined significantly, and there were only 33 140 in 1991, growing to 34 110 in 1996. Some 70.6 per cent of the current population migrated before 1981, 10.1 per cent from 1991-1996. The Egypt-born are a relatively highly educated group. In 1991, 48.5 per cent held educational or occupational qualifications (this is considerably higher than the figure for the total Australian population, which is 38.8 per cent). In contrast to the Lebanon-born, the Egypt-born population is older than the Australian average, with 79.1 per cent over the age of 35 (cf. 40.4 per cent Australia-born). In 1996, 70.6 per cent of the Egypt-born had arrived in Australia before 1981 (10.1 per cent between 1991-1996). Of the recent arrivals, 56.3 per cent had settled in Sydney, and 30 per cent in Melbourne.

148 The Arabic-speaking groups

Although the Egypt-born have relatively high retention rates in education (Bureau of Immigration, Multicultural and Population Research 1995a: 16), and a high level of qualification (see above) they have a lower labour market participation rate (58.1 per cent) than both the Australia-bom (63.9 per cent) and the total overseas-born from Non-English-speaking (NES) countries (59.8 per cent). The unemployment rate was 14.5 per cent in 1991, which was higher than that for the total Australian population (11.6 per cent) but lower than that for all overseas born from NES countries (16.8 percent).

3.4. Research findings 3.4.1. Focus group A The meeting was attended by representatives from the Maronite and Melkite congregations in Melbourne, representatives from the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox and Coptic Catholic churches and a Coptic Orthodox College, teachers of Arabic in three state secondary schools (see below), representatives from the Australian Arabic Council and the Victorian Arabic Network, translators, journalists and broadcasters. A telephone interview was subsequently held with the Imam of Melbourne's main Lebanese-based mosque.

3.4.1.1. Arabic language education A discussion took place on the recent rapid development of Arabic as a school subject in Victoria. A focus group member contributed the information that the number of students taking Year 1222 Arabic had grown from 7 in 1992 to 162 in 1996. While these are mainly students from Arabic-speaking backgrounds, there are a number of students at all levels with no Arabic background. Another member made the point that this still represents a small proportion of the Arabic-speaking population of school

Research findings 149

age — maybe 10 per cent attend a school where Arabic is taught, or learn Arabic in a part-time ethnic school. Secondary school A

There are 300 students of Arabic-speaking background (mainly Lebanese) at this coeducational state school. Beginners' and advanced level Arabic is offered from Year 7 to Year 12, and some 250-270 students are learning Arabic. The course comprises 3 hours per week in Years 7 to 10 and 5 hours in Years 11 and 12 (together forming the Victorian Certificate of Education, or the VCE). Six students at this school, a relatively small number, were doing Year 12 Arabic in 1996. Secondary school Β

There are 270-300 students of Arabic (mostly of Lebanese background) at this girls' state school. The current numbers undertaking VCE Arabic are very low, mainly due to subject clashes, although the teacher pointed out that the majority of students not able to continue Arabic at the school would continue it through the Victorian School of Languages (VSL). There are some students in the VCE class without an Arabic background, some of whom are doing very well indeed. Because there is no streaming into beginners' and advanced levels throughout the school, there are some difficulties with mixed ability classes. The same teacher is also the language coordinator at a branch of the VSL, and reported that difficulties with mixed ability levels are also present there. Secondary School C

Of the students of Arabic at this coeducational state school, most are from Arabic-speaking homes, although some 95 per cent are Australia-born. There are also some students of Turkish and Bosnian background who are learning Arabic for religious reasons. There is a wide variety of language experience among students. Some speak a vernacular at home, some don't

150 The Arabic-speaking groups

speak any Arabic at home, some hear it but don't speak it. Only about two per cent would be able to read an Arabic newspaper easily. Coptic

Colleges

The Coptic Orthodox Church in Melbourne runs two independent day schools. These schools cater largely for Egyptian families (about 90 per cent with the remaining 10 per cent being Syrian and Lebanese). One has an enrolment of 370 students, from preparatory to Year 9 and is situated in Melbourne's western suburbs. The other caters for 120 children, from preparatory to Year 6, and is situated in a southeastern bayside suburb of Melbourne. Arabic is taught to all students at the day schools, although it is not used as the medium of instruction for any subject. The limited use of Arabic in other subjects is, however, being promoted, e.g. out of six science exercises, one might be expressed in Arabic. Primary students have 2.5 hours per week Arabic instruction, and secondary students have 2 hours per week Arabic instruction. When the school first opened, parents expressed some concern about the place of Arabic within the school. They felt that too much emphasis on Arabic would weaken their children's English, and their future prospects. For this reason the school tried to employ largely teachers from an Australian background (with the exception of language and religion teachers), and this, according to a representative of the College, has weakened the Arabic language, and reduced it to the position of a second language within the school. After hours ethnic schools

Although representatives from a number of ethnic schools had been invited, none had been able to attend on the night, and representation came indirectly through members of the focus group with children at such schools. One difficulty expressed was the fact that Arabic schools use a lot of material from overseas, which has very little relevance to children born in Australia. The schools also have to compete with the free time and

Research findings 151

relaxation that the children who attend see their Australian classmates as having while they are having to study Arabic. One school was put forward as a successful model of language teaching in that, while being secular, it has achieved very good results through the use of dancing, music and songs to promote language and culture, as well as the incorporation of Australian institutions such as cricket into the curriculum. Child care centre Although the Antonine Sisters (an international Maronite Order of nuns who run a day care centre in Melbourne), try to promote the use of Arabic, many parents resist this, thinking that their children's English will suffer. As one group member pointed out, this often results in the children speaking poor English (as passed on by their parents) and poor Arabic. General discussion The general opinion of the focus group was that time spent on Arabic teaching in schools is inadequate, and that the qualifications of some teachers are also inadequate, as is their suitability as role models for their students. A further educational problem was seen to be the lack of communication between primary and secondary schools, making the transition process difficult and unproductive. The issue of vernaculars versus Standard Arabic was discussed in relation to the classroom, and it was thought by some that it may be problematic if a teacher from one national group is teaching students from another national group. Others thought that this would be irrelevant, since it is the Standard language that is being taught. Some lively discussion ensued as to which language should be maintained — the standard or the vernacular. Two teachers (one from a state school, and one from a Coptic school) said that they actively discouraged the use of the vernacular in the classroom. A representative from the Coptic Colleges suggested that the problems already existing in the schools in the form of boredom and lack

152 The Arabic-speaking groups

of motivation were made worse by the Standard/vernacular distinction, as the students often have no opportunity to practise what they learn at home. The perception was that "other languages", such as Italian, do not have this problem (whereas in reality there can be a considerable distance between Standard Italian and a regional variety which a child may have learnt at home). It was however generally seen as the job of the schools and other public institutions such as the media to promote Standard Arabic. An expression that was often used in the discussion (particularly by teachers) was "proper Arabic".

3.4.1.2. Arabic in religion Representatives from a number of Arabic Christian groups were present at the focus group. The Melkite Catholic (Eastern Rite) Church

The Church has two parishes, one in a northeastern suburb of Melbourne, and one in the southeast. Nine hundred to a thousand families, geographically scattered through Melbourne, are catered for. Some 40 per cent of families are Lebanese, another 40 per cent are Egyptian, and the rest are from Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Palestine. The liturgy is in Arabic, although English has also been introduced (on a 50/50 basis). However, some families don't like the English component and have stopped coming. They prefer Church Greek, which they don't understand, to English, which they do understand. English can appear at any point in the service (there are no fixed segments for English or Arabic), and over two weeks most of the service will have been presented in English and in Arabic. Confirmation/baptism is generally conducted in English, and instruction for new married couples, etc., tends to depend on the situation, and the length of time the people concerned have been in Australia. There have been attempts at Arabic classes, and newsletters, at various times in the history of the church. The difficulties with the schools were

Research findings 153

largely seen in terms of lack of motivation on the part of the students (although adding a social or sporting focus helps), as well as the distance some parents have to travel for a relatively short school period. Full-day activities, which include activities for parents, generally work better, although it is still difficult to find suitable teachers, particularly on a voluntary basis. The fact that a teacher must be chosen from the variety of vernaculars present in the congregation adds to the difficulty. The Church has been in existence in Victoria for 25 years, and in Australia for 100 years. There is close contact with other Eastern Rite Catholic churches, which takes place sometimes in English and sometimes in Arabic, depending on the occasion and the configuration of people present. The Coptic Orthodox Church The language of the liturgy is mainly Arabic, but everything has been translated into English. There are a great variety of versions available, e.g. Arabic, English, Coptic in Arabic script, Coptic in Coptic script. At the church represented, the early morning service is mainly in English, and the later one is 50/50 with two sermons, Arabic at the beginning and English at the end. Youth groups and Sunday schools are conducted in English, bible studies are conducted in both English and Arabic, and weekly and monthly newsletters appear in both English and Arabic. To this extent, the use of Arabic may be seen to be transitional, with the end result being an entirely English program. The representative pointed out that this has indeed happened in the USA, an outcome the church in Australia is trying to avoid. There is great concern about the loss of language, and one of the aims of establishing the schools was to preserve the culture, and build bridges between cultures for the second generation. The Coptic Catholic Church The church shares a building with another church in an inner northern suburb of Melbourne, and has an Egyptian priest, seconded from Egypt for

154

The Arabic-speaking

groups

a five-year term. Weekly services are held, mainly in Arabic, due to the limited proficiency of most priests in English. The result of this has been that most of the youth have been lost to the church, moving into Englishspeaking parishes of the Roman Catholic Church, and coming back to the Coptic Church only for festivals, marriages and baptisms. The Maronite (Eastern Rite) Church

There is one major parish of the Maronite Church in Melbourne, catering for about 150 000 people (estimated by the community spokesperson). Most were born in Lebanon, or are descended from people born in Lebanon. The traditional service is in Arabic and Aramaic. There is a "Use Mass", which is generally celebrated on Sundays, in English and Arabic, with certain components presented by the priest in Aramaic. The church runs a Saturday school for language teaching and, as from 1998, a Maronite order of nuns has conducted a primary day school within the Catholic education system, where Arabic is taught for one hour per day. The same order of nuns (the Antonine sisters) also runs a bilingual child care centre (see 3.4.1.1). There is a Maronite youth group, which publishes an English newsletter, and the child care centre produces a bilingual newsletter. Islam

Although few members of the Islamic community were present at the focus group, several references to Islam and Arabic were made. It was thought by many members of the group to be a great pity that more Arabicspeaking Muslims were not represented. It was pointed out that the Arabic language has a very strong link to religion in the Islamic community, as the Koran was given in Arabic (it being the language that God chose to speak to Mohammed), and the language is thus a key to "salvation". It was also felt that the Islamic community, for this reason, has been more successful in teaching Arabic to their children, despite what many saw to be excessive practices such as

Research findings 155

requiring children to memorise large sections of the Koran with no understanding whatever. The high standard of Arabic among Muslims was mentioned by one participant, who said that they have a strong feeling for the aesthetic qualities of the language. The major motivations for language maintenance among Muslims in Australia were seen to be (in order): • • •

access to the Koran communication with family members visits to country of origin

Further conversation with the Imam of one of the major Melbourne mosques stressed the aesthetic importance of Arabic as the language of the Koran, a beautiful and poetic language in its own right, and a language with an important place in the history of world civilisation. It also provides a common link and means of communication between Muslims of nonArabic-speaking backgrounds. The Arabic of the Koran was referred to as the "eloquence", the perfect words of God (given through, not written by, Mohammed) on which no man has been able to improve. The most important part of worship for Muslims is Friday prayers, and at this time the mosque and two halls in the main Arabic-speaking Islamic Centre in Melbourne are packed with worshippers (between six and eight thousand every week). The sermon is given first in Arabic, followed by an English summary. On Festival days the Centre is also busy, with attendances of over 3 000.

3.4.1.3. Arabic organisations Australian Arabic Council The Australian Arabic Council emerged after the Gulf War in response to the need to provide information to the people of Australia about the Australian Arabic population. The Council has 20 members (including some non-Arab members), and sees the promotion of Arabic as crucial to

156 The Arabic-speaking

groups

its role of defending the image of the Arabic-background population of Australia. One of its constitutional roles is that of promoting the study of Arabic among non-native speakers. Victorian Arabic Network

The Victorian Arabic Network was set up in 1981 to monitor the welfare needs of the Arabic-speaking community. It deals with service providers, government departments, etc., and meetings are thus largely in English. It produces a directory of services available to Arabic speakers, and also actively promotes the use of Arabic. For example, it runs an Arabic short story competition, which attracts over two hundred entries yearly. Village Associations

There has been some "village" settlement in Melbourne, where 5 000 people may come from the same area and settle in the same suburb. Such people were regarded within the focus group as linguistically almost pure "vernacular", with no broader reaching aims and no competence in the Standard language.

3.4.1.4. Arabic and Arabic ethnic identity In line with the avowed aims of the Australian Arabic Council, there was a strong tendency within the group to downplay what they saw to be an untrue image of Arabic speakers as divided and tribal. Language was cited as the unifying factor. The number of vernaculars was admitted to be a cause of some division within the Arabic-speaking community, but it was also suggested that, in view of the fact that each vernacular has its Η and L form, language maintenance is not in fact feasible in the absence of a Standard language. It was felt by a representative of the Coptic Orthodox church that the Arabic language is the key to culture and to roots. There are many treasures in the native language, and the second generation will not be

Research findings 157

"good" Australians unless they preserve their roots. A representative of the Maronite church made the point that the emerging idea that a second generation Maronite can remain a Maronite without the Arabic language and without Lebanon is perceived by the first generation as a threat to cultural heritage and to ties with the "homeland". Some sections of the second and third generations, however, do not see the relevance of learning Arabic, as they have on the whole no intention of going back to Lebanon, and they would rather learn Japanese, for example, for trade purposes. A member of the focus group made the point that the Arabic speaking community in Australia is made up of many different "waves" and vintages of migration, and that many would not be able to relate to a discussion on language and identity at all. The older settlers, although they may not be regarded by the newer settlers as part of the "Lebanese" community, would still regard themselves very much in that light, although their language is nearly gone. They would see their identity more in terms of religion, shared history (including early days in Carlton, an inner suburb of Melbourne) and food. A large proportion of the Lebanese migrants who arrived in Melbourne in the mid-70s are characterised by their lack of education and high level of illiteracy, and would also find it hard to relate to a discussion on the benefits of language maintenance and the role of Standard Arabic as a unifying factor. Newer arrivals were also seen to identify themselves more on the basis of their geographic origins. Language was seen as a powerful indicator of education and social class, and where a distinction is not evident in English, it may be evident once Arabic is used. An example was given of a case where the expectations aroused in a listener by a policeman's fluent and cultured English were shattered completely when he began to speak the Arabic he had learnt at home, a vernacular (L). It was generally thought by focus group members to be very important for young people to spend time in the country of origin, although such visits tend to improve the vernacular rather than the Standard language of the traveller. This develops love of heritage, and may also encourage marriage within the ethnic background, which in turn promotes language maintenance.

158 The Arabic-speaking groups 3.4.1.5.

Media

There were representatives of a government multilingual radio station, a community access television channel in Melbourne and several newspapers at the focus group meeting. The Arabic-language broadcast on the government multilingual radio station caters for speakers from 23 countries. The program content is basically current affairs, with focus on news and culture, art and community events. Not much is provided for children, and the representative felt that the service as a whole has been very poor at targeting youth. Newspapers, it was felt, also target the first generation of Arabic speakers, as the second generation "cannot read" in Arabic. One participant thought that younger people will make the effort to access Arabic language newspapers if they are researching something specific. It was pointed out during the telephone interview that vernaculars play a role in the oral media, and, by extension, could provide a motivation to maintain the vernacular that is not present for the Standard language.

3.4.1.6. Success of language maintenance In terms of quality, most people present at the focus group meeting felt that the language among the second generation was not good, although the Coptic Orthodox representative cited some cases of priests in his parish who are second generation Australians to demonstrate that it is not impossible to develop very good Arabic in Australia. Others pointed out to him that the vocation of priesthood may well have played a large role in their motivation and success. Need was seen to be a better motivator than want, which in turn is a better motivator than apathy or resistance. The lack of motivation among the young was mentioned on a number of occasions, and has been noted above in relation to Arabic in education. Major motivating factors identified were job requirements, interest, communication with family members and marriage with another Arabic speaker (particularly so for the first generation). Multicultural policies

Research findings 159 were thought to have had a positive impact on language maintenance. For example, the Coptic Orthodox Church representative said that the early Egyptian settlers had had "no zeal for language" — this is something that has developed since the 1970s. On the other hand, another group member expressed the opinion that there is a tendency among Arabs, even today, to abandon their language relatively quickly. It was generally thought within the group to be very difficult to achieve and maintain a good professional level of Arabic in Australia, even for first generation speakers. It was the opinion of one of the members of the group, for example, that only 50 per cent of Arabic broadcasting could be regarded as "good" Arabic. Literacy was seen as especially difficult for the second generation, on account of the Arabic script. One of the Coptic Orthodox College representatives pointed out that the children in his school found it easier to learn Coptic, which is only a liturgical language, than Arabic, which is spoken, because the Coptic alphabet is so close to the Roman one. He thought that there should be more interesting books available to children, with music, etc, to encourage them to read Arabic from an early age. The efforts of the churches to maintain a level of Arabic have been mentioned above, and it was thought by the Melkite representative that Arabic will continue to have a role in Australia as long as there is continuing immigration from the Middle East. He was, however, very conscious of the fact that 75 per cent of Melkite churches in the United States now operate wholly in English (cf. Coptic churches in the United States, above). The position of the home was presented as a slightly paradoxical one with regard to language maintenance. On the one hand, it was pointed out that the family was the most important institution of language maintenance, as without support from the family schools, churches, organisations, etc, had no hope of succeeding. In this context it was noted that some parents, being very keen to practise their English with their children, do not speak Arabic to them for this reason. The insistence on English for the good of the children has already been noted above (3.4.1.1). However, it was also pointed out that the family is the primary means of

160 The Arabic-speaking groups

maintaining the vernacular, while public institutions promote the Standard, and it had already been agreed that the Standard should be the focus of language maintenance efforts. This issue is certainly a dilemma for Arabic speakers in Australia, and the meeting was closed with a comment encapsulating this: "Is it better not to learn it "properly" or not to learn it at all?"

3.4.2. Survey data So far we have discussed the Arabic groups in Melbourne partly on the basis of the focus group. At this point we introduce data from our survey.

3.4.2.1. Informants by age, gender, generation and year of arrival 3.4.2.1.1. Egypt group23 Age and gender Table 3.1:

Informants by age and gender, Egypt group

Age group 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54

Male 11

Female 10 1 6 1

-

1 2

Age and generation 20 15

EG1

10

• G2

5

0 15-24

Figure 3.5:

25-34

35-44

45-54

Informants by age and generation, Egypt group

Research findings 161

All informants over the age of 35 are first generation Australians, and the vast majority of those under the age of 35 are Australia-born (i.e. second generation Australians). Most of the second generation are aged between 15 and 24 years. Year of arrival Some 50 per cent of first generation (Gl) informants arrived in Australia between 1968 and 1975, and the remaining 50 per cent arrived between 1980 and 1990.

3.4.2.1.2. Lebanon group Age and gender Table 3.2:

Informants by age and gender, Lebanon group

Age group 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Male

Female 12 3 4 2

Age and generation 16

14 12

0G1

10

8

• G2

15-24 Figure 3.6:

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-64

65+

Informants by age and generation, Lebanon group

162 The A rabic-speaking

groups

While most of the second generation (G2) are under 35 years of age, there are more informants in the 25-34 age group than there are for the Egypt group, and one informant aged between 35-44. In addition, the first generation is not so concentrated in the older age groups as for the Egypt group, with seven Gl informants aged between 15 and 34 years of age. Year of arrival

Some 29 per cent of Gl informants arrived in Australia between 1951 and 1975, with the remaining 71 per cent arriving between 1982 and 1992 (35 per cent in 1988).

3.4.2.2. Languages spoken Although there was quite a large range of languages spoken among the informants of the Egypt group, including English, Arabic, French, Italian, and Turkish, no informant reported speaking any language regularly other than English or Arabic. Some 62.5 per cent said that they spoke both English and Arabic, 31.3 per cent that they spoke only English, and 6.3 per cent that they only used Arabic regularly. In the Lebanon group, while the range of languages spoken was the same as that for the Egypt group, the majority (59 per cent) reported only using English and Arabic regularly at the time of the survey. A further 24 per cent said that they only used English, 11 per cent said that they only used Arabic, and 5 per cent said that they regularly used English, Arabic and French. All the informants had Arabic as a first language.

Research findings 163

3.4.2.3. Language use in the home 3.4.2.3.1. As a child Table 3.3:

Language use in the home as a child, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Language Arabic Arabic/French Arabic/Dutch English/some Arabic Dutch24 English

Spoken to child by mother Egypt Lebanon 29 (90.6%) 29 (78.4%) 2 (2%) 1 (3.1%) 1 (2.7%) 2 (6.3%) 5 (13.5%) -

Spoken to child by father Egypt Lebanon 24 (75%) 31 (83.8%) 1 (3.1%) 1 (2.7%) 6 (18.8%) 4 (10.8%) 1 (3.1%) 1 (2.7%)

No informant in the Egypt group reported being spoken to only in English during early childhood, and the clear majority were addressed only in Arabic. Where other languages were used, they were more likely to be used by the father than by the mother, who was more likely to speak only in Arabic with the children. All informants who reported being spoken to in both English and Arabic were aged between 15 and 24 years and were born in Australia. Only one informant from the Lebanon group reported being spoken to only in English during early childhood, and the clear majority grew up in homes where only Arabic was spoken to the small children. Fathers were slightly more likely than mothers to use only Arabic with the children, while mothers were slightly more likely than fathers to use English and Arabic with the children. All informants who were spoken to in English, or English and Arabic, were Australia-born, and all those spoken to in Arabic and English were aged between 15 and 24 years. The informant who reported being spoken to only in English was aged between 35 and 44 years (it is possible that the assimilationist policies of the time prompted this action on the part of the parents).

164 The Arabic-speaking groups 3.4.2.3.2.

At the time of interview

Table 3.4:

Language use in the home between father and children, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Language Arabic Mainly Arabic English/Arabic25 Mainly English English Not available26

By father to children Lebanon Egypt 10 (31.3%) 18 (55%) 1 (3.1%) 8 (25%) 11 (33%) 1 (3.1%) 6 (18.75) 1 (3%) 6 (18.8%) 3 (9%)

To father by children Egypt Lebanon 8 (25%) 18 (55%) 1 (3.1%) 9 (28.1%) 11 (33%) 1 (3.1%) 7 (21.9) 1 (3%) 6 (18.8%) 3 (9%)

The largest proportion of father/child interactions for both groups took place in Arabic, or Arabic and English. While there was a degree of asymmetry in the languages used by the Egypt group, with a number of children using either English or a mixture of Arabic/English to their fathers when addressed in Arabic, there was complete uniformity among the Lebanon group in the language spoken to/by the father of the family. Table 3.5:

Language Arabic Mainly Arabic English/Arabic Mainly English English Not available

Language use in the home between mother and children, Egypt and Lebanon groups By mother to children Egypt Lebanon 11 (34.4%) 20 (54%) 1 (3.1%) 10 (31.3%) 13 (35%) 1 (3.1%) 2 7 (21.9%) (5%) 2 (6.3%) 2 (5%)

To mother by children Egypt Lebanon 8 (25%) 19 (51%) 1 (3.1%) 12 (37.5%) 14 (38%) 1 (3.1%) 8 (25%) 2 (5%) 2 (6.3%) 2 (5%)

While the largest proportion of mother-child interactions in both groups still took place in Arabic, or Arabic and English, English was spoken by more mothers in the Egypt group than in the Lebanon group, and by more children than mothers in both groups (although the difference for the Lebanon group is very small). There were more Egypt group households where English was the sole language of interaction between mothers and children.

