Kalbinės nuostatos ir kalbinis elgesys: kieno poveikis stipresnis? Tarptautinio įvaikinimo situacijos tyrimas ir sąsajos su emigracija

JOGILĖ TERESA RAMONAITĖ Institute of the Lithuanian Language LANGUAGE ATTITUDES AND LANGUAGE BEHAVIOR: WHICH HAS THE STRONGER INFLUENCE? A STUDY OF THE INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION SITUATION AND ITS CONNECTIONS WITH EMIGRATION KEYWORDS: language attitudes, maintenance of the Lithuanian language, international adoption, language behavior. ABSTRACT Language attitudes and language behavior are important factors in language maintenance in situations where two languages coexist in one space, especially when one of those languages is the dominant language of the surrounding environment and the other is a minority language or a language used only at home, for example, in emigration. The article examines language attitudes in atypical circumstances—international adoption. It analyzes data from a sociolinguistic survey of families who adopted children from Lithuania to Italy. In the situation under study, attitudes cannot affect actual language behavior, making it possible to see how a language is not maintained and how quickly this happens, despite the adoptive parents’ positive language attitudes. ABSTRACT Language attitudes and language behaviour are important factors for language maintenance in a situation of two languages in one space, especially when one of those languages is the dominating language of the environment and the other is a minority or only a home language, for instance, in case of emigration. The paper deals with language attitudes in an atypical situation of international adoption. It analyses data from a sociolinguistic survey to Italian families who have adopted children from Lithuania. In the situation under study the attitudes cannot influence the language behaviour and this gives a possibility to observe how the language is not maintained and how rapid the process is, despite the positive language attitudes of the adoptive parents. BENDRINĖ KALBA 94 (2021) http://journals.lki.lt/bendrinekalba ISSN 2351-7204 JOGILĖ TERESA RAMONAITĖ. Kalbinės nuostatos ir kalbinis elgesys: kieno poveikis stipresnis? | 2 doi.org/10.35321/bkalba.2021.94.04 INTRODUCTION The question of language maintenance after moving abroad has been examined for a long time, particularly in recent decades in the context of globalization, and it has become especially relevant to Lithuanians because of the exceptionally large scale of emigration after Lithuania regained its independence. Linguists in Lithuania are interested in language-related issues connected with emigration, and numerous studies of various kinds have been conducted to establish the linguistic attitudes and behavior of the Lithuanian diaspora, family language policies, and other matters. Two large diaspora research projects were carried out by researchers at Vilnius University in 2011–2013 and 2015–2017 (Ramonienė 2015, 2019a); aspects of language acquisition in emigration and issues of bilingualism have also been examined (Blažienė 2016; Hilbig 2020; Vaišėtaitė 2020). The aforementioned studies of the Lithuanian diaspora, as well as other sources (e.g., the media), show that people who left Lithuania to live abroad after independence was restored often regard the Lithuanian language, at least initially, as something they can take for granted. For the newest emigrants, it remains close to them and is generally used thanks to technological possibilities that allow them not only to communicate frequently via audio and video with relatives or friends who remained in Lithuania, but also to follow news from Lithuania, watch various programs, and so on. Thus, the question of language maintenance usually does not even arise for the first generation of emigrants. It becomes relevant when considering the next generation—in other words, young children who emigrated with their parents or were born after emigration. They live in conditions where the amount of the ambient language usually exceeds that of Lithuanian many times over, and such conditions are not conducive to acquiring or maintaining Lithuanian; other factors could influence this. Linguists who study language maintenance agree that the linguistic attitudes of individuals and communities are highly important. They comprise several components and influence linguistic behavior, but it is not easy to determine precisely how, or to what extent. This article seeks to examine attitudes separately from behavior—in other words, cases in which attitudes cannot influence behavior because the language is simply not known. Such an atypical situation, reminiscent even of an experiment, arises in cases of international adoption, when families adopt children from another country and do not know its language. For nearly two decades now, children for whom no families can be found in Lithuania itself have been adopted from Lithuania abroad. Foreigners who come to meet a child, because of the emotional significance of adoption itself and BENDRINĖ KALBA 94 (2021) http://journals.lki.lt/bendrinekalba ISSN 2351-7204 JOGILĖ TERESA RAMONAITĖ. Kalbinės nuostatos ir kalbinis elgesys: kieno poveikis stipresnis? | 3 doi.org/10.35321/bkalba.2021.94.04 their motives, and because the adoption procedure requires them to spend some time in Lithuania, often become true admirers of Lithuania. Although no one requires them to do so, they take an interest in Lithuanian customs, the history of Lithuania, and other matters, but, unsurprisingly, they do not learn the language. This article analyzes data from a quantitative sociolinguistic survey administered to such adoptive parents and seeks to establish how their linguistic attitudes are related to the maintenance of their adopted children's native language. It should be noted that data related to adoption are particularly difficult to obtain, since the law protects the confidentiality of adoption. Consequently, abroad as well, any research involving adopted children is possible only by inviting those who adopted them to volunteer, most often in connection with children's language disorders, or by inviting adoptees who are already adults, for example, to participate in neurolinguistic studies (cf. Glennen 2002; Geren et al. 2005; Hyltenstam et