Whether immigrants and their descendants maintain or lose the mother tongue is central to debates about national and ethnic identities and immigrant integration. This is true in Canada, where language is a defining characteristic of the social and political landscape and large-scale migration has contributed to the country’s linguistic diversity. Whereas theories of linguistic assimilation predict mother-tongue loss in a few generations, interracial, interethnic, or cross-generational marriages may slow this process. This study examines whether official language(s) use at home is associated with spousal characteristics and how this association varies by generation and ethnic ancestry. Spousal characteristics and language use are positively associated, net of ethnic and religious context, parental characteristics, and individual characteristics. The movement toward official language(s) use only at home may be accelerated by spouses with the same first language or educated spouses, but this process can be delayed for individuals in foreign-born and endogamous marriages.
AlbaRichardLoganJohnLutzAmyStultsBrian. 2002. “Only English by the Third Generation? Loss and Preservation of the Mother Tongue among the Grandchildren of Contemporary Immigrants.” Demography39(3):467–84.
2.
ArriagadaPaula A.2005. “Family Context and Spanish-Language Use: A Study of Latino Children in the United States*.” Social Science Quarterly86(3):599–619.
3.
BaschLindaGlick SchillerNinaSzantonChristina. 1994. Nations Unbound. London, England: Gordon and Breach Science.
4.
BloemraadIrene. 2005. “The Limits of De Tocqueville: How Government Facilitates Organisational Capacity in Newcomer Communities.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies31(5):865–87.
5.
Canadian Education Association. 1991. Heritage Language Programs in Canadian School Boards. Toronto, ON: Canadian Education Association.
6.
ChiswickBarry R.MillerPaul W.1996. “Ethnic Networks and Language Proficiency among Immigrants.” Journal of Population Economics9(1):19–35.
7.
ChiswickBarry R.MillerPaul W.2001. “A Model of Destination-language Acquisition: Application to Male Immigrants in Canada.” Demography38(3):391–409.
8.
ChoGrace. 2000. “The Role of Heritage Language in Social Interactions and Relationships: Reflections from a Language Minority Group.” Bilingual Research Journal24(4):369–84.
9.
ChuiTinaFlandersJohn. 2013. Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity in Canada. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 99-010-X2011001. Ottawa, Ontario.
10.
CumminsJim. 1981. “Age on Arrival and Immigrant Second Language Learning in Canada.” Applied Linguistics11(2):132–49.
11.
DuffPatricia A.2008. “Heritage Language Education in Canada.” Pp. 71-90 in Heritage Language Education, edited by BrintonD. M.KaganO.BauckusS.New York, NY: Routledge/Taylor & Francis.
12.
FelicianoCynthiaLeeRennieRobnettBelinda. 2011. “Racial Boundaries among Latinos: Evidence from Internet Daters’ Racial Preferences.” Social Problems58(2):189–212.
13.
FishmanJoshua. 1972. The Sociology of Language. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
14.
FonerNancy. 2002. From Ellis Island to JFK. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
15.
FonerNancy. 2005. In a New Land. New York: New York University Press.
16.
FongEric, ed. 2006. Inside the Mosaic. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.
17.
GordonMilton M.1964. Assimilation in American Life. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
18.
GrenierGilles. 1984. “Shifts to English as Usual Language by Americans of Spanish Mother Tongue.” Social Science Quarterly65(2):537–50.
19.
IshizawaHiromi. 2004. “Minority Language Use among Grandchildren in Multigenerational Households.” Sociological Perspectives47(4):465–83.
20.
JensenLeifChitoseYoshimi. 1994. “Today’s Second Generation.” International Migration Review28(4):714–35.
21.
JiménezTómas R. 2010. Replenished Ethnicity. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press.
22.
JohnsonJacqueline S.Newport.Elissa L.1989. “Critical Period Effects in Second Language Learning.” Cognitive Psychology21: 60–99.
23.
KalbachM. A.2002. “Ethnic Intermarriage in Canada.” Canadian Ethnic Studies34(2):25–39.
24.
KalmijnMatthijs. 1993. “Spouse Selection among the Children of European Immigrants.” International Migration Review27(1):51–78.
25.
KelleyNinetteTrebilcockMichael J.1998. The Making of the Mosaic. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.
26.
KimChigonMinPyong G.2010. “Marital Patterns and Use of Mother Tongue at Home among Native-born Asian Americans.” Social Forces89(1):233–56.
27.
KrashenStephen D.LongMichael A.ScarcellaRobin C.1979. “Age, Rate and Eventual Attainment in Second Language Acquisition.” TESOL Quarterly13(4):573–82.
28.
KymlickaWill. 2007. “Language Policies, National Identities, and Liberal-democratic Norms.” Pp. 505–15 in Language and Governance, edited by Colin H. Williams. Cardiff, Wales: University of Wales Press.
