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In recent decades, the field of family language policy (FLP) has expanded in breadth to reconceptualize the notion of family structure and the rich variety of motivations of transnational families. In an age spotlighted by the blurring of linguistic and cultural borders, this study was guided by one overarching question: As a parent, would you be willing to compromise the development of your child’s heritage language in exchange for your child increasing their social capital, improving their English language skills, and becoming a global citizen? Interviews were conducted with three sets of highly-educated, multilingual parents who lived abroad for work and to afford their children future linguistic, cultural, and economic opportunities. Results found that as the parents realized these opportunities, the children’s relationship to the parents’ first language and culture deteriorated; however, the parents took these challenges in stride, not losing sight of the skills their children were currently developing. Further, owing to their positive outlook, the parents considered their children’s heritage language attrition as a temporary outcome that the children could ameliorate down the road, should they so choose.

The present study examines the role of maternal years of education and family language policy (FLP) in monolingual and bilingual children's acquisition of Hebrew plural morphology. The case of the Hebrew plural system is especially interesting when examining the influence of the above factors on morphological performance, given that it demands both a mastery of morphological rules (characterized by a high degree of transparency in Hebrew) and a lexicon-based mastery of exceptions. Participants were 146 children, 74 bilinguals (heritage language: Russian; societal language: Hebrew) and 72 Hebrew monolinguals, aged 5–8 (kindergarten, first grade, and second grade), from the same schools and neighborhoods. A Hebrew pluralization, sentence completion task that included 99 items from two categories: fully regular words whose plural forms are based on a morphological rule and non-regular words whose plural forms (also) require lexical and/or morpho-lexical knowledge. The parents of the bilingual children filled out a questionnaire with questions on background variables (e.g., maternal education) and language practice in both languages by different family members and language use at home. The findings indicated that maternal education contributes differently and distinctly to the linguistic performance of children from different linguistic backgrounds. For monolingual children, an increase in the number of years of maternal education is associated with an increase in the likelihood of success in the lexical and morpho-lexical aspects of Hebrew. By contrast, for bilingual children, no significant contribution of maternal education to children's performance was found. For bilingual participants, their performance in the lexical and morpho-lexical aspects of the Hebrew plural system was consistently influenced by FLP across all school settings—increased use of Russian at home was associated with a lower likelihood of success in the societal language. FLP characteristics were not found to be related to maternal education. These findings have clinical implications for both assessment and intervention processes when working with bilingual children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the role of natural translation in heritage speakers' bilingual communication in relation to the family language policies (FLP) adopted to maintain heritage language in Italian and German multilingual families. In order to investigate this, in spring 2023, a semi-structured questionnaire was administered to both parents and children. The sample consists of 60 Russian-speaking bilingual HS living in Italy and Germany, where they have access to regular primary education and attend, in some cases, private Russian courses or schools. The informants do not receive specific translation training from or into the Russian language (they only practice translation at school from or into Italian/German), and they translate, in most cases, as an occasional activity, closer to the function of mediation or brokering. The role of translation in relation to FLP seems particularly relevant when comparing the two samples, considering different family compositions: mostly bi-ethnic in Italy and mono-ethnic in Germany. The survey showed that in daily life, both parents and children use translation, often as a specific kind of bilingual communication. In the Italian part of the sample, the strategy called OPOL prevails, and translation is a frequent activity in the domestic sphere. In the German one, instead, the separation of language use contexts is widespread, and all family members speak both Russian and German, making translation activity less relevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transnational families in Indonesia currently still have many difficulties in developing and creating an ideology of language use that they implement in their families, with a variety of languages to maintain their family's ethnic identity. This research explores three research questions, as follows. (1) How did parents perceive the roles of various languages in shaping their children's future? (2) What languages were used in the family? This research finds the choice of language use within the context of Indonesian transnational families with different ethnic backgrounds. Employing a qualitative approach with a case study design (Yin, 2014), this study employs 2 participants, a woman, and her mother, both of them are scholarship awardees, who negotiate language ideologies, practices, and policies within their families among linguistic diversity and transnational mobility. Through thematic analysis (Saldana, 2012) of data collection from semi-structured interviews and observation, revealed several initial, open, and axial codes. This finding of this research reveals 1). The differences ideology between two generation. 2). The family's efforts to balance maintaining English and Bahasa Indonesia language. The implication of this study is made for the language policy maker and other transnational parent. In conclusion, this study highlights the complexities of language use in transnational families and demonstrates that these families face challenges and opportunities in creating an environment that supports language learning.

Intentional bilingualism is becoming increasingly popular in EFL countries, where many second-language speakers of English raise their children as a bilingual, with English alongside the local language. This article explores a case of intentional bilingualism spanning the first four years of a child, Ipek, who lives in Türkiye and has been exposed to Turkish and English since birth. As part of a longitudinal qualitative study, field and reflective notes were analysed to outline the key elements of Ipek’s context, including the participants, tools, methods and techniques. The insights and experiences gained in the study may contribute to developing effective strategies for developing intentional bilingualism.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the role of natural translation in heritage speakers’ bilingual communication in relation to the family language policies (FLP) adopted to maintain heritage language in Italian and German multilingual families. In order to investigate this, in spring 2023, a semi-structured questionnaire was administered to both parents and children. The sample consists of 60 Russian-speaking bilingual HS living in Italy and Germany, where they have access to regular primary education and attend, in some cases, private Russian courses or schools. The informants do not receive specific translation training from or into the Russian language (they only practice translation at school from or into Italian/German), and they translate, in most cases, as an occasional activity, closer to the function of mediation or brokering. The role of translation in relation to FLP seems particularly relevant when comparing the two samples, considering different family compositions: mostly bi-ethnic in Italy and mono-ethnic in Germany. The survey showed that in daily life, both parents and children use translation, often as a specific kind of bilingual communication. In the Italian part of the sample, the strategy called OPOL prevails, and translation is a frequent activity in the domestic sphere. In the German one, instead, the separation of language use contexts is widespread, and all family members speak both Russian and German, making translation activity less relevant.