al. 2009; Gauthier, Genesee 2011; Pallier et al. 2003; but see also Schmid 20121; DiGregorio 20092; Vrobel et al. 20203). The empirical material used in this article is part of a broader sociolinguistic study whose respondents were parents who had adopted children with typical development and no specific language disorders. In addition, the respondents had adopted relatively recently, so the children's linguistic development was still well remembered. The aim of the article is to examine linguistic attitudes when they are detached from possible linguistic behavior and to offer insights relevant not only to language researchers but also to Lithuanians living in emigration. This will be done first by briefly discussing linguistic attitudes and the situation of international adoption in general, as well as the specific survey of adoptive parents; the closed-ended survey questions related to the topic under discussion will then be analyzed, along with particular situations revealed by answers to the survey's open-ended questions. The concluding section offers insights relevant to typical diaspora situations. 1 On L1 attrition under exceptional conditions. 2 An ethnographic study from an educational perspective. 3 A broad interdisciplinary work on the situation in the United States, mainly from a social sciences perspective. BENDRINĖ KALBA 94 (2021) http://journals.lki.lt/bendrinekalba ISSN 2351-7204 JOGILĖ TERESA RAMONAITĖ. Kalbinės nuostatos ir kalbinis elgesys: kieno poveikis stipresnis? | 4 doi.org/10.35321/bkalba.2021.94.04 1. LANGUAGE ATTITUDES AND LANGUAGE BEHAVIOUR IN EMIGRATION AND ADOPTION SITUATIONS Although language attitudes are often discussed, they are not easy to study. They are a complex phenomenon that researchers seek to identify using both direct and indirect methods. According to researchers of attitudes, language attitudes can be understood as a system of cognitive, affective and behavioural components (Garrett et al. 2003; Garrett 2010). The cognitive component is associated with knowledge of certain facts about reality, for instance, that knowing a language will help me get a better job. The affective component is associated with feelings about the object of the attitudes, for example, enjoying listening to songs in that language. Both can affect the behavioural component; for instance, such motivations may lead someone to decide to learn the language (cf. Garrett et al. 2003: 3). Language behaviour can also be understood as linguistic practice, or language use. People living abroad generally give particular thought to maintaining their language when they have children or when their children reach school age. The first moment, the birth, is important in deciding which language to speak with the children, and this is particularly relevant in mixed families. The second moment, the start of school, is often associated with a long-term perspective; in other words, a young family living abroad may decide to return before the children start school. Otherwise, the family is likely to remain abroad until the children finish school. Understandably, families’ lives can unfold in different ways, and people’s mobility has also intensified considerably in recent decades, but these two moments remain important. It has been observed that emigrants often begin thinking about the importance of their native language only when their children are born. Understandably, positive attitudes towards a particular language can have a positive effect on learning or maintaining it, while negative attitudes can have a negative effect. However, it is not easy to determine how much the cognitive and affective components actually influence people’s language behaviour. This article focuses solely on the issue of language maintenance. Previous studies, in which people who left Lithuania after the restoration of independence were interviewed, suggest that the cognitive and affective components of attitudes towards the Lithuanian language are positive and that the affective component in particular is fairly important, at least for those who agreed to take part in this kind of BENDRINĖ KALBA 94 (2021) http://journals.lki.lt/bendrinekalba ISSN 2351-7204 JOGILĖ TERESA RAMONAITĖ. Kalbinės nuostatos ir kalbinis elgesys: kieno poveikis stipresnis? | 5 doi.org/10.35321/bkalba.2021.94.04 study. However, these two components do not necessarily affect language behaviour. In other words, almost all Lithuanians living abroad would like their children to know Lithuanian, but not everyone takes action, and some do not even think they should, or other factors get in the way (Jakaitė-Bulbukienė 2015a, b; Ramonienė 2019b; Gudavičienė 2019; Hilbig 2019, 2020). This article seeks to examine this distinction from a different perspective. In the case of international adoption, adoptive parents are unable to take concrete steps because they do not know Lithuanian. However, as already mentioned, during the adoption process they become acquainted with Lithuania and feel connected to it, since it is the adoptees’ homeland; they often even become admirers of Lithuania and learn a few Lithuanian words or phrases. They do this both out of personal interest and deliberately, so that they can tell their adopted children about Lithuania when the children grow up and begin asking questions. Thus, conditions arise for the cognitive and affective components of attitudes to form, but the third component—actual language behaviour—does not become possible as a result. It should be noted, however, that in some cases a certain degree of indirect contact is possible, for example, by maintaining ties with Lithuanians abroad. 2. A SURVEY OF ADOPTIVE PARENTS AND A STUDY OF ATTITUDES The fact of adoption is a secret protected by law, so collecting research data is not easy. The survey data analysed in this article were collected by sending a questionnaire to adoptive parents not directly, but anonymously, through organisations accredited in Lithuania that represent them in adoption procedures. The survey was conducted in 2010. It is part of a broader study (see Ramonaite 2011). Data were collected from 74 Italian families who adopted 117 children from Lithuania. The responses were processed using SPSS software. Table 1 presents data on the adopted children by age group4 and according to whether a child was adopted alone or with siblings. 