ABSTRACT
Emotionality is increasingly given prominence in the field of language acquisition and socialization in migration contexts. This cross-sectional study explores the emotional experiences of Chinese and African immigrant families in their practices of maintaining their children's heritage languages. We used open-ended interviews, field notes from informal conversations and observations, photographic evidence of children's literacy practices, and language portrait (LP) descriptions, to collect data. Results from an ethnographic analysis of the data revealed a whole range of negative and positive parental emotions (e.g., anxiety, loss, shame vs. enjoyment, accomplishment, and pride), in the discourse of maintaining heritage and minority languages. We discuss the language emotions, whether positive or negative, in light of language ideologies, which specifically points to the significance of profit discourse in the formation of family language policies (FLPs). This materialistic valorization reveals the complexities of power relations between English and minority languages, between Chinese and African languages, and within various Chinese and African languages. Consequently, the distinct hierarchies between English and minority languages and the hidden layers within minority languages further legitimate diasporic ideologies of Chinese and African parents in terms of the emotionality associated with prioritizing, maintaining, and forgoing languages. These findings suggests that language emotionality is of vital importance to the psycho-social wellbeing of immigrant families and has practical implications for policymakers and heritage language research.
ABSTRACT
Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine the association between home visit programs and emergency preparedness among elderly vulnerable people in New South Wales, Australia. Method: The study used data acquired from an intervention program run by emergency agencies and consisted of 370 older people. Seven emergency outcome measures were examined by adjusting for key demographic factors, using a generalized estimating equation model, to examine the association between home visit programs and emergency preparedness. Results: The study revealed that knowledge demonstrated by participants during visits and post home visits showed significant improvements in the seven emergency outcome measures. The odds of finding out what emergencies might affect one's area were significantly lower among older participants who were born outside Australia and those who were women. Discussion: The findings suggest that the intervention via home visits and periodic reminders post these visits may be a useful intervention in improving emergency preparedness among older people, especially among men and those who were born outside of Australia. In addition, other reminders such as safety messaging via mobile or landline telephone calls may also be a supplementary and useful intervention to improve emergency preparedness among older people.
