Beyond home language: Heritage language maintenance practices of Yorùbá–English bilingual immigrants

Abstract

This research investigates the heritage language (HL) as a core value of first-generation Yorùbá English bilingual immigrants in the United States and explicates HL maintenance practices among them. It uses observation and semi-structured interviews with first-generation Yorùbá–English bilingual immigrants residing in New York, Texas and Maryland. Transcripts from the interviews and field notes from the observation were analysed and coded using Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA) and some features of the Interlinear Morpheme Glossing (IMG) rules which are conventions useful for transliterations and translations. The heritage language is the distinctive identity of first-generation Yorùbá–English bilingual immigrants in the United States. Hence, they adopt maintenance strategies similar to those of other immigrants identified in previous studies (home language, language of familiarity, language as code and language for admonition) and devise ingenious strategies to ensure maintenance including language for setting intergroup boundaries, language for maintaining connectedness and language for naming realities. Previous studies have examined HL maintenance among Asian, Hispanic and European immigrants who have HLs with high numeric strength, but this study examines immigrants of African descent and an HL with low numeric strength. It also presents unobserved HL maintenance strategies which are peculiar to first-generation Yorùbá–English bilingual immigrants in the United States. Despite English monism, immigrants/ethnic minorities can go beyond common HL maintenance strategies and create unique ones that will ensure the continued use of their languages. The ability to do this advances a positive ethnic identity, guarantees an improved lifespan for HLs in host communities and reduces instances of identity crisis among immigrants.