Heritage language maintenance is affected by many different factors. Particularly for families in subtractive bilingual environments, it is crucial to have a well-defined family language policy (FLP). Even with an established FLP, major disruptions and changes, as well as smaller shifts in families’ lives, can significantly affect children’s multilingual development and threaten heritage language maintenance. These shifts can be sudden or gradual. This study focuses on the importance of bringing the need for a FLP into multilingual families’ awareness and explores the challenges of sustaining it. More specifically, this study uses two parents’ reflections regarding their own families’ language policies to gain a better understanding of the challenges and to make recommendations to other families. It is guided by the following questions: To what extent are parents aware of their family’s multilingual habits and policies? How can parents support their children’s heritage language development in the face of significant disruptions or even subtle life changes? Two linguists raising multilingual children in different contexts agreed to become accountability partners to gain a better understanding of their own dynamic situations and support each other to become more intentional in their family multilingual development. Data were collected over a six-month period. Findings suggest that intentionality increased due to the accountability partnership. Furthermore, this study challenged several of the researchers’ assumptions, particularly regarding the amount of heritage language spoken, how transitions affect the family, what it takes for linguistic changes to occur, and the ease of tracking one’s own family’s linguistic habits. This study suggests that having a FLP is not sufficient, but that it requires periodic updating, and changes need to be implemented to match the evolving plan.

Copyright of Journal of Elementary Education / Revija za Elementarno Izobraževanje is the property of University of Maribor, Faculty of Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article explores English immersion as a type of family language policy in the Spanish region of Castilla-La Mancha. Although the field of family language policy (FLP) has exponentially grown in the last decade to include a range of multilingual contexts across the world, the policies regarding the use of English in monolingual Spanish households have received little attention. Due to the global spread of English, Spanish families invest in their children's language education by maximizing opportunities for exposure to English inside and outside the home. This sociolinguistic ethnography of a group of 15 monolingual Spanish families with no to advanced English proficiency explores the interplay of English language ideologies, language socialization practices, and emotional investments in narratives of language experiences. This article discusses the enactment of agency among these families to sustain English immersion, which is driven by families' English learning trajectories, professional development identities, and affective stances shaping lived experiences with English. Two main research questions organize this article: (1) How do Spanish families envision, manage, and implement English immersion practices? (2) How do these English immersion policies shape the sociolinguistic order at home and beyond for their children? Based on the findings provided by narratives of language experiences among these families, this study addresses the tensions and dilemmas related to English immersion in the field of family language policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research explores the language attitudes of second-generation Arabic speakers in Italy, examining their perspectives on both Italian and Arabic. The study assesses these attitudes within the complex sociolinguistic environment of Arabic, which is heavily influenced by a diglossic view between Standard Arabic and Arabic dialects. The findings highlight nuanced attitudes toward Italian, Standard Arabic, and Arabic dialects, influenced by factors such as social integration, communicative utility, and cultural identity. Italian is perceived as a tool for social advancement and integration. In contrast, Arabic dialects are essential for maintaining cultural and familial ties, yet they often face marginalization in formal education settings and encounter social stigma. Conversely, Standard Arabic is esteemed in formal and religious settings despite its limited everyday use. This analysis reveals a dynamic interplay of attitudinal responses to these languages, illustrating a rich mosaic of multilingual and multicultural identities. The results call for policies that acknowledge and promote linguistic diversity in Italy, aiming to enhance social integration and protect linguistic rights. These policies should include educational reforms that treat Standard Arabic and Arabic dialects equitably, supporting their role in fostering inclusive and comprehensive linguistic-cultural integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the pivotal role of mothers in maintaining the Lithuanian language within the Lithuanian diaspora, drawing upon Spolsky's family language policy theory and Curdt-Christiansen's dynamic family language policy model. Analyzing data collected in 2011–2013 and 2015–2017, the study investigates various factors shaping family language policy, with a particular focus on the mother's influence. It examines the interplay between the mother's role, emigrants' language ideology, Lithuanian identity, language acquisition, proficiency, and language usage across different domains and emotional dimension of language attitudes. Quantitative analysis, considering respondents' parents' ethnicities, reveals that respondents with Lithuanian mothers exhibit stronger connections to Lithuanian identity, more frequent acquisition of Lithuanian as their first language, higher proficiency, and increased usage of Lithuanian within the family and as an inner language. Moreover, positive language attitudes towards the heritage Lithuanian language are more pronounced among those with Lithuanian mothers. However, emotional attitudes towards language did not significantly differ based on parental ethnicity. The paper concludes by discussing the heightened responsibility of mothers in language maintenance within the diaspora and the challenges they face in fulfilling this role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine had a significant impact on the Russian-speaking identity, reformulating existing linguistic and cultural boundaries and shaping Russian speakers' self-perception and vision of the world. We focus on families with children who are trying to balance their inner and outer life in order to stabilize the positive environment of the upbringing process and analyze how adults explain to the children the need to learn the Russian, Ukrainian and other languages. This can shed light on the challenges and strategies employed in alleviating prejudiced attitudes against immigrants' languages and cultures which can cause alienation from the roots in the one-and-a-half and second generation. The research questions were: How has the war altered language policies in families with different ethnic backgrounds? What changes in home language use strategies do parents propose? Material and methods: Material drawn from numerous posts of Facebook discussions have been analyzed with the help of thematic analysis. Results and discussion: We observe that in many multilingual families with Ukrainian roots the war has led to a greater emphasis on the Ukrainian language use as an attempt to reinforce ties to their cultural heritage and express support for the country. Russian is increasingly viewed as the language of the aggressor; moreover, Russian culture is devalued and rejected. Some families have become more open to new language learning, especially the languages of their new environment, and try to identify themselves as multicultural and multiethnic personalities. On the other hand, in those families where parents work or study in the fields in which Russian is widely used, adults prioritize the development of Russian language skills in their children in order to improve their future educational and professional opportunities. We explore attitudes and challenges faced by parents in Russian-speaking families, as they demonstrate the complexities of identity formation and language transmission while making salient the interplay between parents' personal experiences, their aspirations for their children's cultural identity, and the pressures of integration into the local society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

