A icles o he T ea y
LAIMA KALĖDIENĖ
Lie u ių kalbos ins i u as
Resea ch a eas include sociolinguis ics, applied linguis ics,
dialec ology, onomas ics, phone ics and phonology, and
compu e linguis ics.
Emig an s:
Talk and TAPATYB
This Regula ion shall en e in o o ce on he wen ie h day ollowing ha o i s publica ion in he O icial Jou nal o he Eu opean Union.
The map was p epa ed by Vik o ija
Ba anauskienė, au ho ed by Vik o ija
Ba anauskienė, Eglė Guda ičienė, K is ina
Jakai ė-Bulbukienė, Do ilė K upickai ė, Meilu ė
Ramonienė and Lo e a Vilkienė
Vilnius: Published by he Uni e si y o Vilnius, 2015, p. 232.
This Regula ion shall en e in o o ce on he wen ie h day ollowing ha o i s publica ion in he O icial Jou nal o he Eu opean Union.
Emig a ion is a cu en issue in Li huania, a powe ul p ocess ha is aking
place now and whose scale may inc ease, so in es iga ing he phenomena
ela ed o his p ocess is no only necessa y bu also ine i able. Vilnius
Uni e si y esea che , linguis and geog aphe , so-called sociologis , sumanė
and in 2011-2013 ca ied ou a sociolinguis ic p ojec suppo ed by he S a e
Li huanian Language Commission in he Emig an Language ( ado ė Meilu ė
Ramonienė). Du ing i s expedi ions in Ge many, Ame ica and Tasmania, a la ge
amoun o da a was collec ed based on in-dep h in e iews, as well as a la ge
numbe o answe s o ques ions ecei ed om he In e ne […] illed in 2026
ques ionnai es, such a s anda dized su ey (p. 209[…]221), co e ing 61 ques ions.
A g ea ad an age o he da a collec ed is ha hey we e collec ed almos a he same ime, o e a pe iod o a couple o yea s.
LAIMA KALĖDIENĖ
306 Ac a Linguis ica Li huanica LXXV, which is published in he O icial Jou nal o he Eu opean Union.
The well- hough -ou applica ion o quan i a i e and quali a i e sociolinguis ic me hods is he key
o he success o his p ojec . The p ojec leade has al eady gained a lo o expe ience in his
ield, which she uses oge he wi h Do ile K upickai ė o p esen he me hodology o he emig an
language s udy (p. F om he e y beginning, on page 19, i becomes clea wha is he Achilles' heel o
his whole s udy - he concep o he emig an . Emig an s he e a e conside ed o be all […]pe sons
who ha e li ed ou side Li huania o no less han 3 yea s[…] (p. 19). This means ha bo h he
emig an s hemsel es om Li huania and hei child en and g andchild en, ecognizing Li huanian
iden i y, associa e hemsel es wi h Li huania (as in he Globalios Lie u os p og am). And he e is he
mos slippe y e lec ion o how much hey associa e hemsel es wi h Li huania, wha connec ions
hey ha e o how hey eel abou being connec ed. The e is no doub ha when in e iewing e en a
ew housand emig an s, i was p ecisely hese links wi h Li huania ha we e he mos di icul ,
and some imes e en impossible o de e mine, while he eliabili y o he answe s depended o a
la ge ex en on his: whe he o no he emig an wan ed o be associa ed wi h Li huania, as
men ioned by D. K upickai ė (page 26 o he a icle), who ga e a de ailed o e iew o he wa e and
di ec ion o emig a ion in his aspec . The lack o da a and hei un eliabili y was he eason o
he selec ion o he e i o y o hei s udy and he p inciples o he compila ion o he selec ion
ma ix (p. 27 […] 28). M. Ramonienė's a icle […]Quan i a i e and quali a i e esea ch o immig an
languages[…] (p. 31 […]40) is, in he bes sense, simply a ch es oma ic desc ip ion o he me hodology
o ha moniza ion o quan i a i e and quali a i e esea ch me hods in applied linguis ics o
s uden s o his ield and doc o al s uden s and all in e es ed pa ies. The e is a de ailed
desc ip ion o he sma managemen p ojec . The second pa o he book "Language and
linguis ic p o isions in emig a ion" analyzes he main ques ion o he s udy "Language use in
emig a ion". Eglė Guda ičienė, in he a icle […]Tendencies in he gene al linguis ic beha iou and
a i udes o emig an s[…] (p. 43 […] 58), based on quan i a i e su ey da a, a i es a , one migh say,
banal conclusions: […]O e ime, i becomes mo e di icul o keep he Li huanian language
unchanged[…] and […]Child en, especially i he e is mo e han one o hem, [become mo e di icul ]
o lea n hei pa en s' language[…]. Howe e , she d aws a conclusion om he su ey's answe s o
he ques ions and explains why his is he case: […]Ne 90 pe cen o esponden s would like hei
child en, as well as g andchild en and 1 This expe ience o M. Ramonienė began o accumula e in
coope a ion wi h scien is s om he Uni e si y o Tilbu g, he Ne he lands, when o he i s
ime he Du ch-de eloped me hodology o mul ilingualism was success ully applied o he s udy o
child en's home and school languages in Li huania (Ramonienė M., Ex a Ges a mul ilingualism in
Li huanian ci ies a home and school in Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda).
