Integration, Identity and Language Maintenance in Young Immigrants

Download or read book Integration, Identity and Language Maintenance in Young Immigrants written by Ludmila Isurin and published by John Benjamins Publishing Company. This book was released on 2017-04-12 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The volume presents a selection of contributions related to integration, adaptation, language attitudes and language change among young Russian-speaking immigrants in Germany. At the turn of the century, Germany, which defined itself as a mono-ethnic and mono-racial society, has become a country integrating various immigrant groups. Among those, there are three different types of Russian immigrants: Russian Germans, Russian Jews and ethnic Russians, all three often perceived as “Russians” by the host country. The three groups have the same linguistic background, but a different ethnicity, known as “nationality”, a separate entry in Russian official documents. This defined the immigration paths and the subsequent integration into German society, where each group strives to position itself in relation to two other groups in the same migrant space. The book discusses the complexities of belonging and (self-/other) assignment to groups as well as the attitude to language maintenance among young Russian-speaking immigrants.