4 Age is not the subject of this article and will therefore not be discussed in detail; however, the summary information about the children presented here makes it possible to see the general data on the ages of the adopted children, as well as the fact that the numbers of children in the groups are quite similar. BENDRINĖ KALBA 94 (2021) http://journals.lki.lt/bendrinekalba ISSN 2351-7204 JOGILĖ TERESA RAMONAITĖ. Kalbinės nuostatos ir kalbinis elgesys: kieno poveikis stipresnis? | 6 doi.org/10.35321/bkalba.2021.94.04 TABLE 1. Summary data on adopted children: age and groups of children Age Groups of children Total Adopted alone Adopted with a brother / sister Adopted with 2 brothers / sisters Up to 4.5 years 12 10 1 23 From 5 to 6.5 years 8 16 7 31 From 7 to 8.5 years 9 16 6 31 From 9 years 10 12 10 32 Total 39 54 24 117 The data in Table 1 show that two-thirds of the children were adopted together with at least one brother or sister, so they may have had someone to talk to in their native language. It is also apparent that 80 percent of the children were adopted after the age of five, when the language system is already practically fully formed. Although the language development of children in care institutions, especially those raised there from birth, is often delayed, as they approach or reach school age it usually attains a satisfactory level. It is also apparent that about half of the children were adopted at school age, and had therefore already acquired the basics of writing in Lithuanian. The questionnaire included both closed-ended questions with response options and open-ended questions, to which adoptive parents could provide explanations or comments (the questionnaire was designed in accordance with general questionnaire-design requirements; see Brown 2001; Milroy, Gordon 2003). Indirect questions were formulated to ascertain linguistic attitudes and attitudes toward the Lithuanian language. The questionnaire as a whole consisted of 19 questions on a range of topics and of varying lengths; it was presented to the adoptive parents in Italian (for other aspects, see Ramonaitė 2011, 2013). This article draws on the answers to three main questions about attitudes, formulated in the questionnaire as follows: In your opinion, is it important for your child (children) to know foreign languages? A very important B important C not particularly important D not important at all BENDRINĖ KALBA 94 (2021) http://journals.lki.lt/bendrinekalba ISSN 2351-7204 JOGILĖ TERESA RAMONAITĖ. Kalbinės nuostatos ir kalbinis elgesys: kieno poveikis stipresnis? | 7 doi.org/10.35321/bkalba.2021.94.04 Kodėl?.................................. Have you ever tried to contact Lithuanian families / individuals living in Italy or to keep in touch with Lithuania in some other way? A taip B ne Pastabos:............................... Jei ne, ar būtumėte norėję tai padaryti?..................................... Do you talk about Lithuania in your family? A niekada B kartais C dažnai Pastabos:........................................ Two more specific questions concerning parents’ assessments of their children’s language abilities are also considered. If several children were adopted, respondents were asked to answer separately for each child. These questions were worded as follows: If a group of siblings was adopted together, do the children still communicate with one another in Lithuanian? If not, when did they stop? A taip B ne C kartais D sako kai kuriuos žodžius Pastabos:................... Does the child (do the children) still speak / understand Lithuanian? (Two separate questions in the questionnaire) ○ speaks / understands ○ speaks with difficulty / understands a little ○ says a few words ○ no longer speaks / understands ○ unclear, as there has been no opportunity to find out In addition, the parents were asked about their own foreign-language skills and use. The answers to these questions appeared to influence both the adoptive parents’ language attitudes and their willingness to take action regarding their children’s language learning or the maintenance of Lithuanian. BENDRINĖ KALBA 94 (2021) http://journals.lki.lt/bendrinekalba ISSN 2351-7204 JOGILĖ TERESA RAMONAITĖ. Kalbinės nuostatos ir kalbinis elgesys: kieno poveikis stipresnis? | 8 doi.org/10.35321/bkalba.2021.94.04 2.1. Language Attitudes and Relationship with Lithuania To explore language attitudes, the adoptive parents were asked whether it was important to them that their child know foreign languages. Almost all the adoptive parents (96%) considered knowledge of foreign languages very important or important. Only a few indicated that it was not very important, and no one chose the option “not important at all.” The main reasons given were that languages make it possible to communicate with more people, that they are needed for work, cultural knowledge, or travel, and that one should know at least two European languages. However, these positive attitudes toward languages do not necessarily affect actual behavior with regard specifically to maintaining the Lithuanian language, since only slightly more than a third of the families actually maintained contact with Lithuanian speakers. Factors influencing this will be discussed later. We wanted to find out whether there were objective factors influencing the maintenance of ties with Lithuania or Lithuanians. Since the adoptive parents are not Lithuanian, they have no family ties in Lithuania (which could act as an objective factor and is common in the Lithuanian diaspora), so we tried to analyze other available data and identify possible correlations. Attitudes toward the value of languages are generally related to one’s own language practices. In other words, people who themselves know and use foreign languages value both the benefits of languages and language learning more highly, and see greater purpose in learning them. Parents generally consider it important to pass this understanding on to their children and/or take steps to foster it in them (Dörnyei et al. 2006). We therefore tried to determine whether the adoptive parents’ foreign-language use practices were related to their maintaining contact with Lithuanians. By combining comments on how the adoptive parents