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Language, Culture and Society: Online-First Articles

“I know this language, that language, and my language”

Children’s language ideologies in multilingual immigrant families

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Adopting a longitudinal dynamic perspective on the field of Family Language Policy (FLP), combined with insights from language socialization, the current study explores five Iranian immigrant family members’ language ideologies, practices and policies and aims to unfold the processes through which the language ideologies and policies are instantiated and negotiated. Particular foci are the evolving nature of family language ideologies and practices, emphasizing the influence of children’s language ideologies and societal interactions. Through detailed analyses of multiparty family interactions, the study argues the significance of considering children’s language ideologies as integral to understanding of their language practices, moving beyond a simplistic attribution of actions to mere ‘agency’.
Keywords: family language policy, children’s language ideologies, child’s perspective, family multilingualism
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Family as a space for negotiation of language ideologies
  • 3.Methodological approach
    • 3.1Data and participants
    • 3.2Previous findings: The families’ language management, ideologies and practices
  • 4.Findings
    • 1.Negation and criticism of the other’s language competences
    • 2.Criticizing the other’s wrong and inappropriate language choice
    • 3.Refusing the other’s inappropriate language choice
    • 4.Teaching the other one’s ‘own’ language
  • 5.Concluding discussions
  • Transcription convention
  • Author queries
  • References
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