In addi ion o quan i a i e esea ch, she has conduc ed wo o he la ge-scale s udies using
quali a i e esea ch me hods: Ci ies and Languages, edi ed by M. Ramonienė. Vilnius: Published
by he Uni e si y o Vilnius, 2010, p. 312. Ci ies and languages 2. Sociolinguis o he Li huanian
Landscape, by M. Ramonienė. Vilnius: Published by he Uni e si y o Vilnius, 2013, p. 318
Emig an ai: kalba i apa ybė. Kolek y inė monog a ija
Re iews o 307 p o-child en speak Li huanian and explain how impo an i is, bu
only 66% o i s -gene a ion immig an pa en s y o ge hei child en o speak
Li huanian a home, 31% […] second, 10% […] hi d […] (p. 58). The e o e, and no only
because o his, he assump ion made by E. Guda ičienė seems a he doub ul
ha […][G] may be ha he longe one li es ab oad, he s onge he in luence o
he mo he ongue, he mo e impo an i becomes o emig an s […] as a
gua an ee o p ese ing iden i y[…] (p. 57). On he basis o he su ey da a, he
a icle summa ises ha "only o he second and hi d gene a ions he e is no
p o ision o iden i y he na ionali y wi h he Li huanian language" and ha only a
hi d o he su eyed esponden s claimed ha a Li huanian mus speak he
Li huanian language (p. 52). The ques ionnai es con ained a lo o da a on he na i e
languages and language p o iciency o child en bo n in mixed amilies wi h one
emig an Li huanian. Ve y ew o hem ha e been used in his a icle, bu he mos
impo an o hem is ha in mixed amilies 74% o child en's mo he ongue is
Li huanian i he mo he is Li huanian, and 54% i he a he is Li huanian (p. 66).
The e o e, he didac ic no ion ha "knowledge o he language spoken in he
coun y o esidence does no gua an ee a sense o iden i y" o ha "i is also
w ong o hink ha a good o ex emely good knowledge o he language o he
coun y o esidence will in all cases help a pe son o in eg a e in o he o eign
coun y and o en e i " (p. 47), is no based in any way on he da a o he s udy
unde conside a ion, based only on he well-known Jimo Cummins hypo hesis o
mu ual belonging. This aspec o he in luence o mixed amilies is ex emely
impo an and should he e o e be he subjec o sepa a e s udies on he basis
o he accumula ed ma e ial, much o which has p obably no ye been p esen ed
in his a icle, bu which is discussed ex ensi ely in he a icle by ano he au ho
o his collec ion, K is ina Jakai is-Bulbukienė (p. 67 […] 114). Ano he a icle in he
second pa o he book on language use and linguis ic p o isions is de o ed o he
peculia i ies o he spoken and spoken languages o emig an s in he egions o
he wo ld (au ho s D. K upickai ė and V. Ba anauskienė, pp. 59[…]65). I seems ha
he use o illus a i e ma e ial by Egidija Aleksand a ičia Ka klo diego (2013) […]
[…]Fi s -gene a ion immig an s o en do no wan o iden i y wi h Li huanians
while in Li huania, pa icipa e less in communi y ac i i ies, e c., indica es ha
hei iden i ica ion wi h Li huania o he Li huanian language is no e y s ong
and his may lead o a as e decline in he knowledge and use o Li huanian han
among ea lie gene a ions o immig an s[…] (p. 65). I is like a los gene a ion, ye
s ubbo nly demanding Li huanian ci izenship as neighbo s. In he a icle in
ques ion, D. K upickai ė and V. Ba anauskienė e eal wi h pa icula cla i y whe e
and why he esponses o he su ey ac ually came om: […][I]n 2026 mo e han
hal o he esponden s (60.2%) li e in he coun ies o Wes e n and Sou he n
Eu ope o which he mos in ensi e emig a ion has aken place in he las 25 yea s
(...). The absolu e majo i y (78.5%) o esponden s ep esen he i s gene a ion o emig an s, i.e. esponden s a e bo n in Li huania (...). Such emig an s
LAIMA KALĖDIENĖ
308 Ac a Linguis ica Li huanica The p opo ion o esponden s o he LXXV
gene a ion is much highe han planned. The si ua ion is simila in he coun ies o
Cen al and Eas e n Eu ope (p. 59-60). I is explained ha second-gene a ion
emig an s a e also ela i ely well su eyed, bu a om hi d-gene a ion
immig an s. Few in e iews a e also om Asia (only om he Asian pa o
