Family Relations and Language Maintenance: Implications for Language Educational Policies

This paper reports a study examining the relationship between family relations and language maintenance, and the implications of this association for language educational policy. We explored patterns of language maintenance and perceptions of family relations among 180 adolescents from families that immigrated to Israel from the former USSR. Findings indicate that language maintenance in the second generation is associated with harmonious family relations and so with the immigrants' well-being. There was no impact of family type on linguistic patterns or on family relations. The findings are discussed in light of their implications for language policy, suggesting an additional and significant reason for promoting language maintenance among second-generation immigrants.