Description
Parental language attitudes play a crucial role in the intergenerational transmission of minority languages as they affect parents’ language use in the home— which, in turn, influences children’s language acquisition (Byers-Heinlein et al., 2025). The present, pre- registered, questionnaire-based study investigates parental language attitudes and the intergenerational transmission of Frisian in Fryslân as well as Nordfriesland. The participant sample consists of over 500 Frisian-speaking parents of children aged 0–4, some of whom are raising their children with and some without Frisian in the home (data collection is ongoing).Our research questions are: 1) what variables constitute predictors of parental attitudes towards Frisian, and 2) how do these predictors overlap and/or differ between parents in Fryslân and Nordfriesland? Attitudes towards Frisian are examined in terms of the two main evaluative dimensions of language attitudes, namely status (Frisian holds utilitarian value) and solidarity (Frisian strengthens social identity). A regression analysis is employed to identify significant predictors in both contexts.
Based on previous findings from other target populations and other contexts (e.g., Baker et al., 1992; Belmar, 2019; Kircher, 2022; Kircher et al., 2023), we hypothesize a significant
relationship between attitudes to Frisian and: i) the language(s) currently transmitted to child (Frisian transmitting vs. non-Frisian transmitting parents), ii) frequency of language use, iii) self-reported proficiency in Frisian, and iv) place of residence (urban vs. rural) as a proxy for population density. Comparing the data from Fryslân and Nordfriesland will allow us to disentangle context- and language-specific predictors of attitudes from predictors which are more stable across different settings.
We will present our final findings and discuss them in terms of their contribution to the theoretical models of language attitudes. The key predictors will be discussed with respect to their relevance for developing support measures for multilingual families, and particularly those raising their children with Frisian. This will further aid minority language maintenance and revitalization.
| Period | 12 Nov 2025 |
|---|---|
| Event title | Third Conference on Frisian Humanities: Bridges and Boundaries - Fryslân in a Global Context |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Leeuwarden, NetherlandsShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |