Italian-Tunisians and Italian-Moroccans in the UK: onward migration and reshaped linguistic repertoires

Abstract

This article discusses the effects of onward migration on the linguistic repertories of Italian-Tunisian and Italian-Moroccan families in the UK. Drawing on six interviews with the eldest children of these families, we have focused in particular on the role of English in the onward migration project, and the maintenance of the two heritage languages, Italian and Tunisian/Moroccan Arabic. In line with other studies on onward migration, this study shows that the English language is a key pull-factor for the decision to migrate onward to the UK, despite not being part of the family linguistic repertoires and the challenge of having to learn it in the new country. Our findings also show that Italian and the two varieties of Arabic are still used in the family domain, often in a mixed mode. The eldest siblings are also acting as agents of Italian language maintenance for the youngest ones; as Italian is studied as a foreign language in the UK, some participants took exams in Italian at school or university. Finally, participants also report using their variety of Arabic with friends who are speakers of other varieties of Arabic.

Keywords

• onward migration
• linguistic repertoire
• Italian-Tunisians
• Italian-Moroccans
• multilingualism
• language maintenance