Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Exploring Azerbaijani Speaking Parents’ Linguistic Practices and Ideologies in Ardebil, Iran

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Sociolinguistics of Iran’s Languages at Home and Abroad

Abstract

In this paper, I explore family language policy among Azerbaijani speakers in Ardebil, Iran. Interview sessions were held with families from different socioeconomic backgrounds. The results reveal that different social classes have a strong attachment to their heritage language, Farsi is value-laden, and Azerbaijani is still the dominant language of the families and the society. Yet, family intra-communications does not occur in a vacuum. The “invisible forces” projected on the families by nationwide language policies oblige the families to conform to mainstream education and official language policies. Furthermore, families’ language practices, ideologies, and management strategies work for the upward social movement of the children.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Adegbija, E. (2000). Language attitudes in West Africa. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 141(1), 75–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Auburger, L. (1990). Linguistic minority relations. Sociolinguistica, 4(1), 169–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baker, C. (2011). Education for bilingualism and biliteracy. In C. Baker (Ed.), Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism (pp. 222–252). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

    Google Scholar 

  • Batibo, H. M. (2005). Language decline and death in Africa: Causes, consequences, and challenges. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Blench, R. (1998). The status of the languages of central Nigeria. In M. Brenzinger (Ed.), Endangered languages in Africa (pp. 187–206). Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bortolato, C. (2012). Language maintenance-attrition among generations of the Venetian-Italian community in Anglophone Canada (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/bitstream/handle/10871/13976/BortolatoC.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.

  • Bourke, B. (2014). Positionality: Reflecting on the research process. The Qualitative Report, 19(33), 1–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Canagarajah, A. S. (2008). Language shift and the family: Questions from the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 12(2), 143–176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caruso, M. (2004). Attrition in the verb system of Italian in Australia. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 18(1), 9–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crystal, D. (2000). Language death. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Curdt-Christiansen, X. L. (2013). Editorial: Family language policy—Realities and continuities. Language Policy, 13(1), 1–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Houwer, A. (2009). Bilingual first language acquisition. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Dorian, N. (1973). Grammatical change in a dying dialect. Language, 49, 413–438.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, J. (1994). Multilingualism. London: Penguin Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fishman, J. A. (1964). Language maintenance and language shift as a field of inquiry: A definition of the field and suggestions for its further development. Linguistics, 2(9), 32–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fishman, J. A. (1991). Reversing language shift: Theoretical and empirical foundations of assistance to threatened languages. Clevedon, Avon: Multilingual Matters.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fishman, J. A. (2001). From theory to practice (and vice versa): Review, reconsideration and reiteration. In J. A. Fishman (Ed.), Can threatened languages be saved? Reversing language shift, revisited: A 21st century perspective (pp. 451–483). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Fishman, J. A. (2004). Language maintenance, language Shift, and reversing Language shift. In T. K. Bhatia & C. R. William (Eds.), The handbook of bilingualism and multilingualism (pp. 466–494). Oxford: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fries-Britt, S., & Turner, B. (2002). Uneven stories: Successful black collegians at a black and a white campus. The Review of Higher Education, 25(3), 315–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gal, S. (1978). Peasant men can’t get wives: Language change and sex roles in a bilingual community. Language in Society, 7(1), 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gharibi, K. (2016). Incomplete acquisition, attrition and maintenance of heritage speakers’ family language: Iranians in New Zealand (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from http://researcharchive.vuw.ac.nz/handle/10063/5561.

  • Giles, H., Bourhis, R., & Taylor, D. (1977). Toward a theory of language in ethnic group relations. In H. Giles (Ed.), Language, ethnicity, and intergroup relations (pp. 32–65). London: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gonzo, S. & Saltarelli, M. (1983). Pidginization and linguistic change in emigrant languages. In R. W. Andersen (Ed.), Pidginization and Creolization as Language Acquisition (pp. 181–197). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grenoble, L. A. (2011). Language ecology and endangerment. In P. K. Austin & J. Sallabank (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of endangered languages (pp. 27–44). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • King, K. A., Fogle, L., & Logan-Terry, A. (2008). Family language policy. Language and Linguistic Compass, 2(5), 907–922.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lai, M. L. (2010). Social class and language attitudes in Hong Kong. International Multilingual Research Journal, 4(2), 83–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lane, P. (2010). “We did what we thought was best for our children”: A nexus analysis of language shift in a Kven community. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2010(202), 63–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lanza, E. (2007). Multilingualism in family. In A. Peter & W. Li (Eds.), Handbook of multilingualism and multilingual communication (pp. 45–67). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Letsholo, R. (2009). Language maintenance or shift? Attitudes of Bakalanga youth towards their mother tongue. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 12(5), 581–595.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, W. (1994). Three generations, two languages, one family: Language choice and language shift in a Chinese community in Britain. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lysaght, R. (2009). Language image in national minority language television idents. TG4 (Teilifís na Gaeilge, Ireland) and Whakaata Māori Māori television, New Zealand. Estudios Irlandeses, 4(4), 445–457.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mendel, Y., & AlNajjar, A. (Eds.). (2018). Language, politics and society in the Middle East: Essays in honour of Yasir Suleiman. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, W. R. (1971). The death of a language or serendipity among the Shoshoni. Anthropological Linguistics, 13(3), 114–120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mirvahedi, S. H. (2012, September 12–15). The role of satellite channels in language shift/maintenance: The case of Tabriz, Iran. Paper presented at the Language Endangerment in the 21st Century: Globalisation, Technology and New Media, Auckland, New Zealand.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mirvahedi, S. H. (2017). Exploring family language policy among Azerbaijani-speaking families in the city of Tabriz. In J. Macalister & S. H. Mirvahedi (Eds.), Family language policy in a multilingual world: Challenges, opportunities, and consequences (pp. 92–112). New York and London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mirvahedi, S. H., & Jafari, R. (2018). Family language policy in the city of Zanjan: A city for the forlorn Azerbaijani. International Journal of Multilingualism, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2018.1545019.

