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‘Little Bangladesh’: A Language Landscape

Subi Subhan

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Locale

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(Source: http://www.infoplease.com/atlas/country/india.html)

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Foreign-born population in several major metropolitan citiesSources: Statistics Canada, 2001 Census; Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2001; U.S., Census

Bureau, 2000 (Ryerson University, 2004)

Foreign-born as a percent of metropolitan population, 2000/01

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Toronto Miami Vancouver Sydney Los Angeles New York Montreal

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Top Spoken Languages of the World: Number of Native Speakers

Rank Order Language Number of speakers1 Mandarin Chinese 885,000,0002 Spanish 332,000,000 3 English 322,000,000 4 Bengali (Bangla) 189,000,000 5 Hindi 182,000,000 6 Portuguese 170,000,000 6 Russian 170,000,000 8 Japanese 125,000,000______________________________________________________________________Demographics of Bangla Speakers Area Number of Speaks Only Speaks Mostly Speaks Equally Speaks Regularly Speaks

Bangla Bangla Bangla Bangla Bangla and English Bangla

___ Speakers at home at home at home at home at home

Toronto 18,470 15,785 6,050 5,640 1,500 2,595

Canada 34,650 29,705 12,840 9,615 2,780 4,470

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Purpose of the Study

To surface the emic story of the Bangladeshi immigrants in Toronto as they transmit their language and the values that accompany language, to the next generation.

To surface the issues of language maintenance/attrition particular to this group.

To describe the emerging pattern of practices and manifest attitudes regarding first language maintenance/attrition in the daily lives of these families living in the Toronto area.

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Flowchart of the Research Design_________________________________

Naturalistic Exploratory Inquiry

Data Collection: Ethnographic Fieldwork

Fieldwork Observation

Conversational interviews

Data collection:Historical interviews and sources

Analysis and reporting:

Portraiture

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Research questions: 1. To what extent is language maintenance noticeable within the

families of Bangladeshi immigrants in Toronto?

2. To what extent and in what ways is the heritage language present and used in the context of the families?

3. What are the ranges of relationships that Bangladeshi immigrant families in Toronto have with outside contexts and resources with regards to their heritage language?

4a. In what ways do parents or adults in the family convey values and attitudes about heritage language to their children?

4b. How much importance do parents attach to the transmission of heritage language?

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Participants

Researcher Three Families – based on convenience and availability Resource people – knowledgeable members of the population

under study or associated people

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Instrumentation Researcher Ethnographic Fieldwork

Observation notes Conversational interviews

Historical research methods Documents reviews Historical interviews

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Method Ethnographic methods Historical methods______________________________________________________________

Data Collection Three years of rapport building - contributing to background information One full cycle of observation supplemented by a few rapid assessment

tools Three families observed for three to four days each Note writing in between Informal conversations Reviewing documents

Mostly private spaces - home Families followed outside to public spaces – streets, stores, and religious,

cultural and social congregations Resource people interviewed privately face-to-face and over the phone

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Analysis Qualitative methods – coding and seeking the pattern Using ‘N-6’ and ‘manually’ Bracketing interview Triangulation

Source Data Theory

Member checking Guest analyst

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Reporting ‘Potraiture’

A thick description of the background and of the lives of the subjects observed “[I]ntends to address wider, more eclectic audiences… beyond academy’s inner

circle, [and] to speak in a language that is not coded or exclusive” (Lawrence-Lightfoot &

Davis, 1997, p.10)

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Findings

The Emergent Pattern Three important aspects of the emergent

pattern: Children’s role and preferences Parents’ priorities Parents’ lack of awareness about or negligence of

language education.

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Children’s Role and Preferences

Seen but rarely heard Functional interaction only Language use habits and communication Children’s role in language use and communication

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Parents’ Priorities

Adults’ Role and Attitude Regarding Children Health Companionship and entertainment Children’s choice

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Parents’ Priorities Other Priorities

Survival and adjustment Lack of life-skills Information sharing Networking Socialization and preoccupation with life and

family left behind ‘Fitting in’ and identity crisis Importance of food Time spent on food

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Non-prioritized Status of Heritage Language Education and Maintenance Religious education English education or learning English Tutoring and other elements Lack of awareness and negligence of

heritage language

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Relationships with outside contexts

Negative Religious observance Cultural shows Public libraries Bookstores Media stores TDSB language programs University of Toronto

Positive Private institutions for cultural instruction Social visits Ethnic enclaves (although not exclusively ethnic)

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Confusing Cultural Values

The girls holding the letters to spell ‘Happy New Year’ in the top picture are wearing cotton handloom saris in traditional style and flowers.

The girl in the bottom picture is wearing Bollywood influenced shelwar kameez currently popular among upper class urban Bangladeshis.

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Parents’ views towards transmission of language

Very little effort noticed among the parents The general assumption – automatic transmission Most parents do not seem to notice the lack of use by children Acceptance - “Oh well, after all this is Canada, what should we

expect?” Assumption - only English is needed to be successful Giving excuses and avoiding or postponing the issue of heritage

literacy education Parents find it challenging to find time, means, & context to

transmit Children immigrated older also slack use and practice – parents

lack awareness and knowledge Efforts of a few parents - not strong enough for whole group to

maintain heritage language

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Follow up

Less visibility of children Blending outfits and Westernization More cultural groups and performances – but only adults

are involved Complete loss of language habits in the cohort of

children Disappearance of the audiovisual outlets Reduction of number of newspapers Conversion of bookstores Rise of the internet Change in language program enrollment – a positive

trend? Continued lack of funding in needed areas Increased number of businesses

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Conclusion

Families with children generally show definite signs of language attrition

Only a handful of such families show evidence making attempts to maintain heritage language

Few families take Bangla school seriously Some others are known of trying to teach their children Bangla

literacy at home A few others consciously enforce speaking Bangla at home,

reportedly Encouraging children to perform in cultural activities - negligible

portion of the population Language transmission generally neglected at younger age or is

assumed to be automatic process Primary and junior age children – more susceptible to attrition

Thank you!

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