A sociolinguistic study of language
use and attitudes to language maintenance of multilingual Dinka
Sudanese teens, by Meredith Izon
Click here to download the full text, printable version. Abstract This
study investigates the patterns of language use and attitudes to
language maintenance of a selected group of Sudanese migrant youth
living in the western suburbs of Melbourne. The
participants were five Dinka teenagers and four of their
parents/guardians from the Dinka speaking community, one of the larger
tribal and language groups amongst the growing population of Sudanese
settling in Australia. A
triangular research approach, including domain analysis, social network
analysis and qualitative questioning, was employed to collect data. Results
revealed that language use patterns were divergent across the sample
group of teens. One teen showed a strong tendency to use Arabic, a
language used commonly as a lingua franca by Sudanese, as their
preferred community language. Others used Dinka, but with a marked inclination towards English language use. In
contrast to the variable patterns of language use, however, attitudes
of teens to language maintenance showed a strong and consistent
positive attitude towards the maintenance of Dinka. The
discussion explores a range of factors including language proficiency,
social network structure and attitudes that are possible causes for the
variability of language use.
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