New course explores the languages of Hamilton’s immigrant communities

A new fourth-year course offered by the Faculty of Humanities’ Linguistics and Languages department will give students the chance to explore the many languages spoken by immigrant communities in Hamilton – and discover how language helps shape the identities of those who have settled in the city.

Students in the Heritage Languages in the Hamilton Diaspora course will begin by coming up with an idea for a project related to linguistic and cultural diversity in Hamilton. Working with community partners, and using a bottom-up approach, the class will use interviews, historical archives and other tools to research different aspects of their project. The class will also share their findings with the public on a dedicated website.

“In our first class, we’ll be looking, as a group, at what ‘diaspora’ means – and from there, we will develop questions to that will allow us to explore how language relates to identity formation by members of a given diaspora,” explains Italian and linguistics professor Wendy D’Angelo, who developed and will teach the course.

“Questions we might explore could include whether heritage language programs or government services are meeting the needs of a community, how members of a diaspora community view each other based on language, or whether hybridized languages that develop are a source of tension or prestige.”

D’Angelo says the impact of this work could extend well beyond the class itself, as the class works closely with a diaspora community to understand how to better address their needs. “Solutions to a challenge identified by a community could include improved access to healthcare for heritage language speakers when information is offered in a minority language or dialect, or greater engagement of the community in heritage language maintenance when the community is offered culturally relevant language education.”

The class is intended for students in fourth-year linguistics or cognitive science of language programs, but can be opened up to students in other programs with the permission of the department.

“Having a linguistics background is good, but not essential,” says D’Angelo. “This course could be interesting for students in anthropology or sociology – and, ultimately, the course will be enriched by having students across disciplines contribute their voices.”

To find out more, contact the Department of Linguistics and Languages.