The dynamics of Family Language Policy in a trilingual family: A longitudinal case study

• Authors: Wąsikiewicz-Firlej Emilia , Lankiewicz Hadrian
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Family Language Policy (FLP) is a pioneering yet dynamically thriving interdisciplinary field of study, which successfully integrates language acquisition, multilingual studies, sociolinguistics and ecolinguistics. The present paper reports on the longitudinal case study of a Polish-Japanese family residing in the UK and the development of their family language policy. Through a specific focus on narrative data and observations, obtained in two cycles of research in 2014/15 and 2017, it illustrates the parents’ attitudes towards their minority languages (Polish and Japanese, respectively), the majority language (English) and their child’s multilingualism. Irrespective of the parents’ positive attitudes towards multilingualism and their declared efforts to raise a trilingual child, the original study (E. WąsikiewiczFirlej 2016) showed the dominance of the majority language in the family, and pointed to substantial difficulties in the maintenance of minority languages, which was mostly explicated by the child’s agency in shaping FLP. The results of the first stage of the study (2014/15) have been juxtaposed with the data obtained in 2017 in order to verify the parents’ declared vs. actual language management, as well as the dynamics of FLP over time. The findings have confirmed the assumed dynamic character of the family’s language policy, which is shaped by a range of constantly changing micro and macro factors, contributing to a better understanding of FLP sociolinguistic ecology.

Keywords

EN

FLP; language ideologies; language management multilingualism

• Publisher: Instytut Komunikacji Specjalistycznej i Interkulturowej
• Journal: Applied Linguistics Papers
• Year: 2019
• Issue: 26/1
• Pages: 169-184

