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Programme: accepted abstracts

Abstract ID: 966

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

Love, language and the little ones: Family language policy issues among recent immigrants to Australia

Authors: Yates, Lynda; Terraschke, Agnes
Submitted by: Terraschke, Agnes (Macquarie University, Australia)

This paper focusses on the family language choices made by recent immigrants to Australia and their English-speaking partners, and explores the issues involved in their decisions.  Australia has officially subscribed to a policy of multiculturalism that supports community language maintenance and cultural diversity (Hatoss 2004). Nevertheless, immigrant parents who want to raise their children bilingually can face difficulties arising from common misconceptions of bilingualism and negative social attitudes towards speakers of languages other than English in a predominantly monolingual society like Australia. In the early stages of their settlement immigrants frequently find themselves preoccupied with making a living and learning English so that reflection and decision-making on the possibilities and consequences of language use in the family may be not be a priority (Pauwels 2005: 128). Yet decisions regarding family language policy made at this time can be crucial not only for the longer term maintenance of the language but also for the future quality of relationships within the family. However, support for families in making these decisions is very scarce and under increasing pressure from reductions in social spending.

The present paper investigates the experiences of recently-arrived immigrants in marriages with native English speakers in Australia as they tackle the issues of language use in the family.  Families where one parent is a monolingual speaker of English and the other a recent immigrant with only limited proficiency in English can find the development of a suitable family language policy particularly challenging. Regardless of whether they opt for a one-location-one-language approach or one-parent-one-language approach, there will be proficiency issues at some stage for one or even both parents.  Limited awareness of these issues and potential consequences of their language choices for their children can result in the establishment of short-term and short-sighted family language policies which are difficult to modify at a later date.

The study draws on informal interview data collected for a large-scale longitudinal qualitative project on language learning and settlement among recent immigrants to Australia. Over a hundred participants were followed over a one year period in their early settlement and a proportion of these were then re-interviewed two years later. The paper explores their attitudes to and ideologies about bilingualism and language learning within the family and beyond, examines the policies they have adopted and discusses the possible long-term consequences to these choices.  The analysis will highlight the need to support newly-arrived immigrants in raising their awareness of the issues involved in establishing a family language policy and explores the potential role of on-arrival English language programs in helping them to make more informed decisions for themselves and their children. 

References

Hatoss, Anikó. (2004). Multiculturalism and mother tongue maintenance - the case of the Hungarian diaspora in Queensland. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 27(2), 18-31.

Pauwels, Anne 2005. Maintaining the Community Language in Australia: Challenges and Roles for Families. The International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 8 (2&3):124-131.