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Iranians in Sweden: a Study of Language Maintenace and Shift

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Iranians in Sweden: a Study of Language Maintenace and Shift SKRIFTER UTGIVNA AV INSTITUTIONEN FÖR NORDISKA SPRÅK VID UPPSALA UNIVERSITET 86 SHIDROKH NAMEI Iranians in Sweden A Study of Language Maintenance and Shift 2012 Abstract Namei, Shidrokh, 2012: Iranians in Sweden. A Study of Language Maintenance and Shift. Skrifter utgivna av Institutionen för nordiska språk vid Uppsala universitet 86. xvii + 246 pp. Uppsala. ISSN 0083-4661, ISBN 978-91-506-2271-3. This is a survey study of language maintenance and shift among first and second generation Iranians in Sweden and is based on existing theoretical frameworks. It examines whether Iranians in Sweden are maintaining their Persian or shifting to Swedish. This is explored by examining factors at both the minority-group and individual levels, which according to many previous studies have a potential impact on the matter. The subjects are 188 Persian–Swedish bilinguals between the ages of 6 and 53. They are divided into two groups: one comprising 100 pupils, and the other 88 adults many of whom are the parents of students in the first group. The elicitation instruments are two questionnaires which explore the subjects’ lan- guage background, socioeconomic status, linguistic environment in Sweden, patterns of lan- guage use in different domains, extent of exposure to Swedish and Persian, competence in both languages, and attitudes towards their languages and countries. The results confirm many findings of the previous studies. The demographic data reveals that exogamy is increasing, especially among the younger generation. The socioeconomic results show that Iranians in western countries make a strong effort to attain the same living standard they had before migration. They believe that the key to social and economic success is knowledge of the majority language. The language socialization results demonstrate that the second generation is being socialized to a much greater extent in their second language and culture. They are also much more competent in Swedish than in Persian. The first generation not only has full-fledged Persian, but also advanced Swedish, which may be taken as evidence of their intention to integrate. It is also shown that Persian is the main instrument of commu- nication in the families; however some Swedish is also used, especially by the younger child- ren. Furthermore, mothers use Swedish more than fathers, because they are much more in- volved in their children’s education, a responsibility that demands greater second language skills, and which in turn has a direct effect on their social mobility, not only within the family but also within society as a whole. Keywords: Persian, Swedish, language maintenance, language shift, language socialization, language competence, language-use patterns. Shidrokh Namei, Department of Scandinavian Languages, Uppsala University, Box 527, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden. © Shidrokh Namei 2012 ISSN 0083-4661 ISBN 978-91-506-2271-3 urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-171752 (http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-171752) Printed in Sweden by Edita Västra Aros, a climate neutral company, Västerås 2012. To my mother Contents Tables and Figures ................................................................................ xi Tables ............................................................................................... xi Figures.............................................................................................. xiii Preface .................................................................................................. xv Chapter 1 Introduction ........................................................................... 1 1.1 The goals of the study ................................................................. 1 1.2 The organization of this book ...................................................... 4 Chapter 2 Theoretical Frameworks ....................................................... 7 2.1 The theory of social identity and intergroup relations................... 7 2.2 Communication Accommodation Theory .................................... 9 2.3 Summary .................................................................................... 11 Chapter 3 Language Maintenance and Shift Factors .............................. 13 3.1 Definitions of language maintenance and shift ............................. 13 3.2 Studies of language maintenance and shift factors ....................... 17 3.3 Factors at the societal level .......................................................... 20 3.3.1 Political-legal status ............................................................. 20 3.3.2 Ideology .............................................................................. 21 3.3.3 Economic status ................................................................... 23 3.4 Factors at the group level ............................................................ 24 3.4.1 Demographic factors ............................................................ 24 3.4.2 Status factors ....................................................................... 27 3.4.2.1 Social status ................................................................. 27 3.4.2.2 Economic status............................................................ 28 3.4.2.3 Sociohistorical status .................................................... 29 3.4.2.4 Language status ............................................................ 29 3.4.3 Institutions ........................................................................... 31 3.4.3.1 Mass media .................................................................. 31 3.4.3.2 Religion........................................................................ 34 3.4.3.3 Culture ......................................................................... 35 3.4.3.4 Administrative institutions ............................................ 37 3.4.3.5 Education ..................................................................... 38 3.4.3.5.1 Weak forms of bilingual education ........................ 40 3.4.3.5.2 Strong forms of bilingual education ....................... 42 3.4.3.5.3 Immigrant children’s education in Sweden – A historical perspective ............................................ 43 3.4.3.5.4 The organization of immigrant children’s education in Sweden ............................................. 47 3.4.3.5.5 Mother tongue instruction in comprehensive school ................................................................... 50 3.4.3.5.6 Mother tongue instruction in upper-secondary school ................................................................... 53 3.5 Factors at the individual level ...................................................... 54 3.5.1 Language socialization ......................................................... 55 3.5.2 Language competence .......................................................... 57 3.5.3 Language choice .................................................................. 58 3.5.4 Language attitudes ............................................................... 65 3.6 Summary .................................................................................... 69 Chapter 4 Method ................................................................................. 71 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................ 71 4.2 Research question ....................................................................... 74 4.3 Subjects ...................................................................................... 77 4.3.1 The student group ................................................................ 77 4.3.2 The parent group .................................................................. 80 4.4 Research instruments .................................................................. 82 4.4.1 The questionnaires ............................................................... 83 4.4.1.1 The student questionnaire ............................................. 83 4.4.1.2 The parent questionnaire ............................................... 83 4.4.2 Response alternatives ........................................................... 84 4.4.3 Themes of the questionnaires ............................................... 85 4.4.3.1 Demography and background variables......................... 85 4.4.3.2 Socioeconomic status variables ..................................... 86 4.4.3.3 Language socialization variables ................................... 87 4.4.3.4 Language competence variables .................................... 91 4.4.3.5 Language choice variables ............................................ 93 4.4.3.5.1 Language choice variables in the home domain ..... 93 4.4.3.5.2 Language choice variables outside the home domain ................................................................. 95 4.4.3.6 Language attitudes variables ......................................... 96 4.5 Administration procedures .......................................................... 97 4.5.1 Sampling procedures for the student group ........................... 97 4.5.2 Data collection procedures ................................................... 99 Chapter 5 Analysis ............................................................................... 101 5.1 General data analysis strategies ................................................... 101 5.2 Classification of socioeconomic status data ................................. 102 5.3 Inferential statistics ....................................................................
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