鑑於家庭語言政策雖屬個人作為，卻深具社會影響力（Spolsky, 2012），本研究深度訪談臺灣兩位對於 2030 雙語政策之語言選擇和家庭語言規劃策略持對立態度的母親，並記錄其二人的日常對話和共讀會話錄音以供分析。這兩位母親各育有年齡 5-8 歲的子女，一位選擇臺灣方言（閩南語）作為家庭的主要語言，另一位則選擇華語。選擇臺灣方言的母親認為，華語是一種霸權語言，對臺灣母語之存續構成威脅，而另一位母親則認為長期以來華語被視為臺灣的國語，她的孩子應該具備華語能力，研究發現，這兩位母親的家庭背景與人生經歷使其對 2030 雙語政策有不同看法，一位遵循政策，另一位則認為將對保存臺灣遺產形成威脅，但面對臺灣家庭普遍存在的單一語言使用環境，兩位母親皆對 2030 雙語政策在實際操作中的有效性感到懷疑，甚至擔心它可能產生不良的語言發展效果。本研究細膩描述在臺灣 2030 雙語政策背景下的家庭語言規劃動態，期透過理解個人信念、社會規範和語言實踐間的相互作用，提供在多語言環境中有助於孩子語言發展的家庭語言政策建議。 Family Language Policy (FLP) is a private practice with public ramifications (Spolsky, 2012). This study employs Spolsky’s framework to explore the language choices and home language planning strategies of two Taiwanese mothers holding contrasting attitudes toward Taiwan’s Bilingual 2030 Policy. Both mothers, whose children were between 5-8 years old at the time of the study, participated in in-depth interviews. Furthermore, the study documented their daily conversations and shared reading session recordings for analysis. Although both mothers were from Taiwanese families, one mother chose the Taiwanese dialect and another chose Mandarin Chinese as the main language of the family. These choices illuminate contrasting perceptions of the social language context in Taiwan. Specifically, the mother who opted for Taiwanese perceived Mandarin Chinese as a hegemonic language that posed a threat to their Taiwanese mother tongue, whereas the other mother felt that her child should be raised to speak Mandarin Chinese, long entrenched as Taiwan’s national language. The results reveal contrasting beliefs toward the Taiwanese government’s policy of bilingualism between Mandarin Chinese and English: One followed the policy, whereas the other perceived it as a threat to preserving her Taiwanese heritage. The two mothers’ ideologies, deeply rooted in their personal histories and experiences, were significantly influences on the FLP that they set. Because Taiwanese dialect–only and English language–only environments do not exist in Taiwan, both mothers sought external support to bolster their children’s language proficiency. However, both mothers shared a common concern regarding the effectiveness of a bilingual policy in a country where families exist in a monolingual home environment. This study traces the nuanced dynamics of family language planning in the context of Taiwan’s Bilingual 2030 Policy. Illuminating the complex interplay between individual beliefs, broader societal norms, and language practices enables a deeper understanding of how family-level decisions shape a child’s linguistic development in a multilingual context

Following uncertainty surrounding the Zimbabwe Exemption Permits and changes to immigration policies and laws regulating the employment of foreigners in South Africa, Zimbabwe has been witnessing the return migration of families from South Africa. This phenomenon is also exacerbated by the increasing xenophobic sentiment infecting South African society. Some returnees are accompanied by children who were born in South Africa and speak South African languages. Coming from a country that does not support the teaching of immigrant language presents unique challenges for their schooling and assimilation into the Zimbabwean linguistic and cultural milieu. Families are thus faced with the task of ensuring their children’s linguistic re-socialisation to align with the language requirements of the new setting. Drawing on the concept of Family Language Policy, this qualitative study focused on the reflections of purposively selected Zimbabwean parents who have recently returned from South Africa to understand how their language ideologies contextually shape decisions around children’s language socialisation in South Africa and upon return to Zimbabwe. Findings show that their family language policies are largely aspirational, reflecting the families’ imagined future identities and changing life trajectories. Their dynamic family language policies are also a response to the sociopolitical and educational context of the hostland and homeland.

This study investigates how parental language ideologies and attitudes shape Family Language Policy (FLP) in Italian transnational families in the UK. There has been an increasing interest in FLP research in recent years; however, the Italian community in the UK is under-studied. This exploratory study aimed at investigating how language ideologies in Italian transnational families affect language practices and management. The findings suggest that language ideologies such as the ‘bilingual advantage’ have a significant impact on language practices and management in the family domain. However, language ideologies are not always in line with language practices with conflicting language ideologies being more common in mixed marriage families. Additionally, the study offers new insights into the complexities of emotions surrounding FLP and bilingual upbringing as well as how parental future aspirations can shape FLP. Further research is suggested with regards to the role that siblings' dynamics can play on the negotiation of FLP as well as longitudinal research which will offer insights into the constantly evolving linguistic environment of transnational families.

Each multilingual transnational family is unique and thus deserves to be carefully studied in terms of its family language policy (FLP). Speaker-centered approaches can provide a deeper understanding of linguistic diversity in a multilingual setting. The studied Russian-Italian family is raising a multilingual boy (8:2) in Finland. The multilingual repertoire includes Russian, Italian, Finnish, English, and Hebrew. In this case-study, an ethnographic approach is used to explore the multilingual family repertoire by presenting their lived experiences and language practices. I discuss the FLP and child's active role in shaping the family's linguistic practices (child agency). The following methods were combined: semi-structured interviews, language background surveys, written diary entries, self-recordings of interactions in the family, and a language portrait that depicts the child's multilingual repertoire. The interviews and other recordings were transcribed manually. The following research questions guided the study: (1) How do the family members describe their FLP? (2) How does the FLP evolve through everyday interactions (language practices)? (3) How does the child exercise his agency in the family setting? The results reveal that the family's language practices follow predominantly an one person-one language (OPOL) strategy; consequently, the child speaks a different language with each parent. However, the analysis of the language ideologies reveals positive attitudes toward both multilingualism and all the languages in the family's repertoire, which explains the multilingual practices having multiplicity and unexpectedness. FLP is shaping the family language practices. Evidence of language hierarchy can be explained by a number of family-external and family-internal social factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family language policy (FLP) provides a critical framework to explain the planning of language use in the home. It constitutes a dynamic construct that sheds light on variations in the language acquisition of bilingual children, potentially explaining the shifts that may occur in language dominance and preference. The environment and life experiences are thought to shape FLP, yet little is known about the function of age. This study examines the association of FLP with children's chronological age and the age they become bilingual. Data were collected via questionnaires from parents and their bilingual children (n = 82) aged 5.08–14.08 (M = 8.98, SD = 3.27) speaking English (heritage language) and Hebrew (societal language). Correlations and logistic regressions indicate a relationship between FLP and dimensions of age. Findings reveal that age may have repercussions for parent language beliefs, patterns of language use within the home, and the adoption of language promotion strategies. Younger children and children with a later age of onset of bilingualism are associated with families who lean towards a pro-heritage language FLP. Considering dimensions of age enhances our understanding of FLP and may offer a greater insight into how languages are supported in the bilingual home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing field of family language policies (FLPs), defined as overt and explicit planning in relation to language use among family members, has garnered increasing interest. FLPs influence child–caretaker interactions and are closely linked to child language development and acquisition. This study investigates the impact of FLPs on children's proficiency in their heritage language (HL). Employing a multi-method approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 53 multilingual parents to explore their beliefs, ideologies, and language management within the family context. Concurrently, their children were administered standardized tasks in their heritage language (HL) to assess receptive vocabulary skills and morphosyntactic comprehension. Our findings indicate that parents' perceived value of the HL significantly correlates with their children's language performance, going beyond the influence of reported domestic language usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Research in Education Sciences is the property of National Taiwan Normal University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The present study examines the role of maternal years of education and family language policy (FLP) in monolingual and bilingual children’s acquisition of Hebrew plural morphology. The case of the Hebrew plural system is especially interesting when examining the influence of the above factors on morphological performance, given that it demands both a mastery of morphological rules (characterized by a high degree of transparency in Hebrew) and a lexicon-based mastery of exceptions. Participants were 146 children, 74 bilinguals (heritage language: Russian; societal language: Hebrew) and 72 Hebrew monolinguals, aged 5–8 (kindergarten, first grade, and second grade), from the same schools and neighborhoods. A Hebrew pluralization, sentence completion task that included 99 items from two categories: fully regular words whose plural forms are based on a morphological rule and non-regular words whose plural forms (also) require lexical and/or morpho-lexical knowledge. The parents of the bilingual children filled out a questionnaire with questions on background variables (e.g., maternal education) and language practice in both languages by different family members and language use at home. The findings indicated that maternal education contributes differently and distinctly to the linguistic performance of children from different linguistic backgrounds. For monolingual children, an increase in the number of years of maternal education is associated with an increase in the likelihood of success in the lexical and morpho-lexical aspects of Hebrew. By contrast, for bilingual children, no significant contribution of maternal education to children’s performance was found. For bilingual participants, their performance in the lexical and morpho-lexical aspects of the Hebrew plural system was consistently influenced by FLP across all school settings—increased use of Russian at home was associated with a lower likelihood of success in the societal language. FLP characteristics were not found to be related to maternal education. These findings have clinical implications for both assessment and intervention processes when working with bilingual children.

