Language shift from Chiu Chownese to Cantonese does not only occur across the three generations, but also within the youngest generation in the Wu Family. Reasons behind such phenomenon include a decrease in the degree of intergenerational transmission of Chiu Chownese, usefulness of Chiu Chownese at home and the influence of education and workplace.
Drop in the degree of intergenerational transmission
Shifts from Chiu Chownese to Cantonese and from active knowledge to passive knowledge of Chiu Chownese can be observed within the youngest generation. In the family, older siblings tend to engage more in conversations with their grandparents who only speaks Chiu Chownese at home. Among the children and their parents, only Cantonese is used. It can be seen that the younger the child, the fewer the opportunities to talk in Chiu Chownese. As mentioned in previous slides, while Emily the oldest sister is fluent in Chiu Chownese, John the youngest brother only has passive knowledge about Chiu Chownese and can only speak a few of Chiu Chownese.
Weakening function of Chiu Chownese in the family
Another reason is the weakening function of Chiu Chownese at home. Although Chiu Chownese is used to communicate with their grandparents, the youngest generation can still communicate with their grandparents even they do not master Chiu Chownese because of the help of their parents. And younger siblings rely more on their parents and older siblings to do Chiu Chownese-Cantonese translation.
Education and Workplace
Remarkably, education and workplace also play a role. While Emily and John stay in Hong Kong, their sister Yvonne has been working in Australia respectively. Yvonne particularly feels that her decline in Chiu Chownese is caused by her frequent use of Cantonese in Hong Kong and Mandarin and English in Australia. Leaving home in where they can use Chiu Chownese decreases their use of Chiu Chownese.