had tried to maintain ties with Lithuania or communicate with Lithuanians with their answers to whether they would have wanted to maintain ties and communicate, the following response groups were formed, as presented in Table 2: wanted to and communicated; wanted to but did not communicate; would like to communicate but perhaps will do so in the future; did not communicate. The last group also includes adoptive parents who said they had maintained contact only with other families who had adopted children from Lithuania to Italy. BENDRINĖ KALBA 94 (2021) http://journals.lki.lt/bendrinekalba ISSN 2351-7204 JOGILĖ TERESA RAMONAITĖ. Kalbinės nuostatos ir kalbinis elgesys: kieno poveikis stipresnis? | 9 doi.org/10.35321/bkalba.2021.94.04 TABLE 2. Parents’ knowledge and use of foreign (i.e., non-Italian) languages and maintenance of contact with Lithuanians Communication with Lithuanians | Parents’ knowledge of foreign languages | Neither knows any,% | At least one knows but does not use,% | At least one knows and uses,% | Wanted to and communicated | 0 | 43 | 50 | Wanted to but did not communicate | 8 | 16 | 0 | Perhaps later | 8 | 13 | 36 | Essentially no | 84 | 28 | 14 It can be seen that the parents neither of whom knows any foreign language (the parents of 12 children) are least inclined to maintain ties with Lithuanians (84%). Those with at least one parent who knows and frequently uses at least one foreign language are the most interested in maintaining contact (50%). Only a small proportion of them (14%) see little reason to maintain contact. More than a third of such parents (36%), as well as nearly a third (16% and 13%) of parents who know a foreign language but do not use it, expressed a wish to communicate with Lithuanians or the hope of doing so in the future. Thus, there is a connection between parents’ knowledge of foreign languages and their efforts to maintain ties with Lithuania and/or Lithuanians. A few adoption-related specificities should be briefly mentioned here. First, under the law, for four years after adoption, the family’s and child’s integration is monitored by various specialists, and follow-up reports are sent to the child’s country of origin; however, this is not considered in this article as maintaining ties. Second, adopted children have experienced parental abandonment and often other traumas, and they often associate their entire pre-adoption past with this negative experience. For this reason, they may categorically refuse to have any ties with their country of origin or its people. The child’s psychological well-being is especially important to the new parents and to the specialists monitoring the children. BENDRINĖ KALBA 94 (2021) http://journals.lki.lt/bendrinekalba ISSN 2351-7204 JOGILĖ TERESA RAMONAITĖ. Kalbinės nuostatos ir kalbinis elgesys: kieno poveikis stipresnis? | 10 doi.org/10.35321/bkalba.2021.94.04 Thus, while this causes the child considerable anxiety, adoptive parents, even if they very much want to maintain ties with Lithuania, consciously refrain from doing so. This is illustrated by comments such as these5: For now, the children do not want to return to their native country. (Children’s ages at adoption: 6 and 7; time since adoption: almost 3 years; indicated that they do not maintain ties) The girls still cannot talk about their past, so Lithuania is still a subject we can discuss only very carefully. We respect this and will give them time. (Ages at adoption: 6 and 8; 3 years after adoption; indicated that they do not maintain ties) [We communicated] Only briefly after returning from Lithuania. Before long, the child refused to have any ties with their country of origin. We would have liked them to maintain contact, especially with the people who had helped them so much, at least so they could feel gratitude. In our view, a sense of gratitude is important. We hope this will happen in the future. (Age at adoption: 10.5; 1.5 years after adoption; indicated that they maintain ties) We have never tried [to maintain ties], although we do wish to. During the first phase of adjustment, the family center that supported us (psychologists and doctors) strongly recommended that we not do so; they give the same advice regarding other adopted children. This is to prevent the child from thinking that we want to maintain unclear ties with the former children’s home, and to help them focus on their new life and adjust. (Age at adoption: 6; slightly more than 3 years after adoption; indicated that they do not maintain ties) 2.2. Interlocutors in Lithuanian Thus, one of the important reasons why ties with Lithuania or Lithuanians are not maintained is the child’s well-being. This is a valid, primarily psychological reason. Another important reason is the lack of interlocutors who speak Lithuanian in the living environment. International adoption 5Here and below, translated by the author of the article. BENDRINĖ KALBA 94 (2021) http://journals.lki.lt/bendrinekalba ISSN 2351-7204 JOGILĖ TERESA RAMONAITĖ. Kalbinės nuostatos ir kalbinis elgesys: kieno poveikis stipresnis? | 11 doi.org/10.35321/bkalba.2021.94.04 offers a unique opportunity to observe language in a situation where one suddenly completely stops speaking one’s native language and begins speaking another language (Glennen 2002; Pallier et al. 2003; Snedeker et al. 2007; Hyltenstam et al. 2009). However, quite a few children were adopted together with their brothers or sisters, so it is possible to examine whether they speak Lithuanian to one another (see Table 3). TABLE 3. Frequency of communication in Lithuanian between adopted siblings Children adopted together Do they speak Lithuanian to one another? Yes Ne Sometimes Says a few words 2 siblings – 48 – 6 3 siblings 3 18 3 – The responses show that only 2 families who adopted three children have noticed the children speaking Lithuanian. Here are their comments in response to this question: They often speak Lithuanian when they are arguing and don’t want us to understand what they are saying. (ages at the time of adoption: 11, 10 and 9 years; 5 months after adoption) Less and less often each month. (age at adoption: 11, 8.5, and 6 years; 9 months after adoption) From these and other comments by families who adopted siblings, one can form the impression that only the group