The few studies on Family Language Policy in Singapore (FLP) have generally focused on FLP in local and immigrant Chinese families. This article explores language policies that seem to undergird Singaporean-Japanese families' language practices. In-depth interviews and observations with five such families showed that Japanese only functions as the language of communication between the Japanese parents and their children if parents have invoked particular language policies to support its transmission and use at home. For most families, English was the main medium of communication among family members. Language policies and practices in these families were heavily influenced by the value emplaced on each language within the parents' linguistic repertoire and their beliefs regarding language learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the language and literacy practices of multilingual families in Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, Israel, and Sweden during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study focuses on the different roles of family members in language transmission in order to understand whether these practices might have been influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to answer two key research questions: RQ1, whether and how the pandemic conditions affected the heritage language, societal language acquisition, and heritage language literacy learning environments in the five countries examined (Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, Israel, and Sweden); and RQ2, what is the nature of child and parental agency in facilitation of the possible changes in the corresponding five countries? Fifty semi-structured interviews (ten in each country) were conducted. The data highlighted the factors that triggered changes in family language policy during the pandemic and the role of the child's agency, parents, extended family, and social network during this period. Based on our findings, we argue that the pandemic conditions gave the children new opportunities for agency when it comes to language and literacy choice and communication with extended family members. This even facilitated new sources of input and suggested the active role of a child as an agent in shaping family language policy in the family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IntroductionThe Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine had a significant impact on the Russian-speaking identity, reformulating existing linguistic and cultural boundaries and shaping Russian speakers’ self-perception and vision of the world. We focus on families with children who are trying to balance their inner and outer life in order to stabilize the positive environment of the upbringing process and analyze how adults explain to the children the need to learn the Russian, Ukrainian and other languages. This can shed light on the challenges and strategies employed in alleviating prejudiced attitudes against immigrants’ languages and cultures which can cause alienation from the roots in the one-and-a-half and second generation. The research questions were: How has the war altered language policies in families with different ethnic backgrounds? What changes in home language use strategies do parents propose?Material and methodsMaterial drawn from numerous posts of Facebook discussions have been analyzed with the help of thematic analysis.Results and discussionWe observe that in many multilingual families with Ukrainian roots the war has led to a greater emphasis on the Ukrainian language use as an attempt to reinforce ties to their cultural heritage and express support for the country. Russian is increasingly viewed as the language of the aggressor; moreover, Russian culture is devalued and rejected. Some families have become more open to new language learning, especially the languages of their new environment, and try to identify themselves as multicultural and multiethnic personalities. On the other hand, in those families where parents work or study in the fields in which Russian is widely used, adults prioritize the development of Russian language skills in their children in order to improve their future educational and professional opportunities. We explore attitudes and challenges faced by parents in Russian-speaking families, as they demonstrate the complexities of identity formation and language transmission while making salient the interplay between parents’ personal experiences, their aspirations for their children’s cultural identity, and the pressures of integration into the local society.

Each multilingual transnational family is unique and thus deserves to be carefully studied in terms of its family language policy (FLP). Speaker-centered approaches can provide a deeper understanding of linguistic diversity in a multilingual setting. The studied Russian-Italian family is raising a multilingual boy (8:2) in Finland. The multilingual repertoire includes Russian, Italian, Finnish, English, and Hebrew. In this case-study, an ethnographic approach is used to explore the multilingual family repertoire by presenting their lived experiences and language practices. I discuss the FLP and child’s active role in shaping the family’s linguistic practices (child agency). The following methods were combined: semi-structured interviews, language background surveys, written diary entries, self-recordings of interactions in the family, and a language portrait that depicts the child’s multilingual repertoire. The interviews and other recordings were transcribed manually. The following research questions guided the study: (1) How do the family members describe their FLP? (2) How does the FLP evolve through everyday interactions (language practices)? (3) How does the child exercise his agency in the family setting? The results reveal that the family’s language practices follow predominantly an one person-one language (OPOL) strategy; consequently, the child speaks a different language with each parent. However, the analysis of the language ideologies reveals positive attitudes toward both multilingualism and all the languages in the family’s repertoire, which explains the multilingual practices having multiplicity and unexpectedness. FLP is shaping the family language practices. Evidence of language hierarchy can be explained by a number of family-external and family-internal social factors.

This article explores English immersion as a type of family language policy in the Spanish region of Castilla-La Mancha. Although the field of family language policy (FLP) has exponentially grown in the last decade to include a range of multilingual contexts across the world, the policies regarding the use of English in monolingual Spanish households have received little attention. Due to the global spread of English, Spanish families invest in their children’s language education by maximizing opportunities for exposure to English inside and outside the home. This sociolinguistic ethnography of a group of 15 monolingual Spanish families with no to advanced English proficiency explores the interplay of English language ideologies, language socialization practices, and emotional investments in narratives of language experiences. This article discusses the enactment of agency among these families to sustain English immersion, which is driven by families’ English learning trajectories, professional development identities, and affective stances shaping lived experiences with English. Two main research questions organize this article: (1) How do Spanish families envision, manage, and implement English immersion practices? (2) How do these English immersion policies shape the sociolinguistic order at home and beyond for their children? Based on the findings provided by narratives of language experiences among these families, this study addresses the tensions and dilemmas related to English immersion in the field of family language policy.

This research explores the language attitudes of second-generation Arabic speakers in Italy, examining their perspectives on both Italian and Arabic. The study assesses these attitudes within the complex sociolinguistic environment of Arabic, which is heavily influenced by a diglossic view between Standard Arabic and Arabic dialects. The findings highlight nuanced attitudes toward Italian, Standard Arabic, and Arabic dialects, influenced by factors such as social integration, communicative utility, and cultural identity. Italian is perceived as a tool for social advancement and integration. In contrast, Arabic dialects are essential for maintaining cultural and familial ties, yet they often face marginalization in formal education settings and encounter social stigma. Conversely, Standard Arabic is esteemed in formal and religious settings despite its limited everyday use. This analysis reveals a dynamic interplay of attitudinal responses to these languages, illustrating a rich mosaic of multilingual and multicultural identities. The results call for policies that acknowledge and promote linguistic diversity in Italy, aiming to enhance social integration and protect linguistic rights. These policies should include educational reforms that treat Standard Arabic and Arabic dialects equitably, supporting their role in fostering inclusive and comprehensive linguistic-cultural integration.