  • Mirvahedi, S. H., & Nasjian, N. (2010). Is Azeri going to live or leave? A critical study of institutional supports available to Azeri in Tabriz, Iran. In Proceedings of FEL XIV (pp. 175–180).

    Google Scholar 

  • Modarresi, Y. (2001). The Iranian community in the United States and the maintenance of Persian. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2001(148), 93–116. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl.2001.017.

  • Montrul, S. (2005). Second language acquisition and first language loss in adult early bilinguals: Exploring some differences and similarities. Second Language Research, 21(3), 199–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Naemi, S. (2012). Iranians in Sweden: A study of language maintenance and shift. Uppsala, Sweden: Edita Västra Aros.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nouri, N. (2015). Is Azerbaijani Turkish an endangered language? Language attitudes among Azerbaijani youth in Tabriz. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 5(7), 1476–1481.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nyathi-Ramahobo, L. (2000). Linguistic and cultural domination: The case of Wayeyi of Botswana. In H. M. Batibo & B. Smieja (Eds.), Botswana: The future of minority languages (pp. 217–234). Frankfurt: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Papapavlou, A., & Pavlou, P. (2001). The interplay of language use and language maintenance and the cultural identity of Greek Cypriots in the UK. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 11(1), 92–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park, S. M., & Sarkar, M. (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 Curriculum, 20(3), 223–235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pauwels, A. (2016). Language maintenance and shift. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Phinney, J. S., Romero, I., Nava, M., & Huang, D. (2001). The role of language, parents, and peers in ethnic identity among adolescents in immigrant families. Journal of Youth and Adolescents, 30(2), 135–153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rezaei, S., Latifi, A., & Nematzadeh, A. (2017). Attitude towards Azeri language in Iran: A large-scale survey research. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 38(10), 931–941.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, M. (1991). The New Zealand-born Chinese community of Wellington: Aspects of language maintenance and shift. In J. Holmes & R. Harlow (Eds.), Threads in the New Zealand tapestry of language (pp. 31–70). Auckland: Linguistic Society of New Zealand.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaffer, B. (2000). The formation of Azerbaijani collective identity in Iran. Nationalities Papers, 28(3), 449–477. https://doi.org/10.1080/713687484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shenton, A. K. (2004). Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects. Education for Information, 22(2), 63–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shin, S. J. (2013). Bilingualism in schools and society: Language, identity, and policy. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shohamy, E. (2006). Language Policy: Hidden agendas and new approaches. London and New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (1998). Human rights and language wrongs: A future for diversity? Language Sciences, 20(1), 5–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smieja, B., & Batibo, H. M. (2000). Language shift tendencies: Fashion or rules? In H. M. Batibo & B. Smieja (Eds.), Botswana: The future of minority languages (pp. 35–54). Frankfurt: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spolsky, B. (2009). Language management. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Tekin, T. (1991). A new classification of the Turkic languages. Türk Dilleri Araştırmaları, 1, 5–18. Retrieved from http://azjatystyka.amu.edu.pl/dok/TEKIN.A_NEW_CLASSIFICATION.pdf.

  • Tohidi, N. (2009). Ethnicity and religious minority politics in Iran. In A. Gheissari (Ed.), Contemporary Iran: Economy, society, politics (pp. 299–323). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Visser, H. (2000). Language and culture empowerment of the Khoesan people: The Naro experience. In H. M. Batibo & B. Smieja (Eds.), Botswan: The future of the minority languages (pp. 193–215). Frankfurt: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yu, S. (2010). How much does parental language behavior reflect their language beliefs in language maintenance? Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, 20(1), 1–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeinalabedini, A. (2014). The people’s attitude towards the language use in the local media broadcast: A case study of Azerbaijani language in Tabriz. Khazar Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, 17(4), 5–27.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

    Rasoul Jafari

Authors
  1. Rasoul Jafari
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Seyed Hadi Mirvahedi

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Jafari, R. (2019). Exploring Azerbaijani Speaking Parents’ Linguistic Practices and Ideologies in Ardebil, Iran. In: Mirvahedi, S. (eds) The Sociolinguistics of Iran’s Languages at Home and Abroad. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19605-9_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19605-9_2

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-19604-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-19605-9

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation