Czech and Slovak Mothers Struggling to Maintain Children’s Heritage Language in North Carolina

McCabe, Marta

doi:10.1007/978-94-6300-809-9_11

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…The family was selected because they speak Arabic and English, and the first author specifically sought out second- and third-generation immigrant families in order to interrogate how parents of Arabic heritage socialised their children and how they maintained the Arabic language. Much of the work on transnational families is based on data of first-generation parents and second-generation children, where parents are often reported as speaking the host society language as a second language, whilst the children speak it as their first language (McCabe, 2014; Morales, 2016; Subhan, 2007; Zhang & Slaughter-Defoe, 2009). However, as will be discussed below, when both parent and child have near equal access to all their languages (Arabic and English), negotiation of power and pursuit of agency are particularly salient.…”

Section: Focus Of This Study and The Familymentioning

confidence: 99%

“No, no Maama! Say‘Shaatir ya Ouledee Shaatir’!” Children’s agency in language use and socialisation

Said

Hua

2017

International Journal of Bilingualism

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Aims and ObjectivesThis paper investigates how children in multilingual and transnational families mobilise their multiple and developing linguistic repertoires creatively to assert their agency in language use and socialisation, and why these acts of agency are conducive to successful maintenance of the so-called "home", "community" or "minority" language. MethodologyClose, qualitative analysis of mealtime multiparty conversations is carried out to examine children's agency in language use and socialisation. Data and analysisTwelve hours of mealtime conversations within one Arabic and English-speaking multilingual family in the UK were recorded over a period of eight months. The excerpts selected for analysis in this paper illustrate how agency is enacted in interaction. FindingsThe data analyses of the family's language practices reveals both their flexible language policy and the importance the family attaches to Arabic. The children in this family are fully aware of the language preferences of their parents and are capable of 2 manipulating that knowledge and asserting their agency through their linguistic choices to achieve their interactional goals. OriginalityThis paper explores how Arabic is maintained as a minority language by second and third generations of Arabic-speaking immigrants in the UK through close analysis of conversations. SignificanceThe findings contribute to the current discussions of family language policy and maintenance by demonstrating children's agentive and creative role in language use and socialisation. Three factors are identified as the reason for the successful language learning, use and maintenance of Arabic: first, a family language policy that has a positive multilingual outlook; second, family relationship dynamics that connect and bond family members; and third, the children's highly developed ability to understand their parents' language preferences.

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Section: Focus Of This Study and The Familymentioning

confidence: 99%