Regional, state, and immigrants' heritage languages in high school: the effect of geographic origin and linguistic acculturation profiles on language attitudes

Abstract

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: This study explores the language attitudes that high-school students of immigrant origin hold toward Catalan, Spanish, and the heritage languages of immigrant communities, focusing on linguistic acculturation profiles at school and geographic origin of these students. It takes place in Catalonia (Spain), a multilingual setting where Spanish and Catalan have official status.

Design/Methodology/Approach: Using a 5-point Likert-type scale, 198 students of immigrant background were asked about their attitudes regarding these three languages, as well as questions regarding their linguistic acculturation profiles at school.

Data and Analysis: A K-means cluster analysis was conducted to create identity groups based on linguistic acculturation profiles at school. Then, a series of analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were run: first to analyze the relationship between linguistic acculturation profiles and attitudes toward heritage languages, such as Catalan and Spanish, and second between linguistic acculturation profiles and continent of origin. A two-factor ANOVA was conducted to test the interaction effects between linguistic acculturation and geographic origin regarding language attitudes.

Findings/Conclusions: Those in the acculturation profile that incorporates all three languages at school have significantly lower attitudes toward Catalan, suggesting that heritage language maintenance is perceived as incompatible with Catalan at school. As for geographic origin, the European origin group is more commonly placed in the Catalan assimilation acculturation profile than the African and Latin American groups. There is also a significant interaction effect between origin and the acculturation profile, with the European multilingual group showing significantly less positive attitudes toward Catalan.

Originality: While other studies have explored immigrant attitudes toward Catalan and Spanish, very few have incorporated the wide range of unofficial languages present in the territory, like Arabic, Amazigh, or Romanian.

Significance/Implications: These results complement previous general acculturation research showing that, for linguistic acculturation as well, racialized ethnic hierarchies affect the acculturation options available to different linguistic groups.