The paper explores the pivotal role of mothers in maintaining the Lithuanian language within the Lithuanian diaspora, drawing upon Spolsky’s family language policy theory and Curdt-Christiansen’s dynamic family language policy model. Analyzing data collected in 2011–2013 and 2015–2017, the study investigates various factors shaping family language policy, with a particular focus on the mother’s influence. It examines the interplay between the mother’s role, emigrants’ language ideology, Lithuanian identity, language acquisition, proficiency, and language usage across different domains and emotional dimension of language attitudes. Quantitative analysis, considering respondents’ parents’ ethnicities, reveals that respondents with Lithuanian mothers exhibit stronger connections to Lithuanian identity, more frequent acquisition of Lithuanian as their first language, higher proficiency, and increased usage of Lithuanian within the family and as an inner language. Moreover, positive language attitudes towards the heritage Lithuanian language are more pronounced among those with Lithuanian mothers. However, emotional attitudes towards language did not significantly differ based on parental ethnicity. The paper concludes by discussing the heightened responsibility of mothers in language maintenance within the diaspora and the challenges they face in fulfilling this role.

Linguistic intermarriages are now a common feature of contemporary societies as a consequence of migration and globalisation. In some contexts, intermarriages contribute to the creation of bilingual families because of children's exposure to the different languages of their parents. In these families, tensions around bilingual child-rearing and language socialisation often arise from mismatched parents' ideologies about what languages represent and their subjective dispositions towards each other's language, particularly in the context of historical conflicts. This study presents part findings of a larger study investigating the emotional dimensions of family language policy in a post-conflict context. It reports on how parents' language practices and negotiations within selected Ndebele-Shona intermarried families reveal underlying tensions which reproduce the prevailing socio-political order. The study deploys in-depth interviews with parents from each family to understand their language socialisation preferences for their children in the context of family bilingualism. Using the concept of family language policy, we argue that parents' language practices and negotiations in each of the families are products of historical Ndebele-Shona tensions, and the family becomes a site of conflictual bilingualism, resulting in the re-negotiation of family linguistic identities.

Despite the number of people of Polish origin (approx. 9 million) and the long history of this diaspora in the U.S., there have been no in-depth comprehensive sociolinguistic studies devoted to their language situation and bilingualism. The states of the Southeast (including Georgia) are particularly under-researched. The article presents the results of the Polish part of sociolinguistic research on the situation of Slavic languages in Georgia, carried out in the summer of 2022. Since Georgia is rarely a destination for direct migration from Poland, its Polish community differs linguistically and socially from the more typically “Polish” states of the Northeast and Midwest. Based on questionnaire research and interviews, the spheres of use of Polish and English, the linguistic competence of Poles in both languages, and the shape and main motives driving family language policy are discussed.

The article analyses the language situation in Ukraine before the beginning of Russian military aggression in February 2022. The data reflect the language practices of Kyiv families with preschool age children. The sociolinguistic study shows the use of different languages, primarily Ukrainian and Russian, in families raising children of this age group. The author traced the correlation between parents' language behaviour and children's language practices. This article examines bilingualism in the context of the daily language practices of children and families. The author pays attention to the sociolinguistic aspects of the Ukrainian language used in the formal and non-formal communication of Kyiv's preschool children.

Family language policy explores planning of home language use and is thought to shape language acquisition. Historically, heritage languages have often been considered ‘low prestige’. In Israel, there are immigrants speaking English, a global lingua franca, as a heritage language. This study focuses on characterizing the language policies of this unique community. It explores how these policies affect bilingual children's language through the investigation of vocabulary. Data was collected via questionnaires from English-Hebrew bilingual children (n = 82, ages 5; 1–14; 1) and their parents. Children's receptive and expressive vocabulary was assessed in both languages. Results show that this group of heritage speakers is distinct as the heritage language is sometimes perceived as more important than the societal language. Nonetheless, parents adopt a balanced pro-bilingualism approach. English is considered instrumental in connecting with family. Hebrew is beneficial for communicating with the community. Statistically significant correlations indicate a directional relationship between family language policy and vocabulary. Multiple regression analyses explored the contribution of family language policy variables to vocabulary outcomes, controlling for chronological age and age of onset of bilingualism. Findings allude that the relationship is complex; speaking English at home may predict English, and encouraging English use with friends may negatively predict Hebrew.

In a globalized society, where neoliberalism imposes its logic at all levels, languages (and particularly, English) are seen as profitable commodities to thrive in the market society. In Spain, a growing number of families, aware of the value ascribed to English as an international lingua franca (ELF), intensively support their children to achieve a high command in this language, by means of the implementation of strategies such as the creation of English immersion scenarios at home. The participants in this study were 17 families, with parents whose mother tongue was not English, but who used English at home in the interactions with their children. Data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews and was analysed against the frameworks of neoliberal approaches to language learning, family language policy, non-native bilingualism, good parenting, and linguistic family agency and entrepreneurship. Results shed light into language beliefs and conceptions, and language planning and management that underpin this atypical sociolinguistic practice, as well as the dilemmas and disruptions families deal with to successfully implement immersion environments in a language that is nobody's mother tongue.

