Language as a Site of Hegemonic Negotiation, Identity, and Resistance in the Filipino Diaspora
Keywords:
Language ideology, language shift, social work, linguistic anthropology, decolonizationAbstract
This study investigates language as a centre of hegemonic negotiation, colonial influence, and resistance as diasporic Filipinos navigate identity, belonging, and power in all levels of life. Using an interdisciplinary approach, this study utilises concepts from linguistic anthropology and social work to understand the impacts of colonialism and hegemonic language ideologies on Filipino diasporas in English-speaking countries. This study analyses existing literature and discussions on language in the r/FilipinoAmerican Subreddit to investigate how Filipinos experience epistemicide, claim identity, and navigate social structures in the space of language hegemony. The results demonstrate that many Filipino Americans feel pressure to know Tagalog despite growing up in the diaspora, many not knowing their ancestral language due to language ideologies rooted in colonial history that place Filipino languages as inferior to English. This study positions language shift and loss experienced by second-generation diasporic Filipinos as a structural issue shaped both by Spanish colonisation and American occupation, reinforced by Anglo-centric structures within the diaspora. Filipinos face continued colonial pressures in the diaspora as language ideologies call into question the value of their ancestral languages and their claim to their Filipino identity. This study discusses the role of social workers in re-constructing language ideologies, social work practice, and social structures to support the reclamation of Filipino identity, languages, and resist neo-colonial systems that attempt to marginalise diasporic Filipinos.
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