PI: Ronald Breiger, University of Arizona Co-PI: Tiffiny Guidry McKeon, University of Arizona
This research uses an innovative approach, devised by the PIs, to study of how bilingualism (the speaking of two languages) relates to biculturalism (living in two cultures). The approach brings together research traditions and relevant analytical methods that span several fields: the sociological study of affect, network analysis, and linguistic and quantitative anthropology. While measuring perceptions of cultural elements and the connections of those elements to one another, the study asks three questions: 1) How interconnected are language and culture? 2) Do we use the same thoughts when we speak different languages? and 3) How does our conception of a culture change as the language to which it is connected dies? There are many cultures and subcultures existing in the dynamic society of the United States for which these questions are relevant. This project studies the Louisiana Cajuns living in and around Lafayette, LA. While elderly members of the culture still speak an extremely well-preserved form of the immigrant French language brought to the area in the mid-1700s by French-Acadian settlers, younger generations speak either no French at all or are taught only Standard French. The attempted revitalization since the 1970s of the Cajun culture in Louisiana provides a unique opportunity to study the connection between language and culture. The PIs employ survey methods within three different age cohorts -- elderly, middle-aged, and young adult -- to gain an understanding of how people feel about their culture and how cultural conceptions change with age and language spoken. Being also interested in the preservation of culture, the PIs conduct video-recorded personal interviews with the elderly study participants. Such data are scientifically valuable to understanding the affective differences between languages, how affective conceptions of culture change over time, and the mental mapping of cultural elements based in language. The video recordings, while providing an opportunity for gestural and sociolinguistic analyses, will also provide a folk record of stories and personal histories in both Cajun French and English. Groups like the Louisiana Cajuns will lose their native language within a few generations.
Broader Impacts: The methods and techniques developed in this study may be used by other researchers to both record and understand the symbiotic relationship between minority languages and cultures threatened by extinction in other areas of the country and the world. The research can contribute to those interested in cultural preservation.
