Social change at the macro and micro level, taking place under the influence of migration can be defined as changes in the social structure of the host community, social and demographic transformation of this community, changes in the social-role and socio-cultural structures of the society of immigrants. For example, the immigration expansion in the second half of the twentieth century has led to the fact that there were communities with a great cultural and ethnic diversity.
In addition, the inevitable results of the massive international migrations are various options for migrant interactions with the host community, realized on the group and individual levels. Unfortunately, many of these interactions take the form of ethnocentrism, xenophobia, structural discrimination based on ethnicity. These factors underscore the relevance of the issue of ethnic socio-cultural adaptation of groups caught up in another, "alien" to them ethno-cultural environment.
During the last couple of centuries scores of families and generations have abandoned their motherlands looking for better life in America. In order to have position in American society these families were forced to assimilate and accept all of the rules of the country they arrived in, and first of all, in order to be accepted they had to learn the language. There used to be times when immigrants could perfectly blend in with the American society, without loosing their national identity. They spoke their native languages at home and within their national community, they were faithful to their traditions and religion. However these days the situation has significantly changed, and the problem of family language loss became quite acute. For a lot of reasons the seriousness of the situation becomes very visible with children, who start to simply forget their family language as soon as they go to school.
In the article the author talks about reasons of why is that happening, and at the same time offering ways to solve the problem. Also, she provides a couple of good examples of families, in which the loss of the native languages equaled the loss of the family as an institution. While telling the reader origins of the problem, it can be clearly noticed that the author has a feeling of compassion to the parents, who have practically lost their kids, as they could no longer stay in touch with them simply because different languages they spoke. Frankly, I cannot understand this compassion, as I think that parents are the ones to be blamed in that situation. It is understandable, that they wanted better lives for the children, and that is the reason they came to the US, but they shouldn’t abandon their kinds in the new country, leaving them without parental attention.
Having a deep respect to people who are trying to help the minorities in the process of socializing, I do not agree with the writer’s point of view on different aspects of the highlighted problem. Before disputing each standpoint separately, I would like to highlight the main divarication the writer and me have.
Lily Fillmore claims that American government, and society have to take some actions, in order to solve the problem of family language loss in the immigrant families. She says that educators should be also the ones to worry about the arisen problem, and take actions in order to solve it. I have a totally opposite point of view on this. People have to be responsible for their own actions, and before leaving their own country they should have considered all of the difficulties they might face in the country they are going to.
In one of the first arguments the author says that English is very quickly replacing the home language of the young immigrants. She talks about that as of a very negative issue, however in my opinion, there is nothing to worry about. As soon as an immigrant kid enters school he has a clear understanding that in order to become a part of the new society he has to, fist of all, know the language. And that is only the minimum “requirement” the child faces. After that come the haircut, clothing, music preferences, but these factors are not as much important as the language is. Of course, it is a big stress for the young student, but he does everything in order to “fit in” and make some friends. And one might argue that it should not be that way, but it is, and it is totally understandable. Language is the main mean of communication with people, and not knowing it will leave you an outsider. So, as soon as the immigrant kid goes to school, we can say that the process of Americanization has started.
In order to avoid the loss of family language by children, it has to be always spoken at home. And only parents are responsible for that. They cannot spend all days long at work; otherwise they would miss their children development and socialization, what can lead to the loss of the language, and as a result — communication between children and parents.
As soon as family language is lost, parents can no longer know of what are their children up to; they cannot “maintain their roles as authority figures” and the whole family intimacy is lost. I totally agree with the author of the article that the consequences of the loss of native language can be very deplorable, especially in cases where parents do not know English, and children can no longer speak their fist language perfectly. As soon as children stop speaking to their parents, last ones no longer have influence on their kinds. As a result, children find authorities among some older friends, what can lead to different consequences. So, I will repeat myself that parents have to take some actions and prevent all of the aforementioned things from happening.
If parents do not have time for learning English due to the business at work, they need to make their children speak their first language at home, so they can at leas remember it. In every big city there are scores of different national communities, where families with children can spend some time, in order for kinds not to forget the language, and culture of the country they came from. Parents need to explain their kids from the early childhood that native language is something that they have to always remember, no matter what. Of course, they have to learn English in order to make friends, get a good job, and feel comfortable in the country they live in, but it does not mean that native language should be forgotten. Thousands of people are bilingual, and I am sure neither one of the languages they know are needless. As the saying goes, the more languages you know, the more you are human. And immigrants have even greater opportunity to prove that.
Works Cited
Fillmore, Lilly Wong. "Loss of Family Languages: Should Educators Be Concerned?" Theory into Practice 2000: n. pag. Web.
