The Process of Learning the Standard Language of a Country of Origin for People Born Outside the Country <br>&#8212;On the Example of Croatian Supplementary Teaching in Minority Communities and Diaspora

Abstract

Most Croatian minority communities are small, rural, and located in Central and Southeastern Europe. They are between 200 to 500 years old. Within these communities, the old local languages are usually preserved, but the learning of the Croatian standard language is taught in school. The challenges of organizing Croatian language teaching in minority communities vary not only from country to country but also in different environments within the same country. The Croatian emigrant population is very heterogeneous regarding their proficiency of their mother tongue. The first generation was born and educated in Croatia, and actively speaks the Croatian standard language. Those born in the second generation already in emigration usually speak some local variant of the Croatian language within the family. Learning the standard language for them is organized in supplementary classes, usually on Fridays later in the afternoon or Saturdays in the morning. Most members of the third and especially the fourth generation of Croatian emigrants did not speak Croatian in their families, many did not even go to supplementary schools, and in adulthood some of them decide to learn the Croatian standard language, either remotely (most often), or through courses in their environment or by going to Croatia and studying in specialized courses at Croatian universities. Countries such as Germany, where new young families are constantly immigrating are especially problematic for language preservation. The knowledge or ignorance of the Croatian language among children from these families is determined by the number of years of life spent in Germany (from birth or later), the number of years of schooling in Croatia, the situation in the family and especially to what extent Croatian is the spoken language within the family. Children from mixed marriages usually have a weaker command of the Croatian language, especially if their mother does not speak Croatian. It is impossible to generalize the organization and implementation of supplementary teaching in the diaspora or minority communities, as well as the difficulties and challenges that are related to it because every environment is different. The nature and characteristics of teaching are intricately shaped by a range of factors beyond the societal context and the age of the learners. Relevant factors are: the age of the participants, their level of general education and socioeconomic background, their level of prior knowledge of the Croatian language, their attitude towards the language in the family context, the level of organization of the minority or immigrant environment and attitude towards the mother tongue in that environment.