EXPLORING IMMIGRANT CHILDREN’S COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS WITH THEIR GRANDMOTHERS DUE TO LANGUAGE AND CULTURAL LOSS

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the communication issues that monolingual English-speaking Mexican American children face to communicate with their monolingual Spanish-speaking Mexican grandmothers due to language and cultural loss. This study depicts 20 first-generation monolingual Spanish-speaking Mexican grandmothers’ perceptions and reflections of language and cultural loss for their third-generation monolingual English-speaking grandchildren. Interview questions focused on grandmothers’ attitudes, beliefs, and thoughts related to language and cultural loss and the implications of such on the intergenerational relationship. Results indicate grandmothers are concerned about their relationships which are inevitably affected by the language barrier and have caused cultural and language loss throughout generations with their grandchildren.

Keywords

• language loss
• cultural loss
• immigrant children
• communication problems

GÖÇMEN ÇOCUKLARIN DİL VE KÜLTÜR KAYBI NEDENİYLE BÜYÜKANNELERİ İLE YAŞADIKLARI İLETİŞİM SORUNLARININ İNCELENMESİ

Öz

Bu çalışmanın amacı, sadece İngilizce konuşan Amerika’da doğmuş Meksikalı çocukların, sadece İspanyolca konuşan Meksikalı büyükanneleriyle dil ve kültür kaybından dolayı oluşan iletişim sorunlarını incelemektir. Bu araştırma nitel bir çalışma olarak düzenlenmiş olup, 20 tane birinci nesil sadece İspanyolca konuşan Meksikalı büyükannelerin üçüncü nesil sadece İngilizce konuşan torunlarının dil ve kültür kaybına ilişkin algılarını ve yansımalarını tasvir ediyor. Görüşme soruları yarı yapılandırılmış olarak hazırlanmış olup, büyükannelerin dil ve kültürel kayıpla ilgili tutum, inanç ve düşüncelerine ve bunların kuşaklar arası büyükanne ve torun ilişkileri üzerindeki etkilerine odaklanmıştır. Tümevarım yöntemi ile analiz edilen veriler önemli bilgi kaybını engellemek adına İspanyolca toplanmış olup sonrasında İngilizceye çevrilmiştir. Analiz sürecindeki kodlama şemasında CLL (kültürel kayıp: dil), CLC (kültürel kayıp: kutlamalar), CLV (kültürel kayıp: değerler), RLL (ilişkiler: dil bariyeri) ve RLP (ilişkiler: aile tutumunun rolü) kodları kullanılmıştır. Sonuçlar, büyükannelerin torunlarıyla dil bariyeri nedeniyle kaçınılmaz bir şekilde etkilenen ve nesiller boyunca kültür ve dil kaybına neden olan ilişkilerinden endişe duyduklarını göstermektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• dil kaybı
• kültür kaybı
• göçmen çocuklar
• iletişim problemleri

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