Russia). All hese commen s a e e lec ed in he e y in o ma i e maps
(Responden 's ci izenship, p. III, […]Coun y whe e he esponden g ew up (li ed o
16 yea s old)[…], p. X). An in e es ing aspec o his s udy was he ques ion o he
eeling o emig an s in hei coun ies o esidence and in Li huania i sel : i was a
pain ul con i ma ion ha , unlike p e ious gene a ions o emig an s, who o en
le Li huania o e y poli ical easons, […]a la ge pa o he new gene a ion o
emig an s who le Li huania due o economic di icul ies, do no eel a home in
Li huania o in he coun y in which hey li e[…] (p. 65). Thus, he scien i ic
o ecas , hough sad, is jus i ied: "This sugges s ha he signi icance o
Li huanian language use among Li huanians in he hi d wa e o emig a ion may
dec ease much as e han among second wa e emig an s and hei descendan s"
(p. 65). This is he scien i ic basis o he ecommenda ion o he c ea o s and
implemen e s o Li huania's o eign policy. The hi d a icle in he second pa o
he book is de o ed o he poli ics and go e nance o amily languages (au ho K.
Jakai ė-Bulbukienė, p. 67[…]114). Based on quan i a i e and quali a i e (ex emely
success ul) da a, K. Jakai ė-Bulbukienė e eals wha p o isions de e mine he
de e mina ion o emig an s o main ain he Li huanian language, especially in he
Uni ed S a es and Ge many. In a sense, banal u hs such as " he desi e o pass on
he Li huanian language o o he gene a ions", "Li huanian speech is pe cei ed as
na u al" and so on (p. 113) seem o explain li le abou he easons o he
p ese a ion o he Li huanian language, bu hese a e he so-called subjec i e
p o isions, he s eng h o which is g ea . As you en e he a icle, i u ns ou
ha mos o he da a o his kind was collec ed om hose who we e pa icula ly
willing o answe he ques ions o he su ey […] emig an s o he pos -wa wa e,
hei child en and g andchild en (p. 113). So he image is dis o ed […] he esul ing
e lec ion is no an objec i e pho o, bu an image o he club o applican s. This is
one o he downsides o he su ey me hodology. The ques ion o how o con ol
he sample o esponden s emains unanswe ed. The hi d pa o he book […]
[…]Iden i y and language p ese a ion[…] (p. 117[…]185) […] consis s o h ee a icles
by Lo e o Vilkienė abou na ional, linguis ic and cul u al iden i y. This pa o he
book is cha ac e ized by he abundance and dep h o heo e ical conside a ions,
he se ice o he ob ained da a in a b oade wo ld and scien i ic con ex . A
c i ical app oach o he sociolinguis ic da a ob ained only inc eases he alue o
he wo k and e eals a di e en esea ch pe spec i e: i is no ed ha he
subjec s o he Emig an Language P ojec pa icipa ed in quali a i e su eys
only o socially ac i e people who alue hei e hnic iden i y, and i is also expec ed ha such indi iduals we e much mo e ac i e in illing ou quan i a i e su eys. Howe e , hei opinion canno be conside ed o e lec he posi ion o all Li huanians o Li huanian o igin li ing ab oad,
Emig an ai: kalba i apa ybė. Kolek y inė monog a ija
Re iews o Re iews 309 because, as al eady men ioned, he pa o Li huanians
who ha e delibe a ely se e ed ies wi h Li huania and Li huania may ha e been
li le o no eached du ing he p ojec 's in es iga ion. Thus, all he
gene aliza ions apply only o he p opo ion o Li huanians o Li huanian o igin
li ing ab oad o whom Li huanian is impo an o one deg ee o ano he .
Pa icula ly aluable a e he addi ions made up o 18 V. Ba anauskienės
nub aižy ų sociolinguis ic maps; Ques ionnai e 61 o he "Li huanian-o igin
immig an language beha iou su ey" in o ma ion on 177 quali y in e iews
and quali y in e iew scena ios o he p ojec Emig an s speak. The
analysis o he a icles shows ha he desc ibed s udy o he language o
emig an s is a e y complex […] abo e all om he poin o iew o
me hodology […]. Ask and you shall ecei e.
Deli e ed on 23 Decembe 2016
LAIMA KALĖDIENĖ
Lie u ių kalbos ins i u as
This Decision shall en e in o o ce on he
day ollowing ha o i s publica ion in he O icial Jou nal o he Eu opean Union.