CHINESE MULTILINGUALISM IN CHICAGO (ILLINOIS).
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TextDescription: 207 pSubject(s): Anthropology, Cultural | Language, Linguistics | Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies | 0326 | 0290 | 0631Dissertation note: Thesis (PH.D.)--NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, 1998. Summary: This study was conducted among ethnic Chinese living in the Chicago area. It reveals great diversity among the Chinese of Chicago socioeconomically, linguistically and in their attitudes toward their own ethnicity. The main focus is language use, and the main purpose is to discover the social meanings of Chinese and English language for those bilinguals who use both. The study is based on two main bodies of data: (1) in-depth, open-ended interviews that included personal histories with an emphasis on the individual's development of language use, and (2) transcriptions of recordings of Chinese bilinguals' everyday conversation. These latter data were used to uncover the social meaning of Chinese and English in conversation, as well as to test, and ultimately support, a recent theory of the syntax of codeswitching, which states that there are no restrictions on codeswitching, or switching between languages within a conversation or sentence, that are not present in the languages themselves separately. Theoretical background is given on bilingualism, codeswitching, second language acquisition and pidginization, language variation, and the social meaning of language choice. Background is also given on the Chinese language, and the history of Chinese in America and in Chicago.Summary: The results are that everyone is unique and has different attitudes based on different experiences, and these differences are reflected in language use. For many younger American-born Chinese, Chinese is a language of intimacy and English is a language of power, but many older immigrants might use Chinese to try to command authority. The variety of language attitudes is further complicated by the great linguistic diversity of Chinese Chicagoans, who speak many different subdialects of Mandarin and Cantonese as well as other dialects. Adding to the linguistic variety is the varying degree of acquisition of English. This linguistic mixture is but a token of the mixture of cultures within which the Chinese of Chicago are in constant negotiation; they must negotiate many varieties of Chinese culture as well as many varieties of "American" culture. There are no rules specific to negotiating between cultures because all culture involves negotiating.
Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 59-05, Section: A, page: 1647.
Adviser: OSWALD WERNER.
Thesis (PH.D.)--NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, 1998.
This study was conducted among ethnic Chinese living in the Chicago area. It reveals great diversity among the Chinese of Chicago socioeconomically, linguistically and in their attitudes toward their own ethnicity. The main focus is language use, and the main purpose is to discover the social meanings of Chinese and English language for those bilinguals who use both. The study is based on two main bodies of data: (1) in-depth, open-ended interviews that included personal histories with an emphasis on the individual's development of language use, and (2) transcriptions of recordings of Chinese bilinguals' everyday conversation. These latter data were used to uncover the social meaning of Chinese and English in conversation, as well as to test, and ultimately support, a recent theory of the syntax of codeswitching, which states that there are no restrictions on codeswitching, or switching between languages within a conversation or sentence, that are not present in the languages themselves separately. Theoretical background is given on bilingualism, codeswitching, second language acquisition and pidginization, language variation, and the social meaning of language choice. Background is also given on the Chinese language, and the history of Chinese in America and in Chicago.
The results are that everyone is unique and has different attitudes based on different experiences, and these differences are reflected in language use. For many younger American-born Chinese, Chinese is a language of intimacy and English is a language of power, but many older immigrants might use Chinese to try to command authority. The variety of language attitudes is further complicated by the great linguistic diversity of Chinese Chicagoans, who speak many different subdialects of Mandarin and Cantonese as well as other dialects. Adding to the linguistic variety is the varying degree of acquisition of English. This linguistic mixture is but a token of the mixture of cultures within which the Chinese of Chicago are in constant negotiation; they must negotiate many varieties of Chinese culture as well as many varieties of "American" culture. There are no rules specific to negotiating between cultures because all culture involves negotiating.
School code: 0163.
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