of three older children retained the Lithuanian language for somewhat longer. Very often, families identified a couple of months or several months as the time when the children stopped speaking Lithuanian. Even assuming that the children continued speaking Lithuanian or partly in Lithuanian for somewhat longer when their parents could not hear them, the data show that siblings retain Lithuanian as their language of communication with one another for no more than a year. In some cases, children start speaking the new language to one another as soon as they arrive in Italy, as a very large proportion of families report. Although this may sound strange, and it is understandable that the children do not yet know Italian well at that point, they nevertheless try to speak it, most likely for the same BENDRINĖ KALBA 94 (2021) http://journals.lki.lt/bendrinekalba ISSN 2351-7204 JOGILĖ TERESA RAMONAITĖ. Kalbinės nuostatos ir kalbinis elgesys: kieno poveikis stipresnis? | 12 doi.org/10.35321/bkalba.2021.94.04 psychological reasons and out of a strong desire to integrate and become involved in their new life as quickly as possible. This is also reflected in comments from families such as these: They stopped speaking Lithuanian from the moment they got off the plane. None of the relatives (grandparents, uncles, aunts) have ever heard them utter a single word in Lithuanian. (age at adoption: 6 and 8 years; 3 years after adoption) When we returned to Italy, they almost immediately stopped [speaking Lithuanian]; before long, they were already speaking Italian to each other. (age at adoption: 6.5 and 3.5 years; 4 years after adoption) After six months [answer to the question of when they stopped]. (age at adoption: 9, 8, and 7 years; almost 2 years after adoption) They spoke a little Lithuanian to each other for about 2–3 weeks after arriving in Italy. (age at adoption: 8 and 7 years; just over 1 year after adoption) They immediately started speaking Italian, abandoning Lithuanian. Unfortunately, we cannot maintain a conversation with them in Lithuanian. (age at adoption: 7 and 5 years; 3.5 years after adoption) In one adoptive family, one of the parents is Lithuanian. This family offered the following comment: they stopped speaking Lithuanian to each other after about 6 months, but we maintain the heritage language at home (age at adoption: 6 and 5 years; almost a year after adoption). Thus, the data show that Lithuanian is not maintained in adoptive families even when there are native Lithuanian speakers in the family. Adopted together at various ages (including older children) and, naturally, having spoken Lithuanian to one another before adoption, siblings switch fairly quickly to the dominant language of their environment, including when communicating with one another. BENDRINĖ KALBA 94 (2021) http://journals.lki.lt/bendrinekalba ISSN 2351-7204 JOGILĖ TERESA RAMONAITĖ. Kalbinės nuostatos ir kalbinis elgesys: kieno poveikis stipresnis? | 13 doi.org/10.35321/bkalba.2021.94.04 As already mentioned, adoptive parents usually do not speak Lithuanian, so children would need conversation partners outside the family. There are Lithuanian communities in Italy, but only in larger centers or areas with larger Lithuanian populations, for example, Milan, Rome, and Tuscany. Families living farther from the centers, in other areas, have no opportunity to participate in the activities of these communities. However, some made efforts to find these communities and take their children to the meetings they organized. For example: We are members of the Lithuanian community in Milan and often attend Lithuanian-language Mass. (age at the time of adoption: 6.5 years; almost 5 years after adoption) While attending the Lithuanian-language school at the state embassy in Rome, we met a family of Lithuanian descent living in Italy for work. We became friends, and our relationship grew even stronger as we met repeatedly at various children’s performances and concerts, celebrated religious holidays together, and spent time outdoors together. (age at the time of adoption: 8 years; 3 years after adoption) Not all efforts to find Lithuanians actually help maintain a connection with the language; for example, one set of adoptive parents reported that they socialized with a mixed-nationality family, but the Lithuanian mother in that family speaks Italian with her children. 2.3. If there are no conversation partners Thus, the usual situation is that adoptive parents cannot speak Lithuanian with their children, an adopted child or a group of siblings stops speaking Lithuanian to one another after some time, and conversation partners outside the family are unavailable or cannot be contacted frequently. Although adoptive families might not be expected to care too much about the children’s country of origin, they nevertheless very often feel a special connection with Lithuania. Adoption fundamentally changes the lives not only of the children, but also of the parents and the extended family; it is the fulfillment of a long-awaited dream of having children, which gives rise to great respect and gratitude toward the children’s country of origin. Of course, families are interested BENDRINĖ KALBA 94 (2021) http://journals.lki.lt/bendrinekalba ISSN 2351-7204 JOGILĖ TERESA RAMONAITĖ. Kalbinės nuostatos ir kalbinis elgesys: kieno poveikis stipresnis? | 14 doi.org/10.35321/bkalba.2021.94.04 They are concerned with the children’s rapid adjustment to their new environment, making sure they quickly learn Italian and settle in, but new parents often also feel a responsibility to preserve at least some of the children’s Lithuanian identity. In the absence of specific conversation partners, parents resort to other possible means. For example, one family said that they offer younger children Lithuanian cartoons to watch. The questionnaire included another indirect question related to preserving Lithuanian identity: “Does your family talk about Lithuania?” As Figure 1 shows, more than half of the families said they talk about Lithuania often, while a substantial number talk about the children’s country of origin sometimes. Only a very small proportion do not mention Lithuania at all in their family. FIG. 1. Responses to the question “Does your family talk about Lithuania?” In their