“There’s little bits, I mean... I wish there was more, but...” Echoes of societal attitudes, family language policy, and education language policies on the maintenance of German among second- and third-generation speakers in Newcastle, Australia

Australia has undergone four phases of language policy since white settlement (Clyne, 2005). The most recent two (rejecting followed by accepting) have had a measurable effect on language maintenance among migrants. From these societal language policies evolved education policies on migrant languages (Clyne & Kipp, 2006; Ellis, Gogolin, & Clyne, 2010; Lo Bianco & Slaughter, 2017) and together, they show influence on language policies within families today (Hatoss, 2006; Schüpbach, 2009). Using qualitative interview and narrative enquiry methods, we analysed data sourced from 28 second- and third-generation migrants to investigate the effect of family language policy and education language policy on the maintenance of German as a heritage language over the past fifty years. Evidence of language maintenance as well as the causes and consequences of language shift and loss became apparent among participants’ narratives. These corresponded strongly with language policies dominant at the time of their youth. For example, the increasing acceptance of community languages over time and the subsequent growth and then decline of German being taught in schools are interrelated to family language policy and the individual attitudes contributing to language maintenance. This paper explores the extent to which the residue of social language policy, family language policy and dynamic language education policies are manifest in the maintenance or loss of German as a heritage language in Newcastle, Australia.