29.
LeemanJennifer. 2004. “Racializing Language.” Journal of Language and Politics3(3):507–34.
30.
LintonAprilJiménezTómas R.2009. “Contexts for Bilingualism among US-born Latinos.” Ethnic and Racial Studies32(6):967–95.
31.
LopezDavid E.1996. “Language, Diversity, and Assimilation.” Pp. 139–64 in Ethnic Los Angeles, edited by WaldingerR.BozorgmehrM.New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
32.
LopezDavid E.1999. “Social and Linguistic Aspects of Assimilation Today.” Pp. 212–22 in The Handbook of International Migration, edited by HirschmanC.KasinitzP.DeWindJ.New York, NY: Russsell Sage Foundation.
33.
LutzAmy. 2006. “Spanish Maintenance among English-speaking Latino Youth.” Social Forces84(3):1417–33.
34.
MareRobert D.1991. “Five Decades of Educational Assortative Mating.” American Sociological Review56(1):15–32.
35.
MinPyon G.KimChigon. 2009. “Patterns of Intermarriages and Cross-generational in-marriages among Native-born Asian Americans.” International Migration Review43(3):447–70.
36.
OriyamaKaya. 2010. “Heritage Learning Maintenance and Japanese Identity Formation.” Heritage Language Journal7(2):76–111.
ParkSeong M.SarkarMela. 2007. “Parents’ Attitudes toward Heritage Language Maintenance for Their Children and Their Efforts to Help Their Children Maintain the Heritage Language: A Case Study of Korean-Canadian Immigrants.” Language, Culture and Curriculum20(3):223–35.
39.
PortesAlejandroHaoLingxin. 1998. “E Pluribus Unum: Bilingualism and Loss of Language in the Second Generation.” Sociology of Education71(4):269–94.
40.
PortesAlejandroHaoLingxin. 2004. “The Schooling of Children of Immigrants: Contextual Effects on the Educational Attainment of the Second Generation.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America101(33):11920–27.
41.
PortesAlejandroSchaufflerRichard. 1994. “Language and the Second Generation: Bilingualism Yesterday and Today.” International Migration Review28(4):640–61.
42.
PortesAlejandroRumbaut.Rubén G.2001. Legacies: The Story of the Immigrant Second Generation. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press.
43.
PortesAlejandroRumbautRubén G.2006. Immigrant America. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press.
44.
QianZhenchaoBlairSampson LeeRufStacey D.2001. “Asian American Interracial and Interethnic Marriages.” International Migration Review35(2):557–86.
45.
RicentoThomas. 2013. “The Consequences of Official Bilingualism on the Status and Perception of Non-official Languages in Canada.” Journal of Multilingual & Multicultural Development34(5):475–89.
46.
RichardMadeline A.1991. Ethnic Groups and Marital Choices. Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia Press.
47.
RosenfeldMichael J.2008. “Racial, Educational and Religious Endogamy in the United States: A Comparative Historical Perspective.” Social Forces87(1):1–31.
48.
RumbautRubén G.MasseyDouglas S.BeanFrank D.2006. “Linguistic Life Expectancies: Immigrant Language Retention in Southern California.” Population and Development Review32(3):447–60.
49.
SchraufRobert W.1999. “Mother Tongue Maintenance among North American Ethnic Groups.” Cross-Cultural Research33(2):175–92.
50.
ShinSarah J.2010. “What about Me? I’m Not Like Chinese but I’ m Not Like American”: Heritage-language Learning and Identity of Mixed-heritage AdultsJournal of Language, Identity & Education9(3):203–19.
51.
SoehlThomas. 2016. “But Do They Speak It? The Intergenerational Transmission of Home-country Language in Migrant Families in France.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies42(9):1–24.
StevensGillian. 1985. “Nativity, Intermarriage, and Mother-tongue Shift.” American Sociological Review50(1):74–83.
55.
StevensGillian. 1992. “The Social and Demographic Context of Language Use in the United States.” American Sociological Review57(2):171–85.
56.
StevensGillianIshizawaHiromi. 2007. “Variation among Siblings in the Use of a Non-English Language.” Journal of Family Issues28(8):1008–25.
57.
StevensGillianSchoenRobert. 1988. “Linguistic Intermarriage in the United States.” Journal of Marriage and Family50(1):267–79.
58.
VeltmanCalvin. 1983. Language Shift in the United States. Berlin, Germany: Mouton Publishers.
59.
WatersMary C.TranVan C.KasinitzPhilipMollenkopfJohn H.2010. “Segmented Assimilation Revisited: Types of Acculturation and Socioeconomic Mobility in Young Adulthood.” Ethnic and Racial Studies33(7):1168–93.
60.
WeiLi. 1994. Three Generations, Two Languages, One Family. Clevedon, United Kingdom: Multilingual Matters.