Research findings 165 Table 3.6:

Arabic Mainly Arabic Arabic/French English/Arabic Mainly English English Not available N/A27

Language use in the home among children and adults, Egypt and Lebanon groups Language spoken among children Egypt Lebanon 1 (3.1%) 7 (22%) 1 (3.1%) -

3 1 20 4 2

-

(9.4%) (3.1%) (62.5%) (12.5%) (3.1%)

-

5 -

14 6 -

-

(16%) -

(44%) (19%) -

Language spoken among adults Egypt Lebanon 14 (43.8%) 24 (69%) -

-

-

-

1 (3.1%) -

-

3 (9.4%) 14 (43.8%) -

-

-

-

1 (3%) 4 (11%) -

-

1 (3%) 5 (14%) -

-

There was a marked preference for English among the children of the Egypt group. In only 6 per cent of cases (or two families) was Arabic the only, or the main, language among children at home. The clear majority spoke only English. Although the clear preference of Egypt group adults was for Arabic, there were a substantial number of uncertain cases, and a number of families where only English was spoken among the adults. Where grandparents were involved (6 families), only Arabic was spoken in interactions with grandchildren. While more children from the Lebanon group than the Egypt group spoke only Arabic at home, the picture of child/child interactions is clearly different from that of parent/child interactions, where there was a clear dominance of Arabic. Twice the number of children used only English to their siblings as those who used only Arabic. There was an overwhelming preference among Lebanon group adults for Arabic. Where there were grandparents involved (10 cases) only Arabic was used in interactions with grandchildren. In summary, while the largest proportion of children from both groups used English with siblings at home, this was more marked in the Egypt group (63 per cent) than in the Lebanon group (44 per cent). Arabic was used among children in 22 per cent of the Lebanon group families, but in only one of the Egypt group families. The largest proportion of adults from both groups spoke Arabic among themselves in the home, although slightly more Egypt group adults spoke English among themselves than Lebanon

166 The Arabic-speaking groups

group adults. In all cases from both groups where grandparents were involved, interactions with grandchildren were entirely in Arabic.

3.4.2.4. Language preference at home In both groups, the vast majority of informants over the age of 35 preferred to speak Arabic at home, and nobody over the age of 35 preferred to speak only English at home. The majority of informants under the age of 35 in both groups preferred to speak only English at home, although the proportion was slightly higher for the Egypt group than for the Lebanon group. More informants in the 15-35 bracket from the Lebanon group preferred to speak both Arabic and English at home, whereas Egypt group informants in the same age bracket were more likely to opt for English only. Table 3.7:

Language preference in the home by age, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Age group Prefer to speak Arabic at Prefer to speak English Prefer to speak English at home and Arabic at home home Egypt Lebanon Egypt Lebanon Egypt Lebanon 15-24 6 (29%) 5 (28%) 1 (5%) 3 (17%) 14 (67%) 10 (56%) 25-34 - 4 (50%) - 1 (12%) 1 (100%) 3 (38%)

35-44

4

45-54 55-64 65+

3 (100%) -

By

(57%) 3

(75%) 3 (43%)

5 (100%) 1 (100%)

-

-

1

(25%)

1 (100%) -

-

.

.

.

. -

.

.

generation:

From Table 3.8 it can be seen that the G2 from the Egypt and Lebanon groups displayed differences very compatible with those discussed above on the basis of age, while the Lebanon group Gl displayed a higher preference for Arabic in the home than did the Egypt group Gl, and a smaller tendency to use both languages.

Research findings 167 Table 3.8:

Language preference in the home by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Gl

A A/E Ε

Egypt 66.7% 25% 8.3%

Lebanon 76.5% 17.6% 5.9%

G2

A A/E Ε

25% 0% 70%

25% 15% 60%

We have examined in some depth both the home language use and the home language preferences of the two Arabic-speaking groups. We have found that most adults spoke Arabic among themselves at home and most children spoke English. Within this general pattern, however, the Egypt group was characterised by a greater use of English than the Lebanon group among adults, between parents and children, and among children. Where grandparents were involved, both groups reported exclusive use of Arabic. A similar pattern emerges with respect to home language preference. Most informants under 35 preferred to speak English at home, and all informants over the age of 35 preferred to speak at least some Arabic. Once again, however, the Egypt group was characterised by a greater preference for English, alone in the case of the G2, and with Arabic in the case of the Gl. We will now look at the patterns of language use outside the family home.

3.4.2.5. Language use outside the home 3.4.2.5.1. Work A significantly larger proportion of the workforce from the Egypt group than from the Lebanon group used only English in the workplace, and noone reported using only Arabic. The only informant who used only Arabic in the workplace was the manager of a video shop, and those that used both

168 The Arabic-speaking groups

Arabic and English were spread over a range of occupations, including welfare work, legal practice, interpreting, teaching, and sales work. Table 3.9:

Language use in the workplace, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Language used in the workplace Arabic English/Arabic English

Egypt 4 13

(23.5%) (76.5%)

Lebanon 1 10 9

(5%) (50%) (45%)

3.4.2.5.2. School Some 13 out of 18 secondary students from the Egypt group said that they spoke Arabic at school. However, 46.2 per cent said that they spoke it in class only, and all students stated that they preferred to speak English. Some 13 of the 18 secondary students surveyed from the Lebanon group also said that they spoke Arabic at school, largely socially (between classes and at breaks). Two informants said that they preferred to speak Arabic at school, with 11 stating that they preferred English and 3 saying that they had no real preference.

3.4.2.5.3. Wider community With whom do you mostly socialise outside

work/home/school?

The majority of informants from the Egypt group socialised largely with members of the same community language group. Very few mixed mainly with the wider Australian community, although they were found across most age groups. Although the majority of all Lebanon group informants also socialised largely with other Arabic-speakers, informants under the age of 34 were more inclined to either mix in a number of social groups (characterised mainly by the 25-34 year olds) or mix solely with members of the wider Australian community (15-24 year olds). A similar pattern is seen in the language use preferences shown in a social situation (below).

Research findings 169

What language(s) do you use when socialising? Regardless of the company, the social language use patterns of the Egypt group show a clear predominance of English (followed by a mixture of English and Arabic) in the under 35 s, and a greater tendency in the over 35s to use either Arabic, or Arabic and English. Arabic does not predominate in any age group. The majority of Lebanon group informants under the age of 35 used English, or English and Arabic, in social settings. The 15-25 year olds were more likely to use English, while the 25-34 year olds were more likely to use English and Arabic. The majority of informants over the age of 35 used Arabic in social settings, with a small number using both Arabic and English, but nobody using only English. Which language(s) do you prefer to use socially? Language preference among the Egypt group, regardless of the company or the actual language used, was overwhelmingly for English, or a mixture of English and Arabic. This was true for all age groups, although it was more marked in the under 35s. Among the Lebanon group, on the other hand, the preference of the over 35s was overwhelmingly for Arabic. While the preference of the 15-24 year olds was clearly for English, there was an almost perfect split in the 25-34 year old group between Arabic and English. In summary, the majority of informants from both groups socialised mainly with other Arabic speakers. This was more marked for the Egypt group than for the Lebanon group in the younger age brackets, and similar for both groups in the older brackets. The majority of 15-35 year old informants in both groups used English when socialising, and the majority of 35+ informants used Arabic, with a proportion using both Arabic and English, but with nobody claiming to use only English socially. The Egypt group 15-24 year olds used slightly more Arabic than the corresponding Lebanon group, perhaps reflecting the type of social network (see above). Language preference among the under 35 year olds was even more clearly

170 The Arabic-speaking

groups

for English, particularly so for the Egypt group, where no informant said that they preferred to use Arabic socially. While the social language preference of the majority of over 35 year olds in both groups was for Arabic, this was less marked for the Egypt group, where there were a small number of informants who preferred to use English, and an equal number of 35-44 year olds who preferred to use both Arabic and English. While the social networks of the Egypt group are more strongly tied to their community language group, there would appear to be more English used in the context of these networks, and a greater preference for English, than among the informants of the Lebanon group. By generation: Table 3.10:

Social networks by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Gl

Same Mixed Other

Egypt 83.3% 8.3% 0%

Lebanon 82.4% 5.9% 11.8%

G2

Same Mixed Other

80% 10% 10%

60% 25% 15%

Table 3.11:

Social language use by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Gl

A A/E Ε

Egypt 50% 41.7% 0%

Lebanon 58.8% 29.4% 11.8%

G2

A A/E Ε

10% 35% 55%

5% 50% 40%

Research findings 171 Table 3.12:

Social language preference by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Gl

A A/E Ε

Egypt 33.3% 41.7% 16.7%

Lebanon 76.5% 11.8% 11.8%

G2

A A/E Ε

0% 10% 90%

15% 10% 70%

The greatest difference among the first generation of the Egypt and Lebanon groups is to be seen in the area of language preference, where the Lebanon group show a considerably stronger tendency to prefer the use of Arabic alone. Social networks (and to a lesser extent language use patterns) were similar. In the second generation, while the majority of informants in both groups preferred to use English, this was more marked for the Egypt group, although their networks were more strongly "same language group" than those of the Lebanon group. The second generation of the Egypt group also reported using more "English only" in social settings.

3.4.2.5.4. Club membership The majority of informants in the Egypt group did not belong to a club or other organisation where Arabic was spoken. Membership of clubs was proportionally strongest in the 25—44 age range. Eight of the affiliated informants belonged to an organisation run by the Coptic Orthodox Church (including a Youth Group). Club membership was strongest proportionally in the 25-44 age range for the Lebanon group, and again in the 55+ age range, although the majority of informants overall were not affiliated with clubs or societies. The first of these age groupings may reflect professional interests, and the second retirement pursuits. Club membership was spread over a number of different societies including umbrella and age-specific organisations, religious groups and village associations (see 3.4.1.3): Maronite Youth

172 The Arabic-speaking groups

Group (2), Islamic Alawi Association (3), Islamic Society of Victoria, Arabic Network (2), Australian Arabic Council (2), Besharri Association, Zahle Association, Senior Citizens Club. Thus, although a similar proportion of informants (about one third) from each group was involved in an "ethnic-specific" association, the Lebanon group had the more diverse membership, with the Egypt group affiliated informants largely concerned with activities within the Coptic Church. Table 3.13:

Club membership by age, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Age group 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

3.4.2.5.5.

Club membership Egypt 6 1 3

(29%) (100%) (43%)

-

-

-

-

-

-

Lebanon 4 4 2 1 1 1

(22%) (50%) (50%) (20%) (100%) (100%)

Use of shops, etc. where Arabic is spoken, and consultation of Arabic-speaking professionals

The majority of all Egypt group informants made use of Arabic-speaking businesses and professional services. The age bracket with the lowest use of such facilities was the 15-24 one, and it is possible members of this age group have less need to do this independently than older informants. The professionals mentioned most frequently by the Egypt group were doctors (17), with three mentions of accountants, one of a dentist and one of a lawyer. The majority of all Lebanon group informants also made use of Arabic speaking businesses and professionals, with the lowest level of use evident in the 35—44 age bracket. Informants under the age of 55 were more likely to frequent an Arabic speaking business than visit an Arabic speaking professional. The professionals mentioned most frequently by the Lebanon group were: doctors (14), accountants (7), and dentists (5), with two mentions of lawyers and one of a photographer.

Research

findings

173

Arabic-speaking shops, businesses, etc were frequented by slightly fewer of the Egypt group (78 per cent, as against 86 per cent of the Lebanon group), and somewhat less frequently, with 52 per cent stating that they frequented such businesses only occasionally (33 per cent for the Lebanon group). Slightly more of the Egypt group consulted Arabic-speaking professionals (70 per cent as against 57 per cent for the Lebanon group). Doctors figured somewhat more, and other professions somewhat less, in the Egypt group than in the Lebanon group. Table 3.14:

Use of community language facilities by age, Egypt and Lebanon

Age group

Frequents Arabic-speaking businesses Egypt Lebanon 15 (71%) 15 (83%) 7 (88%) 1 (100%) 3 (75%) 7 (100%) 2 (67%) 5 (100%) 1 (100%) 1 (100%) -

15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Consults Arabic-speaking professionals Egypt Lebanon (62%) 13 9 (50%) 1 (100%) 5 (63%) (71%) 2 (50%) 5 (100%) 3 (60%) 3 1 (100%) 1 (100%) -

By generation:

The fact that there were more G2 informants in the Lebanon group over the age of 25 than there were in the Egypt group (where all but one are aged between 15 and 24) may help to explain both the higher use of Arabicspeaking businesses (the need to acquire goods and services independently), and the lower use of Arabic-speaking professionals (they are no longer tied to the preferences of their parents). The Gl use for both groups is very similar, with more use being made of Arabic-speaking businesses than Arabic-speaking professionals. Table 3.15:

Gl G2

Use of Arabic-speaking businesses and professionals by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Businesses 91.7% 70%

Egypt Professional services 75% 65%

Businesses 94.1% 80%

Lebanon Professional services 76.5% 40%

174 The Arabic-speaking groups

3.4.2.6. Religious affiliation Only 6.2 per cent of the Egypt group, compared with 22 per cent of the Lebanon group, claimed no church affiliation, and a greater proportion of the Egypt group attended a mosque. Table 3.16:

Religious affiliation, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Religious affiliation Egypt 17 (53.1%) (40.6%) 13

Church Mosque Other No affiliation

-

-

2

(6.3%)

Lebanon 19 9 1 8

(51%) (24%) (3%) (22%)

All informants from both groups who had a religious affiliation claimed that religion was either very important or fairly important to them. While there was no real variation by age in the level of importance attached to religion, mosque attenders from both groups provided a higher proportion of "very important" responses than church attenders. Egypt group informants from all affiliations attached a greater importance to religion than did Lebanon group informants. Table 3.17:

Importance of religion by religious affiliation, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Religious affiliation Church Mosque Other

Religion "very important" Egypt Lebanon 12 (76%) 12 (68%) 12 (100%) 8 (89%) 1 (100%)

Religion "fairly important" Egypt Lebanon 4 (24%) 6 (22%) 1 (11%)

Use of language in church/mosque The mosque attenders from both groups answered the question "What is the language of ritual / sermon / prayer / singing?" largely in relation to prayer, and in all cases this was given as "Arabic". For the Egypt group church attenders' responses were fairly evenly divided between Arabic (5), Arabic/English (5) and Arabic/English/Coptic (4), while for the Lebanon

Research findings 175

group church attenders "English/Arabic" was the most frequent response (12), followed by "English" (2) and "Arabic"(l). Social use of language in a religious

setting

More Arabic was used in a social context by the Lebanon group than by the Egypt group in both church and mosque, mirroring the tendency already noted above relating to social language use. Table 3.18: Social use of language in a religious setting, Egypt and Lebanon groups Language of social interaction Arabic English/Arabic English No response

Church Egypt Lebanon 6 (35%) 9 (47%) 5 (30%) 6 (32%) 2 (11%) 6 (35%) 2 (11%) -

Mosque Egypt Lebanon 2 (15%) 5 (56%) 5 (38%) 4 (44%) 3 (23%) 3 (23%)

In summary, there was a generally higher level of church affiliation among the Egypt group informants than among the Lebanon group informants, and more church attenders than mosque attenders in both groups. All but one informant across both birthplace groups claimed that religion was "very important" or "fairly important" to them. There was no clear variation by age, but an identifiable variation by religious affiliation, with mosque attenders in both groups responding more often that religion was "very important". More English was used in the churches than in the mosques, largely alongside Arabic or, in the case of the Egypt group, Coptic, although three informants from the Lebanon group church attenders reported the sole use of English. Only one mosque attender (from the Lebanon group) reported the use of English, in relation to a sermon. All mosque prayers were conducted in Arabic. The place of Arabic in the observance of the Islamic faith was described in the following way by one mosque attender: "Arabic is crucial for maintaining religion, but for other identity components it may not be so crucial." (65 Egypt A f 35-44)

176 The Arabic-speaking

groups

By generation: There was a stronger religious affiliation among the Egypt group than among the Lebanon group across both generations, although the majority from both generations had a religious affiliation of some sort. Table 3.19:

Religious affiliation by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups Egypt 100% 90%

Gl G2

Lebanon 70.6% 80%

There was also a stronger representation of mosque attenders in the Egypt group than in the Lebanon group across both generations. Table 3.20:

Particular religious affiliation by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Gl

Church Mosque

Egypt 58.3% 41.7%

Lebanon 69.2% 30.8%

G2

Church Mosque

55.6% 44.4%

62.5% 31.3%

There was a higher proportion of Egypt group informants than Lebanon group informants across both generations who thought that religion was "very important" in their lives. There was very little generational difference in the Egypt group, although such difference as existed favoured the G2 (ie. slightly more of the G2 felt that religion was "very important" to them). This was also the case in the Lebanon group.

Research Table 3.21:

findings

177

Importance of religion by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Gl

"very" "fairly" "not very" "not at all"

Egypt 83.3% 16.7% 0% 0%

Lebanon 70.6% 23.5% 5.9% 0%

G2

"very" "fairly" "not very" "not at all"

85% 15% 0% 0%

75% 20% 0% 0%

3.4.2.7. Contact with country of origin Almost all informants from both groups said that they had friends/relatives in their country of origin. In both groups communication occurred more by letters. Informants from the Lebanon group made slightly more telephone calls, and made them slightly more frequently. Of the letter writers, a lower proportion of the Egypt group wrote in Arabic (44.4 per cent, compared with 61.9 per cent for the Lebanon group). In both groups, informants from the younger age brackets were more likely to write in English. Informants from the Egypt group were somewhat less likely than informants from the Lebanon group to visit their country of origin, although they were slightly more likely to have house guests from their country of origin. The same proportion of informants from both groups (41 per cent) said that they had spoken to a newly arrived migrant or visitor from an Arabic-speaking country within the last month. By generation:

More Lebanon group informants than Egypt group informants over both generations reported visiting their country of origin. Slightly fewer of the Lebanon group G2 wrote letters to their country of origin. This may reflect their slightly older profile (they may be less likely to participate in the communication activities of the Gl).

178 The Arabic-speaking groups The Lebanon group G2 were twice as likely to telephone the country of origin than write to the country of origin. This may underline the greater autonomy of choice in an older group of second generation informants. Overall, the telephone was more popular than the written word as a mode of communication. Table 3.22:

Gl G2

Contact with country of origin by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Visit country of origin Write to country of origin Telephone country of origin Egypt Lebanon Egypt Lebanon Egypt Lebanon 83.3% 94.1% 66.7% 70.6% 100% 94.1% 45% 60% 52.6% 45% 73.7% 90%

We have seen from the preceding analysis of language use outside the home that the majority of informants socialised mainly with other Arabic speakers. This was more marked for the Egypt group than for the Lebanon group in the younger age brackets, and similar for both groups in the older brackets. The majority of those under 35 used English when socialising, and the majority of those over 35 used Arabic, with a proportion using both English and Arabic, but nobody claiming to use only English. The social language of choice for the under 35 year olds was English, while for those over 35 it was Arabic. Once again, the tendency was for the Egypt group to record a higher preference for English only among the younger informants and a greater tendency for those over 35 to record a preference for both English and Arabic. While the social networks of the Egypt group would appear to be tied more strongly to their community language group, particularly for the younger people, there would appear to be more English used in the context of these networks, and a greater preference for English, than among the Lebanon group. More than twice the number of Lebanon group informants used some Arabic in the workplace. The occupations in which Arabic was used included community work, teaching, sales, journalism, interpreting and photography. The only informant who claimed to speak only Arabic in the workplace was the manager of a video store.

Research

findings

179

The majority of informants frequented Arabic-speaking shops and businesses, and consulted Arabic-speaking professionals. Informants from the Lebanon group were slightly more likely to frequent Arabic-speaking businesses, while those from the Egypt group were more likely to consult Arabic-speaking professionals. There was a higher level of religious affiliation among the Egypt group informants than among the Lebanon group informants, and more church attenders than mosque attenders in both groups. More English was used in the churches than in the mosques, largely alongside Arabic, or, in the case of the Egypt group, Coptic. More Arabic was used in a social context by the Lebanon group than by the Egypt group in both church and mosque, confirming the tendency already noted regarding social language use. Almost all informants said that they had friends/relatives in their country of origin. More people telephoned their relatives than wrote to them. Respondents from the Lebanon group tended to make more telephone calls than those from the Egypt group, and were also more likely to visit the country of origin. Almost half of the informants said that they had spoken to a newly arrived migrant or visitor from an Arabic-speaking country within the last month. We will now discuss the role of the media in language maintenance for our informants.

3.4.2.8. Media use 3.4.2.8.1. Radio Table 3.23:

Use of Arabic language radio by age, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Age group Egypt

15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

10 1 5 2

Listens to Arabic radio Lebanon

(48%) (100%) (71%) (67%)

-

-

-

-

7 6 2 5

1 1

(39%) (75%) (50%)

(100%) (100%) (100%)

180 The A rabic-speaking

groups

The majority of all informants listened to some Arabic-speaking radio, although the proportion was lowest in the 15-24 age group. The majority of Egypt group listeners only listened occasionally (61 per cent), with 22 per cent listening daily and 17 per cent listening every week. Proportionally more females than males in the Egypt group listened to the radio (72 per cent of all females, 35 per cent of all males). The most consistent daily listening to the radio in the Lebanon group occurred in the 25-34 age group, where all six informants claimed to listen to Arabic radio every day (compared with the 15-24 age group, where only one claimed to listen every day, three claimed to listen every week, and three claimed to listen only occasionally). Proportionally more males than females in the Lebanon group listened to the radio (73.3 per cent of all males, 50 per cent of all females). Only eight Egypt group informants responded to question "Are you happy with the programs?" and responded in the affirmative. There were therefore no suggestions made as to improvements. Some 64.3 per cent of the Lebanon group said that they were happy with the programs, 14.3 per cent that they were "sort o f ' happy, and 21.4 per cent that they were not happy with the programs. Complaints centred around the lack of educational and informative content, and what was seen as the overly political stance of the community access radio station, in particular. Some 59.4 per cent of Egypt group informants felt that radio was beneficial for language learning/maintenance. While 64.9 per cent of the Lebanon group felt that Arabic radio programs promoted language maintenance for young people, 29.7 per cent felt that they did not, and 5.4 per cent made no response to the question. Some comments: "Radio or television programs in Arabic are at times which are unsuitable for children and families." (56 Leb A f 45-54) "Radio is only helpful for language maintenance if the presenter speaks slowly." (39 Leb Β f 25-34)

Research findings 181

"Television and radio help language maintenance only if they are interesting." (48 Leb A f 15-24) "Radio programs only help language maintenance if young people already know the language (same with TV, videos) — you can improve a language through the media, but not learn one. I tried it myself and I found videos, TV, radio don't help." (75 Leb Β f 3 5 ^ 4 ) "There should be one united Arabic radio broadcasting for at least 3 hours a day, and the right person should be in the right place." (60 Leb Af35-44) "Radio programs are not designed or structured to maintain or to teach language." (53 Leb A m 25-34) And a positive comment: "Radio programs make me feel as if I am still in my country." (55 Leb A f 45-54) In summary, older informants from both groups were more likely to listen to the radio than younger informants. More males than females listened in the Lebanon group, and more females than males listened in the Egypt group. The largest proportion of listeners in both groups listened to both the government multilingual station and the community access station. There was greater dissatisfaction with the programs expressed among the Lebanon group than among the Egypt group, although the proportion of the Egypt group (59 per cent) who felt that radio was beneficial to language maintenance was slightly lower than that for the Lebanon group (65 per cent).

182 The Arabic-speaking groups By generation: Table 3.24:

Radio use (Arabic language) by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups Egypt 75% 45%

Gl G2

Lebanon 76.5% 45%

The use of Arabic radio was almost identical across the birthplace groups and generations, with the second generation less likely to listen than the first generation.

