German and Turkish as minority languages

Language maintenance has been a central point in different linguistic disciplines, responding to an increasing degree to immigrant minority languages (IML) and the micro-level of language policies. However, while frameworks such as ethnolinguistic vitality theory account for general factors of language maintenance and loss, the individual factors of the respective cases are difficult to work out and challenge comparative studies. This article aims to compare situations of language contact, analysing two language biographies in two settings that have never been read in context: Turkish as an IML in Germany and German as an IML in Chile. Our aim is to investigate emerging factors for language maintenance in these settings, focusing on policies and attitudes, and examining their consequences within the families. Through the qualitative analysis, the importance of sociolinguistic factors from the individuals’ perspectives becomes apparent. The data reveal that the role of parental strategies in language exposure, use and policies is crucial but not sufficient in both contexts, indicating that the appreciation of an IML as a medium of instruction constitutes an insuperable condition fostering efficient language maintenance.