comments on this question, parents very often said that they do this to maintain some kind of connection with Lithuania; they often feel nostalgic as they recall the time spent together in Lithuania, or the children share childhood memories. Adoptive parents encourage older adoptees to talk about Lithuania, prompting them to recall words or Lithuanian dishes. Parents who adopted younger children try to tell them themselves what they know about Lithuanian customs and so on. Very often, they would like to travel to Lithuania. The following comments reveal particularly positive attitudes toward Lithuania: BENDRINĖ KALBA 94 (2021) http://journals.lki.lt/bendrinekalba ISSN 2351-7204 JOGILĖ TERESA RAMONAITĖ. Kalbinės nuostatos ir kalbinis elgesys: kieno poveikis stipresnis? | 15 doi.org/10.35321/bkalba.2021.94.04 She remained in our hearts and brought us joy—our little one. The people are kind and respectful. I promised the child that as soon as they are a little older, we will return to Vilnius (a very beautiful city). (age at adoption: 2.5 years; almost 4 years after adoption) It is our children’s homeland, and therefore ours too. (ages at adoption: 6 and 4.5 years; 3 years after adoption) We mention Lithuania when talking about all kinds of things—food, sports, school, people, everything—but my son’s heart is already Italian. (age at adoption: 8.5 years; 3 years after adoption) We talk and cook traditional dishes; we have already taken short holidays in the places where we first met. (age at adoption: 10 years; 1.5 years after adoption) We remember some moments we spent together, or talk when we hear news on the radio (about sports or other topics) that mentions Lithuania. When we look at the map, the first places we find are Lithuania and Vilnius. (ages at adoption: 7 and 4 years; 5 years after adoption) We talk almost every day, because he inevitably connects his present life with the past and in this way remembers childhood habits from when he lived with different families. There are many unpleasant memories of one family, but also happy moments from another foster family <...>. He says he would like to go back and visit them. (age at adoption: 8 years; 3 years after adoption) Our son has a sister in Lithuania, whom he loves very much, and we often talk about her. He often remembers Lithuanian customs, sometimes embellishes his memories, and compares his former life with life in Italy, where he adapted very quickly. (age at adoption: 7 years; almost 3 years after adoption) BENDRINĖ KALBA 94 (2021) http://journals.lki.lt/bendrinekalba ISSN 2351-7204 JOGILĖ TERESA RAMONAITĖ. Kalbinės nuostatos ir kalbinis elgesys: kieno poveikis stipresnis? | 16 doi.org/10.35321/bkalba.2021.94.04 The survey data show that perhaps not all families, but certainly a large proportion, view Lithuania positively and try to instill these attitudes in their children of Lithuanian origin as well. Although, as already mentioned, in adoption cases there are situations in which children themselves do not want to remember their country of origin because of negative experiences, families, with the help of specialists, try to help them gradually accept their roots, since this is also important for the child’s psychological well-being. 2.4. What remains of the Lithuanian language after more than a year? The attitudes of adoptive parents toward foreign languages and Lithuania discussed so far show that most of them have very or rather positive attitudes. Some families try to find native-speaking conversation partners for their children or otherwise make an effort to help them maintain a relationship with the language and ties with Lithuania. This is not easy. As became clear when discussing the adoption of sibling groups, in the best-case scenario they speak Lithuanian in their new country for only a few months. The questionnaire also included a question about how adoptive parents assess their children’s ability to speak Lithuanian and understand the language. Understandably, parents who do not know the language and may never have had any opportunity to meet people of Lithuanian origin cannot assess this accurately, so the response option “unclear, as there has been no opportunity” was also included. Those who did choose other response options presumably have grounds for doing so. Nevertheless, it should be emphasized that these are reported assessments of the children’s language abilities. The data on children adopted recently—that is, less than a year ago6—are not included in Figures 2 and 3 below. Data are presented for the same age groups of children and are absolute figures. As Figure 2 shows, the adoptive parents of only a few older adoptees reported that, more than a year after adoption, they “speak” Lithuanian (N = 2) or “speak with difficulty” (N = 3). The vast majority of children in all age groups (N = 65) no longer speak Lithuanian. Those who “say a few words” (N = 17) can presumably also be included in this group, since these really are only a few basic words, such as bread, milk, tea, which they had learned during the adoption process 6 According to the survey results, 18 children (from 9 families) were adopted less than a year ago, 12 of them of school age. This is not highly representative in quantitative terms, but around 5 children were reported to speak Lithuanian, while around 6 were reported to no longer speak it. BENDRINĖ KALBA 94 (2021) http://journals.lki.lt/bendrinekalba ISSN 2351-7204 JOGILĖ TERESA RAMONAITĖ. Kalbinės nuostatos ir kalbinis elgesys: kieno poveikis stipresnis? | 17 doi.org/10.35321/bkalba.2021.94.04 which their adoptive parents learned in Lithuania and continue to use within the family. Naturally, among the children who know those few words are older children who had a good command of Lithuanian at the time of adoption. FIG. 2. Responses to the question “Does the child speak Lithuanian?” (more than a year after adoption, by age group, absolute figures) Parents’ assessments of how well the children understand Lithuanian are shown in Figure 3. Parents rate their children’s comprehension skills slightly more favorably than their speaking skills, but the overall pattern is very similar. The vast majority of children in all age groups (N = 59) no longer understand Lithuanian more than a year after adoption. In the parents’ view, somewhat more children, across a wider range of ages, “understand” Lithuanian (N = 10) or “understand a little” (N = 13). A larger proportion, compared with language production, had had no opportunity to test their passive language proficiency (N = 17). BENDRINĖ KALBA 94 (2021) http://journals.lki.lt/bendrinekalba ISSN 2351-7204 JOGILĖ TERESA RAMONAITĖ. Kalbinės nuostatos ir kalbinis elgesys: kieno poveikis stipresnis? | 18 doi.org/10.35321/bkalba.2021.94.04 FIG. 3. Responses to the question “Does the child understand Lithuanian?” (more than a year after adoption, by age group, absolute numbers) It is understood that the survey data show the adoptive parents’ opinions and their declared assessments of the children’s language abilities, while the children’s actual linguistic competence was not tested. Nevertheless, very similar responses were received from different families: those who had adopted different numbers of children; those who had adopted children of different ages; and those who responded after different lengths of time had passed since the adoption. As becomes clear, the essential changes occur during the first few months of life in another country, mostly within a year. After a year, it is already too late to take steps to help preserve a child’s native language. This is clearly illustrated by the response given by one family: After the first school year, we learned that it was possible to study one’s native language at school, and that the teacher was Lithuanian. We agreed, but unfortunately it was too late, because the child no longer remembered anything. And still does not remember <...>. If the child had started learning Lithuanian from the first year of life in Italy, they probably would not have forgotten everything and would certainly know their native language today. What a shame!!! (age at adoption: 7; almost 3 years after adoption) BENDRINĖ KALBA 94 (2021) http://journals.lki.lt/bendrinekalba ISSN 2351-7204 JOGILĖ TERESA RAMONAITĖ. Kalbinės nuostatos ir kalbinis elgesys: kieno poveikis stipresnis? | 19 doi.org/10.35321/bkalba.2021.94.04 CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION The results of the survey of parents who adopted children from Lithuania show that the cognitive component of language attitudes is essentially operative—almost all families consider language proficiency important. The affective factor is also operative—the adoptive parents’ attitudes toward the Lithuanian language are very positive. As comments in response to indirect questions reveal, the affective component is particularly strong: adoptive families feel inextricably connected to Lithuania and feel respect and gratitude toward the country. In the case of international adoption, the language-behavior component cannot operate; in other words, adoptive parents cannot speak to their adopted children in the children’s language of origin. Nevertheless, it is clear that the first two components—the cognitive and affective—are so strong that, in some cases, families take certain steps to maintain the child’s language of origin: they look for communities or Lithuanians in the places where they live, encourage older children to remember Lithuania and Lithuanian words, and tell younger children about Lithuania themselves. In general, parents who know and use other foreign languages are more inclined to do so. However, despite good intentions and efforts, children forget the language in less than a year. Even if they have a conversation partner who can speak Lithuanian—that is, if they were adopted together with their brothers or sisters—they stop speaking Lithuanian to each other immediately or after a few months. Children often refuse to have anything to do with their country of origin, and thus with the Lithuanian language, as a result of psychological trauma experienced in the past. It is likely that, once they finally find themselves in a peaceful family environment and receive the necessary specialist support, the trauma can be overcome at least in part; however, this takes many years, during which their language skills are completely lost. These survey results have certain similarities to the situation of Lithuanian children living in the diaspora. The data analyzed here concern children who knew Lithuanian when they left Lithuania (the language development of a few younger children was below the age norm); about half of them had even learned to write in Lithuanian. Thus, the focus was largely on maintaining skills in a language already learned, but in an environment surrounded by another language, this proves to be very short-lived. Studies of the Lithuanian diaspora show that even in ethnically homogeneous Lithuanian families living abroad, siblings often start using the surrounding language with one another, even though Lithuanian is spoken in the family (Hilbig 2020). Thus, when leaving to live BENDRINĖ KALBA 94 (2021) http://journals.lki.lt/bendrinekalba ISSN 2351-7204 JOGILĖ TERESA RAMONAITĖ. Kalbinės nuostatos ir kalbinis elgesys: kieno poveikis stipresnis? | 20 doi.org/10.35321/bkalba.2021.94.04 abroad, it is worth considering—even with school-age children—the conditions and family language management that would help them maintain the language, if this is desired. Parents’ favorable attitudes toward Lithuanian or languages in general alone—that is, positive cognitive and affective components of language attitudes—are not enough. If parents value the practical benefits of knowing languages, understand the importance of maintaining a native language for a child’s identity formation, have very positive attitudes toward Lithuania and the Lithuanian language, and even take certain steps to maintain ties with Lithuanians, but do not influence the children’s language through their own behavior (in international adoption, they do not know the language), it is impossible to maintain the language. Even the linguistic competence of older school-age children for whom Lithuanian is their native language almost completely disappears within a year when they are surrounded by another language. The language-behavior component is precisely what is essential if ethnically homogeneous—and mixed—families living abroad are to give a child the gift of speaking Lithuanian and being bilingual, rather than monolingual