This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ The impact of residential location on language practices among Lebanese Armenian adolescents An investigation into the Western Armenian language in Lebanon Filian, Chaghic Awarding institution: King's College London The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. 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Sep. 2021 The impact of residential location on language practices among Lebanese Armenian adolescents: an investigation into the Western Armenian language in Lebanon By Chaghig Filian Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy KING’S COLLEGE LONDON January 2018 Table of contents Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................. 8 List of abbreviations ........................................................................................................................... 10 Abstract ................................................................................................................................................ 11 Chapter 1 ............................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 1 Background of the study ................................................................................................................. 1 The standardization of the Western Armenian language ................................................................ 4 Importance of the study................................................................................................................... 7 Insufficient empirical data addressing the status of the Western Armenian language ................ 7 My personal interest in conducting the study ........................................................................... 11 The general concern over the status of the Western Armenian language in Lebanon .............. 12 Western Armenian on UNESCO’s map of endangered languages leading to awareness or despair ....................................................................................................................................... 14 Research questions ........................................................................................................................ 22 Overview of the thesis................................................................................................................... 23 Chapter 2 ............................................................................................................................................. 26 The Armenian diaspora of Lebanon: from past to present ................................................................ 26 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 26 The Armenian people and their early history ................................................................................ 27 The Armenian minority under Ottoman rule and the series of events that led to the Armenian genocide ........................................................................................................................................ 28 Armenian genocide remembrance day .......................................................................................... 32 The Armenian diaspora ................................................................................................................. 34 The Lebanese Armenian diaspora ................................................................................................. 35 From detachment to social integration .......................................................................................... 40 Armenian institutions in Lebanon and identity politics ................................................................ 42 Armenian churches in Lebanon ................................................................................................ 43 Armenian political parties in Lebanon ...................................................................................... 44 Lebanese Armenians in the Lebanese Parliament ..................................................................... 46 The status of Armenian schools in Lebanon ................................................................................. 48 The Foundation and development of Armenian schools in Lebanon........................................ 48 Armenian schools in post-civil war Lebanon............................................................................ 49 Armenian schools today ............................................................................................................ 51 The social, demographic and socioeconomic situation in Bourj Hammoud today ....................... 52 The streets of Bourj Hammoud, a platform to express Armenian ideologies ........................... 53 The living conditions in Bourj Hammoud ................................................................................ 54 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 57 Chapter 3 ............................................................................................................................................. 58 Literature Review .............................................................................................................................. 58 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 58 Selection of terminological concepts ............................................................................................ 58 Western Armenian: a minority and heritage language .............................................................. 59 Citizens of Lebanon: Arabs or Lebanese? ................................................................................ 62 Lebanese Armenians: a transnational diaspora community ...................................................... 63 Armenianness ............................................................................................................................ 65 Discussions of terminology and concepts ..................................................................................... 71 Factors that lead to language endangerment ............................................................................. 72 Language revitalization projects ............................................................................................... 74 Language maintenance and language shift (LMLS) ................................................................. 75 Understanding the concept of identity ...................................................................................... 77 Language in relation to ethnic identity ..................................................................................... 80 Codeswitching and translanguaging ......................................................................................... 84 Communal attitudes towards heritage language maintenance .................................................. 85 Mainstream attitudes towards minority languages .................................................................... 88 Changing dimensions of mobility and space ............................................................................ 90 The impact of residential location on minority languages ........................................................ 92 Chapter 4 ............................................................................................................................................. 97 Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 97 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 97 The theoretical framework of the research...................................................................................