Towards conceptualizing ‘demographic agency’ in Family Language Policy

The case of Arabic-Persian bilingual families in Iran

Authors

  • Seyed Hadi Mirvahedi University of Groningen Author
  • Kamal Nawasser Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/sols.24780

Keywords:

Iranian Arabs, demographic agency, Persian, language maintenance, Iran

Abstract

This article investigates the success story of language maintenance in Arab families in Iran. Taking Fishman’s (1991) emphasis on micro face-to-face interactions in language maintenance processes as our point of departure, it argues that language maintenance requires that families live in a sociolinguistic milieu in which face-to-face interactions are facilitated by demographic patterns of settlement. Despite unfavorable institutional policies towards minority languages in Iran, the specific geographical makeup of the country has historically pushed speakers of minority languages to settle in certain regions (Katouzian, 2009). Drawing on Sealey and Carter’s (2004) concept of ‘demographic agency’, this article argues that such a demographic settlement of Arabs in southern cities and towns in Iran has given them a collective power to maintain their language, which takes the form of laissez-faire interactions in Arabic at home. The findings, based on interviews with families and recordings of interactions at home, suggest that, although parents express concern regarding their children’s academic achievement and socioeconomic mobility, which requires higher proficiency in Persian, this concern does not readily translate into language practices in Persian at home.

Author Biographies

  • Seyed Hadi Mirvahedi, University of Groningen

    Seyed Hadi Mirvahedi is an Assistant Professor of Language and Society at the Center for Language and Cognition, University of Groningen, the Netherlands. His research has focused on multilingualism in policy and practice, investigating ideological dimensions of national language policies, policy formation and implementation, and visual language use in multilingual communities.

  • Kamal Nawasser, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz

    Kamal Nawaser is an MA graduate from Shahid University of Ahvaz, Khuzestan, Iran. His main research interests include bilingualism, family language policy, home language maintenance and shift, with a special interest in the Arabic-speaking minority in Iran.

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Published

2024-04-29

How to Cite

Mirvahedi, S. H., & Nawasser, K. (2024). Towards conceptualizing ‘demographic agency’ in Family Language Policy: The case of Arabic-Persian bilingual families in Iran. Sociolinguistic Studies, 18(1-2), 175-198. https://doi.org/10.1558/sols.24780