3.4.2.8.2. Table 3.25:

Television Television use (Arabic language) by age, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Age group 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Egypt 12 1 4 1 -

Watches Arabic television Lebanon (57%) 9 (100%) 8 (57%) 3 2 (33%) 1 1 -

(50%) (100%) (75%) (40%) (100%) (100%)

The same number of Egypt group informants overall watched Arabic television as listened to Arabic radio, with a slightly higher proportion of 15-24 year olds and a slightly lower proportion of 35-54 year olds. Exactly the same proportion of males/females in the Egypt group watched television as listened to the radio (72 per cent of females and 35 per cent of males), with some 82.4 per cent saying that they watched Arabic television only occasionally, and 17.6 per cent saying that they watched every week. No-one claimed to watch every day. Some 50 per cent of the Egypt group said that they were not happy with the programs offered, although 75 per cent felt that television was beneficial in terms of language maintenance. Complaints centred on quantity, quality and timing of offerings. Some comments:

Research

findings

183

"Television and videos offer programs in the spoken colloquial language, they're easier." (78 Egypt Β f 25-34) "There should be a better choice of Arabic films on TV and a better choice of subjects, to give Australia a truer picture of life in Egypt." (63 Egypt A f 35-44) "TV programs are not designed in a way to help teach the language." (134 Egypt A f 35-44) Marginally more Lebanon group informants watched Arabic television than listened to Arabic radio, with slightly more younger people and slightly fewer in the 45-54 age group. The proportion of Lebanon group men watching Arabic television was similar to that listening to Arabic radio (73 per cent), but there was a slightly higher proportion of women watching Arabic television than listening to radio (59 per cent). In contrast to radio, 69.6 per cent of the Lebanon group stated that they watched only occasionally, perhaps reflecting the timing and provision of Arabic programs on television. Some 26.1 per cent said that they watched every week, and only one claimed to watch every day. There was a much higher rate of dissatisfaction with television than there was with radio, with 75 per cent of the Lebanon group saying that they were unhappy with the programs, and only 16.7 per cent saying that they were happy. Complaints centred on the timing of the programs, the quality of the programs (old films) and the type of program (not enough variety, not enough educational programs). Some 78.9 per cent of the Lebanon group felt that Arabic television was beneficial to language maintenance. Some comments: "Arabic television programs are on very late and of poor quality." (54 Leb Am45-54) "There should be more television, particularly for children." (55 Leb A f 45-54)

184 The Arabic-speaking groups

"Television can help language maintenance if parents lend a hand and explain, etc." (135 Leb A m 3 5 ^ 4 ) "There should be more Arabic programs that are relevant to young people living in Australia." (130 Leb Β m 25-34) "TV is the most important media for youth (it is "involving")." (53 Leb A m 25-34) "There should be more and better TV programs that reflect the richness of the Arabic civilisation." (57 Leb A m 45-54) As a general comment on the role of television in language maintenance, it could be said that there are direct and indirect effects of watching television in a community language. The direct effects include greater exposure to the language, exposure to a peer group register than may be lacking in Australia (including current "slang"), and exposure to the cultural context of the language. The indirect effect consists in the fact that time spent watching television in the community language equates with less time available for exposure to English language television. In both groups a similar number of informants watched Arabic television as listened to Arabic radio, with slightly more of the younger informants and slightly fewer of the older informants. Frequency of viewing was not high in either group (higher for the Lebanon group, as it was with radio), and this may reflect the timing and number of Arabic programs available. Although a higher proportion (when compared with radio — see 3.4.2.8.1) of informants in both groups felt that television was beneficial to language maintenance, there were more negative comments from both groups concerning the quality of the programs. Complaints centred on timing, quantity and quality of programs.

Research findings 185

By generation: Table 3.26:

Television use (Arabic language) by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups Egypt 58.3% 55%

Gl G2

Lebanon 58.8% 70%

These figures reflect the fact that slightly more Lebanon group informants, and slightly more younger people, reported watching Arabic television. As there were very few responses to the question "What do you watch?" it is not possible to offer any explanation for this in terms of the subject matter of the programs.

3.4.2.8.3.

Videos

Table 3.27: Video use (Arabic language) by age, Egypt and Lebanon groups Age group 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Egypt 16 1 5 2 -

Watches Arabic videos Lebanon (76%) 11 (100%) 7 (71%) 3 (67%) 5 1 1 -

(61%) (88%) (75%) (100%) (100%) (100%)

Videos had the highest viewing/listening rate among the Egypt group of the three media discussed so far, with most of the increase coming from the 15-24 age group. Some 71 per cent of all Egypt group watchers of videos watched only occasionally. A higher proportion (37.5 per cent) of the 15-24 age group did, however, watch at least weekly (apart from one informant in the 25-34 group, all others watched only occasionally). Movies were clearly the most popular viewing (16), followed by series (8) and comedy (4). Most videos watched by the Egypt group were produced overseas, largely in Egypt (50 per cent), followed by Lebanon/Egypt (25 per cent). Two informants claimed to watch videos produced in Australia.

186 The Arabic-speaking

groups

Some 75 per cent of the Egypt group believed that videos helped language development in the young. Videos also had the highest viewing/listening rate in the Lebanon group of the three media discussed so far, and this extended over most age groups. Some 64.4 per cent of Lebanon group informants who watched videos said that they watched them only occasionally. The most popular types of video were: movies (mentioned 12 times), concerts (12) and series (or "soap operas") (10), although most people borrowed a variety of videos. One young informant stated "I watch what my parents watch", and this may account for at least some of the radio/television/video use among young people — they watch or listen because it happens to be on, although they may not be concentrating on it particularly and they may not have chosen the content. All videos watched by the Lebanon group were made overseas, largely in Lebanon or Egypt. Some 78.4 per cent of Lebanon group informants believed that videos were beneficial to language maintenance in young people, although the point was made several times that videos in themselves will not maintain language: "Videos help language maintenance if children already know some Arabic — parents must help too." (62 Leb A f 65+) "Videos will help young people to develop their skills if they already know the language." (53 Leb A m 25-34) In summary, videos had the highest viewing rate in both groups of the media mentioned thus far. This was extended over all age brackets for the Lebanon group, but involved largely the 15-24 age bracket in the Egypt group. Over half of the informants in both groups said that they watched videos only occasionally. Movies were the most popular category of video for both the Egypt and Lebanon groups, followed in the Lebanon group by concerts, and in the Egypt group by "series" (or "soap operas"). "Series" represented the third most popular category for the Lebanon group. The videos watched were largely produced overseas, and largely in Lebanon and Egypt, with the Egypt group more likely to watch videos

Research

findings

187

produced in Egypt, and the Lebanon group more likely to watch videos produced in a variety of Arabic speaking countries. About 75 per cent of both groups felt that videos were helpful in language maintenance. By generation: Table 3.28:

Video use (Arabic language) by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Gl G2

Egypt 75% 75%

Lebanon 88.2% 65%

3.4.2.8.4. Tapes, cassettes, CDs This question was only asked of the first generation, and had a 72.7 per cent positive response rate from the Egypt group. All of the negative responses came from the 35-44 age group, and all were female. The largest proportion (62.5 per cent) listened to songs. All Lebanon group Gl informants listened to Arabic tapes, etc. By far the most popular sort of tapes were "songs" (82.4 per cent), with individuals also opting for "poems", "religious tapes" and "classical Arabic music." The Lebanon group were thus more likely to listen to tapes, etc. than were the Egypt group. This may well be linked to the lower rate of concert video watching among the Egypt group, and may reflect particular entertainment preferences among the Lebanon group in the sample. In general terms, the presence of such tapes, etc. in homes would lead to considerable exposure of young people to Arabic songs and music, in the same way as they are exposed to the radio and television of their parents, and this may in fact be an important aspect in the "acculturation" of the young.

188 The Arabic-speaking groups 3.4.2.8.5. Internet, etc. Use of these facilities among the Egypt group was proportionally strongest in the 15-34 age range, and more frequent among males (64.3 per cent as against 38.8 per cent). Some 93.8 per cent only used these facilities in English, 6.3 per cent stated that they used them in both English and Arabic, and no-one used only Arabic. In the Lebanon group, use of computer-based communication was proportionally strongest in the 25-34 age group, and more frequent amongst males than females (73 per cent as against 41 per cent). Some 65 per cent stated that they only used these facilities in English, 30 per cent that they used them in both Arabic and English, and only 5 per cent that they used them only in Arabic. In both groups, then, facilities such as the Internet were more likely to be used by younger, rather than older, informants and by males rather than females. While only one informant stated than (s)he used the facilities only in Arabic (Lebanon group), the Egypt group was far more likely to use them only in English, with a larger proportion of the Lebanon group using both languages.

3.4.2.9. Library/books from country of origin A similar proportion of informants from both groups (around 56 per cent) reported books in Arabic at their local library, and a similar proportion (around 80 per cent) said that they used their public library. Slightly more of the Lebanon group who used their library said that the last book they borrowed had been in Arabic (20 per cent as against 11 per cent), and slightly more informants from the Lebanon group said that they had material sent to them from their country of origin. (25 per cent as against 19 per cent). It is clear from this discussion of media use patterns that apart from tapes and CDs, which were listened to by all of the Lebanon group first generation, and some three quarters of the Egypt group first generation,

Research findings 189

videos were the most universally utilised electronic medium. This was particularly marked for the Lebanon group, and the 15-24 age bracket of the Egypt group, less so for the older Egypt group informants. Radio was listened to more by the older generation, and less by the younger generation, and television by slightly more of the younger generation and slightly fewer of the older generation. There was more negative comment on Arabic-speaking radio by the Lebanon group, and a significant level of negative comment on the television offerings by both groups, centring on timing, quantity and quality of the programs. Facilities such as the Internet were more likely to be used by younger, rather than older, informants, and by males rather than females. The Egypt group was far more likely to use these facilities only in English, with a larger proportion of the Lebanon group using both languages. Having analysed at some length the language use patterns and preferences of the informants in our corpus we will now consider some of the attitudes which may influence these patterns.

3.4.2.10.

Attitudes to bilingualism, language and ethnicity

Being able to speak two languages "very helpful "/"helpful "/"neither an advantage nor a disadvantage "/"not important"/"a disadvantage" Table 3.29: Age group 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54

Attitude to bilingualism by age, Egypt and Lebanon groups "very helpful"

Egypt 20 95% 1 100% 7 100% 2 67%

55-64

-

65+

-

Lebanon 16 89% 6 75% 4 100% 5 100% 1 100% 1 100%

"helpful"

"neither adv. "not important" "a disadvantage" nor disadv." Egypt Leb. Egypt Leb. Egypt Leb. Egypt Leb. 2 1 5% 11% 2 25% -

1 33%

-

-

•

_

_

-

-

-

190 The Arabic-speaking groups

There was overwhelming support in both groups for the notion of bilingualism, with all informants opting for either "very helpful" or "helpful", the top two indicators from the scale presented. The two youngest age groups accounted for almost all the instances of "helpful". Maintaining ethnic identity "very important "/"important "/"unimportant "/"a disadvantage " Table 3.30: Attitude to maintaining ethnic identity by age, Egypt and Lebanon groups Age group

"very important" Egypt

15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54

Leb

14 67% 1 100% 6 86% 2 67%

55-64

-

65+

-

13 72% 5 63% 3 75% 4 80% 1 100% 1 100%

"important" Egypt

"unimportant"

Leb

5 24% -

1 14% 1 33%

Egypt

4 22% 1 13% 1 25% 1 20%

"a disadvantage"

Leb

1 5% -

Egypt

1 6% 2 26%

Leb

1 5%

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

•

While there was still overall support in all age groups over both groups for the maintenance of ethnic identity, the situation is less clearcut than with the previous question, with more people opting for the second indicator on the scale across all age groups, but particularly among the 15-24 year olds. There were also informants who felt that the maintenance of ethnicity was unimportant, or in fact a disadvantage, and these came from the two youngest age groups.

Research

findings

191

Importance of the community language to maintenance of ethnic identity "crucial "/"very important "/important "/"a disadvantage" Table 3.31:

Age group

Attitude to language and ethnicity by age, Egypt and Lebanon groups "crucial"

Egypt 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54

9 43% -

7 100% 2 67%

55-64

-

65+

-

Leban on 8 44% 5 63% 2 50% 3 60% 1 100% 1 100%

"very important" Egypt 7 33% 1 100% -

-

Leb.

"important" Egypt

5 63% 3 37% 2 50% 2 40%

5 24%

"a disadvantage"

Leb.

Egypt

4 22%

Leb.

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

While the majority opted for the first indicator on the scale, the second indicator was also well represented in all age groups under 55. The only age group to opt for the third indicator was the 15-24 group. So, while nobody felt that the language was unimportant to ethnic identity, the link between ethnic identity and the community language appears to be weaker in the younger generations than their perception of the value of language per se (see above).

192 The Arabic-speaking

groups

By generation: Table 3.32:

Attitudes to bilingualism, ethnicity and language by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups Being able to speak two languages

+++ ++

+ +/—

NR +++ ++ + +/—

+++ ++ + +/-

NR.

Maintaining ethnic identity

Egypt N/A 91.7% 8.3% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Lebanon N/A 100% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Egypt 0% 83.3% 16.7% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Lebanon 0% 70.6% 29.4% 0% 0% 0% 0%

0% 95% 5% 0% 0% 0% 0%

0% 80% 20% 0% 0% 0% 0%

0% 65% 25% 0% 5% 5% 0%

0% 70% 15% 0% 15% 0% 0%

NR crucial very important/helpful important/helpful neutral not important/helpful negative impact no response

Importance of language to ethnic identity Egypt Lebanon 91.7% 76.5% 0% 23.5% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 8.3% 0% 35% 40% 25% 0% 0% 0% 0%

35% 40% 20% 5% 0% 0% 0%

There was very strong support for bilingualism over all age groups of both birthplace groups, with a marginally weaker response from the Lebanon group under 35s than from the Egypt group under 35s. The "weaker" support was distributed over both generations in the Egypt group, but concentrated in the second generation in the Lebanon group. While there was overall support for the maintenance of ethnic identity from all age brackets across both the Egypt group and the Lebanon group, support was not as strong as it was for the question on bilingualism (above), with more informants across all age groups opting for the second indicator on the scale. There were also informants from the second

Research

findings

193

generation who felt that ethnic identity was unimportant. No informant from the first generation felt that it was unimportant. There was a greater intergenerational difference in the Egypt group than there was in the Lebanon group. There was overall support for the importance of language to ethnic identity, with the majority of informants in all age groups opting for the first indicator on the scale ("crucial"). Nobody felt that the community language was unimportant to ethnic identity. However, the second indicator on the scale was also well represented in both groups, particularly among the under 35 year olds. The second generation from both groups presented remarkably similar viewpoints on this question. The Egypt group first generation tended to support the importance of language more strongly than the Lebanon group first generation, and, once again, the intergenerational difference is greater for the Egypt group than for the Lebanon group. Consideration of the attitudes of our informants to the three issues of bilingualism, ethnic identity and the interface between the two has demonstrated that the first issues is the most straightforward. There was very strong support for bilingualism over all age groups, with a marginally weaker response from the Lebanon group under 35s than from the Egypt group under 35s. The "weaker" support was distributed over both generations for the Egypt group, but concentrated in the second generation for the Lebanon group. While there was overall support for the maintenance of ethnicity, support was not as strong as it was for bilingualism, and there were informants from the second generation who felt that ethnic identity was unimportant. There was overall support for the importance of language to ethnic identity, slightly weaker in the second generation, and strongest in the Egypt group first generation. We will now consider some of the motivational language maintenance.

issues

underlying

194 The Arabic-speaking groups

3.4.2.11. Motivation for language maintenance Survey informants were given the following options and asked to choose the one that was most important to them: "to retain one's identity'V'to participate in the culture of the country of origin'V'to communicate with relatives and friends'V'to get a better job'V'to maintain contact with the country of origin". While communication with family and friends was the major motivation for the Lebanon group second generation, this attracted a lesser response among the corresponding age bracket of the Egypt group, and may in fact reflect the higher levels of English already established in family and social use. No informant opted for the "job" motivation, and informants from both groups made the point that Arabic was good for everything but getting a job, which would indicate a certain amount of disillusionment with the importance accorded to Arabic by Australian society as a whole (see also 3.4.2.12). "Identity" was strongly represented in the 15-24 age bracket, in the Egypt group by itself (33 per cent — the largest representation of any one single factor), and in the Lebanon group with a range of other factors. The issue of "identity" in a multicultural society is clearly one which exercises the younger informants, as it tends to exercise young people in any context. Most informants from both groups, although asked to make a choice of one ("What is the most important reason...?") opted for more than one, which indicates the complexity of the issue, and the interrelated aspect of the factors involved.

Research findings 195

By generation: Table 3.33: Motivation for language maintenance by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups28 Gl

Identity Participation in culture of origin country Communication with relatives To get a better job Contact with country of origin Contact/communication Culture/contact/communication All but job All

Egypt group 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 58.3%

Lebanon group 0% 0% 12.5% 0% 0% 0% 0% 12.5% 43.8%

G2

Identity Participation in culture of origin country Communication with relatives To get a better job Contact with country of origin Contact/communication Culture/contact/communication All but job All

35% 0% 15% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 15%

10% 0% 25% 0% 0% 10% 10% 0% 25%

Identity was a stronger factor for the Egypt group second generation than for the Lebanon group second generation, while communication with relatives was more important for the Lebanon group second generation than for the corresponding Egypt group informants. This may reflect the higher level of English used among Egypt group families (see 3.4.2.3.2, 3.4.2.5.3)

3.4.2.12. Perceptions of support for language maintenance Arabic speakers in Melbourne are supportive of language maintenance Although the majority of informants in all age brackets across both groups agreed with the proposition, there was stronger support among the Egypt group 15-24 year olds than among the Lebanon group 15-24 year olds.

196 The Arabic-speaking

groups

There was a small amount of dissent (not age specific) from both groups, although marginally less from the Egypt group. By

generation:

Table 3.34: "Arabic speakers in Melbourne are supportive of language maintenance" by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Gl

"agree strongly" "agree" "don't know" "disagree" "disagree strongly"

Egypt 33.3% 50% 8.3% 8.3% 0%

Lebanon 11.8% 47.1% 17.6% 11.8% 11.8%

G2

"agree strongly" "agree" "don't know" "disagree" "disagree strongly"

35% 45% 15% 5% 0%

20% 60% 15% 5% 0%

The Lebanon group Gl recorded less agreement to the proposition overall, and less strong agreement, than the Egypt group. There was also a higher level of dissent, and the only instance of strong dissent to the proposition, among the Lebanon group Gl. While the second generation from both the Egypt and Lebanon groups recorded identical levels of support overall for the proposition, the Egypt group G2 registered a higher level of strong support. Both G2 groups registered stronger levels of strong support than their corresponding Gl, and there was a very small element of dissent in both G2 groups. It could be that the G2 is less well informed than the Gl about the actual level of support within the community, or it could be that they actually perceive the situation differently. Other Australians

are supportive

of Arabic

There was a greater element of dissent in both groups to this proposition than to the previous one. The balance for the Lebanon group was still in

Research findings 197

favour of the proposition, while this was no longer the case for the Egypt group 35+ age bracket. The perception of support or lack of support for a community language could arise from the following areas: •

matters of public policy (eg. prioritisation of Arabic in schools, availability of interpreters or translated material, radio and television scheduling) "There are eight core languages for LOTEs in education, but Arabic is not amongst them. Arabic is not seriously promoted." (53 Leb A m 2534) "In some areas they don't teach Arabic language in mainstream schools, they teach for example Greek or Italian, even though there are many Arabic speakers in those areas" (184 Egypt A f 35-44) "I feel that Arabic is not treated with the importance it should be. Considering that there is an important business relationship between Australia and numerous Arabic countries, and that there is a large Arabic community in Australia, I believe more Australians should be taught Arabic at secondary school." (73 Leb Β m 15-24) "There should be more emphasis on the Arabic language from the Australian government, and the government should be more interested in showing the Arabic culture and civilisation in the media." (57 Leb A m 45-54)

•

general height of profile within the community ("visibility" of the Arabic-speaking community through shop signs, restaurants, festivals, etc.) "Some other languages have more presence in society — I don't know, maybe because their population is larger." (62 Leb A f 65+)

198 The Arabic-speaking

•

groups

purely personal experience (comments from Australian-background friends, acquaintances, peers, teachers, etc.) "It's better to assimilate, because if some Lebanese people make trouble all Lebanese will be associated with them and have bad images." (39 Leb Β f 25-34)

By

generation:

Table 3.35:

"Other Australians are supportive of Arabic" by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Gl

"agree strongly" "agree" "don't know" "disagree" "disagree strongly"

Egypt 25% 8.3% 25% 33.3% 8.3%

Lebanon 5.9% 23.5% 35.3% 17.6% 17.6%

G2

"agree strongly" "agree" "don't know" "disagree" "disagree strongly"

10% 25% 35% 20% 5%

15% 30% 30% 25% 0%

Marginally more of the Egypt group Gl informants agreed with the proposition, and marginally more Egypt group Gl informants disagreed with the proposition (made possible by a higher level of "don't know" responses among the Lebanon group). However, more Lebanon group informants disagreed strongly with the proposition (and fewer agreed strongly). The second generation responses were comparable over both groups. The balance of both Gl groups is against the proposition, while the balance of both G2 groups is for it. Once again, the question arises as to whether the G2 is less informed about some aspects of language policy, or whether they perceive the situation in a less pessimistic light than the Gl.

Research findings 199 More Australians should be encouraged to learn Arabic

This proposition drew an overall very favourable response from both groups, reflecting the feeling evident from the previous proposition that Australians need to be better informed about Arabic language and culture. There was an element of dissent in both groups, in all instances from the 15-24 age bracket. For the Arabic speakers, there is the added complication of negative attitudes towards Arabic engendered by political events, which was interpreted as a disincentive to a wider acceptance and learning of Arabic: "Arabic is very badly presented by the media which shows a negative image of the Arabic culture and language, therefore members of the Australian society are discouraged from learning Arabic." (Egypt A f 35-44) By generation: Table 3.36: "More Australians should learn Arabic " by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Gl

"agree strongly" "agree" "don't know" "disagree" "disagree strongly"

Egypt 25% 33.3% 33.3% 0% 0%

Lebanon 29.4% 47.1% 23.5% 0% 0%

G2

"agree strongly" "agree" "don't know" "disagree" "disagree strongly"

15% 35% 30% 20% 0%

25% 35% 25% 15% 0%

The disagreement came in all instances from the second generation, and the Lebanon group, in both generations, supported the proposition more strongly than did the Egypt group.

200 The Arabic-speaking groups

Do other ethnic groups get a better deal? There was a widespread feeling over all ages in both groups that other ethnic communities were getting a "better deal" than the Arabic-speaking community. The groups specifically mentioned as being better off were Italians, Greeks and members of Asian groups. In terms of the balance between areas of disadvantage, both the Egypt group and the Lebanon group regarded school programs, television time allocation and television scheduling as the major problem areas. However, while the Egypt group placed more importance on media issues (school programs came third after television time allocation and scheduling), the Lebanon group regarded school programs as the most important area of disadvantage, followed by television scheduling and time allocation). By generation: Table 3.37:

"Other groups are better off' by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Egypt Gl G2

66.7% 65%

Lebanon 76.5% 70%

The Lebanon group was more inclined in both generations to feel that other groups were better off, and the first generation in both groups were more likely to feel this than the second generation. This is consistent with the findings from the question on wider community support for Arabic (see above). Some further comments: "Some members of Australian society are totally ignorant of Arabic, they associate it with a negative image and do not appreciate it as a beautiful and rich language." (65 Egypt A f 35-44) "My children were taught Italian instead of Arabic, so they didn't have the chance to leam Arabic." (185 Egypt A f 45-54)

Research findings 201

"In general the Australian community have a negative/false image of the Arabic community. So much propaganda and negative news/issues are screened on TV." (73 Leb Β m 15-24) "There's prejudice against Arabic language because of political reasons. It's sometimes associated with religion, with Islam. Non Arabic speakers associate it with religion. Italian and Japanese are getting a better deal." (75 Leb Β f 35-44) "The Arabic world falls into third place as a major trading partner with Australia, yet politicians do not recognise that degree of the importance of the Arabic language and do not promote it and give it what it deserves for political reasons. Politicians do not appreciate this language, they do not convert more resources to it." (53 Leb A m 2534) "The Australian society is greatly influenced by politicians, and if they do not promote the Arabic language and its importance, the society will not recognise its importance and positive role in their country's development and enrichment." (53 Leb A m 25-34)

We have seen that while communication with family and friends was the major motivation for the Lebanon group second generation, this attracted a lesser response among the corresponding age bracket of the Egypt group, and may in fact reflect the higher levels of English already established in family and social use. "Identity" was strongly represented in the 15-24 age bracket, in the Egypt group by itself and in the Lebanon group with a range of other factors. It was more strongly indicated in the Egypt group second generation than in the Lebanon group second generation. While most informants agreed that there was support among other Arabic speakers for language maintenance, this was less marked in the Lebanon group than in the Egypt group. There was less support for the

202 The Arabic-speaking groups

notion that other Australians were supportive of Arabic, with the balance in the first generation being against it, and the balance in the second generation for it. Most informants felt that other Australians should be encouraged to learn Arabic, with the only dissent coming from informants in the 15-24 age bracket. There was a widespread feeling over all age groups that other ethnic communities were getting a "better deal" than the Arabic-speaking community. We will now consider further language issues pertaining to Arabic, as well as the self-rated proficiency in Arabic of the informants.

3.4.2.13. Other language issues Has your Arabic changed since you arrived in Australia? More Egypt group informants than Lebanon group informants felt that their language had changed since arriving in Australia, growing weaker due to lack of use. This would appear reasonable in view of the greater use of English, both in the home and socially, among the Egypt group informants. Lebanon group informants were largely concerned with written skills, while Egypt group informants did not specify the problems. Which form of Arabic should be used in the classroom? Most informants in both groups thought that Standard Arabic should be used in the classroom. A smaller number of informants over all age levels felt that both the Standard language and the colloquial language should be used. Only one informant (Egypt group) thought that the colloquial should be the main language used. Reasons given for the preference of Standard Arabic fell into four major categories: •

The diversity of colloquial Arabic in Australia.

