The Future of Education

Language policy is a term which includes three components: language practices, language ideologies and language management (Spolsky, 2004). Family language policy (FLP) refers to parents' explicit/implicit language policy regarding language use between family members (King, Fogle & Logan-Terry, 2008: 909). Language practices refer to language interactions’ patterns through which family members negotiate and modify their FLP in face-to-face communication, while Barron-Hauwaert (2004) analyzes seven different models of strategies in language use. The family model of language use can reflect broader ideologies and practices in relation to language(s) as well as parents' attitudes of parenting and children’s bilingual development. Parents' linguistic ideologies and positive attitudes towards languages or bilingual development are not always translated into relative language practices and language management that contributes to active or additional bilingualism (Curdt-Christiansen, 2016). As regard to the third FLP’s component, according to Schwartz (2010) there are two main trends in family language management (FLM): (a) parents’ choices on which language(s) to use in their communication with the child(ren), parental discourse strategies that parents follow, more or less consistently, in their language interactions with the child(ren) and home literacy practices as well (internal control for FLP)̇; (b) parents' research for a supportive sociolinguistic environment aiming to support additional bilingualism and/or biliteracy and the maintenance of the minority mother-tongue (external control for FLP). The results of FLP could be reflected on the child’s bilingual development, on school performance and ultimately on the maintenance of minority mother tongue(s) (King, Fogle & Logan-Terry, 2008: 910).

Keywords: family language policy, bilingualism, mother-tongue, second language, intercultural education.

References:
[1] Spolsky, Β. (2004). Language Policy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[2] Barron-Hauwaert, S. (2004). Language Strategies for Bilingual Families: The One-Parent-One-Language Approach. Clevedon/Buffalo/Toronto: Multilingual Matters LTD.
[3] Curdt-Christiansen, X.L. (2016). Conflicting language ideologies and contradictory language practices in Singaporean multilingual families, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, Vol. 37 (7), 694-709. doi: 10.1080/01434632.2015.1127926.
[4] Schwartz, M. (2010). Family language policy: Core issues of an emerging field, Applied Linguistics Review, Vol. 1, 171-192. doi: 10.1515/9783110222654.171.
[5] King K. A., Fogle L., & Logan-Terry, A. (2008). Family Language Policy, Language and Linguistic Compass, Vol. 2 (5), 907-922. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-818x.2008.00076.x.