Family Language Policies in a Multilingual 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.

John Macalister is Associate Professor in the School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Seyed Hadi Mirvahedi is Lecturer at Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University, Iran.

1. Beginnings John Macalister & Seyed Hadi Mirvahedi Part I: Challenges in Family Language Policy 2. Family Language Policy: New Directions Cassie Smith-Christmas 3. Family Language Policy for Deaf Children and the Vitality of New Zealand Sign Language Rachel McKee & Kirsten Smiler 4. Family Language Practices as Emergent Policies in Child-Headed Households in Rural Uganda Maureen Kendrick & Elizabeth Namazzi 5. Exploring Family Language policies Among Azerbaijani-Speaking Families in the City of Tabriz, Iran Seyed Hadi Mirvahedi 6. The Role of the Zapotec Language from Lozoga' in the Californian Migrant Community Daisy Bernal Lorenzo 7. Adrift in an Anglophone World: Refugee Families' Language Policy Challenges Diego Navarro & John Macalister PART II: Opportunities in Family Language Policy 8. How Religious Ideologies and Practices Impact on Family Language Policy - Ethiopians in Wellington Melanie Revis 9. "I speak all of the language!": Engaging in Family Language Policy Research with Multilingual Children in Montreal Alison Crump 10. Dynamic Family Language Policy: Heritage Language Socialization and Strategic Accommodation in the Home Corinne Seals 11. Language Ideologies, Social Capital, and Interaction Strategies: AN ethnogrpah8ic Case Study of Family Language Policy in Singapore Guangwei Hu & Li Ren PART III: Consequences for Family Language Policy 12. Home: A Confluence of Discourses in Multilingual Linguistic Ecologies Seyed Hadi Mirvahedi & John Macalister