Research findings 203

"It is easier for the teacher to teach Standard Arabic, because a class may contain many colloquials." (60 Leb A f 35-44) •

Knowing the Standard language will give the children an advantage because they can use it everywhere. "Standard Arabic should be used because it is very precise and very expressive. When students learn it they will be able to read all Arabic books and they will write properly." (48 Leb A f 15-24) "...Standard Arabic, because Standard Arabic is the right language that can be known, understood, read, written by all Arabic-speaking people and it's not limited to one area or region or dialect." (62 Leb A f 65+)

•

Parents can teach the colloquial, but only the schools can teach the Standard. "Colloquial language is a language that students will learn at home, the same as in Lebanon and other Arabic countries where standard Arabic is taught and at the same time students use the spoken language according to their local dialects alongside with standard Arabic." (53 Leb A m 25-34) "Children born in Australia use the colloquial Arabic more than the standard, so the teacher has to use the standard language in the classroom and has to repeat it and reinforce it regularly." (132 Egypt A m 45-54) "At the beginning the colloquial language, then they can teach mixed, because children learn from their parents the colloquial." (185 Egypt A f 45-54)

•

There is something inherently "right" about Standard Arabic.

204 The Arabic-speaking groups

"As we used to study in the school in Lebanon, it is the right language." [Standard Arabic] (52 Leb A f 15-24) "Standard Arabic — this is the right language." (57 Leb A m 45-54) "Colloquial is up to the parents. Children can learn it at home, but the standard language is the right language that should not be taught in any different style or form." (66 Egypt A m 35-44)

3.4.2.14. Language proficiency Having considered at some length the actual and preferred use of language, as well as attitudes towards bilingualism, support/discrimination and Arabic itself, it is appropriate to include some information on the self-rated language skills of informants in the survey. It is important to note at this point that self-rating is far from an ideal form of measurement, in that results can be inflated or deflated depending on the perceptions of informants as to what constitutes "good" language use. These perceptions may depend in turn on the domains in which the language is habitually used. For example, someone who uses Arabic only at home for routine purposes may consider that his/her language is good, or very good, in that it perfectly fulfils its function, while another informant who is also studying the language at school may consider that same "home" language to be inadequate in many areas. Table 3.38:

Age group 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

"How well do you speak Arabic?" by age, Egypt and Lebanon groups "very well" Leb Egypt 29% 28% 63% 100% 75% 100% 100% 100% 100% -

"well" Egypt Leb 67% 38% 100% 37% 25%

"not well" Leb Egypt 29% 6% -

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

"not at all" Egypt Leb 5%

Research findings 205 Table 3.39:

Age group 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Table 3.40: Age group 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

"How well do you understand Arabic?" by age, Egypt and Lebanon groups "very well" Egypt Leb 43% 61% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 80% 100% 100%

"well" Egypt Leb 43% 39%

-

"not well" Egypt Leb 14%

"not at all" Egypt Leb

20%

"How well do you read Arabic" by age, Egypt and Lebanon groups "very well" Egypt Leb 14% 11% 50% 86% 75% 100% 80% 100% 100%

"well' Egypt Leb 19% 67% 38% -

"not well" Egypt Leb 38% 17% 100% 14% 25%

-

20%

-

"not at all" Egypt Leb 29% 6% 13% -

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Table 3.41:

"How well do you write Arabic?" by age, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Age group

"very well" Egypt Leb 14% 11% 50% 86% 75% 100% 80% 100% 100%

15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

1,

"well' Egypt Leb 19% 61% 38% 14% 20%

"not well" Egypt Leb 33% 11% 100% 25%

"not at all" Egypt Leb 33% 17% 13% -

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

The informants over the age of 35 in both groups were generally very confident in all skills, with a small number of informants from the Lebanon group less than confident in the areas of reading and writing. The informants under 35 were less confident than the older informants in all areas, and this was particularly marked in the areas of reading and writing. About one third of the Egypt group informants in the 15-24 age group said that they could not read or write Arabic at all. The area of greatest confidence for the under 35 year olds was listening.

206 The A rabic-speaking groups

There were higher confidence levels across the board in speaking and listening than reading and writing, and higher levels of confidence in listening and reading than in speaking and writing. The Lebanon group 1524 year olds, however, displayed higher levels of confidence in all areas than the corresponding informants from the Egypt group, and this was particularly marked in the areas of reading and writing. By generation: Table 3.42:

Language proficiency by generation, speaking, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Gl

"very well" 'Veil" "not well" "not at all"

Egypt 100% 0% 0% 0%

Lebanon 88.2% 5.9% 0% 0%

G2

"very well" 'Veil" "not well" "not at all"

20% 45% 30% 5%

20% 75% 5% 0%

Table 3.43:

Language proficiency by generation, listening, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Gl

"very well" 'Veil" "not well" "not at all"

Egypt 100% 0% 0% 0%

Lebanon 94.1% 5.9% 0% 0%

G2

"very well" 'Veil" "not well" "not at all"

40% 45% 15% 0%

65% 35% 0% 0%

Research findings 207 Table 3.44:

Language proficiency by generation, reading, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Gl

"very well" "well" "not well" "not at all"

Egypt 91.7% 0% 8.3% 0%

Lebanon 82.4% 17.6% 0% 0%

G2

"very well" "well" "not well" "not at all"

5% 20% 45% 30%

5% 65% 20% 10%

Table 3.45:

Language proficiency by generation, writing, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Gl

"very well" 'Veil" "not well" "not at all"

Egypt 82.4% 11.8% 5.9% 0%

Lebanon 91.7% 8.3% 0% 0%

G2

"very well" 'Veil" "not well" "not at all"

5% 20% 40% 35%

5% 65% 10% 20%

Similarly, the first generation from both groups generally displayed high levels of confidence, and the second generation reporting lower levels of confidence, particularly marked for the Egypt group second generation, and particularly marked for literacy skills. Actual reading and writing practices within the groups surveyed supported the relative lack of confidence of the younger age groups, particularly the second generation Table 3.46:

Gl G2

Writing of notes to family/friends and letters in Arabic by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups Writes notes to others in Arabic Egypt Lebanon 33% 41% 5% 20%

Writes letters in Arabic Egypt Lebanon 50% 76% 20% 35%

208 The Arabic-speaking groups Table 3.47:

Gl G2

Reading of Arabic newspapers, magazines, religious books and novels by generation, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Reads Arabic newspapers Egypt Leb 75% 53% 5% 35%

Language proficiency

Reads Arabic magazines Egypt Leb 67% 53% 15% 30%

by religious

Reads Arabic religious books Egypt Leb 83% 47% 10% 35%

Reads Arabic novels Egypt Leb 25% 29% 5% 0%

affiliation

The following tables illustrate the self-rated proficiency in the four language skills of the second generation of the Egypt and Lebanon groups, differentiated by church/mosque affiliation: Table 3.48:

Language proficiency by religious affiliation, speaking, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Church attenders

"very well" "well" "not well" "not at all"

Egypt group 0% 60% 30% 10%

Lebanon group 30% 60% 10% 0%

Mosque attenders

"very well" 'Veil" "not well" "not at all"

50% 13% 38% 0%

0% 100% 0% 0%

Table 3.49:

Language proficiency by religious affiliation, listening, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Church attenders

"very well" 'Veil" "not well" "not at all"

Egypt group 30% 50% 20% 0%

Lebanon group 80% 20% 0% 0%

Mosque attenders

"very well" 'Veil" "not well" "not at all"

50% 38% 13% 0%

60% 40% 0% 0%

Research findings 209 Table 3.50:

Language proficiency by religious affiliation, reading, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Church attenders

"very well" 'Veil" "not well" "not at all"

Egypt group 0% 0% 40% 60%

Lebanon group 0% 60% 30% 10%

Mosque attenders

"very well" "well" "not well" "not at all"

13% 50% 38% 0%

0% 100% 0% 0%

Table 3.51:

Language proficiency by religious affiliation, writing, Egypt and Lebanon groups

Church attenders

"very well" 'Veil" "not well" "not at all"

Egypt group 0% 10% 30% 60%

Lebanon group 0% 60% 10% 30%

Mosque attenders

"very well" "well" "not well" "not at all"

13% 38% 50% 0%

0% 100% 0% 0%

Mosque attenders were more confident than church attenders over all areas of language proficiency for both the Lebanon group and the Egypt group. Most notably, none of the mosque attenders said that they had no proficiency at all in reading and writing Arabic. While Lebanon group church and mosque attenders were still more confident in all areas than the corresponding Egypt group informants, the difference between the Egypt group mosque attenders and the Lebanon group was not as great as was apparent from the aggregated tables above. For example, the confidence of the Egypt group Muslims was very comparable with that of the Lebanon group church attenders in the areas of reading and writing, with none of the Egypt group reporting that they could not read or write in Arabic, and more professing to do so very well. The most confident group overall were the Lebanon group mosque attenders,

210

The Arabic-speaking

groups

and the least confident group overall were the Egypt group church attenders. In the Egypt group, Muslims were twice as likely as church attenders to write notes to others and letters in Arabic. For the Lebanon group, there was no significant difference for notes to others, and church attenders were twice as likely as Muslims to write letters in Arabic. This is in line with the findings for reading, where mosque attenders from the Egypt group were approximately twice as likely as church attenders to read the items mentioned, whereas the situation with the Lebanon group was either inconclusive or reversed.

3.4.2.15. Focus group Β After holding the original focus group (3.4.1) and collating information gained from the surveys (3.4.2), some further questions were identified for which clarification was needed. For this reason a second focus group was convened, both to bring community members up to date with findings and to canvas their views on a number of further issues. The questions raised for discussion were: •

How much social networking is there between Arabic speakers of different countries of origin?

Response: It was suggested that there is a hierarchy of "commonality" which determines networks, particularly in the first generation, and that the primary basis for networking is a combination of locality (or village) of origin and religion. Beyond that people would interact with those from the same locality but with a different religion, then the same religion and a different country, and so on. A greater need for interaction with other Arabic speakers would exist in places in Australia with smaller Arabicspeaking populations, and people would be correspondingly prepared to go further down the hierarchy for their social networks. A number of

Research findings 211

conscious choices have to be made, and identity has to be redefined (in Australia this is necessarily a "multiple identity"). The Maronites have tended to see themselves as a distinct ethnic group, but this exclusivity has started to break down with the notion of the "Arabic" community including former "outsiders", and the tendency for Maronites to identify their language as "Lebanese" rather than "Arabic" has diminished with the re-definition of their community. Even so, it was suggested that Maronites will generally resist assuming the identity of an "Arab" rather than an "Arabic" identity. The general feeling of the group was that the relaxation of "exclusivity" was greatest in the second generation and in groups or individuals of higher socio-economic standing. The issue of host society attitudes was also raised. It was suggested that those who came into an atmosphere of hostility would be more likely to turn to others of a similar language background, even if the criterion of common locality or country were not met. Where there is intermarriage, it was felt that Arabic is lost very quickly. The extended family in Lebanon was seen to play an important role in the socialisation of children. •

To what extent do subgroups within language and birthplace groups influence language behaviour in their members?

Response:

It was suggested by a Muslim participant that, for practising Muslims, Arabic (being the language of the Koran) is the "language of heaven". In order to practise their faith Muslims must maintain Arabic, and they are also strongly motivated to pass the language, as well as their religion, down to their children. It was suggested that this may provide for the children a deeper motivation than that of economic advancement or even communication with older members of the family.

212 The Arabic-speaking groups

•

What are the perceptions of the "Egypt/Lebanon distinction", particularly in light of the differences evident from the findings of the surveys?

Response: It was suggested that the Egypt-background immigrants generally came to Australia with a higher level of education, did not tend to come under the humanitarian program and were thus generally of a higher socio-economic status. Even if they had no prior knowledge of English, they were able to learn it more quickly due to their educational level and generally cosmopolitan background. Discussion of survey results: There was considerable discussion around the issue of the second generation's assessment of their Arabic language skills, as well as their reported use of the media. It was felt that the actual skill levels are considerably lower than those reported, and that the use of media such as radio, television and videos is considerably lower than appeared from the surveys. While the sample is admittedly small, and possibly does not present a totally accurate picture, the following points need to be made: •

There is a certain amount of ambiguity in the concept of "reading". Read (1) = to read words, read (2) = to read and understand in the context of discourse.

•

There may be considerable intercultural and intergenerational variation in expectations and perceptions of language proficiency: what one group may regard as totally inadequate another group, from a different viewpoint, may regard as quite adequate.

•

There are many problems inherent in self-rating of language proficiency (see, for example, 5.11).

Research findings 213

Some members of the group mentioned a survey conducted within the Arabic-speaking community which suggested that the knowledge among the second generation about the availability of Arabic programs through the electronic media was very poor. It is difficult to reconcile the results of the survey, which indicated that 45% of the G2 listened to the radio, if only on an occasional basis, with the reported results of this survey, unless the sample were extremely unrepresentative. While we have no particular reason for supposing this (see Chapter 1), it is undoubtedly true, given the number of criteria used, and the overall size of the sample, that each "cell" is very small. It was felt that visits to the home country play a very important role in rehabilitating the image of "Arabness" among the second generation, particularly in view of the very negative images perceived to be presented through the media.

3.4.3.

Summary

3.4.3.1. Demography and migration history There were 177 599 speakers of Arabic in Australia in 1996, placing it fourth among the "top ten" community languages nationally. The largest proportion of these speakers were born in Australia (42 per cent), followed by Lebanon (36 per cent) and Egypt (8 per cent). The Arabic-speaking population is a very young one, with 68.4 per cent under 35 years of age in 1996, and a very large school-age population. The largest proportion are Catholic, with Islam forming the next most important group for those of Lebanese background, and members of the Greek Orthodox and Coptic Orthodox Churches forming the next largest groups for those of Egyptian background. Arabic is the most concentrated of all the languages of this study, with 69 per cent of the Arabic-speaking population living in Sydney, and 22 per cent living in Melbourne. There are three major periods in the history of migration from Lebanon to Australia: 1880-1947, 1947-1975, and 1975 onwards. Muslim migration has really only been significant in the third of these periods,

214 The Arabic-speaking groups which coincides with the disruption caused by civil war in Lebanon. Source areas for migrants have also swung from largely urban to a significant rural component, and from largely educated/professional to often uneducated. For the Egypt-born, the most significant period of migration was between 1947 and 1971, the motivation being in many cases the pan-Islamic policies of Colonel/President Nasser. Most were Christians.

3.4.3.2.

Language use and attitudes

Table 3:52: Summary of Arabic-speaking groups Both Arabic-speaking groups

Variations within this pattern

Adults used more Arabic in the home, children used more English

More English was used in the home by the Egypt group than by the Lebanon group (by both adults and children)

Most informants over the age of 35 preferred to use English at home, most informants under 35 preferred to speak English at home

There was a greater incidence of home use of both Arabic and English among the Lebanon group under 35s than there was among the Egypt group under 35s, and a greater incidence of home use of both Arabic and English among the Egypt over 35s than there was among the Lebanon group over 35s.

Only Arabic was spoken interactions with grandparents

in

The majority socialised with other Arabic speakers. Informants over the age of 35 tended to have Arabic-speaking networks, those under the age of 35 had more mixed networks.

—>• The Lebanon group under 35s had a greater proportion of mixed networks, and more "non-community language" networks than did the Egypt group under 35s.

Research findings 215 Both Arabic-speaking groups

Variations within this pattern

Those over 35 tended to use mostly Arabic socially, those under 35 used more English.

—> More English was used socially by the Egypt group than by the Lebanon group.

The social preference of over-35s was for Arabic. In the under 35s it was for English.

There was a greater preference for both Arabic and English among the Lebanon group under 35s than there was among the Egypt group under 35s, and a greater preference for both Arabic and English among the Egypt over 35s than there was among the Lebanon group over 35s. Egypt group informants were more likely to frequent Arabic-speaking professionals, while Lebanon group informants were more likely to frequent Arabic-speaking businesses.

The majority frequented Arabicspeaking businesses and visited Arabic-speaking professionals (including doctors, dentists, accountants, lawyers and photographers). All informants had friends or relatives in the country of origin. Communication was more often by telephone than through letters. The majority of informants from both groups had been back to their country of origin.

—> Egypt group informants were more likely to have house guests from their country of origin, while Lebanon group informants were more likely to telephone and visit the country of origin.

Arabic radio was listened to by more older informants than younger informants. Television and video were used more by younger informants.

—> Egypt group informants were less likely than Lebanon group informants to be critical of media offerings.

Computer based communication facilities were used more by younger informants and more by males than females.

—> Egypt group informants tended to use these facilities in English, while Lebanon group informants tended to use both Arabic and English

Overall strong bilingualism.

support

for

Overall support for the maintenance of ethnic identity, with some dissent in the G2.

216 The Arabic-speaking groups Both Arabic-speaking groups

Variations within this pattern

Overall support for the importance of language to ethnic maintenance, weaker in the G2. Motivation for language maintenance.

learning/

Identity was the strongest motivating factor for the Egypt group G2, while communication with friends and family was the most important motivating factor for the Lebanon group G2.

Support for Arabic from the Arabicspeaking community.

There was a higher perception of support from other Arabic speakers within the Egypt group than within the Lebanon group.

Limited support for the notion that other Australians support Arabic, with the Gl generally "for", and the G2 generally "against". General feeling that other language communities were "getting a better deal".

Over-35s were more confident in their language skills over all areas than the under-35s. More confidence in oracy than in literacy over all age groups.

Media was seen as the most important area of disadvantage by the Egypt group, whereas education/ school programs was seen as the most important area of disadvantage by the Lebanon group.

Egypt group 15-24 year-olds were less confident in their literacy skills than were the Lebanon group 15-24 year-olds.

Mosque attenders were more confident than church attenders, or informants with no religious affiliation, in all areas of language proficiency. We will return to both the commonalities and differences shown in the above table, and compare them with the other language groups under consideration, in our concluding chapter.

Chapter Four — The Chinese-speaking groups (Cantonese and Mandarin)

4.1. Introduction This chapter begins with a brief description of the Chinese communities in Australia. Then follows a discussion of issues arising from the first Chinese focus group. We go on to present a range of findings from the individual surveys carried out among Melbourne's Chinese community, drawing comparisons between the two selected background groups: Hong Kong and Taiwan. These background groups also represent two Chinese fangyan: Cantonese and Mandarin (see 1.2.3). We conclude with a discussion of the second and final focus group meeting, and a brief summary of findings. A progressive summary, in the form of italicised passages, is also provided during the course of the chapters.

4.2. The Cantonese- and Mandarin-speaking communities in Australia: size, birthplace, residence, age, religious affiliation Spoken at home by 343 523 Australian residents in 1996, the Chinese varieties, if taken together, would be the second most widely used community "language" group nationally, and have seen an increase in use of 31.3 per cent in the years between 1991 and 1996 (the 1991 figure in turn represented an increase of 88 per cent from the 1986 total). They are the most widely spoken community languages in NSW. The total is divided among the fangyan in the following way: Mandarin 27%

Other 14%

Cantonese 59%

Figure 4.1: "Chinese" by variety, 1996

218 The Chinese-speaking groups (Cantonese and Mandarin) The fangyan are also distributed among a variety of birthplace groups. With specific reference to Cantonese and Mandarin, the following situation applied in 1996: Australia Viet N a m 1 8 %

Other 8%

13%

Hong Kong 29%

Malaysia 10%

Figure 4.2:

PRC 22%

Cantonese speakers by birthplace, 1996

Australia

11%

0ther

16%

Malaysia 12%

18%

Figure 4.3:

43%

Mandarin speakers by birthplace, 1996

We have chosen Taiwan rather than the PRC as the birthplace for the Mandarin speakers in our sample, chiefly because the surrogate of birthplace 29 in determining language shift is particularly unsatisfactory in the case of the PRC. We have no way of knowing whether a speaker (now using English only) has Mandarin or Cantonese as his/her first language, in addition to a wider range of other Chinese varieties than is found in Taiwan. Similarly, in the case of Malaysia it is impossible to infer language use (Malay, Chinese varieties, Indian languages) from birthplace with any degree of accuracy. There is the added factor that Malaysia- and PRC- born populations contain a large proportion of overseas students, who do not necessarily contribute to our understanding of language maintenance in the long-term resident Australian population. Taiwan, on the other hand, is an increasingly important source of immigration to

The Cantonese- and Mandarin-speaking

communities in Australia

219

Australia, particularly in the business category, which makes it highly comparable with Hong Kong. The birthplace groups selected for this study display the following breakdown of birthplace by language: 'Chinese nfd' 2%

12%

Cantonese 86%

Figure 4.4:

Language by birthplace (Hong Kong), 1996 Hokkien

Other

6%

\\%

Mandarin 83%

Figure 4.5:

Language by birthplace (Taiwan), 1996

Sydney is the major destination for settlers from Chinese-speaking countries, and is the home of 48 per cent of all Cantonese speakers in Australia, and 40 per cent of all Mandarin speakers. Melbourne has the next highest concentration of speakers, with 27 per cent of both the Mandarin-speaking and Cantonese-speaking communities. In the case of both languages, Perth and Brisbane are the most significant "other" places of residence. In Melbourne, the largest communities of Hong Kong-born are in the inner and middle suburbs of the eastern metropolitan region (see Map 4.1). Media reports from Melbourne suggest that around one in four properties sold in these suburbs is bought by Hong Kong and other Chinese immigrants. Because of the relatively smaller numbers of Taiwan-born immigrants to date, it is not possible to compare the settlement patterns of Hong Kong-born and Taiwan-born on the basis of statistics, although

220 The Chinese-speaking groups (Cantonese and Mandarin) anecdotal information would suggest that their settlement patterns are similar. The concentration of Chinese speakers within Melbourne, the city where the bulk of the research for the present study was conducted, is shown in Map 4.1.

C a n t o n e s e

&

(J^mdarxn Whittlesea

Hume

/

Melton

Yarra Ranges 19 516,· Wyndham

II

{Μ®,

20

\l2t

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

Map 4.1:

Melbourne Port Phillip Hobsons Bay Maribyrnong Brirnbank Moonec Valley Morel and Darebin Yarra Stonnington Glen Eira Bayside Kingston Monash Boroondara Whitehorsc Manningham Banyule Maroondah Knox Greater Dandcnong Prankslnn

Cantonese

Casey 22

Mandarin

Mornington Peninsula

0

10

20

Kilometres

Concentration of "Chinese" speakers in Melbourne, 1991

The Cantonese- and Mandarin-speaking

communities in Australia

221

There is a long-established Chinatown near the centre of the city of Melbourne which includes the Australian Chinese Museum, Chinese shops, restaurants and churches. Australians of Chinese descent, of various vintages, go there to shop and to celebrate, and it has become a tourist attraction. However, Chinatown is no longer a residential area, and restaurants, shops, and even Lunar New year festivals are now also located in suburbs where Chinese-Australians live.

55-64yrs • Mandarin

35-44yrs

Ü Cantonese 15-24yrs 0-4yrs

0 Figure 4.6:

Age by language, 1996, Cantonese and Mandarin speakers

As can be seen from Figure 4.6, the Cantonese- and Mandarin- speaking population of Australia is a relatively young one, with most of the population aged between 14 and 44 years. The figure also indicates that the Cantonese-speaking population is more evenly distributed over the age groups, while Mandarin is heavily concentrated in the 15—44 age group. This may reflect the more recent arrival of the majority of Taiwanese immigrants. In addition, the larger overall Cantonese-speaking population would presuppose a correspondingly larger family reunion program, with elderly parents joining their children in Australia. The reader is reminded, however, that the largest proportion of Mandarin speakers was born in the PRC (see Figure 4.3), many of them having obtained asylum in Australia following the events of Tiananmen Square. While only 10 per cent of the population of Hong Kong belong to a Christian denomination, a third of the Hong Kong-born population of Australia nominated Christianity as their religion in 1991 (Bureau of

222 The Chinese-speaking groups (Cantonese and Mandarin) Immigration, Multicultural and Population Research 1995c). This could be either the result of self-selection operating in the migration movements of Hong Kong-bom, or a result of the migration process itself. Many have been attracted to Chinese Christian churches as important settlement and social contacts for the newly arrived, and religious organisations, both independent congregations and Chinese-speaking sections of an existing parish, may have thereby achieved a greater importance in emigration than they had in Hong Kong (Lary—Inglis—Wu 1994:433). Inglis—Wu (1994) suggest that churches, particularly the more evangelical Protestant churches, with their social networks and support activities, provide the type of support which in earlier Chinese emigrant communities was provided through clan and district associations. The religious profile of the Hong Kong born in Australia was as follows in 1991:

, ΓΊ Catholic

Figure 4.7:

Baptist

, Γ"I Anglican

,

Π , other Christian

r—ι Buddhist

other nonChristian

no religion

not stated

Hong Kong-born by religion, Australia, 1991

Notwithstanding the increase in church affiliation by Hong Kong immigrants to Australia, the proportion who claimed no religion is the highest of all the birthplace groups under scrutiny in the present study. We have not had access to full ABS figures for the Taiwan-born with respect to religion, although there is the expectation that Buddhism and Confucianism will play a bigger part in the life of Taiwan-bora than either Hong Kong-born or PRC-born. In 1991, the total number of Taiwan-born Buddhists was 2 992, or 24 per cent of the Taiwan-born population of the time. In contrast to other religious groups, Buddhism does not revolve

Chinese-Australians

223

around weekly congregational meetings, and many people practise Buddhism primarily at a personal level. There is also no simple way to count Buddhist temples in Australia, on account of the fact that they take a very wide variety of forms (for example, a Vietnamese restaurant may contain Budda images and be used for Buddhist ceremonies, while halls or suburban houses may be used for meditation or for the study of Buddhism). There appears to be little in common in the practice of the major forms of Buddhism, and Buddhism is combined with the beliefs, practices and cultures of various ethnic groups. In the case of the Chinesespeaking Buddhists, their practice is also frequently influenced by the philosophies of Confucianism. Adam —Hughes (1966) suggest that Buddhism is in fact an important bearer of identity for many immigrants to Australia. This being the case, its strong "non-Anglo-Saxon" flavour (despite the growing number of Australia-born devotees) may well be expected to influence language use - to what extent, for example, can English be used to explain the ideas and philosophies of Buddhism?

