An un/familiar space: children and parents as collaborators in autoethnographic family research

Abstract

This paper, coauthored by mother and son (aged 10 at the time of writing, 12 at time of revisions), reports on the collaborative research experience during a 2.5-year-long autoethnographic study, which focused on bringing back the family heritage language after a 2-year break. Through a joint research diary, we regularly and rigorously chronicled both language-related conversations and our emotions linked to the process of bringing back the heritage language. Frustration, guilt, joy, exasperation, and pride were jointly discussed via what we call an un/familiar space. This paper explores the evolution of this space, linking it to Bhabha’s third space theory and Gadamer’s fusion of horizons. We present the un/familiar space both as an epistemological stance and as a methodological tool for intergenerational autoethnography, enabling both parents and children to engage with each other in a more neutral space, deliberately removed from traditional family roles. Further, we critically engage with the role of children as co-creators of knowledge within this space, contributing longitudinal data of co-construction and critical reflection from two generations to the research community.

‘Half of who you are’: Parent and child reflections on the emotional experiences of reversing familial language shift

“…The ethics application was completed jointly, and concerns such as withdrawing, changing one's mind, and so on were discussed at the outset, as well as frequently throughout the study (Little and Little, 2022). The only break occurred between receiving reviews for the jointly authored paper, and making these revisions, as Toby struggled with the critique, and asked for a few months off.…”

“…As a result of this, researcher bias is certainly present here, as in any paper where quotes are chosen as part of the writing process. With the study being a part of our lives for 2.5 years, and subsequently shaping our way of being with each other (Little and Little, 2022), we present the findings as part of our lived and examined experience.…”

“…At age 6, however, Toby decided that his 'break' had been long enough: he felt he had learnt to read in English to his satisfaction, and wanted to re-start speaking German. He suggested that we could 'do research together', and, following an exploration of his understanding of this concept (see Little and Little, 2022 for a full discussion), we agreed to note down key moments in our joint endeavour, and to reflect on our experiences of 'resurrecting' the heritage language. While the overall study took 2.5 years in total, this article focuses on the first 2 months, since they were the most emotionally challenging from both our perspectives.…”

Prompting heritage-language engagement in English-speaking Maltese families, via a family language programme intervention

“…The social constructivist underpinnings of this research justify its interpretivist approach (Creswell & Poth, 2018) that portrays its presented truths as interpreted rather than objective in nature. Credibility was thus addressed through triangulation, which allowed for the voices of each of the participating family members to be represented in this study (Little & Little, 2021).…”

Hierarchy and inequality in research: Practices, ethics and experiences

“…Depending on how the negotiation of indifference and involvement plays out, another risk associated with positions of impartiality or neutrality is that the potentials of involvement, participation and engagement are lost (Ayrton, 2019; Antaki et al, 2015; Little and Little, 2021). On the one hand, these potentials can be located on the side of the researcher and the quality of a study as such.…”