Family language policy (FLP) provides a critical framework to explain the planning of language use in the home. It constitutes a dynamic construct that sheds light on variations in the language acquisition of bilingual children, potentially explaining the shifts that may occur in language dominance and preference. The environment and life experiences are thought to shape FLP, yet little is known about the function of age. This study examines the association of FLP with children’s chronological age and the age they become bilingual. Data were collected via questionnaires from parents and their bilingual children (n = 82) aged 5.08–14.08 (M = 8.98, SD = 3.27) speaking English (heritage language) and Hebrew (societal language). Correlations and logistic regressions indicate a relationship between FLP and dimensions of age. Findings reveal that age may have repercussions for parent language beliefs, patterns of language use within the home, and the adoption of language promotion strategies. Younger children and children with a later age of onset of bilingualism are associated with families who lean towards a pro-heritage language FLP. Considering dimensions of age enhances our understanding of FLP and may offer a greater insight into how languages are supported in the bilingual home.

This paper reports on a phenomenological study that examined Hungarian American parents’ perceptions and practices related to translanguaging—a systematic scaffolding strategy that utilizes multiple linguistic repertoires to facilitate competence and performance in two or more language—in family communication. We used semistructured interviews with questions related to language use, parents’ reactions to translanguaging, and their perceptions of why and how translanguaging occurs in oral and written family communications. The participants included twelve Hungarian American families with adolescent children who used the Hungarian language in family communication. The findings indicated that most families found translanguaging natural and positive, and these families used supportive and constructive behaviors when translanguaging happened. A few parents rejected the practice of translanguaging when the communication took place in Hungarian, which indicated monoglossic language ideologies. These divergent views of family language policy were often explained by the familial, social, and cultural contexts of the families. Because parents are the main stakeholders in language maintenance, their perspectives and practices are essential. This paper contributes to our understanding of family language policies regarding translanguaging and offer recommendations for a minority language community, the Hungarian American immigrant community, for which translanguaging is not well researched. jszilagy@brockport.edu

Theoretically and methodologically framed within family language policy studies, this article contrasts the idea of Mapuche-Pewenche child autonomy and agency, as the result of the early socialization of Mapuche-Pewenche children, with our sociolinguistic ethnographic data from two Pewenche families. We do this in order to determine the extent to which, from a parental perspective, the agency ascribed to Mapuche-Pewenche children impacts the language policies in each family and the transmission of their indigenous language, Chedungun. We conclude by suggesting that, even though agency and autonomy are present in the way the children in these families are socialized, when it comes to determining the sociolinguistic future of these children, parents appear to assume the main role as agents of language policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Connections between linguistic heterogeneity, educational choices and (family) biographies are complex and ever shifting. With this paper, my aim is to explore the question how social spaces are constructed by multilingual families in migration societies and how they situate social spaces 'in between', thereby challenging both binary and national logics and creating third spaces. Especially in view of national educational institutions, family decisions on language transmission and use are reflected upon and at times re-evaluated. Analysis of family interviews with German migrants in Norway shows how both continuity and change are relevant for the parents as they try to produce an uninterrupted family biography but at the same time need to be open to adaptations to new situations. Expectations, language ideologies and perspectives that transcend one's own family spaces gain relevance while (national) institutions may call for changes in language regimes and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Applied Linguistics / Taikomoji Kalbotyra is the property of Vilnius University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article attempts to investigate a case study on the language attitudes of Pakistani immigrants in France, drawing on the theoretical framework of family language policy. Over 37 individuals of Pakistani descent living in the suburbs of Paris participated in this study through a questionnaire on language attitudes. All the participants showed a positive attitude towards the teaching of the Urdu language to their children or to the second generation. Within the family arena, it has been observed that the consequences of prolonged language contact led to language changes (Ricento, 2006) from the heritage language (Punjabi in the case of the illustrated case study’s participants) to the language of prestige (Urdu) through verbal interaction with the second generation. This study also takes into account the linguistic biographies of some students of Pakistani origin enrolled in a Bachelor’s program with Urdu as major subject at the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilization in Paris. The reports by the students have further attested to language attitudes in favour of Urdu emerging as an important tool in the socio-educational context.

This paper examines the family language policies in five case studies of immigrant families in Europe, focusing on the following emotions: Pride, Joy, Sadness and Fear. Families who immigrated from India and Laos to France, Sweden, Norway and Finland expressed their first and foremost emotions over the maintenance of their heritage languages in terms of language ideologies. The principal purpose of this paper is to explore critically the role of emotions of parents and of children regarding the maintenance or loss of the heritage language and the dominant position that the host language occupies in the framework of the family language policy. With an ethnographic approach, the principal tools were interviews, recording of conversations, participant observations and field notes, which yielded significant information on language attitudes, ideologies and practices toward the host-language and heritage language. Findings show that emotions of anxiety toward enfeeblement of the heritage language were common among parents, albeit not explicitly manifested in some families. Fear of losing the heritage language amounts to fear of losing linguistic and cultural identity over which some parents were frustrated, angry and helpless. Pride and joy were other affective displays, notably related to one's command of the host languages or powerful languages like English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing field of family language policies (FLPs), defined as overt and explicit planning in relation to language use among family members, has garnered increasing interest. FLPs influence child–caretaker interactions and are closely linked to child language development and acquisition. This study investigates the impact of FLPs on children’s proficiency in their heritage language (HL). Employing a multi-method approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 53 multilingual parents to explore their beliefs, ideologies, and language management within the family context. Concurrently, their children were administered standardized tasks in their heritage language (HL) to assess receptive vocabulary skills and morphosyntactic comprehension. Our findings indicate that parents’ perceived value of the HL significantly correlates with their children’s language performance, going beyond the influence of reported domestic language usage.