4.3. Chinese-Australians The first systematic Chinese migration to Australia occurred from 1847, when indentured labourers were brought to alleviate labour shortages in the pastoral industry. During the 1850s and 1860s large numbers of independent gold field immigrants came to Australia from Chinesespeaking territories, and a number of discriminatory laws were passed, which were withdrawn as gold fields and therefore Chinese numbers declined (Loh 1988). From the 1880s, however, Chinese success in many other occupations resulted in more restrictions and bans across the Australian continent, which were extended to other non-Europeans, and had the effect of marginalising non-Europeans in Australian society. The Immigration Restriction Act of 1901 virtually ended Chinese migration. Non-Europeans could not become citizens and dependents of such non-citizens could not live permanently in Australia. During the years from 1901 to 1950 the

224

The Chinese-speaking groups (Cantonese and Mandarin)

Chinese population of Australia fell from 30 000 to less than 10 000. Lary et al. (1994) describe the Chinese community of Australia in the 1940s as consisting of declining numbers of elderly, single male immigrants, with those still employed working in niche occupations often based in Chinatown areas. World War II, and post war changes in power relations in Asia, resulted in some relaxation of restrictive legislation, while the large numbers of non-British European immigrants led to the challenging of many of the assimilationist policies that had been in place. From 1973 discriminatory immigration and nationality laws were abolished, the Australian state has declared itself opposed to discrimination on the basis of race, and more Chinese are living in Australia today than at any time since the gold rushes. Cantonese speakers from Hong Kong and Mandarin speakers from Taiwan are particularly well represented in the "independent" and "business" categories of the migration program. Taiwan is a more recent "source country" than Hong Kong. The growth of the Chinese-speaking community in Australia is reflected in the growth in number and diversity of organisations catering for them. In 1984, there were 68 Chinese organisations in Australia (30 in New South Wales, 22 in Victoria) (Chin 1988). Of these, 14 were religious (nine Christian, five Buddhist), 16 were "community" groups, 14 were "sociocultural", and only seven were classified as "Clanship/Dialect Group Associations". This represents a movement away from the typical pre-war organisation of the Chinese in Australia, where the clanship associations had been very important. By 1987 the number of organisations had grown to 130, and Inglis—Wu (1994) suggest that a critical factor in encouraging the proliferation of "ethnic" organisations within the last two decades has been the Australian government policy of multiculturalism. Since 1978, one of the main features of this policy has been the provision of government funds to ethnic organisations which undertake the task of providing ethnospecific services to their communities. In order to obtain this funding the Chinese, in common with many other ethnic groups, have developed the welfare and educational functions of their organisations, and many of the organisations

Chinese-Australians

225

play a role in lobbying the government on matters of concern, whether they be migration regulations or the provision of Chinese-language classes in government schools (Inglis—Wu 1994). Despite the proliferation of organisations since the mid-1980s, there are still relatively few that could claim to embrace all Chinese and their communities. Those that exist, although no longer based on loyalties at the village level, tend to be based on geographical origin in a broader sense, or on nationality. Given the diversity of the Chinese community in Australia, it is hardly surprising that it has been difficult to find common ground. Along with internal divisions, the Chinese community in Australia has had to contend with sporadic intense campaigns against Asian immigration, spearheaded in 1984 by the populist historian Geoffrey Blainey and since her election to Parliament by the Independent politician Pauline Hanson. Ms Hanson has since formed the so-called "One Nation Party" which has enjoyed electoral successes in some parts of rural Australia. The anti-Asian feeling brought into the open by these campaigns, though representing only a minority of the population and clearly heightened as time went on by the difficult economic times into which a large proportion of the more recent Chinese-speaking migration came, has demonstrated to the Chinese themselves the need to establish a united front. Such a front would enable them to deal more effectively with perceived issues of racism and discrimination, and would allow them to lobby government bodies on a range of issues. Attempts have been made at both the state and national levels to achieve such a degree of unity, to date without a great deal of success. Chen (1986) feels that much of the misunderstanding, suspicion and hostility which exists among Chinese groups in Australia has arisen from their geographical, political, cultural and linguistic diversity, with the language barriers tending to reinforce the geographical and political differences (e.g. immigrants from Malaysia and Singapore tend to speak English, while those from China, Taiwan, Viet Nam and Cambodia tend to speak Mandarin, and those from Hong Kong speak Cantonese). He also sees the issue of political affiliation with China or Taiwan as having been

226 The Chinese-speaking groups (Cantonese and Mandarin) of considerable significance from time to time, and still very much alive within the Chinese community in Australia.

4.4. Research findings 4.4.1. Focus group A The meeting was attended by representatives from the Chinese Evangelical Church, the Chinese Christian Glorious Church, the Chinese Catholic Church, one of the Chinese Anglican congregations, the Leezen Temple, the Federation of Chinese Associations, the Free China Association, the Chinese Writers Association, Channel 31 (access television) and 3ZZZ (access radio). There were also a number of people present who were not affiliated with any particular group, some with an academic interest in the area, and some with no particular prior interest.

4.4.1.1. Chinese language education Discussion in the focus group indicated that most Chinese-language educational provision is in Mandarin, with Cantonese remaining a community and home language. Cantonese is taught by only a limited number of ethnic schools in the Melbourne metropolitan area (only one states that it teaches Cantonese only, five teach Cantonese and Mandarin, seven teach Mandarin, and nine teach "Chinese"). Because of the relegation of Cantonese to part time ethnic schools, it is very difficult to acquire the language in the time available. It was pointed out that primary school language programs are often extremely limited in nature, and not at all useful for children with a background in Mandarin. They are too simple, too repetitive, and appear to be designed purely for local born Chinese or Australians. There is in addition a vast difference between homework expectations in Australia and most Chinese-speaking countries, and this can lead to parent/child conflict in the area of language and literacy development.

Research findings 227

Literacy It was suggested that parents play the major role in the development of literacy. Because of the instrumental value of English, children do not want to spend the time to put in the practice needed to read and write Chinese. There are some notable exceptions, largely when the parents have a particular interest in passing on Chinese literacy, and have the time to carry it through. This is, however, more likely to happen with grandparents than with parents, a lot of whom work during the day, and only have time for the basic routines in the evening. On the other hand, it was also suggested that children can be put off the whole process of language maintenance if too much pressure is applied by parents.

4.4.1.2. The role of religious institutions in language maintenance It became clear from the focus group that "Chinese" churches and parishes of mainstream churches tend to follow a pragmatic policy on language, conducting services and preaching in whatever combination of Cantonese, Mandarin, other Chinese fangyan and English is best understood by the congregations. Chinese Evangelical Church The Chinese Evangelical Church has about 500 members, divided into three congregations:

• • •

Mandarin (largely from Malaysia and Singapore) Cantonese (largely from Hong Kong, including a large number of overseas students) English (largely for those who have grown up in Australia)

There is a range of youth activities run in all congregations. In the Cantonese-speaking congregation, Sunday School is in Cantonese for the

228

The Chinese-speaking groups (Cantonese and Mandarin)

younger members and English for the older ones who have been in Australia for a number of years. The reason given for this was that it is easier to express one's faith in one's dominant language. There are also camps, bible schools during the holidays, bowling and other outings. The emphases are spiritual and social. For the elderly, there are craft sessions, Tai Chi and Chinese festivals — all largely oriented towards the Chinese culture. The services for Mandarin speakers are held in Mandarin and English, while those from the Cantonese congregation tend to go to the English services if they are more comfortable in English. Given that the emphasis is on spiritual development rather than on language per se, it was felt that the congregation will eventually become English-speaking in the absence of continued large-scale migration from Chinese-speaking countries. Chinese Christian Glorious Church This church has a total membership of about 60 members, and has been in operation for only one year. Some 60 per cent of the membership is from overseas, largely overseas students, and there are five families from Taiwan. The services are held entirely in Mandarin (due to the number of overseas students), although the church is aiming to extend its ministry to permanent residents. At this point in time, the church feels that it is providing a "family" for overseas students. Youth activities are run (largely for the aforesaid overseas students), prayer meetings and Sunday services. Chinese Roman Catholic Church This organisation provides services for 400-500 families over four suburban centres, and employs one full-time priest and several part-time helpers. Its purpose is to spread the faith in the mother tongue, as well as to help its members integrate into Australian society. The priest speaks mainly Cantonese, although he has learnt a little Mandarin. There is some

Research findings 229

effort made by both the Mandarin and Cantonese-speaking components to learn each others' languages. The opinion was expressed that it is easier to express one's faith in one's mother tongue (cf. comment above from the Chinese Evangelical Church), and that it is important to provide a comfortable environment for children, where they can mix with people from their parents' culture and form alternative friendship networks to the ones that they develop at school. There is a Cantonese Sunday School, which has the added benefit of giving children the chance to use their Cantonese outside of the family circle. Anglican

Church

In the church in Chinatown in the Central Business District, services are conducted in Mandarin and English (using a bilingual prayer book), and most members of the congregation understand both languages. Mandarin has grown stronger in the church due to the influx of immigrants from mainland China. A congregation was established in 1996 in a middle-class suburb, consisting of 40-50 members, mainly from Hong Kong, and thus mainly speakers of Cantonese. The representative of this church at the focus group meeting, a Cantonese speaker herself, said that she had welcomed the establishment of the new congregation as she was very reluctant to use Mandarin, a language which she spoke imperfectly. It was suggested that this may be a Chinese characteristic — unwillingness to participate in any situation which may cause one to appear "foolish". Although the Chinese-speaking congregation shares a church with an existing English-speaking one, there is not much contact between the two congregations. There is a Sunday School at the recently established suburban church in Cantonese (with many of the resources coming straight from Hong Kong), and one in the city in Mandarin. Confirmation classes are largely in the appropriate Chinese variety, although, owing to the difficulty young people have in reading Chinese, some bible passages, etc. have to be given in English.

230 The Chinese-speaking groups (Cantonese and Mandarin) Leezen Temple This is a religious organisation based on Tao and Confucian teachings, and largely attended by Mandarin speakers from Taiwan. There is an emphasis on language maintenance within this organisation, as the philosophy espoused (which is also regarded as a very important part of Chinese culture) is expressed through the medium of Mandarin. The importance of the use of Mandarin at home was also stressed, although it was felt that this may in part be the result of necessity, as Chinese people from Taiwan have not been able to develop their English in the same way as Chinese people from Hong Kong, Singapore, or Malaysia. Discussion groups are held for children from six to 12 years, and for young people from 12 to 18 years. The emphasis is on spoken, rather than written, skills.

4.4.1.3. Social and social welfare organisations Free China Association This is a Mandarin-speaking association with a membership of 230 families, most of whom come from Taiwan. Most speak Mandarin, although some individuals speak either Cantonese or Taiwanese. Festival celebrations are held at least three times per year, there is a monthly newsletter, and a regular badminton club. There are also summer and winter camps, and seminars and workshops on a wide variety of subjects (e.g. panel beating, flower pressing, taxation, real estate). Young people are only involved in the organisation in so far as they come with their parents. Most are able to speak Mandarin, but prefer to speak English among themselves. Karaoke is very popular among the young people, as are sporting activities. Sometimes sporting teams from Taiwan are hosted. The main goal of the club is that of friendship and social recreation. Members speak the language(s) in which they feel most comfortable, and,

Research findings 231

for the first generation at least, this is Mandarin. The younger people, and the second generation, are more comfortable in English. Hong Kong Club Inc (written submission30) The association was founded in 1965 as the Overseas Hong Kong Student Association of Victoria. The name was changed to Hong Kong Club in 1979, to reflect the change in the composition of its membership from students to professionals and business people. At present the Club has some 200 family members, mostly from Hong Kong, including many recently arrived professional and business migrants. The age range of members is approximately from 35-65, with most regular members in the 40-50 range. The Association holds information seminars for new settlers, a monthly meeting/dinner, weekly Tai Chi exercise classes, Mandarin classes and a variety of functions related to Chinese festivals throughout the year. It also interacts with other Chinese organisations via the Federation of Chinese Associations (see also below). The main aims of the association are social, with the added goals of providing services to members and new arrivals, and promoting mutual understanding between members and the wider Australian community. Cantonese is spoken at both formal and informal meetings, although children usually speak English, unless they are the children of new arrivals. Meetings with other Chinese organisations are usually held in English, although sometimes in Mandarin. Federation of Chinese Associations (Social Welfare Centre) The Federation of Chinese Associations of Victoria Inc. is an umbrella body, representing over 20 Chinese Community Organisations, which established a Social Welfare Centre in 1980. The Social Welfare Centre aims to offer services to ethnic Chinese migrants, and also to "help them understand their rights and obligations as a resident/citizen, and assist them to integrate into the mainstream Australian Multicultural Society" (from

232

The Chinese-speaking groups (Cantonese and Mandarin)

publicity brochure). Approximately half of the clientele are Cantonesespeaking (mainly from Viet Nam and Cambodia, but also from Hong Kong, East Timor, Singapore and Malaysia) and half are Mandarinspeaking (mainly from mainland China, with a few from Taiwan). The main tasks of the Centre are to assist in the settlement of recently arrived immigrants and to provide information and referral services. Other tasks, such as work with the elderly and crisis counselling, are undertaken as required, although youth services do not generally fall within the scope of the organisation. Roughly equal amounts of Mandarin and Cantonese are used within the organisation and with clients. Liaison with government departments, other welfare organisations and community service providers is mainly conducted in English.

4.4.1.4.

Media

The electronic media representatives present were both from self-funded, voluntary bodies — one radio and one television. Radio The radio station broadcasts for two hours each week in both Mandarin and Cantonese. Most of the broadcasters are from Hong Kong, and the majority are students. Originally the programs were seen as being useful for new immigrants, and as a point for the dissemination of information. Now that there are more programs in Chinese the field has become very competitive. Some disappointment was expressed that the programs were not listened to more widely (by members of the focus group, for example). Television The community access television station was seen to be even more labourintensive, with 30-40 hours production time for every hour of television put to air. It is not possible to subtitle programs, and Mandarin is the major Chinese variety used, although Cantonese is not excluded. It was not

Research findings 233

known how many people were watching the Chinese programs specifically, although it has been estimated by a rating poll that half a million people are listening to the access television station. Some programs, such as cooking and Chinese painting, are produced bilingually, with English instructions following the Mandarin ones. The major aims of the program are seen to be the dissemination of information, and the education of Australians in Chinese culture. Chinese Writers'

Association

This association has over 70 members throughout Australia. The majority are from mainland China, with 13 from Taiwan. There are branches in Queensland (28 members), Melbourne (20), South Australia (two) and New South Wales (22). When they meet, Mandarin is spoken, although the topics are usually connected with business matters. All are overseas-born, as it is difficult to maintain the Chinese language to a sufficiently high degree among the younger generation. Other media

Videos were seen as being very important to language maintenance, the current craze of Karaoke, which encourages reading skills young people. Newspapers, on the other hand, were seen as catering exclusively to the first generation, due largely to the inadequacy reading skills of most of the second generation.

as was among almost of the

4.4.1.5. Language and ethnic identity The question of language and identity was seen largely in terms of the second generation. The view was widely expressed that young people will always try to identify with the majority, although in some cases lack of identification with Chinese culture may leave them isolated from both the mainstream Australian and the Chinese culture. This was exemplified by the rejection by some young people of the Chinese cultural content of

234 The Chinese-speaking groups (Cantonese and Mandarin)

Mandarin church services, but the feeling of also being "alien" in English services run by Anglo-Australians. The prime purpose of language was described by one informant as that of communication. People will use the language that best meets their communicative needs, and most members of the group agreed that it is very difficult to dictate the use of language to children. If children are using English every day at school and with their friends, then English is the better medium to express their feelings, and English is what they will use. On the other hand, bilingualism was also seen to have very tangible benefits, and to be of potential instrumental value later in life. The opinion was expressed, however, that an extended visit to a Chinese-speaking country would quickly bring the language skills of Australia-born (or longterm Australian resident) children up to an acceptable standard. This fairly pragmatic attitude towards language was also evident from the discussion on Chinese churches (4.4.1.2). Members were encouraged to use the language in which they felt most comfortable for spiritual purposes, and it was largely accepted that bilingualism would be a transitional phenomenon for those resident in Australia, and only maintained for older people and newly arrived settlers from Chinese-speaking countries. Members of the focus group also stressed the time and effort needed to become fully literate in Chinese, and indicated that families often made a choice to concentrate on English skills, in order to give the children the best possible opportunity to excel at school in Australia and be successful in the future. One informant made the point that language can indeed only be maintained if there is an economic basis for it. One exception here was the Leezen Society, whose representative suggested that it was very difficult to convey the philosophies of Confucianism in English. He did, however, say that two Mandarinspeaking (but Anglo-Australian background) members of his group have proved helpful in this way, forming a "bridge" between the two cultures. It was generally felt that children tend to recognise the value of maintaining their first language, or the language of their parents, more as they grow older, and the overwhelming need to identify with their school peers becomes weaker. There was mention of the negative effects of

Research findings 235

racism on the maintenance of language and culture among young people, and it was felt that this is still strong in some areas, particularly in the outer suburbs. Because of the overwhelming influence of English on young people, particularly during late childhood and adolescence, it was suggested by one of the Catholic church representatives that the provision of a Chinese-speaking environment outside the home, and with a Chinesespeaking peer group, was particularly important, and could provide young people with an alternative means of self-identification (see also 4.4.1.2).

4.4.1.6. Success of language maintenance The general consensus of the group was that individuals and groups are struggling to do their best, in the face of the heavily English-speaking environment to which children are exposed, and the often conflicting value systems of mainstream Australia. It was pointed out that most of the settlers with whom we are concerned (Hong Kong and Taiwan born) are co-settled with others of a similar socioeconomic background, but not necessarily of a similar ethnic background or a similar value system. The fact that the Australian government appears now to be more strongly oriented towards Asia was seen as positive, in that Asian languages have more instrumental value in Australia today than they did ten years ago. Revitalisation by new migrants was also seen as important, and ongoing, with newer immigrants beginning to access a wider range of services in Chinese, such as child-minding.

4.4.1.7. Chinatown The view was widely expressed that Chinatown provides a focus for the Chinese-speaking community of Melbourne, and is a source of books, videos, and cultural education for children. The Chinese Museum (concentrating on the history of the Chinese in Australia) attracts many visitors (largely non-Chinese), and visitors to the city will almost invariably want to visit Chinatown. It was felt that this is a universal habit

236 The Chinese-speaking groups (• Support was slightly stronger in the Hong Kong group.

The majority of informants considered their community language to be at least important to the maintenance of their ethnicity.

The Hong Kong group (particularly the Gl) recorded a stronger positive response, and less negative response, than did the Taiwan group.

Almost all informants regarding Hong Kong group informants "communication with friends and placed a greater emphasis on the issue relatives" as the most important of identity than did the Taiwan group motivator for language maintenance informants. came from the 15-24 age group. The majority of informants agreed that Cantonese/Mandarin speakers were supportive of language maintenance. The majority of informants said that Taiwan group informants made they did not know whether other more comments on the issue of Australians were supportive of their personal discrimination. Hong Kong community language and there was an group Gl informants were the ones element of dissent from both groups, least likely to express an opinion. stronger among the younger informants. There was a much stronger The learning of Chinese by the wider positive response from the Taiwan group, particularly marked in the first Australian community. generation.

298 The Chinese-speaking groups (Cantonese and Mandarin) Both Chinese-speaking groups

Variations within this pattern

Perception of the "relative advantage/disadvantage" of community language groups in Australia.

-> While the majority of Hong Kong group informants did not feel that other groups were better off than they were, most Taiwan group informants felt disadvantaged in relation to other groups. While those from the Hong Kong group who did feel disadvantaged were more likely to cite television scheduling as the area of greatest disadvantage, for the Taiwan group school language programs topped the list.

The "over 35s" reported higher levels of confidence than the "under 35s" in all language skills. More confidence was evident overall in oral skills than in literacy skills.

The Taiwan group reported considerably higher levels of confidence than did the Hong Kong group. This was particularly marked for the G2.

Having looked in some detail at the language use patterns, attitudes, motivation and proficiency levels of our survey informants, as well as drawing on the experience of our focus groups, we will now attempt to draw some more general conclusions from the body of data that we have collected.

Chapter Five — Multiple dimensions of language maintenance

5.1. Introduction In bringing together the general findings of this study, we will attempt to relate our research on three languages and six country of origin groups to broader issues of multilingualism, language ecology and multiculturalism. We will explore some of the dimensions that appear from the preceding chapters to have played a role in determining commonalities and differences, such as age/generation and group vintage. We will also revisit the notion of pluricentric languages. This will enable us to show how sociolinguistic differences impact on the extent to which the language plays a role in Australia in constituting a "community" and in expressing group identity. We will discuss some of the institutions and motivations that promote language maintenance and the ones that clearly do not, considering as we do so the potential for modification of the more negative factors. In this way, we hope to demonstrate the insights that this project has provided into the languages, the cultures and the communities as well as into sociolinguistic theory.

5.2. Survey findings in the light of the 1996 Census In Section 1.7 we discussed the language shift rates (where possible by birthplace) for each of the languages of the present study, as calculated on the basis of the language question statistics from the 1996 Census. The Census question was based on language use in the home ("Does this person speak a language other than English in the home?"), and, when crosstabulated with other census data, provides us with very useful general information about a large number of languages and their speakers (240 languages/language groups were processed in this census). It does, however, tell us nothing about language use outside the homes of the persons involved. It also tells us very little about actual language use

300 Multiple dimensions of language

maintenance

within the homes of the persons involved. For example, we do not learn how often English and the community language are used, or to whom they are used, or what level of proficiency is present in the community language. While the first generation shift rates for the language groups chosen for this study are relatively low in the Australian context (see Table 1.6), the intergenerational transmission rate is not high, and the communities themselves (as represented by the focus groups) tend to be despondent about the community language skills of the second generation. The need for each community language group has been to acquire the majority language as quickly as possible in order to achieve social and economic security. Language planning as it affects immigrant languages has been largely inexplicit, and any particular programs designed to support immigrant children, for example, have typically been transitional in nature, the aim being to absorb these children into mainstream programs as quickly as possible. Australia, however, is in the unique position among predominantly English-speaking nations of having had explicit, pluralistic language policies in place since 1987, a time when many community groups still had considerable numbers of young first generation speakers, and before much of the recent migration from the Asian region. We are thus in the unique position of being able to assess the effects of such a policy on the strength of community language groups within the wider Australian community, and on their success in passing on their languages to succeeding generations. Although this has been a relatively small-scale study, it has been possible to "fill out" the picture gained from the 1996 Census in a number of ways. We have been able to gain a clearer picture of community language use in the home by collecting information on interlocutors, and also on language preference. We have collected information on the nature of social networks outside the home, and on the language(s) used within these networks. We have gathered information on the preferred social language of informants, which, along with the preferred language at home, may be a better predictor of future language use among the second generation than their actual language use patterns at present. We have also been able to

Survey findings in the light of the 1996 Census 301

assemble (admittedly self-rated) information on community language skills, which can help us to ascertain levels of literacy, for example, among the first and generation speakers of community languages. All of this information has already been presented in some detail for the languages and birthplace groups we are concerned with in the present study. Here is an overview.

