To mix or not to mix: Parental attitudes towards translanguaging and language management choices

Abstract

Aim and objectives: The present study investigates parental language beliefs and management among French-English bilingual families in the UK. It addresses the following two research questions. (a) What are parents’ attitudes towards translanguaging and beliefs about effective language management? (b) Do these beliefs and attitudes translate into language separation strategies versus flexible language practices? Design/methodology: This paper reports part of the results of a mixed-method study consisting of an online survey as well as multiple in-depth case studies. The qualitative portion of the present article focuses on two case studies including face-to-face interviews and observations in the family home. Data and analysis: Responses to the online questionnaire ( n = 164) were analysed using descriptive statistics. Thematic analysis was used for interview data. Observations were analysed through the Family Language Policy framework and by looking at turn-taking sequences and meta-linguistic comments. Results: Parental ideologies appear to have evolved towards more positive attitudes towards language mixing. However, these positive attitudes towards translanguaging do not necessarily result in flexible language practices at home. Findings/conclusions: Language separation strategies such as one parent–one language may be adopted not as a result of ideologies, but despite parents’ beliefs about the flexible nature of bilingualism and owing to the pressure experienced by parents to develop children’s heritage language (HL) proficiency. Originality: The findings contradict previous studies, which reported the predominance of monoglossic language ideologies among middle-class parents. They suggest that parental language beliefs may have evolved and that a translingual ideology is making its way into multilingual families. Significance/implications: The study suggests that practical support in the form of additional sources of HL input, rather than theoretical guidance, would be required for parents to embrace flexible language management at home. The present study findings also highlight the dilemma parents face between prioritising their children’s bilingual development and fostering a harmonious bilingual environment for their families.

Bilingual Proficiency Development and Translanguaging Practices of Emergent Korean-English Bilingual Children in Korea

“…However, in everyday practice, they did the complete opposite and practiced TL, often mixing together Vietnamese and the minority language spoken at home as well as practicing other aspects of TL (Nguyen, 2019). Similarly, results of the current study further support previous research which has found that although parents state that their children being bilingual is very important to them, the actual FLP they implement in their homes is often inconsistent and uncertain (Lee et al, 2021;Piller & Gerber, 2021;Wilson, 2021). The current literature reveals the salient influence of parental decisions regarding FLP which differ depending on each family's varying needs and contexts (Lee et al, 2021).…”

“…For example, when an individual has the ability to use both English and Korean, it was believed and strongly encouraged that the two languages should not be mixed or used together while communicating. Later on, many researchers began to take on a more heteroglossic view of bilingualism which supports the concept that bilinguals do not possess a separate compartment for each language but rather utilize simultaneously an infinite number of various forms and signs of languages in the linguistic repertoire to make sense of and communicate with individuals in the world around them (Wilson, 2021). The theoretical framework for this study draws from this heteroglossic perspective of bilingualism in which emergent bilingual speakers utilize their full linguistic repertoires from their two languages in order to navigate and make sense of a multilingual world (Higgins, 2019).…”

The Research Trends of Multilingualism in Applied Linguistics and Education (2000–2019): A Bibliometric Analysis

“…For example, numerous studies have explored the bilingual or multilingual policy in various countries and regions such as France [34], Cameroon [35], and the Arabian Peninsula [36]. Other topics in this line of research include bilingualism or multilingualism policy and politics [37,38], bilingual language policy in classrooms [39,40], bilingual language policy in universities [41,42], and bilingual language policy in family [43][44][45].…”

Language Mixings in Heritage Language Education: A Systematic Review

“…Outside community language schools, there is no empirical data on how communities make language mixing efforts on heritage language maintenance except the speech and song contests held by Tamil diasporas mentioned by Canagarajah (2012). In contrast, 6 articles report the role of language mixing in family heritage language learning even though they are not as many as studies in educational settings (Canagarajah, 2012;Ghimenton, 2015;Higgins, 2019;Kwon, 2019;Song, 2016;Wilson, 2020). As a microcosm, family plays an essential role in minority language maintenance and revitalization (Fishman, 1970).…”