New Approaches to Language and Identity in Contexts of Migration and Diaspora draws together expertise and contemporary research findings in respect of language and identity in migrant and diasporic contexts throughout the world. Over thirteen chapters, contributors examine the intersection between migration, language, and identity through analyses of migration discourses, language practices, and legal policy, as well as the ideologies embedded and revealed within them. A wide range of subject areas and interdisciplinary approaches are represented, with fifteen authors drawn from the fields of education, intercultural communication, linguistics, geography, migration studies, psychology, and sociology. This volume will primarily appeal to scholars and researchers in fields such as migration, intercultural communication, sociolinguistics, bilingualism, multilingualism, and heritage language learning.

This volume presents a collection of the latest scholarly research on language, migration and identity. It includes research conducted within both established and emerging methodological frameworks and explores a wide range of contexts and geographical locations, from the language classroom to the migrant experience, and from Ireland to Eritrea.

In the midst of an international crisis in migration policy – widely referred to as a ‘refugee crisis’ – this book brings together timely analyses of the manifold and yet specific ways in which migration affects globalized societies, set against the background of the rise of nationalist and populist movements. The voices of migrants and refugees are rarely heard in this context: usually, they are debated about, summarized and reported but their agency is denied. Each contribution to this volume adds an empirical perspective to our understanding of how language relates to migration in a specific national context. The chapters use innovative combinations of multimodal, qualitative and quantitative analyses to examine a broad range of genres and data related to the voices of migrants and reporting about migrants.

Multilingualism in Italian Migrant Settings investigates the plural linguistic practices of the migrants in a particular refugee centre in Italy, the CAS (centri di accoglienza straordinaria; “extraordinary refugee centre”). This book offers a practical and rigorous study of contact situations surrounding migrants from areas with complex repertoires. Language is inherently connected to migration, especially through its role as a principal tool for communication. This volume places multilingualism in migratory contexts to comprehend how plurilingual migrants move freely between languages, and to evaluate their role in the linguistic landscape of the host country. This monograph will appeal to scholars specialising in sociolinguistics and contact linguistics. The volume will also be informative for postgraduate students in the field of sociolinguistics, with a focus on migration and language use.

This volume highlights the role of language ideologies in the process of negotiation of identities and shows that in different historical and social contexts different identities may be negotiable or non-negotiable.

This book examines the correlations between language behaviour and happiness amongst communities of migrants, and addresses the overarching question of whether language can affect wellbeing. Zi Wang takes an innovative look at migration and wellbeing by examining the crucial role language – a quintessential part of the international migration experience – plays in migrants’ wellbeing. Drawing on case studies from Chinese and Japanese-speaking communities in Germany, as well as secondary survey data on the general migrant population, Wang shows that proficiency in both host country and heritage languages is associated with robust enhancements of migrants’ subjective wellbeing. He argues that acquisition of host country language and the preservation and promotion of heritage culture should not be portrayed as a zero-sum game by stakeholders in host societies. Instead, we ought to consider the unique experiences of migrants in order to fully comprehend the ways in which they experience, evaluate, and pursue happiness in a host society. Presenting a novel approach to the study of migrants’ wellbeing, this book will be of interest to scholars and students of area studies, education, international migration, sociology of language, and wellbeing research.

** Winner of AAAL Book Award 2020 ** **Shortlisted for the BAAL Book Prize 2018** The Routledge Handbook of Migration and Language is the first comprehensive survey of this area, exploring language and human mobility in today’s globalised world. This key reference brings together a range of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary perspectives, drawing on subjects such as migration studies, geography, philosophy, sociology and anthropology. Featuring over 30 chapters written by leading experts from around the world, this book: Examines how basic constructs such as community, place, language, diversity, identity, nation-state, and social stratification are being retheorized in the context of human mobility; Analyses the impact of the ‘mobility turn’ on language use, including the parallel ‘multilingual turn’ and translanguaging; Discusses the migration of skilled and unskilled workers, different forms of displacement, and new superdiverse and diaspora communities; Explores new research orientations and methodologies, such as mobile and participatory research, multi-sited ethnography, and the mixing of research methods; Investigates the place of language in citizenship, educational policies, employment and social services. The Routledge Handbook of Migration and Language is essential reading for those with an interest in migration studies, language policy, sociolinguistic research and development studies.

This volume covers the multidimensional and international field of Heritage Language Education, including concepts, practices, and the correlation between culture and language from the perspectives of pedagogy and research. Heritage Language Learning is a new dimension in both the linguistic and pedagogic sciences, and is linked to processes of identity negotiation and cultural inheritance. It is a distinct pedagogical and curricular domain that is not exhausted within the domains of bilingualism and second or foreign language education. A heritage language is not a second or foreign language, it is the vehicle whereby cultural memory is transmitted over time, across distances, communities, and generations. Heritage languages play an important role ensuring the balance between coherence and pluralism in contemporary societies that have come to realize that diversity is an advantage for social, cultural, and economic reasons. The volume includes topics like First Nation indigenous languages, languages in diaspora, immigrant and minority languages, and contributions from North, central and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. It addresses the social, linguistic, and cultural issues in educational contexts in a new way by taking up questions of globalization, difference, community, identity, democracy, ethics, politics, technology, language rights and cultural policies through the evolving field of Heritage Language Education.

This volume examines in-depth the many facets of language and identity in the complex linguistic landscape of Ireland. The role of the heritage language Irish is scrutinized as are the manifold varieties of English spoken in regions of the island determined by both geography and social contexts. Language as a vehicle of national and cultural identity is center-stage as is the representation of identity in various media types and text genres. In addition, the volume examines the self-image of the Irish as reflected in various self-portrayals and references, e.g. in humorous texts. Identity as an aspect of both public and private life in contemporary Ireland, and its role in the gender interface, is examined closely in several chapters. This collection is aimed at both scholars and students interested in langage and identity in the milti-layered situation of Ireland, both historically and at present. By addressing general issues surrounding the dynamic and vibrant research area of identity it reaches out to readers beyond Ireland who are concerned with the pivotal role this factor plays in present-day societies.

In 1900 over five million Jews lived in the Russian empire; today, there are four times as many Russian-speaking Jews residing outside the former Soviet Union than there are in that region. The New Jewish Diaspora is the first English-language study of the Russian-speaking Jewish diaspora. This migration has made deep marks on the social, cultural, and political terrain of many countries, in particular the United States, Israel, and Germany. The contributors examine the varied ways these immigrants have adapted to new environments, while identifying the common cultural bonds that continue to unite them. Assembling an international array of experts on the Soviet and post-Soviet Jewish diaspora, the book makes room for a wide range of scholarly approaches, allowing readers to appreciate the significance of this migration from many different angles. Some chapters offer data-driven analyses that seek to quantify the impact Russian-speaking Jewish populations are making in their adoptive countries and their adaptations there. Others take a more ethnographic approach, using interviews and observations to determine how these immigrants integrate their old traditions and affiliations into their new identities. Further chapters examine how, despite the oceans separating them, members of this diaspora form imagined communities within cyberspace and through literature, enabling them to keep their shared culture alive. Above all, the scholars in The New Jewish Diaspora place the migration of Russian-speaking Jews in its historical and social contexts, showing where it fits within the larger historic saga of the Jewish diaspora, exploring its dynamic engagement with the contemporary world, and pointing to future paths these immigrants and their descendants might follow.