5.2.1. The language of the home 5.2.1.1. Home language use Table 5.1:

Home language use by birthplace group CL37 CL/E Ε

Adult to adult 77.8% 5.6% 16.7%

Mother to child36 40% 33.3% 26.7%

Child to child 7.8% 11.5% 80.8%

Lebanon group

CL CL/E Ε

83.3% 13.3% 3.3%

57.1% 37.1% 5.7%

26.9% 19.2% 53.8%

Hong Kong group

CL CL/E Ε

76.9% 23.1% 0%

55.9% 44.1% 0%

30% 20% 50%

Taiwan group

CL CL/E Ε

100% 0% 0%

89.2% 10.8% 0%

33.3% 45.8% 20.8%

Chile group

CL CL/E Ε

80% 12% 8%

25.8% 74.2% 0%

0% 15.4% 84.6%

Spain group

CL CL/E Ε

96.9% 3.1% 0%

51.4% 48.6% 0%

0% 18% 82%

Group Egypt group

Table 5.1 indicates the strength of English, by itself or with the community language, as the medium of communication among children in families, and the strength of the community language as the medium of communication among adults. This is a pattern that has been noted by a number of researchers in the field (Clyne 1967, 1977; Smolicz—Harris

302 Multiple dimensions of language

maintenance

1976; Klarberg 1976; Harvey 1974), and is particularly marked for the Spanish-speaking groups and the Egypt group. It underlines the fact that a high incidence of community language use among adults does not necessarily lead to a high incidence of language use among children, although different groups show different tendencies. For example, the Taiwan and Spain groups have the highest proportions of adults conversing in only the community language, but while the Taiwan group children also have the highest incidence of the sole use of the community language, Spain group children report no sole use at all. The Taiwan and Lebanon groups display the consistently highest use of the community language across all interaction types. In the case of Taiwan, relative recency of arrival and a lower proficiency in English among the adults may play a part, although by itself this would not necessarily affect language use among children. What we may also be seeing is variation in children's responses to parental language preferences across families and language groups. The Egypt group reported the highest sole use of English among adults, as well as the highest incidence of adult-child English use. It was also one of the groups (after the Spanish-speaking groups) with the highest reported sole use of English among children. Although we have no national language shift figures for the Egypt-bom and their children, the rank ordering of groups from Table 5.1 corresponds remarkably well with the national figures for other birthplace groups (see Table 1.6), in both the first and second generations. A point to note is the smaller distance between the language use patterns of the Chile and Spain groups in our study as compared with the more general census material. There was a certain amount of "asymmetry" present in the patterns of language use between mothers and children in all groups This was most marked for the Egypt group and least marked for the Spain and Lebanon groups. In the case of the Hong Kong and Egypt groups, a lower level of community language use by children to mothers was at least partially accompanied by an increase in the use of English only by the children, whereas in all other cases it was accompanied by a rise in the proportion speaking both the community language and English.

Survey findings in the light of the 1996 Census 303

5.2.1.2. Preferred home language The strong preference for the community language among the first generation of a number of groups (Chile, Egypt, and to a lesser extent Lebanon and Hong Kong) is also in marked contrast to an even stronger preference for English in the second generation of those groups. This would indicate that parents' use patterns have been influenced to some extent by the practicalities of interacting with the children, and that the children's use patterns have been influenced to some extent by the wishes or needs of their parents. The group with the lowest preference among the first generation for the community language is the Spain group, and this may be at least partly due to the relatively large proportion of young Gl speakers in this sample. It may also have something to do with other characteristics of the group (see 5.3). The Taiwan and Lebanon groups, although still displaying the lowest preferences for "English only", display considerably higher preferences for English than was evident from their use patterns. The Egypt and Chile groups show relatively small variations in this regard. This would tend to strengthen the notion, introduced in 5.2.1.1, that family constraints on language use are stronger in some instances than in others.

304 Multiple dimensions of language Table 5.2:

maintenance

Language preference in the home by birthplace group and generation

Egypt group

CL CL/E Ε No response

Gl 67% 25% 8% 0%

G2 25% 0% 70% 5%

Lebanon group

CL CL/E Ε No response

77% 18% 6% 0%

25% 15% 60% 0%

Hong Kong group

CL CL/E Ε No response

87% 6% 6% 0%

24% 24% 52% 0%

Taiwan group

CL CL/E Ε No response

95% 0% 5% 0%

50% 10% 40% 0%

Chile group

CL CL/E Ε No response

92% 0% 8% 0%

5% 20% 75% 0%

Spain group:

CL CL/E Ε No response

47% 15% 32% 6%

5% 15% 80% 0%

5.2.2. The language of social interaction As we have already pointed out, we have been in the position in this study to go beyond the home domain, and to establish patterns of social language use. We began by reconstructing in general terms the social networks within the communities involved — did they interact mainly with others from the same community language group, did they interact mainly with people from the wider Australian community, or did they have a variety of contacts from both sources? There is a strong correlation between language preference and social networks. Individuals and groups with particular language preferences will select their networks accordingly, and the nature of social networks will, in turn, determine language needs.

Survey findings in the light of the 1996 Census 305

The following table presents information on the type of social networks reported by the informants in this study.

5.2.2.1. Social networks Table 5.3:

Social networks by generation

Egypt group

Same Mixed Other No response

Gl 83% 8% 9% 0%

G2 80% 10% 10% 0%

Lebanon group

Same Mixed Other No response

82% 6% 12% 0%

60% 25% 15% 0%

Hong Kong group

Same Mixed Other No response

88% 13% 0% 0%

14% 33% 52% 0%

Taiwan group

Same Mixed Other No response

74% 16% 5% 0%

25% 45% 30% 0%

Chile group

Same Mixed Other No response

70% 15% 15% 0%

10% 55% 30% 5%

Spain group

Same Mixed Other No response

42% 16% 26% 16%

5% 40% 55% 0%

The first generation is generally characterised by a high level of "same language community" contact. The possible exception is the Spain group, where there was, as we have mentioned before, a higher proportion of younger Gl speakers. The situation in the second generation is extremely variable, with Arabic speakers tending to interact with Arabic speakers, Spanish speakers tending to interact with speakers of other languages, and Chinese speakers falling into an in-between category. The Hong Kong and

306 Multiple dimensions of language maintenance Spain groups reported the highest levels of interaction with the wider Australian community and the Egypt and Lebanon groups the lowest. The younger the informant the more likely it is that at least some of his/her social contacts are determined by the family. The nature of the contact, particularly when it involves people whose competence in English may be limited, will clearly affect language use in social settings, and language use patterns are set out in Table 5.4. It will be recalled from Chapters 2 to 4 that there is, across the groups, a low second generation participation rate in most ethnic organisations that carry out their activities in the community language.

5.2.2.2.

Language use in social interactions

With regard to social language use, the two Spanish-speaking groups stand out by their minimal use of the community language in the second generation. They also reported the lowest levels of "same language" social interaction. In the first generation, however, there is a fairly substantial difference between the Chileans, who employ Spanish far more frequently, and the Spaniards, almost a third of whom do not use it socially at all. At the other end of the scale, second generation Australians from the Taiwan and Lebanon groups use their community language far more than their counterparts in the other groups. The Egypt and Hong Kong groups are characterised by a marked increase in the use of "English only" in social interaction between the first and second generations — from 0 per cent to 55 per cent and 60 per cent respectively. The main difference between these two groups in the first generation is in the exclusive use of the community language (50 per cent Egypt/75 per cent Hong Kong).

Survey findings in the light of the 1996 Census

Table 5.4:

307

Social language use by generation

Egypt group

CL CL/E Ε No response

Gl 50% 42% 0% 8%

G2 10% 35% 55% 0%

Lebanon group

CL CL/E Ε No response

59% 29% 12% 0%

5% 50% 40% 0%

Hong Kong group

CL CL/E Ε No response

75% 25% 0% 0%

10% 30% 60% 0%

Taiwan group

CL CL/E Ε No response

67% 27% 6% 0%

5% 55% 35% 0%

Chile group

CL CL/E Ε No response

68% 14% 8% 10%

0% 20% 80% 0%

Spain group

CL CL/E Ε No response

42% 16% 32% 10%

0% 20% 80% 0%

5.2.2.3. Preferred social language As has been mentioned, language use in a social setting may be determined by the needs and wishes of the interlocutor(s). Language preference in a social setting may tell us more about the future of a community language in a speaker's repertoire when the need to use it no longer exists. The following table shows the reported social language preference of informants from this study:

308 Multiple dimensions of language Table 5.5:

maintenance

Social language preference by generation

Egypt group

CL CL/E Ε No response

Gl 33% 42% 17% 8%

G2 0% 10% 90% 0%

Lebanon group

CL CL/E Ε No response

77% 12% 12% 0%

15% 10% 70% 5%

Hong Kong group

CL CL/E Ε No response

88% 6% 6% 0%

10% 4% 86% 0%

Taiwan group

CL CL/E Ε No response

84% 11% 5% 0%

20% 25% 55% 0%

Chile group

CL CL/E Ε No response

77% 16% 8% 0%

0% 0% 100% 0%

Spain group

CL CL/E Ε No response

53% 10% 37% 0%

0% 0% 100% 0%

In the first generation, community language preference predominates very strongly in the Hong Kong, Taiwan, Lebanon and Chile groups, but much less in the Spain group. The Egypt group shows a very marked preference for both languages. Note the strong discrepancy between the Egypt and Lebanon groups' preferences in the first generation. By the second generation, there is a complete (Chile, Spain groups), or very pronounced (Egypt, Hong Kong, Lebanon) preference for English. The one exception is the Taiwan group, where 45 per cent still indicate a preference for either the community language or a combination of English and the community language. It would appear that vintage plays an important role, as does the slightly different nature of the group we have designated G2 for Taiwan (see 1.10.2.2).

Survey findings in the light of the 1996 Census 309

The relation between actual and preferred use in the social domain is similar to that between actual and preferred use in the home domain. In both cases the preference for English among the second generation is higher than the actual language use would indicate, reflecting the need to communicate with family and acquaintances in the community language, either as a mark of respect, because the person is identified in the speaker's mind with the community language, or because English proficiency is low in the older generation. However, the pronounced preference for English in both domains in the second generation would seem to indicate that largescale language shift, rather than language maintenance, is the likely outcome. Our information on social use more closely replicates the census data in terms of distance between language use patterns of the Spain- and Chileborn and their children than did the home use data, and a larger gap is also evident between the Taiwan and Lebanon groups, although these are still the groups with the lowest preference for English in the second generation.

5.2.3. Literacy levels An important part of the intergenerational transmission of language is the transmission of literacy skills. Without literacy in a language a speaker has limited access to institutions of language maintenance, as well as to the standard language norms of his/her community language and to the culture of the country of origin. Contacts with the host society will be multiplied at the expense of contacts with community language speakers or the country of origin. The language of such speakers (without literacy skills) will also have a much lower value in the marketplace.

310 Multiple dimensions of language maintenance

Table 5.6:

Self-rated literacy skills, second generation

Egypt group

"very well" 'Veil" "not well" "not at all"

Reading 5% 20% 45% 30%

Writing 5% 20% 40% 35%

Lebanon group

"very well" 'Veil" "not well" "not at all"

5% 65% 20% 10%

5% 65% 10% 20%

Hong Kong group

"very well" 'Veil" "not well" "not at all"

0% 0% 33% 67%

0% 0% 33% 67%

Taiwan group

"very well" 'Veil" "not well" "not at all"

15% 45% 30% 10%

5% 10% 75% 10%

Chile group

"very well" "well" "not well" "not at all"

5% 45% 50% 0%

0% 35% 55% 10%

Spain group

"very well" 'Veil" "not well" "not at all"

5% 70% 20% 5%

5% 45% 40% 10%

Reading skills were generally rated more highly than writing skills, and the groups that stand out are the speakers of Chinese fangyan, particularly the Hong Kong group, where no second generation speaker claimed to read or write the language well. Despite the generally higher use of Mandarin by the Taiwan group second generation, their reading and writing skills (particularly the latter) are also rated relatively poorly. The Spanishspeaking groups showed the highest levels of confidence (although there are inter-birthplace differences, as there are with the Arabic-speaking groups). The language survey of a small sample of the Australian population (ABS 1983) indicated that a much larger proportion of Spanish speakers (85 per cent) than Arabic (68 per cent) speakers or Chinese (67 per cent) speakers in Australia read their community language.

Survey findings in the light of the 1996 Census

311

When comparing the self-rated literacy skills of the informants in our survey, we must consider the relationship between the English writing system and those of the three community languages under review. Spanish shares with English a writing system and an alphabet. It is therefore not surprising that the second generation Spanish-Australians rate their reading and writing relatively highly. The slightly lower ratings among ChileanAustralians of the second generation need to be explained in terms of attitudes (see 5.7.4). Arabic shares the alphabetic nature of the writing system with English. However, the actual graphemes employed are different, some consonants are represented by diacritical dots, and vowels and consonant gemination are represented by optional diacritical dots which are, however, usually not employed, resulting in ambiguity. According to Bauer (1996:563), the very defectiveness of Arabic script means that it can be read and written easily despite a great deal of dialectal interference without disregarding notated symbols. Arabic script is written from right to left, and, in the Islamic tradition, calligraphy is very important (Bauer 1996). The self-ratings of second generation Arabic speakers in Australia exhibit considerable variation according to country of origin. The Egyptian-Australians rated their literacy skills as "good" or "very good" a third as often as did Lebanese-Australians, and within both groups Muslims accounted for a majority of the high ratings. In Chinese there is a discontinuous relationship between the written and spoken language. The script is logographic, ie. each character stands for a word (or rather a single syllabic morpheme representing a word meaning) and not based on phoneme/grapheme relations, which is the case in both the other languages. Some characters are compounds, falling into two or more constituent parts (Boltz 1996). Chinese is written from bottom to top. There have been a number of attempts to introduce a Romanised script based on phoneme-grapheme relations. The most important of these is Pinyin which is making some headway in the PRC (Mair 1996:204-205). Mair (1996:200) refers to the most recent dictionary of graphs in Chinese which lists 60,000 characters. Due to the complexity of the script, it is not surprising that Chinese-Australians have the lowest self-rating for writing, and in the case of the Hong Kong group, also for reading. There is,

312 Multiple dimensions of language

maintenance

however, still a substantial difference between the self ratings of the Hong Kong and Taiwan groups, and, within the latter, between reading and writing. This may be attributed to the "non-standard" status of Cantonese, and the predominance of those with some limited primary education among the "second generation" of the Taiwan group. The Hong Kong/Taiwan difference applies also in the first generation, with the selfratings of the Taiwan-born higher than that of the Hong Kong-born. Here again, we need to take into account the status and significance of English in Hong Kong, whether in public administration, business or education. Writing systems are great symbols of cultural and religious tradition and, in some cases, political ideology. Arabic script has been adapted for use in the languages of Muslim nations (Kaye 1996) while Jewish languages such as Ladino, of Romance origin, and Yiddish, of Germanic origin, are written in Hebrew script (Hary 1996). Maltese, a Semitic language, in fact closely related to Moroccan Arabic, is written in Latin script to reflect the demographic and cultural dominance of Roman Catholicism in Malta. The most obvious difference between Serbian and Croatian is that the former is written in Cyrillic script and the latter in Latin script, reflecting the Orthodox-Catholic divide. Urdu and Hindi can be differentiated on the basis of Perso-Arabic vs. Devanagari script (Bright 1996:389). Not only Eastern Orthodoxy and the Tsarist Empire but, to a much greater extent, the Soviet Union was responsible for the transliteration of many nonSlavic languages in Cyrillic script. According to Comrie (1996:707), there were over fifty such languages in the early 1990s, including ones from the Uralic, Turkic, Caucasian, Iranian and Romance families. The link between religion and script, and especially the identification of a particular writing system with sacred texts, establishes an authenticity for that writing system. This authenticity applies also to the Chinese writing system which dates back to the last quarter of the second millennium BC (Boltz 1996:191). Fishman (1985:191) draws parallels between the cultural symbolism of Hebrew and Chinese script in that both are seen as mysteries of creation, in the former case associated with the Creator and the act of creation. Fishman (1985) has developed the notion of "religious

Age and generation 313

classicals", languages maintained because of their links with divine revelation, which will be discussed briefly under 5.7 below. The findings of the literacy section of this research indicate that, even where a writing system significantly different to that of English represents a cultural symbol (as is the case with Chinese), it is still on the whole not acquired or transmitted very well. The exception to this is the very strong motivation provided by the religious identification with script among the Muslims of both Egyptian and Lebanese descent (even in the second generation). For the reasons already presented at the beginning of this section, more attention needs to be paid to this area in the context of intergenerational transmission of language. While parents play a crucial role in the transmission of the spoken language, they are generally not well equipped, and indeed reluctant, to take on a similar role in the transmission of the written language. This role has historically been assigned to a teacher. Much will depend on the resources available for formal language tuition, whether this be part of the mainstream education system or a community-based initiative. Even with adequate resources in terms of teachers, curricula and materials, the success of such tuition depends ultimately on the motivation of the students involved (see, for example, 2.4.1.9, 3.4.1.1, 3.4.1.4) which in turn depends on a multiplicity of factors, including concrete reward for effort (Is it going to help me get a better job, or be more successful?) and other less tangible issues (What is the status of the community language? Does society value competence in this area? Do I want to identify more closely with my parents' culture?)

5.3. Age and generation Across each of the six groups studied, there are marked differences between those over and under 35 in both their language attitudes and their language use patterns (see discussion of findings in Chapters 2, 3 and 4). Similar variation is evident between the first and second generations. This is because of the overlap of the categories. Young first generation — 15 to 24 year olds, who have been in Australia for most of their lives — behave

314 Multiple dimensions of language

maintenance

linguistically very similarly to the second generation, who are largely in the same age group. Over 35s tend to use the community language in peer group communication, under 35s tend to use it only to their elders, either as a marker of respect or because those elders do not speak English very well. For the over 35 s, the community language is generally their language of choice. The under 35s prefer English. This is a well attested station in language shift (Gal 1979) and especially in the two-to three-generation language shift within immigrant communities (e.g. Clyne 1991:113-114). The relatively loose structure of intra-community networks, especially of those under 35, is impeding the reversal of language shift (see Fishman 1991:259-262). The over 35s tend to read, listen to, and watch the media in the community language while the under 35s generally do not. The exception is television, for which there is a limited interest in the under 35 age group. (This does not apply to the Taiwan under 35s who, like their parents but not to the same extent, read daily newspapers in Chinese, reflecting the fact that it is the only language in which daily newspapers are published in Australia as well as possibly the recency of arrival of the group.) Criticism of ethnic language media among the over 35s tends to be directed towards language norms, while the under 35s simply find them boring. But even in the countries of origin, the English media attract the younger generation. Letters are written to the country of origin mainly by the over 35 s, although in some groups the younger generation are the ones more likely to visit that country. The networks established by the over 35s are predominantly based on their own language group. The under 35s have two sets of networks — an ethnic one, largely common to the rest of the family and pre-determined by the parental generation, and their own, which can cut across all ethnicities. The family networks are based on a hierarchy in which degree of commonality (language, locality, and religion) are determining factors (see, for example, 5.9.2). Family networks also determine the choice of professionals, hence the use of doctors, dentists, lawyers and accountants from the appropriate community by some of the under 35s who, however, speak mostly English to them.

Age and generation 315

On the whole, it appears from the data that it is mainly in the parental home and in the extended family that the community language has an ongoing function. Our study shows that the younger generation in the communities studied are generally not active in ethnic clubs. They tend to watch television and videos (movies, game shows, series, etc.) rather than read the community language press or listen to community language radio. Since literacy, keeping up with changes in the language, and development of specialised registers are all important aspects of language maintenance, it would be highly desirable for local ethnic newspapers and radio stations to address more the interests of the younger generation, in order to introduce them to ideas and debate in the community language rather than "pre-packaged entertainment". They ignore them at their own risk! (A young people's segment on run by a young graduate student on a Spanish radio program is a step in the right direction.) A similar disaffection on the part of the younger generation applies to community language television, although to a lesser extent. Some language maintenance institutions vary in importance across groups, e.g. while both Taiwan and Hong Kong background informants watch videos, films in Cantonese are very popular in, and available to, the Hong Kong group. While young people frequently use the Internet, this is predominantly or exclusively in English. (The exceptions are those of Taiwan background, the most recent group, and to a lesser extent the Spanish speakers.) Yet the Internet and email would be an excellent opportunity of gaining access to current information in the community language, thereby developing skills in it, and linking with like-minded people in both the country of origin and in immigrant communities in other countries. The focus group discussions indicate a modest tendency towards reversing language shift in the late teens, where stronger family language maintenance efforts and identification with other aspects of the culture, such as soccer or Latin American music (both instrumental and vocal) for the young people of Spanish-speaking background and pop music (particularly in the form of Karaoke) for young people of Chinese background have had a combined effect. In the latter case, literacy issues are also involved.

316

Multiple dimensions of language

maintenance

5.4. Demographic considerations In 1.6, we discussed the demographic distribution of the language communities (see also maps in chapters 2, 3 and 4). Demography does appear to have had some bearing on the use of the languages. While the Arabic and Spanish speakers as well as Chinese speakers from South-East Asia have tended to settle in traditional "migrant" areas, the Taiwan and Hong Kong groups tend to concentrate in contiguous upper middle class districts where they co-settle with Anglo-Australians and assimilated "earlier vintage" migrants from Europe. Although they have developed some infrastructure in these districts (especially food shops) their presence, and especially the use of Chinese varieties, is somewhat subdued. The secondary school children generally attend independent schools or prestige Catholic schools where there is a strong British cultural tradition, although in many of them Chinese is taught. On the other hand, Arabic speakers are encouraged in their bilingualism by the multilingualism of their district, and, particularly those at Muslim or Coptic schools, grow up in contexts where there is much emphasis on preserving a non-mainstream identity. This is also propagated, for instance, in the religious domain. The Spanish speakers are concentrated in three different multi-ethnic districts, while the Arabic areas of concentration are multi-ethnic as well as contiguous, facilitating closer Arabic language social networks. As has been mentioned before (5.2.2.1), the Arabic-speaking groups did indeed report the highest levels of "same language" social contact. It should, of course, be mentioned that same language contacts are always feasible within a metropolis such as Melbourne in the era of cars, freeways, and mobile telephones, regardless of population distribution of the language community.

5.5. Cross-cultural variation in responses to research Because we are dealing with three language groups and six country of origin groups, each with different cultures and sub-cultures, this study has

Cross-cultural variation in responses to research

317

drawn our attention to the differing assumptions and sensitivities that need to be taken into account in projects involving different cultural groups.

5.5.1.

Privacy

In the identification and selection of informants and also in the conduct of the survey we could be regarded as intruding into the privacy of individuals and families. This is problematic in relation to cultures in which negative face (Brown—Levinson 1987) — not to be imposed on by others — plays an important role. An example would be Chinese cultures. The research assistants, who were themselves of Chinese background, found that developing a social relationship with the informants proved indispensable in securing permission to conduct an interview, and that interviews over the telephone were sometimes more successful than faceto-face ones, given that some of the questions could be seen to be of a personal nature. This could, and did, take a considerable amount of time. Some of the informants insisted on seeing the questions in advance, presumably to ensure that there would be no face-threatening situations in the interviews. Privacy did not appear to be an issue with the other groups approached.

5.5.2.

The constitution of groups and the role of

intermediaries

In all the groups in Melbourne, it proved useful to engage the good offices of community leaders who would be present at focus groups and by their own participation and enthusiastic support, encourage their members to participate in the research. Such intermediaries proved to be of varying importance between the language groups. As stressed above, social networks were of paramount importance for the Chinese groups, and it was important to find a respected and influential community member who could "vouch for" the project, and, most importantly, the interviewer. Members of the "organised community" (teachers, ministers of religion, welfare workers, representatives of social clubs etc.), did not seem to play

318 Multiple dimensions of language

maintenance

this role (possibly due to the nature of the Chinese-speaking communities in Australia — see 4.3). The Spanish informants for the surveys were largely accessed by the networking efforts of the research assistant involved, and once again the "organised community" was very little involved in this part of the project. In the case of the Spanish speakers the relevance of the project, and the corresponding urgency of action required, appeared to be in some doubt. The Arabic-speaking community leaders, on the other hand, were very keen to be involved in all stages of the project. This could well be due to circumstances such as the Gulf War of 1991, which have had the effect of "unifying" the community in the face of negative press coverage and a prejudice which has been exhibited not only towards Iraqis or even towards Muslim extremists, but to all speakers of Arabic in Australia. The community leaders with whom we were involved were very keen to learn the results of our research and to present what they saw to be the true face of their community. It was interesting to observe the variation in the attendance at focus groups, the Arabic one dominated by religious groups (which were completely absent from the Spanish focus groups), welfare workers, journalists, and teachers. In the Spanish groups teachers and representatives of welfare societies were the main contributors. This may reflect the relative importance attributed to these domains by Spanish speakers in the absence of a wider, "community" agenda (see also 5.12.1, 5.12.4). The first Chinese group represented a broad cross-section, the second a largely "personal-interest" based group, with some continued church and welfare organisation participation. Getting people to come to focus groups was not uniformly easy. It required some persuasion to constitute the Chinese group. The first Spanish focus group was smaller than those for the other two language groups — it seemed that the invitees did not see the same relevance in the issues. The Arabic speakers who turned up were predominantly Christians. They were particularly well informed, interested in language issues, and prepared to enter into lively discussion.