Dates

published

2019-03-25

Contributors

author

Wąsikiewicz-Firlej Emilia

• Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu

author

Lankiewicz Hadrian

• Uniwersytet Gdański

References

• Berardi-Wiltshire, A. (2018), Parental ideologies and Family language Policies among Spanish-speaking migrants to New Zealand. In: “Journal of Iberian and Lain American Research” 23(3), 271–285.
• Blackledge, A./ A. Pavlenko (2002), Introduction. In: “Multilingua – Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication” 21, 121–140.
• Bourdieu, P. (1991), Language and Symbolic Power. Cambridge.
• Caldas, S./ S. Caron-Caldas (2000), The Influence of Family, School, and Community on Bilingual Preference: Results from a Louisiana/Quebec Case Study. In: “Journal of Applied Psycholinguistics” 21(3), 365–381.
• Caldas, S./ S. Caron-Caldas (2002), A Sociolinguistic Analysis of the Language Preferences of Adolescent Bilinguals: Shifting Allegiances and Developing Identities. In: “Applied Linguistics” 23 (4), 490–514.
• Canagarajah, A.S. (2008), Language Shift and the Family: Questions from the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora. In: “Journal of Sociolinguistics” 12 (2), 143–176.
• Cooper, R.L. (1989), Language Planning and Social Change. Cambridge.
• Curdt-Christiansen, X.L. (2009), Invisible and Visible Language Planning: Ideological Factors in the Family Language Policy of Chinese Immigrant Families in Quebec. In: “Language Policy” 8 (4), 351–375.
• Curdt-Christiansen, X.L. (2013), Caregiver Responses to the Language Mixing of a Young Trilingual. In: “Multilingua-Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication” 32(1), 1–32
• de Houwer, A. (2007), Parental Language Input Patterns and Children’s Bilingual Use. In: “Applied Psycholinguistics” 28, 411–424.
• Döpke, S. (1992), One Parent One Language: An Interactional Approach. Amsterdam.
• Dörnyei, Z. (2007), Research Methods in Applied Linguistics: Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed Methodologies. Oxford.
• Fishman, J.A. (1991), Reversing Language Shift: Theoretical and Empirical Foundations of Assistance to Threatened Languages. Clevedon.
• Fogle, L. (2012), Second Language Socialization and Learner Agency. Clevedon.
• Fogle, L./ K.A. King (2013), Child Agency and Language Policy in Transnational Families. In: “Issues in Applied Linguistics” 19 (1), 1–25.
• Gafaranga, J. (2010), Medium Request: Talking Language Shift into Being. In: “Language in Society” 39 (2), 241–270.
• Harding, E./ P. Riley (1986), The Bilingual Family: A Handbook for Parents. Cambridge.
• Harris, J.R. (1995), Where Is the Child’s Environment? A Group Socialization Theory of Development. In: “Psychological Review” 103 (3), 458–489.
• Haugen, E. (1972), The ecology of language. Stanford.
• Hoffmann, C. (1985), Language Acquisition in Two Trilingual Children. In: Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 6, 479–495.
• Hymes, D.H. (1974), Foundations in sociolinguistics: An ethnolinguistic approach. Philadelphia.
• Hymes, D.H. (1967), Models of the interaction of language and social setting. In: “Journal of Social Issues” 23 (2), 8–38.
• King, K.A./ L.W. Fogle (2006), Bilingual Parenting as Good Parenting: Parents’ Perspectives on Family Language Policy for Additive Bilingualism. In: “International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism” 9 (6), 695–712.
• King, K.A./ L. Fogle (2013), Family Language Policy and Bilingual Parenting. In: “Language Teaching” 46 (2), 172–194.
• King, K.A./ L. Fogle/ A. Logan-Terry (2008), Family Language Policy. In: “Language and Linguistics Compass” 2, 1–16.
• Laihonen, P. (2008), Language Ideologies in Interviews: A Conversation Analysis Approach. In: “Journal of Sociolinguistics” 12, 668–693.
• Lankiewicz, H./ E. Wąsikiewicz-Firlej (in press), Developing Intercultural Sensitivity through Translation Activities: Beyond the Monolingual Premise in Foreign Language Education. In: “Neofilolog”.
• Lanza, E./ B.E. Svendsen (2007), Tell Me Who Your Friends Are and I Might Be Able to Tell You What Language(s) You Speak: Social Network Analysis, Multilingualism, and Identity. In: “International Journal of Bilingualism” 11, 275–300.
• Lanza, E. (1992), Can Bilingual Two-year-olds Code-switch?. In: “Journal of Child Language” 19 (3), 633–658.
• Lanza, E. (1997), Language Mixing in Infant Bilingualism: A Sociolinguistic Perspective. Oxford.
• Lanza, E. (2007), Multilingualism in the Family. In: A. Peter/ W. Li (eds.), Handbook of multilingualism and multilingual communication. Berlin, 45–67.
• Luykx, A. (2005), Children as Socializing Agents: Family Language Policy in Situations of Language Shift. In: J. Cohen/ K.T. McAlister/ J. MacSwan/ K. Rolstad (eds.), ISB4: Proceedings of the 4th international symposium on bilingualism. Somerville, 1407–1414.
• Moin, V./ L. Schwartz/ M. Leikin (2013), Immigrant Parents’ Lay Theories of Children’s Preschool Bilingual Development and Family Language Ideologies. In: “International Multilingual Research Journal” 7, 99–118.
• Ochs, E./ B. Schieffelin (1984), Language Acquisition and Socialization: Three Developmental Stories. In: R. Shweder/ L.R. LeVine (eds.), Culture Theory: Essays on Mind, Self and Emotion. New York, 276–320.
• Okita, T. (2002), Invisible Work: Bilingualism, Language Choice and Childrearing in Intermarried Families. Amsterdam.
• Palviainen, Å./ S. Boyd (2013), Unity in Discourse, Diversity in Practice. In: M. Schwartz/ A. Verschik (eds.), Successful Family Language Policy: Parents, Children and Educators in Interaction: Multilingual Education 7. Heidelberg, 223–248.
• Schwartz, M. (2008), Exploring the Relationship between Family Language Policy and Heritage Language Knowledge among Second Generation Russian-Jewish Immigrants in Israel. In: “Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development” 29 (5), 400–418.
• Schwartz, M. (2010), Family Language Policy: Core Issues of an Emerging Field. In: “Applied Linguistics Review” 1(1), 171–192.
• Schwartz, M./ A. Verschik (2013), Achieving Success in Family Language Policy: Parents, Children and Educators in Interaction. In: M. Schwartz/ A. Verschik (eds.), Successful Family Language Policy: Parents, Children and Educators in Interaction: Multilingual Education 7. Heidelberg, 1–20.
• Shohamy, E. (2006), Language Policy: Hidden Agendas and New Approaches. New York.
• Spolsky, B. (2004), Language policy. Cambridge.
• Spolsky, B. (2012), Family Language Policy – the Critical Domain. In: Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development” 33(1), 3–11.
• Stake, R.E., (2005), Qualitative Case Studies. In: N.K. Denzin/ Y.S. Lincoln (eds.), The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA, 443–466.
• Tannenbaum, M. (2003), The Multifaceted Aspects of Language Maintenance: A New Measure for Its Assessment in Immigrant Families. In: “International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism” 6 (5), 374–388.
• Tuominen, A. (1999), Who Decides the Home Language? A Look at Multilingual Families. In: “International Journal of the Sociology of Language” 140, 59–76.
• van Lier, L. (2005), Case Study. In: E. Hinkel (ed.), Handbook of Research in Second Language Learning, Mahwah, NJ, 195–208.
• Volk, D./ M. Angelova (2007), Language Ideology and the Mediation of Language Choice in Peer Interactions in a Dual-language First Grade. In: “Journal of Language, Identity & Education” 6, 177–199.
• Wąsikiewicz-Firlej, E. (2016), Język i tożsamość w rodzinie transnarodowej: studium przypadku. In: „Neofilolog” 47 (2), 153–170.
• Wittenbrink, B./ N. Schwarz (eds.), (2007), Implicit Measures of Attitudes. New York.
• Wolfram, W./ N. Schilling-Estes (2006), American English: Dialects and Variation (2nd ed.). Oxford.

Identifiers

ISSN

2544-9354