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Programme: accepted abstracts

Abstract ID: 254

Part of Session 107: Minority and Majority Languages within State, Community and Family (Other abstracts in this session)

Negotiating Family Language Policy: Doing homework

Authors: Curdt-Christiansen, XiaoLan
Submitted by: Curdt-Christiansen, XiaoLan (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)

This presentation examines how family language policies are negotiated through homework sessions between parents and children of lower primary. To understand the interaction patterns between the participating parents and their children during homework sessions, an ecological approach is employed to look at “interactions between any given language and its environment” (Hornberger, 2002, p.32). The environment includes the socio-cultural-economic-political conditions in which the families are situated. From this perspective, the organization, structure and the complexity of language use influence patterns of activity and engagement. Exploring the interaction patterns of three English-Chinese bilingual families in Singapore, this study particularly examines how parents use different strategies, associated with a particular language, to encourage, prompt, question and guide children’s exploration and problem-solving. By means of comparative inquiry, this study reveals how official language policy, societal change and social structures influence and shape Family Language Policies of the participating families.