Language Shift Or Maintenance? An Examination Of Language Usage Across Four Generations As Self-reported By University Age Students In Belarus

摘要

This paper examines the degree to which language shift or maintenance is obtained across four generations in Belarus. Linguistic homogeneity and heterogeneity receive particular attention as potential contributing factors to language shift or maintenance in the home, arguably the last bastion in terms of language maintenance. In an effort to elicit feedback from participants relative to language use, the survey instrument developed for this research inquired as to respondents' language use with their maternal and paternal grandparents during childhood versus their language use with their mother and father in childhood. Furthermore, this paper examines the degree to which maintenance of Belarusian receives support among respondents as evidenced by self-reported language use with spouses and children, including prospective use with children for those either married without children or single. Finally, the question of language maintenance or shift is analysed in terms of self-reported concern (or lack thereof) about the future of Belarusian and the extent to which language use with prospective children reflects that concern.