TURKISH AS THE HERITAGE LANGUAGE AMONG IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES IN FRANCE

İngilizce (OpenAlex)

Language functions as the strongest bond connecting individuals to fundamental cultural elements of their society. In the context of immigrant communities, the heritage language plays a crucial role in protecting cultural heritage and transferring it to young generations; and thus, it should be attributed a special attention. The present study is conducted to explore the current state of Turkish language use among Turkish immigrants in France and their opinions regarding its protection and transference to new generations. For this purpose, the data gathered from Turkish immigrants (N=348) was analysed to identify the rates of Turkish language use and the degrees of importance attributed to protecting and transferring Turkish onto new generations. The findings and the implications are meant to shed light on the up-to-date dynamics in the state of Turkish among immigrant communities in France while contributing to the research focusing on heritage languages and the protection of cultural heritages.