Australiansuomalaiset kielenvaihdon kynnyksellä

• Magdolna Kovács

Avainsanat: australiansuomi, domeenianalyysi, kielen elvytys, kielenvaihto, kielipolitiikka

Abstrakti

Australian Finns on the verge of language shift (englanti)

2/2004 (108)

Australian Finns on the verge of language shift

The article examines the extent to which Australias Finnish immigrants and their descendents have maintained their native L1 language and what factors may have contributed to this. In addition to non-linguistic factors, the writer also looks at the domains of use of Finnish and English on the basis of questionnaire responses obtained from 60 Australian Finns.

Australias assimilation policy was replaced in the 1970s with an acceptance of multiculturalism. The countrys language policy does not, however, provide sufficient support for smaller immigrant communities. As a community, Australian Finns have done everything possible to support maintenance of their language: they have set up Australian-Finnish clubs and societies, Finnish church communities and newspapers and local radio stations, and they organise various cultural and sporting events. Finnish-language lessons limited to a few hours a week at the Finnish Sunday Schools are not, however, sufficient to further the maintenance of Australian Finnish.

The use of Finnish and English by first and second-generation Australian Finns was examined using domain analysis. The analysis was based on five domains: family, immediate surroundings (neighbours and friends), church, school and workplace. The study revealed that Australian Finns are on the verge of language shift: English is used more by the second generation than by the first generation in all the domains studied. Australian Finns do not differ much from other minority groups in this regard. The L2 language (English) has already penetrated even the family domain, and in all the cases studied the local neighbourhood offered no support for language maintenance. Although the workplace in Australia has traditionally been a domain that has encouraged language shift, Australian Finns working in the construction industry have had the opportunity to use Finnish in working hours.

A revitalisation of Australian Finnish could be brought about by the following: an increase in the level of Australias state support for minority communities (funding for bilingual teaching and allowing Finnish to be studied as a school matriculation exam subject); bringing a stop to language shift inside the family; Finnish state support (e.g. summer courses free of charge or support for exchange students); or even a new wave of migration.

Magdolna Kovcs