Language Shift and Maintenance
Language shift and language maintenance are opposing outcomes for minority or subordinate languages in contact situations.
Language Shift
Language shift occurs when a speech community gradually abandons its heritage language in favour of another, typically the socially dominant language. The shift usually takes three generations:
- Generation 1 — monolingual in the heritage language; acquires some L2
- Generation 2 — bilingual; uses heritage language at home, dominant language at work/school
- Generation 3 — dominant or monolingual in the new language; heritage language reduced to fragments
Fishman (1991) described this as the pattern of "language death" — when intergenerational transmission breaks down, the language is endangered regardless of how many older speakers remain.
Factors Driving Language Shift
| Factor | How it promotes shift |
|---|---|
| Economic pressure | The dominant language is required for employment and social mobility |
| Education policy | Schooling in the dominant language only; heritage language excluded |
| Urbanisation | Migration to cities breaks community language networks |
| Media dominance | Television, internet, social media overwhelmingly in the dominant language |
| Prestige | The dominant language is associated with modernity, success, education |
| Intermarriage | Mixed-language families often default to the dominant language |
| Government policy | Active suppression or neglect of minority languages |
Language Maintenance
Language maintenance refers to the efforts and conditions that allow a minority language to survive alongside a dominant language. Factors supporting maintenance include:
- Community cohesion — concentrated, close-knit communities (e.g., Amish communities maintaining Pennsylvania German)
- Institutional support — education, media, legal status in the minority language
- Prestige and identity — strong association between language and cultural/ethnic identity
- Intergenerational transmission — parents speaking the heritage language to children
- Religious use — language tied to religious practice (Arabic for Muslims, Hebrew for Jewish communities)
- Geographical isolation — reduced contact with the dominant language
Language Revitalisation
When shift is advanced, revitalisation efforts may attempt to reverse it. Fishman's (1991) Reversing Language Shift proposed the Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (GIDS), with intergenerational family transmission as the critical stage. Successful cases include Hebrew (revived as a daily spoken language), Welsh (stabilised through education and media policy), and Maori (kohanga reo immersion nurseries).
Relevance to ELT
- The global spread of English is a major driver of language shift — English replaces local languages in education, media, and professional domains. See Linguistic Imperialism.
- ELT professionals should be aware that promoting English can contribute to subtractive Bilingualism if learners' L1s are not equally supported
- Additive bilingual education models protect heritage languages while developing English proficiency
- The situation is directly relevant in Vietnam, where ethnic minority languages face pressure from both Vietnamese and English
- Language Planning and Policy decisions about the role of English in education have consequences for language maintenance