Intergenerational maintenance of the Burmese language by Chinese-Burmese immigrants in the Bay Area

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Author

Cheah, Joseph See all items with this value

Journal

Hsi Lai Journal of Humanistic Buddhism

Date

2003

Volume

Pages

198-205

ISSN

1530-4108 See all items with this value

Abstract

The intergenerational language maintenance among Burmese immigrants in the USA is expected to be minimal, especially because they are not a homogeneous entity. This paper studies the situation in the Bay Area of San Francisco and takes into consideration the experience of the Mettānanda Vihāra. It highlights the obstacles to language maintenance and examines the relative importance attached to Chinese or Burmese according to ethnicity. The author notes how the second-generation Burmese Americans are shifting to English monolingualism irrespective of their original ethnicity.