From ethnocultural pride to promoting the Texas Czech vernacular: current maintenance efforts and unexplored possibilities

Abstract

Texas Czech is a product of over a century and a half of contact between Moravian Czech and English in Texas. While Texans of this descent have largely maintained a sense of distinctive ethnic identity and have creatively re-authenticated their ancestors’ traditions into a unique Texas Czech culture, their language is now on the verge of disappearing. Having a healthy counterpart in Europe, Texas Czech may not appear to face as dire a fate as endangered Indigenous languages do. However, when this variety dies, so will a distinct blend of the nineteenth-century Moravian dialects, literary Czech and English spoken in Texas, which bears little resemblance to modern European Czech. This paper analyzes, through the lens of a participant observer trained as an applied linguist, the insiders’ views expressed in attitudinal questionnaires on the importance of the heritage language ability to ethnic self-identification and to maintaining their ethnic culture. It then explores the apparent detachment between one's self-perceived ability in Texas Czech and ethnic self-perception, the current state of teaching of Texas Czech and the ways in which well-established Czech-related organizations could attract more attention to both language documentation and language teaching while the interest and resources still exist. ¹

Keywords:

• ethnolinguistic identity
• immigrant languages
• language shift
• language attitudes
• language revitalization
• Texas Czech

Acknowledgements

Very special thanks to all the Texas Czechs who participated in my initial data collection and to all that have contributed to this work over the years. I also want to thank all the reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier draft. All deficiencies that remain are my responsibility.

Notes

1. An earlier version of this paper was presented as part of the colloquium Global Language Extinction and Applied Linguistics at the annual meeting of the American Association for Applied Linguistics (April 2010).

2. The section draws on the following sources: (1) The Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920, Volume II, General Report and Analytical Tables, Table 10, 1001; and The Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940, Nativity and Parentage of the White Population (US Census Bureau). (2) Table 3: Persons Who Reported at Least One Specific Ancestry Group for Regions, Divisions, and States: 1980 (http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/files/pc80-s1–10/tab03.pdf); 1990 Census of Population. Social and Economic Characteristics, Texas. Section 3 of 3: Table 17 (Ancestry 1990, 142), and Table 18 (Nativity, Citizenship, Year of Entry, Area of Birth, and Language Spoken at Home 1990, 143); 1990 Census of Population and Households, Texas, Summary Tape File 3. (3) Census 2000: Profile of Selected Social Characteristics, Summary File 3 (SF 3), Texas (US Census Bureau). (4) The unofficial 2006–2008 American Community Survey 3-Year Estimates (Selected Social Characteristics in the US), where 220,435 Texans claimed ‘Czech’ ancestry (0.9% of Texas' population).

3. Moravian dialectal expressions (e.g. the discourse marker tož ‘so, well’ and ogar ‘boy’ for the EC tak ‘so, well’ and chlapec ‘boy’) are underlined; lengthening and softening diacritics are bolded.

4. Percentages in Table A2 reflect combined totals for the responses of ‘often’, ‘sometimes’ and ‘rarely’.

5. This item yielded 101 responses in the OG and 33 responses in the YG (N = 134).

6. One reviewer has inquired about the relationship between a participant's CHST membership and his or her attitudinal responses. Only 12 participants in this sample (about 8%) mention being CHST members – most from the OG and most from the McLennan-Hill Chapter, one of the most active groups – with very little effect on the overall results.

7. The Czech American TV is a non-profit charitable organization constantly on the lookout for additional sponsors. Presently, Jana Vaculik no longer broadcasts this segment (pers. comm., November 4, 2010).

8. Another large-scale survey is needed to update our understanding of this situation in the 2000s.

9. The annual Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) report, last prepared 25 March 2010. Data obtained from the Texas Education Agency's LOTE Director (June 2010).