There is an increased urgency of acquiring a lingua franca in this era of industrial revolution 4.0 and society 5.0 as language mastery plays a crucial role in meeting the 21st-century’s demand to compete globally. To this end, family literacy practices have become the keys for the family to socialize their children into the languages they think will benefit their children’s future. Despite the increasingly abundant research on bilingual/multilingualism, research on family English bilingual practice in Indonesian contexts is still limited. This paper is aimed to discuss family literacy practices and language enrichment used to acquire English in two Indonesian families in South Sumatra. A case study design was used to examine translingual practice. Interviews and observations were conducted to collect the data from the two families. Categorizing strategies (coding and thematic analysis) were accomplished to analyze the data. The findings of this study highlight translanguaging, code-switching, and code-mixing as the families’ common literacy practices at home. Another finding reveals the critical role of digital media, such as TV programs, YouTube videos, online games, and books, in supporting children’s English acquisition. Implications of this study include the need to pay attention to the family literacy practice as important component of understanding how second language socialization occurs outside of formal schooling and the role of digital media in mediating this socialization process.

The paper proposes to capture a century of evolution in the intergenerational transmission of Corsican. The study is based on one unpublished survey, conducted by us, and three others conducted by public institutions and researchers. During the 20th century, social changes were profound in Corsica. One consequence of these linguistic changes is presented from 1915 to the present day. It is about the intergenerational transmission of Corsican. A shift from predominantly monolingual family situations in Corsican to new monolingual situations in French is taking place on the island. The paper analyses the parental transmission in Corsican of a section of the island's population, more or less consequential depending on the period. For the most contemporary part, the factors that motivate this choice are outlined and a typical profile of parents who choose to transmit the Corsican language is established. The study of these experiments shows that the equilibrium is precarious and largely subject to the ambient Francophonie.

Studies in Family Language Policy (FLP) have focused more on language patterns and practices in transnational families with little attention to the challenges of multilingualism. Through exploring diverse experiences in dealing with multilingualism, more can be understood about parent language ideology, the enactment of FLP, and factors related to identity construction. Therefore, the study highlights how the family experiences affect the way individual family members perceive social relations and social structures and how they construct and present their own identities. The study is based on an analysis of longitudinal data from children's family transnational experiences and how the dynamic of FLP affected not only family talk style but also identity construction. The main focus of the study entails an analysis of personal auto-ethnographic accounts. The study explored the emergence of religious identity in the family talks via (1) using referring expressions to talk about religious places related to two different contexts, and (2) frequently using religious phrases in different settings, which, in turn, reveal the interplay between macro and micro factors affecting the parental language ideology, language planning, and identity construction in the FLP. This study contributed to the field of language policy by presenting the different trajectories in identity construction and family language in a transnational families from a less explored religious and ethnic group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study delves into the heritage language experiences of Australian-born Chinese immigrant children under the framework of family language policy. Storytelling as a narrative inquiry method is used to reveal the lived experiences of the protagonists in relation to heritage language and culture. The three family stories involved for case studies reveal different levels of parent agency in Chinese immigrant families regarding their children’s home language use and heritage language education. It is noted that the level of child agency corresponds with the level of their parent agency. Where parents strongly advocate and practice heritage language maintenance, stronger agency is observed in their children to continue the use and learning of their heritage language. In addition, maintaining harmony while parents are implementing family language policies and providing children with formal instruction in heritage language are conducive to heritage language development, particularly in terms of its literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyses the language situation in Ukraine before the beginning of Russian military aggression in February 2022. The data reflect the language practices of Kyiv families with preschool age children. The sociolinguistic study shows the use of different languages, primarily Ukrainian and Russian, in families raising children of this age group. The author traced the correlation between parents' language behaviour and children's language practices. This article examines bilingualism in the context of the daily language practices of children and families. The author pays attention to the sociolinguistic aspects of the Ukrainian language used in the formal and non-formal communication of Kyiv's preschool children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the number of people of Polish origin (approx. 9 million) and the long history of this diaspora in the U.S., there have been no in-depth comprehensive sociolinguistic studies devoted to their language situation and bilingualism. The states of the Southeast (including Georgia) are particularly under-researched. The article presents the results of the Polish part of sociolinguistic research on the situation of Slavic languages in Georgia, carried out in the summer of 2022. Since Georgia is rarely a destination for direct migration from Poland, its Polish community differs linguistically and socially from the more typically "Polish" states of the Northeast and Midwest. Based on questionnaire research and interviews, the spheres of use of Polish and English, the linguistic competence of Poles in both languages, and the shape and main motives driving family language policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a phenomenological study that examined Hungarian American parents' perceptions and practices related to translanguaging--a systematic scaffolding strategy that utilizes multiple linguistic repertoires to facilitate competence and performance in two or more language--in family communication. We used semistructured interviews with questions related to language use, parents' reactions to translanguaging, and their perceptions of why and how translanguaging occurs in oral and written family communications. The participants included twelve Hungarian American families with adolescent children who used the Hungarian language in family communication. The findings indicated that most families found translanguaging natural and positive, and these families used supportive and constructive behaviors when translanguaging happened. A few parents rejected the practice of translanguaging when the communication took place in Hungarian, which indicated monoglossic language ideologies. These divergent views of family language policy were often explained by the familial, social, and cultural contexts of the families. Because parents are the main stakeholders in language maintenance, their perspectives and practices are essential. This paper contributes to our understanding of family language policies regarding translanguaging and offer recommendations for a minority language community, the Hungarian American immigrant community, for which translanguaging is not well researched. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]