Heritage language maintenance and loss among the children of Eastern European immigrants in the USA

The present study offers an in-depth look at heritage language maintenance and loss among the children of immigrant professionals from Eastern Europe residing in the USA. Based on semi-structured interviews with 50 married mothers and fathers, I explore: (1) parental attitudes related to heritage language transmission to their children; (2) parental efforts to transmit heritage language; (3) reported barriers to heritage language transmission and maintenance; and (4) parental adjustments in response to children's diminishing heritage language skills. The roles of individual, family and community factors in the maintenance of heritage language in the second generation are discussed.