Effects of Assimilation among Second-Generation Immigrants in the United States
Session Title
Inclusion and Community
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Department
World Languages & Cultures
Faculty Mentor
Anna Igou, Ph.D.
Abstract
This documentary film will investigate linguistic and cultural assimilation of second-generation immigrants in the United States. I have observed that many individuals born to immigrant parents have either chosen not to, or been denied the option to learn the native language of their parents’ countries of origin. In a 2002 study, Richard Alba theorized that by the third generation, the native language is predominantly replaced by English within the home. In Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood by Richard Rodriguez, the author shares feelings of guilt associated with linguistic and cultural acculturation. I want to see if this assimilation into American culture has affected individuals’ relationships to their families. Have they had difficulties, or been unable to communicate with their relatives or close family? Do they have regrets, or are they content with their inability to speak their parents’ native languages? I will be asking these questions of several Winthrop students who come from first-generation families and do not speak their parents’ native tongues. This project will allow me to uncover the complex nature of some of these students’ individual experiences, and bring a greater understanding to the effects of American linguistic and cultural assimilation on second-generation immigrants.
Course Assignment
FREN 360 – Igou and Burmeister
Start Date
12-4-2019 12:45 PM
Effects of Assimilation among Second-Generation Immigrants in the United States
WEST 217
This documentary film will investigate linguistic and cultural assimilation of second-generation immigrants in the United States. I have observed that many individuals born to immigrant parents have either chosen not to, or been denied the option to learn the native language of their parents’ countries of origin. In a 2002 study, Richard Alba theorized that by the third generation, the native language is predominantly replaced by English within the home. In Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood by Richard Rodriguez, the author shares feelings of guilt associated with linguistic and cultural acculturation. I want to see if this assimilation into American culture has affected individuals’ relationships to their families. Have they had difficulties, or been unable to communicate with their relatives or close family? Do they have regrets, or are they content with their inability to speak their parents’ native languages? I will be asking these questions of several Winthrop students who come from first-generation families and do not speak their parents’ native tongues. This project will allow me to uncover the complex nature of some of these students’ individual experiences, and bring a greater understanding to the effects of American linguistic and cultural assimilation on second-generation immigrants.
