Identity and Relationships

Language plays a role in the identity of people of Indian heritage: learning how to connect with their own culture and choosing which parts of American culture and Indian culture they want to identify with. Identity is an individual journey (Reich). For every person, knowing their ancestor’s mother tongue contributes to their identity in a different manner because the question constantly being asked by everyone is “How can we define ourselves?”. This page focuses on the broad associations of language with identity and relationships, but the survey and interviews provide an in-depth look into multiple peoples’ journeys.

Cultural Identity

Bilingualism aids second and third generation Indian children in becoming bicultural: “having or combining the cultural attitudes and customs of two nations, people, or ethnic groups” or American and Indian culture (Reich). Learning the mother tongue allows children to understand specific slang, customs, norms, etc. that cannot be correctly communicated in English. Children can feel a greater connection to the national heritage of India but more specifically the regional heritage(s) of their parents or grandparents.

Familial Relationships

Between bilingualism and a better well-being / better intergenerational familial relationships, there is a positive association (Müller). The first-generation population feels more comfortable speaking in their first language. There is less "intergenerational tension" due to a lack of a language barrier (Shankar). One way Indian children connect to the language, friends of the same heritage, and their parents is by watching movies and listening to songs in different languages from India, movies that are part of a popular film industry called Bollywood (Shankar).

From https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bollywood_dance_show_in_Bristol.jpg. By Skip. Used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0.

From https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Projection_of_the_Demographics_in_USA.jpg. By Masaqui. Used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported.

Navigating American Society

Minority languages face discrimination in society, and fear on speaking the language, accents, and exposing their culture can possibly lead to a lack of willingness to want to learn the mother tongue. It could also lead to not wanting to express a part of their linguistic identity in public, especially due to prevalence of English in society and education. However, these feelings do not apply to everyone, and people choose to connect in different manners to their culture.

Works Cited

Müller, Lisa-Maria, et al. "Bilingualism in the Family and Child Well-Being: A Scoping Review." Sage Journals, Sage Publications, 12 June 2020, journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1367006920920939. Accessed 12 Dec. 2022.

Reich, Leana. "Striking a Balance: Identity, Language, and Belonging in the Gujarati-American Immigrant Community." University of Pennsylvania, 4 Apr. 2019, repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1192&context=anthro_seniortheses. Accessed 12 Dec. 2022.

Shankar, Shalini, et al. "Asian American Youth Language Use: Perspectives Across Schools and Communities." Review of Research in Education, vol. 35, 2011, pp. 1–28. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41349010. Accessed 13 Dec. 2022.