speakers of a language other than their parents’ native language. LITERATŪRA Blažienė Agnė 2016: Lietuvių kalbos gramatinių ypatybių įsisavinimo anglų kalbos aplinkoje sunkumai. – Bendrinė kalba 89. Prieiga internete: http://journals.lki.lt/bendrinekalba/article/view/176/193. Brown James Dean 2001: Using Surveys in Language Programs, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DiGregorio Daniela 2009: The Phenomenon of International Adoption with a Focus on Second Language Acquisition: A Case Study of Internationally Adopted Children and Adolescents from Russia: PhD thesis, Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Dörnyei Zoltán, Csizér Kata, Németh Nóra 2006: Motivation, Language Attitudes and Globalisation: A Hungarian Perspective, Bristol, Blue Ridge Summit: Multilingual Matters. Garrett Peter 2010: Attitudes to Language, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Garrett Peter, Nikolas Coupland, Angie Williams 2003: Investigating Language Attitudes, Cardiff: University of Wales Press. 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II, Vilnius: Vilniaus universiteto leidykla. Ramonienė Meilutė 2019b: Family and the Maintenance of the Heritage Language: The Case of Lithuanian Diaspora. – Politique Linguistique familiale/Family Language Policy. Enjeux dynamiques de la transmission linguistique dans un contexte migratoire. Dynamics in Language Transmission Under a Migratory Context, sud. Sh. Haque, F. Le Lièvre, Munich: LINCOM, 135–158. Schmid Monika S. 2012: The Impact of Age and Exposure on Bilingual Development in International Adoptees and Family Migrants: A Perspective from Holocaust Survivors. – Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 2(2), 177–208. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.2.2.03sch. Snedeker Jesse, Geren Joy, Shafto Carissa L. 2007: Starting Over: International Adoption As Anatural Experiment in Language Development. – Psychological Science 18(1), 79–87. Vaisėtaitė Eglė 2020: Airijos lietuvių gimtosios kalbos žodyno dydis ir atricijos požymiai. – Taikomoji kalbotyra 14, 116–132. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15388/Taikalbot.2020.14.9. Vrobel Gretchen Miller, Emily Helder, Elisha Marr (eds.) 2020: The Routledge Handbook of Adoption, Abingdon, Oxon–New York, NY: Routledge. Gauta 2021 04 19 Priimta 2021 09 07 BENDRINĖ KALBA 94 (2021) http://journals.lki.lt/bendrinekalba ISSN 2351-7204 JOGILĖ TERESA RAMONAITĖ. Kalbinės nuostatos ir kalbinis elgesys: kieno poveikis stipresnis? | 23 doi.org/10.35321/bkalba.2021.94.04 LANGUAGE ATTITUDE AND LANGUAGE BEHAVIOUR: THE IMPACT OF WHICH IS STRONGER? STUDY OF INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION SITUATION AND LINKS WITH EMIGRATION Summary Language attitudes that are considered to be an important factor in language maintenance as they impact language behaviour. The paper analyses language attitudes in a particular setting of international adoption and this gives an opportunity to separate the cognitive and affective components of language attitudes from the behavioural component as the adoptive parents do not know the mother-tongue of their children. The data is taken from a sociolinguistic survey to the adoptive Italian parents of Lithuanian children. The respondents are 74 families and the information provided concerns 117 children adopted from Lithuania at different ages, the great majority over the age of 5, therefore with fully developed first language skills, about half also literate in their L1. Two thirds of the children were adopted together with at least one sibling. The paper analyses the declared language attitudes, the language practices (knowledge and use of foreign languages) of the adoptive parents and the relation to efforts of maintaining some kind of link to Lithuanian. The results show that families where at least one parent knows and uses at least one foreign language are more likely to take initiative in maintaining links. However, in the situation of adoption, i. e. children with experience of abandonment trauma, this is sometimes postponed due to psychological well-being of the child. Another aspect that is considered is the maintenance of Lithuanian in groups of siblings. The data shows that only groups of three siblings of older age (about 10 years old) maintain Lithuanian speaking among themselves for longer than a couple of months after the arrival to the country of the new life. In this case when no interlocutors in the mother-tongue are available for the children within the family, the adoptive parents put other efforts to maintain at least some links. For instance, contacting local Lithuanian communities or at least talking to the children about Lithuania. The open questions of the survey reveal greatly positive attitudes of the adoptive BENDRINĖ KALBA 94 (2021) http://journals.lki.lt/bendrinekalba ISSN 2351-7204 JOGILĖ TERESA RAMONAITĖ. Kalbinės nuostatos ir kalbinis elgesys: kieno poveikis stipresnis? | 24 doi.org/10.35321/bkalba.2021.94.04 parents towards Lithuania, they consider this country to be of great importance in their lives via adoption. Despite the general very positive language attitudes of the adoptive parents both towards languages in general and towards Lithuanian and Lithuania as they hold it particularly dear, the children do not maintain the Lithuanian language. This shows in a very evident way how the cognitive and affective components of language attitudes, no matter how strong and positive they might be, when separated from the behavioural component, i. e. not speaking the language to the children, result in complete language loss within a such short period of time as one year. The situations described have resemblance with some language situations in case of emigration, a topic of great importance for Lithuanians in the recent decades, baring exactly this difference that the emigrated Lithuanian parents do have the ability to speak their mother-tongue to the children but sometimes are reluctant to do so or give up trying. KEYWORDS: language attitudes, maintenance of Lithuanian, international adoption, language behaviour. JOGILĖ TERESA RAMONAITĖ Lietuvių kalbos institutas Petro Vile išio g. 5, LT-10308 Vilnius [email protected] BENDRINĖ KALBA 94 (2021) http://journals.lki.lt/bendrinekalba ISSN 2351-7204