Subjective linguistic vitality (SEV) of German among minority German speakers in an English-majority-language community

Purpose: One important motivation to maintain a minority language is the perception that it allows people to connect meaningfully with other people who speak that language. Subjective ethnolinguistic vitality (SEV) refers to the perception that a language is important and useful. The primary purpose of this study was to test whether the language of the interview affected SEV of German among participants living in an English-majority-language part of Canada. A secondary purpose was to test whether cumulative use/exposure of German was related to German SEV. Approach: To address the primary purpose, we tested whether the language of the interview affected participants’ SEV. To address the secondary purpose, we tested whether length of residency and/or German proficiency were predictors of German SEV in a linear regression. Data: Speakers of German in an English-majority-language community ( N = 30) were interviewed in both German and English about the SEV of German (about a month between language sessions). According to census data, German speakers make up 2% of the local population. Findings: The participants estimated the local German-speaking population at 16% (on average), regardless of the interview language. On other questions, participants estimated a moderate SEV for German (averaging around 4 on a scale of 1–10), with no difference by interview language. Length of residency was a negative predictor of participants’ estimates of the local German-speaking population. German proficiency was a positive predictor of SEV ratings. Implications: These results suggest that personal experience and motivation to maintain German might contribute to more positive SEV of German. Originality: This study found no evidence that the language of the interview affected participants’ SEV of a minority language. There were different predictors of SEV, depending on which aspect of SEV was considered (i.e., estimate of the local population vs. other measures of SEV).