"Older " and "newer " vintage groups

319

5.5.3. Implications Traditional social science research of a comparative nature requires a common methodology to be employed for each of the sample groups. However, this research would suggest that, to be truly comparative, research methodology must be adapted to the cultural constraints of the ethnic groups represented, and therefore not necessarily completely uniform.

5.6. "Older" and "newer" vintage groups One of the innovative findings of this study, we believe, is the variation between "older" (O) and "newer" (N) groups. We stress that the survey respondents across many of the groups are comparable in relation to period of residence. However, we would argue that the country of origin group or sub-group developed its lifestyle and pattern of expectations vis-a-vis government funded community language provisions at the time of largescale immigration of the group or sub-group. They were determined by the kind of Australia that the major vintage of immigrants was received into. If we compare the Spain and Chile groups, for example, we find that at least the first generation from Spain carry with them less assertive attitudes (characteristic of assimilationist Australia); they also rely much less on public support for multilingualism and multiculturalism than those from Chile. In this respect the Spain group reflects attitudes which are also characteristic of northern, eastern and western European migrant groups of the immediate post-war period. For example, the Spain group (here the Ο group) are less likely to be dissatisfied with support for language maintenance. They are more likely to answer "Don"t know" to whether other groups are getting a better deal. Chile-born (here the Ν group) are nearly twice as likely as Spain-born to believe that other groups are getting a better deal. The Spain group are less likely to read community language books in the public library and less likely to listen to community language radio broadcasts. The Ο groups are still attuned to the situation where immigrants are here "for good" and

320 Multiple dimensions of language

maintenance

gradually lose contact with the country of origin, while the Ν groups, the more recent arrivals, have a greater need to utilise facilities in their first language, both for purely practical reasons and for reasons of personal comfort. So, for example, the Spain group is less likely than the Chile groups to write letters, ring "home", or listen to community language radio (although there may well be other factors operating here). On the other hand, Ν groups tend to use new technological innovations to keep up with their original language and culture. The Chile group are far more likely to watch Spanish videos than the Spain group. The Chile-born use more Spanish socially than the Spain-born, and the young Chile-born are more likely to be part of Spanish networks. For the Arabic speakers, the differentiation between Ο and Ν groups is more complex. The Egypt group would appear to be behaving more like an Ο group. For example, the statistics in 5.2 indicate a considerably greater home use of the community language and correspondingly lower home use of English among the Lebanon group than the Egypt group. The preferred social language which, as we have suggested above, may be an indicator of future language use, shows a similar pattern. However, some of the differentiating features between Ο and Ν groups are found in the religious distinction between the Muslim ("newer" vintage) groups from both Lebanon and Egypt, and the major Christian groups ("older" vintage) from Lebanon and Egypt. Like the Spain group, the Arabic-speaking Christians are less likely to make use of community language facilities such as community language books in the public library or radio programs in their community language. Nor are they as likely to use videos (an example of newer technology) as are the Muslims, the "newer" subgroup of Arabic speakers. However, when it comes to attitudes towards community support and discrimination, the Muslims, despite being the more recent group, are no more likely (in some cases less likely) than the Arabic-speaking Christians to express perceptions of disadvantage or lack of support. We believe this to be the consequence of the discrimination which has been directed against both Arabs in general and Muslims in particular. This has had the effect of heightening the awareness of the Christian groups, and it may have had the effect of making the Muslim groups more cautious in

"Older " and "newer " vintage groups 321

their responses. Thus a number of factors are interacting with different variables leading to similar outcomes. Although there is an early history of Cantonese migration to Australia (absent for the Mandarin speakers), this has been discontinuous and does not characterise the present migration as an Ο group in the same way as do the histories of the longer established communities of Arabic and Spanish speakers. Both Cantonese and Mandarin speakers in Australia are predominantly part of a recent, business- and skills-oriented migration, and the differentiating factors present within the other groups are by and large not relevant to them. Having said that, it would appear that the Hong Kong group is behaving in some ways like an Ο group, with the same low "same group" networking and a relatively low level of attachment to the homeland. It is possible that other factors in the Hong Kong situation are at work here, including pre-emigration experience with English in a very "westernised" environment, the status of Hong Kong itself as a community of migrants, and the lower "marketplace value" of their particular fangyan outside of Hong Kong. Table 5.7:

"Old" and "new" migrations and their characteristics 0

Ν Less assertive

Less supportive of multiculturalism More satisfied Less contact with the homeland Little or no use of new technologies

More assertive More supportive of multiculturalism Less satisfied More contact with the homeland Use of new technologies

Very intriguing is the reversal between the Ο and Ν groups in the second generation of Spanish speakers. Thus, for instance, while Chile-born are far more likely to read newspapers in Spanish than are Spain-born, 2nd generation Spanish-Australians are four times as likely to do so than 2nd generation Chilean-Australians. A reversal also occurs, for instance, in the importance of language maintenance in ethnic identity, which is supported

322 Multiple dimensions of language

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more by the Chilean 1st generation and the Spanish 2nd generation. While the Chilean 1st generation is more than twice as likely than the Spanish 1st generation to feel that other ethnic groups get a better deal, the proportion is equal in the second generation. It appears that the children of Spanish migrants have become more attuned to the rights of ethnic groups in multicultural Australia than their parents and have developed language use patterns and attitudes similar to those of the Chilean-Australians. On the other hand, the children of Chilean migrants may be resisting the assertive position of their parents, which may be connected with the strong identity of Chileans portrayed by a mixed group of Spanish speakers at the second focus group meeting (see 2.4.2.15).

5.7. Some language maintenance factors As well as giving us the opportunity to elaborate on the Census findings on language shift, this study has also enabled us to reappraise the validity of factors promoting and impeding language maintenance which have arisen from previous studies and theoretical discussion (see 1.9.1). It should be noted, however, that language maintenance does not always vary uniformly according to ethno-linguistic group. Boyd et al. (1994) have found, for example, that the same group may experience a very different rate of language maintenance/shift in different Nordic countries due to variation in social networking. The survey supported the particular relevance of the following factors:

5.7.1. Pre-migration experience This is a clearcut factor in Kloss' (1966) taxonomy. In the comparison between Hong Kong and Taiwan background groups, the Hong Kong group has had considerably more experience with English in their country of origin. It could be hypothesised that more English will be spoken in the homes of such families, as parents have the facility to respond in English

Some language maintenance factors

323

to their children when addressed in English. Our findings confirm this pattern.

5.7.2.

Numerical

strength

Kloss (1966) considers numerical strength to be an ambivalent factor in language maintenance. As each language was represented by two country of origin groups, a larger and a smaller one, the effects of numerical strength on language maintenance could be tested. For Arabic and Spanish the larger groups (Chile-background and Lebanon-background) were in fact shown to maintain the language better than the smaller ones (Spainbackground and Egypt-background). This suggests that, most other things being equal, it is easier for larger communities to provide a context and an impetus for language maintenance. Numerical strength is an important aspect of ethnolinguistic vitality (e.g. Giles—Bourhis—Taylor 1977). We also emphasise that no factors work in isolation. For example, although the large/small pattern evident for Arabic and Spanish does not hold for Chinese, there are at least three other important factors that are interacting with that of numerical strength: • •

the low marketplace value of Cantonese for the Hong Kong Chinese the recency of arrival of the Taiwan-background informants, and the relatively higher marketplace value of Mandarin

•

the predominance of Mandarin as the standard written variety of Chinese.

5.7.3.

Cultural

distance

Australian studies of language demography have suggested that cultural, rather than linguistic, distance is a clearcut factor promoting language maintenance (see 1.9.1). The present research indicates that cultural distance has different dimensions in different language communities. Across the three language groups the group with the greatest cultural

324 Multiple dimensions of language

maintenance

similarity to the dominant group are the Spanish speakers, and as a group they do in fact exhibit the strongest tendency towards language shift. The Hong Kong Chinese, who shift more towards English than the Taiwan group, have been strongly influenced by British culture in their homeland. However, it is their visible physical characteristics that still mark them as "different" in the eyes of the dominant group. Our findings indicate that this is encouraging efforts, particularly on the part of young people, to identify as strongly as possible with mainstream Australia, thus promoting language shift (cf. Fishman's (1985) predictive model, 1.9.2.4). It is the more westernised Arabic speakers, in culture and religion, who are generally more likely to shift to English, at least in the second generation. It was the Islamic second generation Australians in our sample from both the Egypt and Lebanon groups who displayed the highest levels of confidence in their language skills. This was particularly marked in reading and writing Arabic.

5.7.4.

Attitude of majority to language or group

Our findings confirm Kloss' postulation of the ambivalent status of this factor. In the case of Arabic speakers, prejudice against Arabs and Muslims has resulted in united and determined efforts to safeguard the reputation of the entire group and to promote Arabic language and culture, not only within the community but to all Australians. The Chinese groups, on the other hand (particularly the younger people/second generation), have reacted to waves of racial discrimination and vilification with an attempt to integrate themselves as quickly as possible into mainstream Australian society. This has necessarily also involved loss of the community language. This tendency towards language shift is also reflected in perceptions of language proficiency, viz. young speakers of Arabic rate their community language literacy skills far more highly than their Chinese Australian counterparts do (other factors, such as length of residence, being equal).

Disruption Scale — arresting and reversing language shift 325

The reader is reminded that in contrast to the concentrated settlement of Arabic speakers, speakers of Mandarin and Cantonese tend to be more dispersed and many live in areas mainly settled by monolingual English speakers. As has been discussed in 5.5, the "older" groups tend to be less selfassertive in relation to their cultural and linguistic rights in multicultural Australia than those who established themselves in Australia in larger numbers more recently. That too is a reflection of the "mainstream" attitudes and official policies of the postwar period (see above, 1.5.1) and, together with the "real time" factor (actual period of residence) explains the higher language shift of the more established groups. Attitude of the majority to the community language or group is another aspect of ethnolinguistic vitality.

5.8. Disruption Scale — arresting and reversing language shift The Gradual Intergenerational Disruption Scale proposed by Fishman (1991) (see 1.9.2.5) is a useful instrument to assess where our languages are in terms of language maintenance and shift. The communities under consideration have not reached that stage of disrepair implied in Stage 7, nor will they ever require Stage 8 action as the heartland of their languages lies outside Australia. Fishman is right in pointing to the weakness of crucial community-family-neighbourhood links with the younger generation (Stage 6) as a counter to the reversal of language shift. This is borne out in many ways in our study — the dividing line between the over and under 35s and between the first and second generations in language use and language maintenance patterns, as well as the lack of interest in language maintenance media such as newspapers and radio as well as ethnic clubs. The language community where the community-family-neighbourhood links are still the strongest — the Arabic speakers — is the one with the lowest intergenerational language shift. One must, however, make the point that Fishman's prerequisite of "ethnoculturally intact communities that are self-regulating in cultural

326 Multiple dimensions of language

maintenance

respects" (Fishman 1991:261) is unlikely to be realised in Australia because it conflicts with the interactionist ideology of Australian multiculturalism shared by the "dominant", and most "minority" groups. In addition, the strong commitment within most groups to the socioeconomic advancement of the younger generation breaks workplace continuity (Stage 3) in urban settings, the first generation often being employed in unskilled or semi-skilled manual employment or in lower-level selfemployed occupations (e.g. corner-shop keeping, taxi-driving, catering), while the G2 are encouraged to look beyond these areas for their own career pathways. There is also much substance in Fishman's warning (Stage 5) that the maintenance and cultivation of literacy in the community language among graduates and parent groups is generally overlooked in community-based language schools. With no vibrant adult literacy to link up with, the acquisition of literacy in the community language becomes merely a "fleeting rite of initiation" (Fishman 1991:263). This issue is particularly problematic for Arabic and Chinese, the languages whose writing systems differ from that of English. Fishman regards the community-run day school as one of the more important institutions in the reversal of language shift (Stage 4a). The only groups in our sample that have such schools in Melbourne are Egyptian Copts and Muslims. (Although Arabic is an integral part of the curriculum in Islamic schools, not all the children are from Arabic-speaking backgrounds). However, we have found (see 1.5.2.2) that the results in Year 12 Arabic for children who attend these schools are not as impressive as for those who undertake Arabic either at a government day school or Saturday school (Stage 4b). It appears that at the upper levels, particularly in the final year, community language programs at such schools do enable young people to achieve a high standard of language proficiency and thereby encourage language maintenance, and perhaps reversal of language shift in their late teens. As Arabic is not taken by many students of nonArabic-speaking backgrounds, the government language offerings serve largely the second generation and the young first generation. The issue of "standardising" scores to avoid advantaging such students is therefore not

Core values 327

relevant and there is no special examination for "first language speakers". The question does come up for Chinese, however, partly as a result of the federal government push to prioritise the languages of the Asian region (largely for economic and trade reasons). We have noted that this may have a "demotivating" effect on second generation and young first generation speakers of the language, with many students and their parents reluctant to submit themselves to a process which they regard as a) unfair, and b) contributing to a lower academic score. This is one of the side effects of prioritising languages in schools. Our study confirms the tendency noted in Fishman (1991:271) for the second generation not to use community language print media and radio, but to make limited use of television, film and video resources (Stage 2). We would suggest that this is at least partly due to the unwillingness or inability of program planners/producers/presenters to offer material that is relevant to, and appeals to, a younger generation growing up in multicultural Australia of "ethnic" parents, with all the issues that this entails. Many public notices (Stage 1) are published and distributed in all three languages. The languages of this study are also among those in which interpreters (including telephone interpreters) are available, and many government offices and businesses employ officials who can offer services in the languages, However, structural pluralism does not exist in Australia to the extent that national or regional government or higher education operate in a community language (also Stage 1). National radio and television in community languages have been mentioned above.

5.9. Core values The variation in our data in responses to questions on core values (Smolicz 1981) according to the informant's birthplace, migration vintage, generation and age is indicative of difficulties associated with establishing a "static" set of cultural values (see also 1.9.2.1). For example, the under 35s in all groups attach a lower value to ethnic identity and consider

328 Multiple dimensions of language

maintenance

language to be less "crucial" or "important" as a carrier of that identity than those aged over 35. In the case of Spanish speakers, music appeared to play a more dominant role, but one that may also promote language maintenance insofar as the two are intertwined. Among the Spanish speakers, neither language nor religion are core values (even where religion is considered important), so religion does not influence language maintenance and the two values are not intertwined. The dynamic aspect of core values — identifiable through the variability of such values by generation, vintage or age — is something that would warrant a reconsideration of the more static theoretical framework. Apart from enabling researchers to understand better the fate of community languages in later generations, it could facilitate an action program focussing on the core values that are likely to interact with language.

5.10. Marketplace value The surveys confirm the importance of marketplace value in the maintenance of community languages. The only language that is not perceived as having a substantial market value, Cantonese, is undergoing quite a rapid shift in the second generation, and there is a considerable push among parents to encourage their children to learn Mandarin. Most of the part-time ethnic schools designated as "Cantonese" teach both Mandarin and Cantonese, and the Cantonese speakers themselves see their language as one that is largely limited to home and social interactions. Of the five national daily newspapers published in Australia, four are identified as Mandarin, although the Mandarin-speaking community is still considerably smaller than the Cantonese-speaking community in Australia. These newspapers are regarded as links with the international business community. This study also uncovered an apparent "mismatch" between marketplace value in the eyes of the general community and marketplace value as perceived by the relevant language community. This mismatch is particularly marked in relation to the prioritisation of school languages

The "language of God"

329

(1.5.2), where languages of limited international significance (such as Greek, Turkish or Vietnamese) are seen to be accorded far better treatment than their own. This feeling is particularly strong among Arabic and Spanish speakers but was also aired by a considerable number of Mandarin speakers. It has led to frustration and discouragement on the part of teachers and community leaders, and to lack of motivation on the part of the younger speakers to continue their language studies.

5.11. The "language of God" The main function of language, but certainly not the sole one, is that of human communication. It is also a medium of cognitive and conceptual development and an instrument of action (Clyne 1991:3-4). In the previous section we considered the instrumental role of language as a commodity in the material world. However, language also assumes an important symbolic function in both regional and social identity and in the construction of the spiritual dimension for its speakers. The relationship between religion and a specific language varies greatly according to culture and religious ideology and tradition, from interdependent to completely independent (Clyne 1991:131-137). It is customary in the religions expressed through language (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) for people to want to speak in a special way to God and about God. This has been reflected up to the recent past in the use of the Latin Mass in the Roman Catholic Church and of the 1662 Prayer Book in the Anglican Church as well as the use of the Authorised Version of the Bible by many groups. Even within English-medium churches, clergy often switch to a more cultivated variety of Australian English, or even British English, to preach and read the Liturgy while some lay people do the same when offering intercessions. The four outstanding examples of what Fishman (1991:360) terms "religious classics" are Hebrew, Aramaic/Syriac, Greek, and Arabic, as the language of the Old Testament, Jesus, the New Testament, and the Koran respectively. This gives not only the ecclesiastical variety, but also the corresponding colloquial variety, a

330 Multiple dimensions of language

maintenance

special status and authenticity, for in each case it is the language of God. This carries with it an obligation not to assume another language to address God and an obligation not to lose the language. Within Islam it gives the Arabic language a special function and Arabic speakers an exalted status. The Arabic of the Koran was referred to by one of our informants as the "perfect words of God". Our survey data confirmed that the second generation of Muslim Arabic speakers were more retentive of their language, particularly literacy skills, than were the second generation of non-Muslim Arabic speakers. In the case of the Chinese groups, there was no connection between language and religion evident except for Buddhists, and temple affiliation seldom survived beyond the first generation. Language and religion both serve as group boundary markers. This is evident among the Egypt and Lebanon groups where there is less networking with the outgroup using English than among the Spanish speakers and the Hong Kong group. The fact that Spanish language is not related to religion as a core value may have further influenced the situation where communication rather than identity becomes the chief motivation for language maintenance.

5.12. Different types of pluricentric languages We began by introducing the three languages as newer community languages, languages of wider communication, languages of economic significance, and pluricentric languages. This undoubtedly is the case, but they fit into the categories in quite different ways. For instance, we have identified some of the communities using the languages as "older" and others as "newer" in their dominant attitudes to multiculturalism and their language use patterns. Moreover, their pluricentricity is characterised quite differently as is explained under 1.2. Pluricentric languages are, by their very nature, both unifiers and dividers. In a third country, a country of immigration which has officially declared itself to be multicultural, resources are available for the provision of

Different types of pluricentric languages

331

services in community languages and for the maintenance of community languages. Many of these resources are allocated to language communities and this forces people from a variety of countries of origin to share them and to administer them together.

5.12.1. Spanish In the case of Spanish, it is the Spanish language that has brought groups from disparate countries (and cultures) together, in welfare activities, in radio, in religious units, in ethnic schools, as users of the same newspapers and television programs. There seems to be the beginning of an emerging community united by language, not yet consciously acknowledged as such. The commonality of religion means that it is a given (though not a core value, see 5.9) and has facilitated the development of a language-based community. This does not necessary entail an increase in language maintenance. The Spanish speakers are the only language group without a strong first generation preference for LI. The Spanish speakers are aware of the differences in their national variety norms, but, despite this, the pluricentric language gives them some commonality. Our study suggests that most of the sampled Spanish speakers, whether of Spanish or Chilean background, are, on the whole, tolerant of national variation in the language. Problems of Spanish pedagogical advisers enforcing Castilian norms and Chilean parents being enraged (cf. Martin 1996; see 1.9.1) are either not known or glossed over.

5.12.2. Arabic In the case of Arabic, the aspired "shared Arabness" referred to in 3.4.2.15 is achieved to a considerable extent in the country of immigration. This is due to a number of factors. One, which is common to Spanish as well, is the exigencies of competition for multicultural resources. There is time available on ethnic and multicultural radio, there are funds available for ethnic schools, there is the opportunity for community languages to be

332 Multiple dimensions of language

maintenance

taught, and there are struggles to gain priority language status within the education system. All this needs to be done together, through coordinating committees involving a multiplicity of Arabic-speaking groups. Again, there are social welfare needs that can be best addressed as a larger community with a common language. Another factor is common experience — for instance, the effects of suspicion and prejudice during the Gulf War and the need to rehabilitate the image of the Arabic-speaking community, an activity which is necessarily apolitical and cultural, thus ideally related to language. Thirdly, we have mentioned earlier the hierarchy of commonalities determining networks. This is also reflected in the dual factors of country of origin and religious affiliation in the determination of Ο and Ν groups (5.6). However, the evidence is that the Arabic language is one basis for networking, a basis which often transcends religion and country of origin. In a multicultural country of immigration, the absence of people with exactly the same background entails going "further down the hierarchy" to establish your networks and this affords a greater role to the unifying force of language. While the Copts and the Maronites may have traditionally claimed autonomous identities, they increasingly see themselves as Arabs. This is not mutually exclusive, for pluricentric languages facilitate multiple identity, and in the case of Arabic this is supported by the diglossia between the L language, which expresses national or regional identity, and the Η language, which expresses common cultural identity (and for the Muslims, Islamic identity). Hence, the puristic attachment to the notional norms (see also 3.4.1.1). It should be mentioned that on the periphery of the Arabic-speaking community are people from countries of North Africa such as Somalia, where Arabic has functions as a second language, and those from other Islamic countries who, while they do not speak Arabic, have some passive knowledge through the Koran.

Different types of pluricentric languages

333

5.12.3. Chinese The situation of Chinese is totally different. It is the reverse case of languages in the world which are structurally dialects of each other which have been declared languages according to the ausbau principle (Kloss 1969) — such as Indonesian/ Malaysian or Croatian/Serbian/Bosnian. In the case of Chinese, structurally different languages have been declared "dialects". This is an impediment to the formation of a pluricentric language community as is the case with Spanish or Arabic. And yet there is a considerable permeability between Mandarin (Putonghua) and the other fangyan — with some churches conducting dual medium services or changing from Cantonese to Mandarin and many parents requiring their children to learn Mandarin. (Probably the most substantial overseas example of this permeability is the ongoing Speak More Mandarin Campaign in Singapore.) This does not apply to the receptive domains such as television. The great difference between the Hong Kong and the Taiwan group is that while the former has Cantonese as its L language, the latter has adopted Mandarin as its Η language and, to a large extent, as its L language as well. To the Hong Kong families, the main reason for maintaining and developing Cantonese is as the language of identity. Nearly twice as many of our Hong Kong group indicated this as the motivation for language maintenance as did Taiwan informants. Cultural and instrumental motivation played only a supplementary role in this. Both groups attach importance to material reasons for educational decisions, hence to the marketplace value of English in the first instance and Mandarin in the second. The Hong Kong group see Cantonese as an ingroup language of little value to other Australians, in spite of trade conducted in it. Maintenance of Cantonese is strengthened by the extraordinarily high rate of mobility among the Hong Kong Chinese and the use of the language by other Chinese-Australians (from the PRC, Vietnam, Malaysia, and elsewhere). Apart from language distance and the variety of countries of origin, education and socioeconomic status are further impediments to the

334 Multiple dimensions of language maintenance

development of a single Chinese community. It is probably non-language aspects of culture, including values and celebrations, that are more likely to do this. For this reason it has proved, and probably will continue to prove, very difficult to forge a common Chinese-Australian identity. It is also very easy for "us/them" dichotomies to arise. For example, there was some evidence to suggest that Taiwanese informants viewed the long-term commitment of Hong Kong immigrants to Australia as uncertain38 and their (Hong Kong group) demands on public support as therefore less tenable than their own (Taiwan group).

