From discouragement to self-empowerment. Insights from an ethnolinguistic vitality survey among the Kashubs in Poland

Abstract

The paper relates the results of an ethnolinguistic vitality (ELV) survey among the Kashubs in Poland. The results reveal two interrelated layers of ELV: (1) an individual ELV reflected in language use and shaped by personal experience, emotions, and language proficiency; (2) a more collective ELV associated with the perception of the group's language strength, its status and utility. The most surprising predictor of linguistic praxis in our study, in addition to language skills, was the positive impact of experienced discouragement on language use. This remained significant when controlling for proficiency. We argue that the correlation between experiencing discouragement and increased language use is best explained by the self-empowerment of speakers who, earlier in their lives, met with negative attitudes toward their heritage language. Rather than succumbing to this discouragement and assimilating to the dominant language, their response was to develop an emotional link to Kashubian and increase their use of this minority language as a conscious act of selfdetermination and engagement.

The spiral of disadvantage: Ethnolinguistic discrimination, acculturative stress and health in Nahua indigenous communities in Mexico

“…Other tools used in our study were developed within our project and measured discouragement experienced with regard to the use of the Indigenous language (Language Discouragement, five items, alpha of 0.818), perceived ethnolinguistic discrimination experienced in the past (Ethnolinguistic Discrimination, three items, alpha of 0.837) and heritage language avoidance in different contexts of life in the past (Language Avoidance, 10 items, alpha of 0.825). These three scales were first used and validated during our survey among Kashubs in Poland in a study carried out in 2018 (Olko et al, 2020); the Spanish adaptations of these scales as employed in the present study are in Table S2. Language Discouragement measured discouragement from using the Nahuatl language experienced from different groups of people and institutions; the Ethnolinguistic Discrimination scale assessed past experiences of violence and mockery related to the status of being an Indigenous person and using Nahuatl; Language Avoidance tapped into behaviors of members of Indigenous groups who tried to conceal their identity by avoiding the use of their heritage language in public.…”

Ethnolinguistic Vitality, Identity and Power: Investment in SLA

“…Ehala (2010) has noted that despite a large body of research over 30 years, “the vitality framework has not yet managed to establish itself as a genuine field of study bridging sociolinguistics, cultural studies and social psychology” (p. 363). A related challenge is that much of this extensive research has been conducted in countries in the Global North, where, with some exceptions (see Olko et al, 2020), minority language groups are frequently migrants in majority language communities. In the Global South, in contrast, communities are generally multilingual (Makalela, 2016; Pennycook & Makoni, 2019), and local language groups often seek access to more powerful international languages, such as English, French, or Portuguese (Shoba & Chimbutane, 2013).…”

“…If, as quoted above, ethnolinguistic vitality is defined as “a group’s ability to maintain and protect its existence in time as a collective entity with a distinctive identity and language” (Giles et al, 1977, p. 308), this definition has only partial relevance to countries like Uganda, where groups are not often defined by one particular language. At the same time, however, the issue of a “distinctive identity” has greater traction, particularly with regard to a group’s emotional attachment to its collective identity (Ehala, 2015; Olko et al, 2020). In this regard, Norton’s construct of investment is relevant to the vitality framework, which is seeking to bridge sociolinguistics, cultural studies, and social psychology.…”