The second generation of Albanians in Matera: the Italian experience and prospects for future ties to the homeland

Abstract

As sometimes happens in the field of scientific research, a sense of failure was the initial impetus for the pilot study on which this paper is based. In 2001, the Associazione Tolbà of Matera, a volunteer immigrant advocacy group, launched an initiative for Albanian language instruction and literacy for the children of Albanian immigrants present in this Southern Italian city. Held in the Association’s offices by an Albanian former schoolteacher, the lessons had very mediocre results, with limited participation and little motivation on the part of the students. Yet, in 2002, the regional government of Basilicata recognized the importance of mother-tongue language maintenance among non-citizens, and offered to support the Associazione Tolbà’s original proposal for Albanian language instruction. Given the previous experience, the project coordinators thought it necessary to ask whether or not the Albanian immigrants wanted to promote the maintenance of their language, a crucial premise which could not be overlooked. What can it mean—as in the quotation opening this paper—that an Albanian mother feels unsure that her daughter, born and raised in Italy, does not understand everything in Italian? What forms of language and culture maintenance do the children display, and to what extent may these be affected by concerns over integration in the host country? The Albanian government’s recent National