The edited volume provides in-depth studies focusing on integration, identity negotiation, and language maintenance/shift in young immigrants. Consisting of eight chapters written by scholars drawn from multiple disciplines, the volume addresses these issues by analyzing data drawn from different migrant groups with different ethnic but similar linguistic backgrounds. Using Germany as a host country, the chapters explore the complexity of linguistic and societal integration as experienced by young immigrants. Focusing on Russian immigration in Germany, two main groups are used as case studies, that is, Russian Germans and Russian Jews, compared with generation 1.5 immigrants (those who arrive as children or adolescents) and those born in German but of Russian descent/heritage. While Germany once described itself as a ‘mono-ethnic and mono-racial society’, it has experienced a significant influx of migrants settling in the country for various reasons.

While all chapters focus on the interconnection between ethnicity, identity, language attitude, and maintenance in young immigrants, a wide range of theoretical frameworks are used, which points to the interdisciplinary nature of the contributions. The methodological approaches range from longitudinal to cross-sectional studies, using data collection methods from large-scale sociological surveys that provide statistical evidence to in-depth qualitative analyses of interview data, narrative, and group discussions of small samples. The use of multiple methodological approaches is also evident in the choice of theoretical frameworks used for analytic and interpretive purposes. Use of social network analysis, the segmented assimilation framework drawn from sociology, and the acculturation framework that is borrowed from cross-cultural psychology, are all indicative of the commitment to the interdisciplinary spirit of the volume.

The use of a wide range of methods, theoretical approaches, and different samples has the potential to yield different and possibly conflicting results. In this volume, however, all of the studies converge on similar results regarding integration, language maintenance/shift, and identity formation. For instance, on integration, most of the chapters point to the fact that formation of ethnic-based social networks is not merely driven by cultural similarities but is also a result of immigrants’ need to separate themselves from the dominant culture; differences in the integration trajectories of immigrants of the same cultural backgrounds residing in the same host country result from differences in personal experiences. Thus, decisions to maintain the heritage language depend on a number of factors, but the most important are the attitudes of the host country and the attitudes of immigrants. In instances where the host nation has a welcoming attitude towards immigrants, integration is successful. In instances where the host nation shows hostility toward immigrants, however, the immigrants develop a strong emotional attachment to their heritage languages and engage in language maintenance efforts such as community-based bilingual German-Russian or German-Jewish Saturday schools, hiring Russian-speaking tutors for their children, or privately enrolling their children in Russian-speaking clubs—all of which are attempts to maintain the Russian language.

This volume is an excellent read, not only for researchers in linguistic anthropology and sociolinguistics but also for those interested in sociolinguistic aspects of immigration and education policy.