Family Language Policies in a Multilingual World : Opportunities, Challenges, and Consequences

Through case studies from around the world, this book illustrates the opportunities and challenges facing families negotiating the issues of language maintenance and language learning in the home, The contributors utilize various ethnographic research tools to explore linguistic ideologies and practices of the family members in the home, illuminating how such ideologies and practices are shaped by macro-level societal processes in a range of diverse settings around the world.

Through case studies from around the world, this book illustrates the opportunities and challenges facing families negotiating the issues of language maintenance and language learning in the home. Every family living in a bi/multilingual environment faces the question of what language(s) to speak with their children and must make a decision, consciously or otherwise, about these issues. Exploring links between language policy in the home and wider society in a range of diverse settings, the contributors utilize various research tools, including interviews, questionnaires, observations, and archival document analysis, to explore linguistic ideologies and practices of family members in the home, illuminating how these are shaped by macro-level societal processes.