Language, migration and happiness: a comparative study of subjective well-being across three communities in Germany

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Florian Coulmas
• Subject Area: General and Comparative Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, Typology, Non-European Languages
• Term: from 2018 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 404408794

• Final Report Year: 2020

Final Report Abstract

For the purpose of this project, a specialised survey was designed and administered among Chinese, Japanese, and Turkish-speaking communities in Germany. This represents the first such survey on subjective wellbeing and language use and behaviour of migrant communities in Germany. Approximately 200 valid responses were collected from the Chinese and Japanese groups, as well as approximately 150 from the Turkish communities. A series of analyses based on the survey data showed convincing evidence of positive correlations between language skills and migrants’ wellbeing. Host country language skills (German) appeared to have the strongest positive effects on all aspects of wellbeing – from happiness to life satisfaction to perceptions of general life achievements. Heritage language skills also displayed positive correlations with wellbeing, but in general its effects are less pronounced and mostly concentrated in the happiness domain. However, bilinguals tend to report the highest levels of subjective wellbeing, and their language behavioural patterns suggest that they use both to their fullest advantage: German in professional contexts and heritage language in expressing/managing emotions in the private domain, notably for child rearing. All correlations maintained their significance when effects of demographic control variables were checked. A correlation between speech communities’ languages and life-satisfaction was also found in the sub-project on the display of languages in the linguistic landscape. All of the findings contribute to a rethinking of multiculturalism, wellbeing, and the integration of migrants in Germany. Much of current policy and scholarship emphasised host country language support and acquisition as the way to integrate and lead a good life. The project’s findings confirm the positive and crucial role of host country language. However, results also show that for migrants, host country language acquisition and the maintenance of heritage tongue need not and should not be a zero-sum game. On an individual level, migrants stand to gain from support and encouragement in developing both host and heritage language skills, so that their general quality of life will be enhanced. On the societal level, host countries also profit, since happy and content migrants also tend to be active players in the host society’s social life.

Publications

• Addressing migrants’ well-being during COVID-19: An analysis of Chinese communities’ heritage language schools in Germany. Migration Studies, 9(3), 1144-1165.
  Wang, Zi
  
• East Asian Migrants in Western Europe. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, 31(2), 123-136.
  Coulmas, Florian & Wang, Zi
  
• Language and Communication of Asian Diaspora Communities in Europe. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, 31(2). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
  Coulmas, Florian & Wang, Zi
  
• Does the Linguistic Landscape influence happiness?. Linguistic Landscape. An international journal, 9(1), 86-106.
  Malloy, Connor