It’s Effect on a Third Generation Bilingual Arabic Family
Abstract
A lot of studies have been conducted on the nature of lives of people who speak more than one language and are foreigners in Australia. The experience of bilinguals living within Australia has been an area of interest among scholars. This paper attempts to analyze and describe the extent of influence that a family that is bilingual and foreign faces in Australia. The factors that determine the language usage in different domains is studied and preliminary data collected (Baker, 2011).
Introduction
A lot of research has gone into the study of the effect of bilingualism on different aspects of society such as family relations as well as the religious inclinations of the people within the society. Bilingualism has a wide variation of definitions. It can be loosely defined as the capability of a person to be able to understand, converse, read or write multiple languages. It has been noted that to be bilingual is as a result of several factors. Some of the reasons could include being born of parents who speak different languages and one ends up speaking multiple languages. Additionally, one could also learn other languages at school. These are languages that have been prescribed by the government, to be taught within its learning institutions. Additionally, one could also learn extra languages as a result of their religion. For instance, in order to pursue Islam, one has to learn Arabic. This is because the religion can only be studied in Arabic and the prayers also have to be recited in Arabic. Consequently, one gets to learn an extra language through religion.
Research Questions
1. To what level was the family affected in terms of the language capacity in terms of English and Arabic?
2. What do the family members identify themselves as? This is in relation to the bilingual nature of the family and the English and Arabic culture.
3. How much of the English and Arabic culture do they have?
This is in relation to the extent of the influence of these languages on the family’s culture.
4. To who and what language do they use for communication? This was considered between the two languages, Arabic and English as well as the different domains that the family individuals were involved in.
5. What is the extent of the effect of technology on the study group?
6. What is the language preference among the three generations and in what domains are they preferentially used in?
7. How will their future children be?
Hypotheses
Australia as a nation has a number of third generation bilingual families. These families have had to adapt and transform in a number of ways in order to fit into the Australian society (Lemberger, 1997). This research report considers the extent to which a third generation Arabic bilingual family is affected within the Australia society. The research was conducted considering an Arabic family that is Islamic and has three generations within it. The research considered the level of knowledge and of the use of the several languages available within the family by the different generations. It has been noted that means of communication plays a fundamental role in determining the social relationships even among family members (García & Baker2007); a factor the paper seeks to find out.
The family living in Australia faced new domains in which they had to switch between the languages of communication. The languages used by the bilingual individual were found to depend on the circumstance as well as the criteria of use of the particular language. The domains that were found to be consistent with the study group were the schools, in terms of the children, home, as well as the parents’ work places. It was found out that the domains informed what language was to be used.
Theoretical background
In conducting this research a third generation, multilingual family living in Australia was considered. Due to the various generation levels present in the family, it was possible to consider the social impact that the knowledge of different languages had on the different generations. It was also possible to determine the interactions that bilingualism made possible among the different generations. The participants in the research included the grandparents who came from Lebanon in the 1970’s to settle in Australia, they have children born in Australia and grandchildren also born in Australia.
The grandparents communicate to the rest of the family in Arabic with minimal English for basic communication. It was found out that the parents and the children speak in both English and Arabic while at home. The grandma is able to speak in Arabic but is not able to write it. She also speaks in English but she is not able to read or write in English. It was noted that the parents could speak fluently in English as well as Arabic but they could not read or write Arabic.
The family also comprises 3 children, one girl and two boys. The girl and one of the boys were observed to be fluent in speaking, reading and writing English. They are also competent in reading, speaking and writing Arabic. This was attributed to the fact that they attend an Arabic school. The family considered in the study is an Islamic family. Religion was found to be a major player as well in the bilingual nature of the family. This was because, the members had to speak in Arabic in order to be able to say there Islamic prayers (Moraes, 1996).
Methods
Several means were used in collecting the information. To begin with, there was interviewing of the family members. The interviews conducted were to capture the different language use within the different domains that the family members found themselves. Observation was also a key method that was used in collecting information on the family’s bilingual and bicultural characteristics.
Anticipated Results
Several responses were acquired to the research questions that duly sufficed in giving the information required for the research paper. They are discussed below;
1. To what level was the family affected in terms of language capacity?
It was found out that the family was well versed in both English and Arabic languages. Depending on the different domains that they were place in, the family had to code switch to either Arabic or English.
2. What do they identify themselves as?
It was found out that there was a conflict in identification between the generations within this family. The children identified themselves as Australians and had adopted a complete Australian lifestyle. The parents seemed to appear to merge both the Australian identity while maintaining several Lebanese identities as passed down from the grandparents. The grandma completely identified herself as Lebanese and in order to try and maintain their original culture, she maintained several cultural practices that were Lebanese in nature. The identification within the Australian society in this case is determined by the bilingual nature of the members of this family (Brisk, 1998).
3. How much of the English and Arabic culture do they have?
Previous studies have shown that the linguistic capability of a group of people determines their level of interactions and assimilation of cultures (Feinberg, 2002). The grandma had the highest level of Arabic cultural influence. She maintained the Arabic culture even in her dress code. The parents had a moderate Arabic influence with a major cultural inclination towards the English culture. This was because the Arabic influence among the parents was their religion, Islam. The children adopted the English culture to the highest level as they were involved with Australian English speakers within their age group.
4. To who and what language do they use to communicate?
The grandma had the family as her main group of conversation. This she mainly did in Arabic. The parents used Arabic in communication at home and during prayer time. Due to the English working environment, they communicated in English with their fellow workers and also their children who mostly preferred communicating in English. The children spoke English in school as well as between each other, Arabic during the religious sessions as well as to communicate with their grandma.
5. Extent of the effect of technology on the study group
Technology has been noted to greatly affect the social adaptation of a group of people (Baker, 2011). The use of technological equipment such as computers and the internet was found to greatly influence the family. The children had the highest level of technological influence;
Internet
Cell Phone
Computer
Watch Television
6. What is the language preference among the three generations and in what domains are they preferentially used in?
The grandma preferred communicating in Arabic as well as the parents, while the children preferred English as it was utilized in their domains such as school.
7. How will their future children be?
The future children are predicted to have a great English influence. This is due to the fact that the Arabic influence faces dilution among the present children.
Baker, C. (2011). Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism: Multilingual Matters.
Brisk, M. E. (1998). Bilingual Education: From Compensatory To Quality Schooling: L. Erlbaum Associates.
Feinberg, R. C. (2002). Bilingual Education: A Reference Handbook: ABC-Clio.
García, O., & Baker, C. (2007). Bilingual Education: An Introductory Reader: Multilingual Matters.
Lemberger, N. (1997). Bilingual Education: Teachers' Narratives: L. Erlbaum Associates.
Moraes, M. (1996). Bilingual Education: A Dialogue With the Bakhtin Circle: State University of New York Press.
