Paper abstract:

This paper examines the role of family language policy among the Uyghur diaspora in the USA. Since Uyghur language education was eliminated from the Xinjiang education system in China in 2017, the Uyghur language has gradually become vital for the Uyghur community to keep their Uyghur identity within the Uyghur diaspora. Uyghurs have immigrated to the United States since the 1980s. The largest Uyghur diaspora community in the USA lives in Fairfax, VA. Many Uyghur parents have tried to maintain the Uyghur language among the second and third generations of Uyghurs within the diaspora. Research suggests that family language policy is one of the critical factors in maintaining and revitalizing a language among heritage speakers. Slopsky (2004) indicates that family language policy includes language beliefs, language practice, and language efforts for using languages. In this paper, we will focus on family language policy among Uyghurs in the diaspora in Fairfax, VA, and how it affects the maintenance of the Uyghur language. The major research questions include: (1) What are parents’ beliefs on language use, and how does it influence language use at home? (2) How do parents support their children’s language practice? (3) What are the challenges for using the Uyghur language? We use a mixed-effect method in which we have an online questionnaire about Uyghur language usage and ideology among the Uyghur family as a quantitative analysis. The qualitative analysis uses in-depth interviews with Uyghur parents. Participants are parents of children who are attending a Uyghur language school on weekends in Fairfax, VA. The paper will discuss the results of how families use language practice in everyday life, the beliefs that influence their actions, and how much corresponding effort they put into maintaining the language.