5.12.4. Spanish, Arabic and Chinese in a linguistic

mosaic

Each of the languages constitutes a particular model of a pluricentric language in an immigration context. Spanish is similar to other discrete languages without very high levels of sociolinguistic variation within the country of origin or between national norms. It also shares with English a common writing system and alphabet. Other examples of such languages are French, German, Portuguese, Tamil, and Dutch. The maintenance of Spanish does not therefore entail the acquisition of an additional distant variety (as is the case for Calabrians or Sicilians needing to acquire Standard Italian, for example) or of an additional writing system (such as Urdu speakers acquiring Hindi or Croatian speakers acquiring Serbian — in these cases the national varieties have become autonomous languages). Revitalisation of the language from a different national source is also possible, and we have in fact seen the effect of such a revitalisation on the second generation of the Spain group in Australia as the result of largescale migration from Latin America with a much larger base of speakers and more language maintenance institutions. In the case of Arabic, on the other hand, we have a situation of diglossia between the colloquial/national L variety (spoken in the home) and the Η variety, the language of wider communication. There is a strong push within the community towards the acquisition of the non-vernacular variety, strengthened by its role as the language of culture, religion, and

Different types of pluricentric languages

335

Arab unity. This means that there are three "languages", not two, competing for attention in the Australian environment, English and the two varieties of Arabic. Parallels would be south Italian dialect/popular Italian/English, and Mauritian Creole/standard French/English. An additional difficulty is represented by the acquisition of a writing system markedly different from that of English. In this respect the parallel cases would be, for instance, Hebrew or Yiddish, Hindi, Urdu, and Khmer. Chinese needs to be regarded as several mutually incomprehensible "languages" united by a common writing system and a similar although not identical set of cultural values. This makes the Chinese case unique. The majority of "Chinese" speakers in Australia are not native speakers of Mandarin, which has been elevated to "Modern Standard Chinese" and is the variety taught within Australian education systems. However, in the period between the 1991 and 1996 censuses, Mandarin was the fastest growing of Australia's major languages and it is the standard language of speakers from the PRC. Most Australians of Hong Kong background have to learn Mandarin as a second language. Cantonese speakers are thereby deprived of many avenues of language maintenance that are open to speakers of other varieties, despite their greater numbers. However, even in the case of Taiwan, where Mandarin is the official language, Taiwanese (a Hokkien variety), or in some cases Hakka, is often spoken in the home. In the case of Chinese, Taiwan group informants of both generations do indeed display higher confidence in their community language skills and higher levels of use than do the Hong Kong group informants. A note of caution may be in order when we look at literacy levels among the second generation, however, as without well developed literacy long-term high level maintenance and utilisation of skills is unlikely. The higher levels of maintenance we are seeing could also be at least partly due to recency of arrival, and continuing links with the country of origin, as well as a higher level of experience within the country of origin for the majority of informants. For the Arabic speakers, the highest levels of confidence within the second generation come from the Muslims. A greater effort seems to have been made in response to the religious significance of the standard, written

336 Multiple dimensions of language

maintenance

language. Attitudinal factors seem to be of greatest importance for the Spanish speakers. It would seem reasonable to suggest that where a great deal of effort is required, as with Arabic and Chinese varieties, there needs to be additional and adequate motivation, whether this consists of a cultural or religious incentive or an instrumental one. We have already seen how the religious incentive can operate among Islamic speakers of Arabic in comparison with other Arabic speakers. The instrumental motivation at the present time appears to favour the acquisition of Mandarin above Cantonese, and English above all of the community languages under consideration. Where a community is particularly attuned to the instrumental value of language (such as the "business and skills" component of the Chinese migration), then we may expect to see a rapid shift to English among its speakers as has been the case with another pragmatic group, the Dutch (though probably not to the same extent due to cultural distance). However, there are indications that Cantonese will continue to persist as a marker of ethnic identity for some time. All community languages appear to be following the same path towards language shift, although some are able to resist the tendencies for longer than others (e.g. one or two generations more). The "stations" include:

Different types of pluricentric languages

Table 5.8:

337

Stations in language shift

Home Everyone speaks the CL

Demography Networks Community Close social ties language speakers within the are concentrated in a community language particular region group (directed by the older generation)

Media Family makes extensive use of community language media, and small children are exposed to it regularly

Children speak to each other in English Children speak to the Community parents in English language speakers disperse over a wider area

Parents speak to the children in English

Older generation characterised by close community language group ties, younger generation characterised by loose community language group ties

Adults utilise the media, children do not

Older generation dying out, adults of community language group background characterised by loose ties with the community language group

Children, not being literate in the community language, are unable to access many parts of the media

Slowing or change in the patterns of migration from the country of origin

Parents speak to each Widespread other in English exogamy and/or children move out and set up homes in which only English is spoken

It is clear that many parts of the above schema are interrelated and in many ways co-dependent. For example, looser ties within the community language group would tend to encourage exogamy, which can also be promoted by a more dispersed settlement pattern, and which will also affect to a large extent the language spoken in the home. Arabic and Chinese, and to a lesser degree Spanish, are in a strong position of maintenance in Melbourne. However, we can expect that Arabic and Chinese will follow the path of Spanish, which, like Greek, is heading in the same direction as Italian a decade ago and German two

338 Multiple dimensions of language

maintenance

decades ago. And yet there are ways in which the shift process can be slowed down if this is desired by communities or families. One is through a deliberate policy of raising children bilingually, especially using the one parent one language principle (see, for example, Ronjat 1913; Saunders 1982, 1988; Döpke 1993). This is happening increasingly in Australia in an increasing number of ethnolinguistic communities, notably in exogamous middle class families, and is enabling grandparents to play a new role in the upbringing of grandchildren (Kipp et al. 1995:140). At the same time, by satisfying the needs and interests of young bilinguals, the media could strengthen comprehensible input and communicative needs in the community language as well as providing a functional specialisation between the languages. This applies especially to television and videos. In the technological age, however, it is the internet, email and generally the "communication superhighway" that will need to provide output opportunities and motivation for the community language or further motivation to shift to English. In a multicultural society such as Australia, opportunities to maintain community languages and the provision of services through the medium of community languages are giving people from different countries employing the same language a heightened sense of commonality. This is strengthening the multiple identity of some Australians (e.g. an individual may see him/herself as both a Lebanese Australian and as an Arab Australian). At the same time, our study demonstrates some of the constraints on the development of the "language-based" ethnic community. For example, "Chinese" may be declared internationally to be a "single language", but in reality the distance between Mandarin and other fangyan and the diglossia between them in some cases detracts from such a sense of community. For all the languages of the study, a number of factors, including religion, vintage, and the vintage character of a group or subgroup, may lessen the binding force of the pluricentric language. We hope that this study will contribute to the understanding of both pluricentricity and its contribution to the dynamics of language maintenance/shift in an immigrant context.

Notes

Chapter One 1.

2. 3. 4.

5. 6. 7.

8. 9. 10.

11. 12.

Source: Bureau of Immigration, Multicultural and Population Research, 1990-1995, Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs 1997. Information for Spain was not available. Source: Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, 1997. The Australian-Arabic Council is currently (February 1998) making representations to the Victorian Government for the inclusion of Arabic as a key language. Personal communication, Ο Faolain na nDeise and Peter White. "Chinese as a Second language". These figures include children from "endogamous" (both parents from the same ethnic background) and "exogamous" (mixed) marriages. As a general rule, language shift can be expected to be lower in the case of endogamous marriages and higher for exogamous marriages. We are seeing the aggregated figures in this table. We have not included Egypt because of the difficulty in establishing the first language(s) of Egyptian Australians. "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia". The Uniting Church is the product of an amalgamation of the Methodist and (almost all the) Congregational Churches and the major part of the Presbyterian Church. This discussion draws on Clyne (1991:86-88). In the case of Taiwan, where the community is relatively new in Australia, and there are limited numbers of young people of 15 years of age who fit into this category, the parameters were extended to include people who were born in Taiwan, but who came to Australia before attending primary school (i.e. up to 6 years old), or who were

340 Notes

13.

born in Taiwan and had a limited primary school experience in Taiwan before coming to Australia (one or two years maximum). Statistical Package for the Social Sciences.

Chapter Two 14. 15. 16.

17.

18.

19. 20.

Information from the Languages and Multicultural Education Resources Centre (DSE) 1/4/96. The VSL is a multi-campus state-run institution which offers a wide range of language classes on Saturdays. See also 1.5. The groups are referred to as "Chile group" and "Spain group" rather than "Spain-born" or "Chilean", for example, as they encompass both first and second generation Australians, and we are referring to descent rather than identity. It is difficult to interpret the response "Spanish and English" with any degree of accuracy. It could range from "mainly Spanish with a bit of English" to "English with the odd Spanish expression or greeting". We have, however, interpreted it to mean the use of both languages at different times rather than code-mixing within a single utterance, as informants express this issue differently at different points within the interview. Not clear from the informant's answer (usually when the informant is the mother in the family, for example) — we have focussed on information available from the participants in an interaction, rather than on reporting from others. Contributed entirely by 15-35 year olds. Only factors with more than one response are included in this table.

Chapter Three 21.

The reader is reminded that the Egypt-born are multi-ethnic, and therefore multicultural and multi-faith. It can be anticipated that

Chapter four

22. 23.

24. 25.

26.

27. 28.

341

most of the Greek Orthodox Egypt-born, for example, are in fact ethnic Greeks from Egypt. Final year of secondary school in Australia. The groups are referred to as "Egypt group" and "Lebanon group" rather than "Egypt-born" or "Lebanese", for example, as they encompass both first and second generation Australians, and we are referring to descent rather than to identity. One family spent some time in the Netherlands. It is difficult to interpret the response "English and Arabic" with any degree of accuracy. It could range from "mainly Arabic with a bit of English" to "English with the odd Arabic word or greeting". We have, however, interpreted it to mean the use of both languages rather than code-switching within a single utterance, as informants tended to express this issue differently at different points within the interview. Not clear from the informant's answer (usually when the informant is the mother in the family, for example) — we have focussed on information available from the participants in an interaction, rather than on reporting from others. Not applicable because the informant is an only child, or is not living with siblings at the time of the interview. Only factors with more than one response are included in this table.

Chapter Four 29.

30.

Because the Census does not include a question on "language first spoken", parents' birthplace must be used to establish the language background of second generation children who speak only English at home. The Hong Kong Club was unable to send a representative to the focus group meeting, but provided this information at our request by mail.

342 Notes

31.

32.

33.

34. 35.

The groups are referred to as "Hong Kong group" and "Taiwan group" rather than "Hong Kong born" or "Taiwanese", for example, as they encompass both first and second generation Australians, and we are referring to descent rather than identity. It is difficult to interpret the response "English and Cantonese" (or "English and Mandarin" etc.) with any degree of accuracy. It could range from "mainly Cantonese with a bit of English" to "English with the odd Cantonese word or greeting". We have, however, interpreted it to mean the use of both languages rather than codeswitching within a single utterance, as informants tended to express this phenomenon differently at different points within the interview. Not clear from the informant's answer (usually when the informant is the mother in the family, for example) — we have focussed on information available from the participants in an interaction, rather than on reporting from others. Not applicable because the informant is an only child, or is not living with siblings at the time of the interview. Only factors with more than one response are included in this table.

Chapter Five 36.

37.

We have chosen "mother to child" rather than "father to child", for example, because of the more general applicability of this variable to our survey sample (a greater proportion of fathers were absent from the family). As can be seen in Chapters 2, 3 and 4, there was no substantial difference between the language use of mothers and fathers with their children. Although there were instances where children would answer in English, or in a combination of English and the community language, when spoken to in the community language, this did not appear to be a widespread phenomenon, although it is one that must be kept in mind when interpreting a table such as this. "Community language".

Chapter five 343

In the context of the 1997 reversion of Hong Kong to China. Migration of Hong Kong people immediately prior to this time could be interpreted in part as insurance against the possible negative effects on them of Hong Kong's change in status.

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Index of names

Abd-El-Jawad, R. Hassan, 4 Adam, Enid, 223 Allende, Salvador, 67 Ali, Ismail, 146 Ali, Muhammed, 146 Atiya, Aziz S., 140

Ferguson, Charles, 4 Fischer, Tim, 22 Fishman, Joshua, 34, 44-50, 312, 314, 324-327, 329 Fräser, Malcolm, 18 Freebody, Peter, 24

Baldauf, Richard, 6 Batrouney, Trevor, 142, 143, 145 Bauer, Thomas, 311 Bettoni, Camilla, 47 Blainey, Geoffrey, 225 Boltz, William G., 311, 312 Bouma, Gary D., 140, 141 Bourdieu, Pierre, 42, 43 Bourhis, Richard Y., 323 Boyd, Sally, 322 Bright, William, 312 Brown, Penelope, 317

Gal, Susan, 41, 82, 314 Gariano, A.C., 140 Gibbons, John, 7, 8 Giles, H., 323 Grassby, Alan J., 63 Greenbaum, Thomas L., 52 Greenfield, Lawrence, 47 Grin, Francois, 43, 44

Campbell, Stuart, 4, 5 Chen, Ping, 6, 225 Chin, K.H., 224 Clyne, Michael G., 2, 16, 26-28, 35-40, 42, 44, 47, 48, 82, 137, 301,314, 329 Comrie, Bernard, 312 Cooper, Robert L., 47 Coulmas, Florian, 43

Hanson, Pauline, 225 Harris, Roger McD., 82, 301 Harvey, Susan, 301 Hary, Benjamin, 312 Haugen, Einar, 43, 47 Howell, J.M., 147 Hsiau, A-chin, 6 Hughes, Philip J., 223 Humphrey, M., 145 Hyltenstam, Kenneth, 41 Inglis, Christine, 48, 222, 224, 225 Johnston, Ruth, 74

Dawkins, J., 20, 24 De Vries, J., 43 Döpke, Susanne, 337 Dwyer, L., 9

Kaplan, Robert B., 4, 6 Kaye, Allan S., 312 Keating, Paul, 21

358 Index of names Khoo, Siew-Ean, 141 Kipp, Sandra J., 22, 28, 37, 38, 50, 82, 137, 337 Klarberg, Manfred, 301 Kloss, Heinz, 36,42, 322-324, 332 Lary, Diane, 48,222, 224 Levinson, Steven, 317 Li Wei, 49 Lo Bianco, Joseph, 19,24 Loh, Morag, 223 Lord, Robert, 6, 7 Lyovin, Anatol V., 3, 6 Mair, Victor H„ 311 Martin, Mario, 41, 66, 68, 69, 122, 331 McKay, John, 143 Milroy, Lesley, 49 Mitchell, J., 49 Mubarek, Hosni, 147 Nasser, Gomal Abdul, 146, 147, 214 Ο Faolain na nDeise, 339n6

Penny, Janet, 141 Ronjat, Jules, 337 Rudd, Kevin, 21,24 Sadat, Anwar, 146, 147 Saunders, George, 337 Secombe, Margaret J., 42 Smolicz, J.J., 42, 82, 301, 327 Stroud, Chris, 41 Taylor, D.M., 323 Thompson, Robert W., 3 Valdes, Guadalupe, 27 Valverde, Estela, 65, 67 Vatikiotis, P.J., 147 White, Peter, 339n6 Wu, C.T., 48, 222, 224, 225 Wurm, S.A., 24 Yu, F.Y., 7

Index of subjects

alphabet, see script bilingual education, 16, 19,47, 51 census, 2, 4, 9-11, 31, 32, 47, 51, 65, 119, 299, 300, 302, 309, 322, 335 codification, 3 core values, 40, 42, 327, 328, 330, 331 dialects, see varieties diglossia, 4, 5, 38, 47, 332, 338 discrimination, 69, 119, 124, 204, 224, 225, 280, 283, 297, 320, 324 distance, linguistic, 39, 40, 333, 338

334, 145, 285, 323,

education, 5, 8, 15-20, 22-24, 27, 28, 38, 46, 50, 56, 69, 72, 74, 76, 100, 102, 129, 143, 145-149, 151, 154, 157, 158, 180, 183, 197, 212, 216, 224, 226, 233, 235, 238, 267, 289, 292, 312, 313,327,331,333,335 English as a Second Language (ESL), 16, 19, 72 ethnic schools, 28, 45, 53, 55, 68, 69, 70, 74, 76, 149, 150, 226, 328,331

ethnicity, 28, 42, 60, 108, 110-112, 143, 189-193, 272, 274-276, 291,297 films, 6, 17, 75, 102, 104, 183, 266, 267, 268,315,327 immigration, 1, 8, 12, 13, 14, 30, 36, 37, 44, 45, 63, 65, 66, 131, 140-142, 144, 146-148, 159, 218, 222-225, 294, 319, 330332, 334 internet, 106, 107, 133, 188, 189, 270, 271,315,337 interpreting, 16, 54, 168, 178, 327 language academy, see codification language assessment, 23, 25-27, 76, 292 language planning, 43, 300 language policy, 4, 14-22, 24, 43, 198, 227, 300 language shift, reversing, 45, 315, 325, 326, 337 language status, 2, 3, 5-7, 16, 44, 289,312,313,329, 331 lingua franca, 6, 7, 17 literacy, 20, 21, 24, 28, 45, 50, 59, 60, 72, 126, 135, 157, 159, 207, 216, 226, 227, 287, 289, 291, 293, 298, 301, 309-311, 313, 315, 324, 326, 329, 335 liturgy, 4, 140, 141, 152, 153, 329

360 Index of subjects marketplace, linguistic, 42-44, 275, 292, 309, 321,323, 328,333 marriages, 140, 141, 154, 157, 158, 211, 339n7 multiculturalism, policy of, 16, 38, 40, 56, 76, 224, 299, 319, 321, 325, 330 music, 8, 73, 75, 98, 99, 105, 107, 130, 131, 151, 159, 187, 268, 270,315,327 newspapers, 4, 34, 46, 128, 150, 158, 208, 233, 289, 293, 314, 315, 321,325, 328, 331

— Coptic, 4, 35, 140, 141, 150, 151, 153, 154, 156, 159, 171, 172, 174, 175, 213,316 — Eastern Rite Catholicism, 154 — Islam, 4, 15, 25, 47, 140, 147, 154, 155, 172, 175, 213, 214, 311, 324, 326, 332, 335 — Orthodox, 25, 35, 46, 140, 143, 148, 150, 153, 156, 159, 171,213,312, 341n21

148, 158, 179, 152146, 201, 329, 141, 158,

script, 5, 56, 60, 153, 159, 311-313 pluricentric languages, 2, 3, 5, 44, 299, 330-332, 334, 338 "priority" languages, 20, 23, 331 racism, 225, 234 radio, 16-18, 34, 35, 46, 88, 97102, 106, 107, 116, 133, 158, 179-184, 186, 187, 189, 197, 212, 213, 215, 226, 232, 264, 265, 271, 279, 296, 315, 319, 320, 325, 327, 331 refugees, 2, 13, 40, 66, 67 religion and language, 39, 42, 48, 150, 152, 154, 157, 175, 201, 210, 211, 312, 314, 317, 324, 327, 329-332, 334, 338 — Anglican, 15, 25, 35, 226, 229, 329 — Buddhism, 222, 223, 271, 330 — Catholicism, 15, 25, 35, 65, 9193, 132, 140, 141, 148, 152-154, 213, 226, 228, 235, 312, 316, 329

television, 6, 17, 34, 35, 75, 101104, 107, 116, 118, 133, 158, 180-187, 189, 197, 200, 212, 215, 226, 232, 233, 265-269, 271, 279, 282, 284, 298, 314, 315, 327, 331,333, 337 "trade" languages, 23, 76, 157 varieties, 2-5, 12, 28, 50, 61, 68, 76, 119, 130, 132, 152, 153,217, 218, 229, 232, 245, 285, 295, 323, 329, 331,334, 335,316 videos, 17, 55, 75, 98, 99, 104, 105, 107, 133, 167, 178, 181, 183, 185, 186, 187, 189, 212, 215, 233, 235, 268, 269, 271, 296,315, 320, 327, 337 vintage, migration, 2, 14, 40, 45, 66, 104, 131, 157, 221,299, 308, 316,319, 320, 327, 328, 338

Contributions to the Sociology of Language Edited by Joshua A. Fishman Mouton de Gruyter · Berlin · New York 43 A. D. Evans and William W. Falk, Learning to be Deaf. 1986. 44 Harald Haarmann, Language in Ethnicity. A View of Basic Ecological Relations. 1986. 45 Bent Preisler, Linguistic Sex Roles in Conversation. Social Variation in the Expression ofTentativeness in English. 1986. 46 Einar Haugen, Blessings of Babel. Bilingualism and Language Planning. Problems and Pleasures. 1987. 47 Lesley D. Harman, The Modern Stranger. On Language and Membership. 1988. 48 Codeswitching. Anthropological and Sociolinguistic Perspectives. Edited by Monica Heller. 1988. 49 Jeffra Flaitz, The Ideology of English. French Perceptions of English as a World Language. 1988. 50 Friederike Braun, Terms of Address. Problems of Patterns and Usage in Various Languages and Cultures. 1988. 51 Harald Haarmann, Symbolic Values of Foreign Language Use. From the Japanese Case to a General Sociolinguistic Perspective. 1989. 52 Working with Language. A Multidisciplinary Consideration of Language Use in Work Contexts. Edited by Hywel Coleman. 1989. 53 English across Cultures. Cultures across English. A Reader in Cross-cultural Communication. Edited by Ofelia Garcia and Ricardo Otheguy. 1989. 54 The Politics of Language Purism. Edited by Björn Η. Jernudd and Michael J. Shapiro. 1989. 55 General and Amerindian Ethnolinguistics. In Remembrance of Stanley Newman. Edited by Mary R. Key and Henry M. Hoenigswald. 1989. 56 Karol Janicki, Toward Non-Essentialist Sociolinguistics. 1990. 57 Perspectives on Official English. The Campaign for English as the Official Language of the USA. Edited by Karen L. Adams and Daniel T. Brink. 1990. 58 Languages in School and Society. Policy and Pedagogy. Edited by Mary E. McGroarty and Christian J. Faltis. 1991. 59 Harald Haarmann, Basic Aspects of Language in Human Relations. Toward a General Theoretical Framework. 1991. 60 William Fierman, Language Planning and National Development. The Uzbek Experience. 1991. 61 A Language Policy for the European Community. Prospects and Quandaries. Edited by Florian Coulmas. 1991. 62 Pluricentric Languages. Differing Norms in Different Nations. Edited by Michael Clyne. 1991.

63 Richard J. Watts, Power in Family Discourse. 1991. 64 Language Death. Factual and Theoretical Explorations with Special Reference to East Africa. Edited by Matthias Brenzinger. 1992. 65 The Earliest Stage of Language Planning. "The First Congress " Phenomenon. Edited by Joshua A. Fishman. 1993. 66 Monica Heller, Crosswords. Language, Education and Ethnicity in French Ontario. 1994. 67 Linguistic Human Rights. Overcoming Linguistic Discrimination. Edited by Tove Skutnabb-Kangas and Robert Phillipson. In collaboration with Mart Rannut. 1994. 68 When East Met West. Sociolinguistics in the Former Socialist Bloc. Edited by Jeffrey Harlig and Csaba Pleh. 1995. 69 Discrimination through Language in Africa ? Perspectives on the Namibian Experience. Edited by Martin Pütz. 1995. 70 Clinton D. Robinson, Language Use in Rural Development. An African Perspective. 1996. 71 Contrastive Sociolinguistics. Edited by Marlis Hellinger and Ulrich Ammon. 1996. 72 Post-Imperial English. Status Change in Former British and American Colonies, 1940-1990. Edited by Joshua A. Fishman, Andrew W. Conrad and Alma Rubal-Lopez. 1996. 73 K. Dallas Kenny, Language Loss and the Crisis of Cognition. Between Socioand Psycholinguistics. 1996. 74 Tara Goldstein, Two Languages at Work. Bilingual Life on the Production Floor. 1997. 75 Indigenous Literacies in the Americas. Language Planning from the Bottom up. Edited by Nancy H. Hornberger. 1997. 76 Joshua A. Fishman, In Praise of the Beloved Language. A Comparative View of Positive Ethno linguistic Consciousness. 1997. 77 The Multilingual Apple. Languages in New York City. Edited by Ofelia Garcia and Joshua A. Fishman. 1997. 78 Undoing and Redoing Corpus Planning. Edited by Michael Clyne. 1997. 79 Nirmala Srirekam PuruShotam, Negotiating Language, Constructing Race. Disciplining Difference in Singapore. 1997. 80 Michael G. Smith, Language and Power in the Creation of the USSR, 19171953. 1998. 81 Takesi Sibata, Sociolinguistics in Japanese Contexts. Edited by Tetsuya Kunihiro, Fumio Inoue and Daniel Long. 1998. 82 Michael Clyne and Sandra Kipp, Pluricentric Languages in an Immigrant Context. Spanish, Arabic and Chinese. 1999.