Advocacy
It may be felt that language shift is an inevitable trend in a metropolitan setting, with intermarriage parents. It seems more important that the child learn the dominant language (Cantonese, English or Mandarin) as it matters for their future education and success. While most parents in our interview did not explicitly discuss language transmission issue, it seems that there is a tacit agreement: the child should learn the dominant language. This can be reflected from the fact that most fathers have very little, or even no knowledge of the mother’s native tongue. Daily conversation is mainly done in the husband’s language. Some may blame the linguistic environment, but the distribution of linguistic power is uneven between the two sexes. Some interviewees mourned the failure of language transmission. Some felt that it is not important for the children to learn it. But are dominant languages the only choice?
The answer is no. Even in intermarriages, both native languages of the parents can be transmitted. Sorenson (1967) reports that in regions where language is used to demarcated exogamous tribe unit, multilingualism is possible: a child learns both his fathers and mothers language, a regional lingua franca and also some languages of the neighboring communities. However, it is pointed out that the couple communicates mainly in the father’s language, as the region is patrilineal. Then why the child still manages to learn the mother’s language? This is because the mother will talk to the child when she is alone with the child, and she would interact in her language with people from the same tribe (mostly women who married another man in the father’s tribe) in the father’s village. Hence the child has sufficient exposure to both his mother’s and father’s language. While tribes sound primitive, we believe the principle of multilingualism works everywhere. With early and sufficient exposure, even children in a metropolitan setting can acquire both languages of the parents in an intermarriage.
Therefore, teaching children more than one language is desirable as this improves their competitiveness and prospect without imposing any harm to the children’s development. A loss of the ancestral language in an intermarriage family can also effectively be prevented. Besides, the followings can be achieved:
Cultural preservation
There is rich literature demonstrating the close link between language and culture. While the inevitable effect of lexical structures on human’s thought has long been confirmed, some scientists has also discovered an interaction between grammar and event perception, as well as syntactic structure and attribution. In addition, according to Wardhaugh (2010), “culture is whatever a person must know in order to function in a particular society (P.221).” Put simply, culture represents a particular sets of values and worldview, and a way of living to certain groups of people. It also represents the bond between the parents and the children. Like the case for Mrs. Chau, the oral tradition of Northern Thai are preserved through the transmission of language with the absence of writing system representing the language.
Economic consideration
As Mrs. Ho’s son has reflected, it is more beneficial to have learnt French in the first place as it would have provided him with more opportunities and made life easier for him. An additional language would be an apparent advantage for any individual, whether or not it is a minority language or a prestigious language. This is a view that every mother we have interviewed share. A shared means of communication is the prerequisite of any business transaction. The shared repertoire would serve as a channel to a brand new market to a company. The need for multilingual professionals is of great demand, which guarantees better prospect for the language users.
Identity
Mrs. Shum has repeatedly stressed on the connection between language and identity. The ability to master a language signifies a person’s identity. Everyone is born with his or her own identity, which is not to be altered in any occasion. It is their responsibility to perform accordingly in consideration of their own identity. People are special because of their own identity. It is one that they can take pride in and one that they emotionally bond. Apart from Mrs. Shum, Mrs. Ho, Mrs. Chau and Mrs. Wu also speak of the resembled memory of their encountering the difficulties they had in their childhood speaking their language, although the transmission of language may not be possible in some of these cases.
Minimize language loss
Teaching children from an intermarriage family their mothers’ native languages helps minimize language loss, especially when the language is an endangered one. Northern Thai, according to Mrs. Chau, is threatened by Standard Thai as more and more children in Northern Thailand have switched to speaking Standard Thai as their native language. Mrs. Chau’s son’s ability and willingness to speak the language helps keep the language active and alive. It also promotes linguistic diversity within the Hong Kong society.