Language, Culture and Identity

Current research shows that immigrants to North America typically retain their ancestral languages for only three generations, after which the shift to English is complete and the home language is lost. Dr. Allyson Eamer has tracked intergenerational language transmission in four immigrant families in Toronto, Canada. She interviews the grandparents, their children, and their grandchildren to determine whether or not their languages (Punjabi, Korean, Ukrainian and Italian) have a chance of making it to the fourth generation. She tracks ancestral language proficiency in each generation, as well as the extent to which each family member makes identity claims to the ancestral culture and to Canada. Themes such as exogamy, level of education, phenotype and discrimination are explored in this examination of language and belonging.