Abstract:

There is little doubt that over recent years, the Internet has provided new and virtual domains where intergenerational synchronous and asynchronous communication is facilitated and where self-representation and the working through of issues around identity and desire can and does take place.

The research presented in this paper sought to develop a deeper understanding of the impact of Web 2.0 technologies on the maintenance of home languages and on the efforts of families to ensure that their children develop age appropriate knowledge and skills in their home language and culture. The data presented here is drawn from two major funded research projects that investigated the availabilities and uptake of languages at a local level in Sydney and Wollongong, Australia. This research have closely investigated the language practices and attitudes of school students across mainstream schools, community schools and the government Saturday Schools of Community Languages. Both studies identified complex patterns of language use in families and communities and firmly established that Internet based applications and travel are factors that are having major impacts on the language practices of families who speak a language additional to English in the home. An important finding in this study was the clear disjuncture between the home use of web 2.0 technologies and the school use of these.

Evidence for more creative and more interactive application of these technologies in the home context will be presented and discussed. The paper will discuss the family based interactions around technologies such as Skype, blogs and messaging apps and the profound influence these technologies had on the perceptions of school age children about their home language. This is having a huge impact on the ways in which second and third generation speakers of community language are relating to their home language and to grandparents and friends, relatives overseas. The relationship between Web 2.0 technologies and the ethno-linguistic vitality of the languages that formed the focus of this research will also be examined. There is little doubt that over recent years, the Internet has provided new and virtual domains where intergenerational synchronous and asynchronous communication is facilitated and where self-representation and the working through of issues around identity and desire can and does take place.

Keywords:

Web 2.0, Home Language Maintenance.