Proposed Title of Award: MA English

Proposed Area of Study: Sociolinguistics

Title of study: A study of language shift from one place to another

Context: Language shift occurs when a community who share similar mother
tongue abandon it, and collectively shift to speaking another language. It is
always preceded by multilingualism. Someone cannot shift to a new language
unless he or she learns to speak it. According to Hoffman, “when a community
does not maintain its language, but gradually adopts another one, we talk
about language shift”. As an example, there is a language shift among the
second born Mirpuri immigrants in UK. Their ability to use English enables
them to integrate and settle in an English speaking country. However, the loss
of the Mirpuri language is more in the listening and speaking skills. This
research discusses language shift which are triggered by demographic,
attitude, economic, social, and political factors.
Firstly, demographic factor plays the role in the process of language shift.
When there is a community of speakers moving to a region or a country whose
language is different from theirs, there is a tendency to shift to the new
language. Every time an immigrant learns the native language of the new
country and passes it down to children in place of the old country language.
Secondly, the negative attitudes towards the language can also accelerate
language shift. It occurs where the ethnic language is not highly valued .
Thirdly, language shift is caused by economic reason. Finally, political factor
imposes on language shift. In a multilingual country, the authority usually
chooses one language as the lingua franca to unify various kinds of ethnic
groups.
What kind of assessment methods do you intend to use?
I intend, with the assistance of the faculty, to submit a number of written
assignments, Quizzes, and virtual presentations that prove my research and
support my views concerning language shift from one place to another.
Research Questions :

Which factors play an imperial role in language shift ?

Bibliography:
Hoffman, M. S. (ed.). 1991. World almanac and book of facts . Mahwah, NJ:
World Almanac Books.
Weinreich, U., W. Labov, and M. I. Herzog. 1968. Empirical foundations for a
theory of language change. In W. P. Lehmann and Y. Malkiel (eds.), Directions
for historical linguistics , pp. 95–188. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.