Articles producció científica> Gestió d'Empreses

The differentiated role of language knowledge and linguistic acculturation strategies in the configuration of occupational aspirations: the case of the descendants of migrants in Western Catalonia

  • Identification data

    Identifier: imarina:9187112
    Authors:
    Lapresta-Rey, CecilioJanes, JuditAlarcon, Amado
    Abstract:
    One of the most influential factors in the future access to the labour market of a young descendant of migrants is their occupational aspirations. Sociodemographic, socio-cultural, and socio-professional family elements or knowledge of languages are key in their formation. But in bilingual societies like Catalonia, the symbolism associated with languages is an added complexity. Thus, this article aims to analyse the influence and predictive power of linguistic knowledge and linguistic acculturation profiles on occupational aspirations, using a questionnaire completed by 205 young people of African, European, and Latin American origin in Lleida. The findings indicate that better knowledge of Catalan and a profile of linguistic acculturation which emphasises this language predict above-mean occupational aspirations. Knowledge of Spanish has an unclear role and a profile prioritising Spanish is a negative predictor. We conclude that language knowledge becomes a resource 'through' its symbolic value, questioning theories postulating that multilingualism always allows/facilitates access to better occupations.
  • Others:

    Author, as appears in the article.: Lapresta-Rey, Cecilio; Janes, Judit; Alarcon, Amado;
    Department: Gestió d'Empreses
    URV's Author/s: Alarcón Alarcón, Amado
    Keywords: Occupational aspirations Linguistic acculturation Language knowledge Descendants of immigrants Catalonia
    Abstract: One of the most influential factors in the future access to the labour market of a young descendant of migrants is their occupational aspirations. Sociodemographic, socio-cultural, and socio-professional family elements or knowledge of languages are key in their formation. But in bilingual societies like Catalonia, the symbolism associated with languages is an added complexity. Thus, this article aims to analyse the influence and predictive power of linguistic knowledge and linguistic acculturation profiles on occupational aspirations, using a questionnaire completed by 205 young people of African, European, and Latin American origin in Lleida. The findings indicate that better knowledge of Catalan and a profile of linguistic acculturation which emphasises this language predict above-mean occupational aspirations. Knowledge of Spanish has an unclear role and a profile prioritising Spanish is a negative predictor. We conclude that language knowledge becomes a resource 'through' its symbolic value, questioning theories postulating that multilingualism always allows/facilitates access to better occupations.
    Thematic Areas: Linguistics and language Linguistics Language and linguistics Language & linguistics Filologia, lingüística i sociolingüística Education & educational research Ciencias sociales Ciencias humanas
    licence for use: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/
    Author's mail: amado.alarcon@urv.cat
    Author identifier: 0000-0003-4640-2681
    Record's date: 2024-08-03
    Papper version: info:eu-repo/semantics/submittedVersion
    Link to the original source: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14790718.2021.1898615
    Licence document URL: https://repositori.urv.cat/ca/proteccio-de-dades/
    Papper original source: International Journal Of Multilingualism. 20 (2): 153-168
    APA: Lapresta-Rey, Cecilio; Janes, Judit; Alarcon, Amado; (2023). The differentiated role of language knowledge and linguistic acculturation strategies in the configuration of occupational aspirations: the case of the descendants of migrants in Western Catalonia. International Journal Of Multilingualism, 20(2), 153-168. DOI: 10.1080/14790718.2021.1898615
    Article's DOI: 10.1080/14790718.2021.1898615
    Entity: Universitat Rovira i Virgili
    Journal publication year: 2023
    Publication Type: Journal Publications
  • Keywords:

    Education & Educational Research,Language & Linguistics,Language and Linguistics,Linguistics,Linguistics and Language
    Occupational aspirations
    Linguistic acculturation
    Language knowledge
    Descendants of immigrants
    Catalonia
    Linguistics and language
    Linguistics
    Language and linguistics
    Language & linguistics
    Filologia, lingüística i sociolingüística
    Education & educational research
    Ciencias sociales
    Ciencias humanas
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