Asian American Youth Language Use

Introduction

Recent studies of Asian American youth language practices have presented compelling insights about the identities and migration experiences of young people of Asian descent. Specifically, how do Asian American youth negotiate aspects of their migration experience through their language practices? And, what insights about race, ethnicity, class, and gender can be learned about migration and diaspora through a focus on youth language use?

Discussion

Since 1965, when the United States began to solicit immigrants actively after decades of restrictive policies, social scientists have sought to understand how individuals and families of the “new immigration,” particularly those from Asia and Latin America, have built lives for themselves in America. Youth in the category “Asian American” are immigrants or children of immigrants from East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands. The category also includes young people whose ancestors immigrated before 1965, primarily from China, Japan, and in lesser numbers, from India and the Philippines. In a 2008 update to the 2000 Census (report CB08-FF.05), the U.S. Census Bureau estimates a population of 14.9 million Asians (alone or in combination with other races). Although numerous aspects of culture, heritage, and language retention have been studied, relatively little attention has been paid to understanding everyday language use among youth of the new immigration. Rather, the predominant focus has been on intergenerational tension, feelings of displacement, and clashes of cultural values. Both in migration studies, which groups youth by generational categories of first, second, and 1.5 (referring to youth who migrated during late childhood or early adolescence), and in minority education studies, the focus is on how “immigrant” youth are culturally conflicted outsiders because of the disjuncture of their migration experience. At times this focus can be overwhelming, and it is also important to focus on the performative cultural and linguistic practices that youth use to create a sense of belonging.

Youth-centered perspectives on migration that consider them as more than simply “immigrants” can also be productive. A revision in terminology from immigrant to diasporic reorients focus from youth as subjects of assimilation to youth as agents who engage in everyday cultural and linguistic practices. Lukose argues that the concept of diaspora and insights from diaspora studies can productively complicate the otherizing status of “immigrant education” and problematize some of the underlying assumptions on which the U.S. education system is based. Considering the diasporic connections of second-generation youth is an important counterpoint ...