ELF and other languages in the family: Portraying multilingual repertoires at dinner tables across Europe
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Stefanie Rottschäfer
Abstract
In an increasingly mobile Europe, families consisting of parents with different L1s who use English as a lingua franca (ELF) with each other and their children are common (Pietikäinen 2017). Consequently, Mauranen (2018: 20) predicts that there will be more and more children who have ELF as their first language. The language practices of such families are under investigation here, portraying the family dinner table as a particularly intimate, and socially closely-knit setting for informal language acquisition and repertoire negotiation. Exploring the dynamics of multilingual families with parents who use English as a lingua franca, this chapter reports on the findings of a mixed-methods approach. 25 families living all across Europe participated in the project. Their multilingual family repertoires are examined, drawing on data from dinner table conversations, introspective interviews, and language portraits. The role the English language plays in these repertoires and in the family language policies are under scrutiny. The data is analyzed cross-sectionally, and in addition to that, three children and their families are detailed as case studies. This chapter suggests that family language policies across the 25 families are diverse but still linked to the children’s repertoires. Five different approaches were observed - the OPOL (one parent/person one language) principle is further differentiated into OPOL1 and OPOL-E, and in addition to that, other family language policies were found to be in place. Maintaining the parents’ first languages plays an important role for most of the families, but not all families opt for maintaining both parents’ L1s. English is deemed more important than a parent’s L1 by some children, and non-essential for others.
Abstract
In an increasingly mobile Europe, families consisting of parents with different L1s who use English as a lingua franca (ELF) with each other and their children are common (Pietikäinen 2017). Consequently, Mauranen (2018: 20) predicts that there will be more and more children who have ELF as their first language. The language practices of such families are under investigation here, portraying the family dinner table as a particularly intimate, and socially closely-knit setting for informal language acquisition and repertoire negotiation. Exploring the dynamics of multilingual families with parents who use English as a lingua franca, this chapter reports on the findings of a mixed-methods approach. 25 families living all across Europe participated in the project. Their multilingual family repertoires are examined, drawing on data from dinner table conversations, introspective interviews, and language portraits. The role the English language plays in these repertoires and in the family language policies are under scrutiny. The data is analyzed cross-sectionally, and in addition to that, three children and their families are detailed as case studies. This chapter suggests that family language policies across the 25 families are diverse but still linked to the children’s repertoires. Five different approaches were observed - the OPOL (one parent/person one language) principle is further differentiated into OPOL1 and OPOL-E, and in addition to that, other family language policies were found to be in place. Maintaining the parents’ first languages plays an important role for most of the families, but not all families opt for maintaining both parents’ L1s. English is deemed more important than a parent’s L1 by some children, and non-essential for others.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements V
- Contents VII
- Setting the scene: Informal language learning and socialization in additional languages 1
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Part I: Informal language learning in private contexts
- The impact of family and media on L2 development in early childhood in a multilingual society: The case of the Seychelles 19
- ELF and other languages in the family: Portraying multilingual repertoires at dinner tables across Europe 51
- Dynamic language repertoires: The case of an Italian-Turkish couple in Istanbul 87
- A multimodal perspective on communicative competence in multilingual Afro-Surinamese speaker communities 111
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Part II: Informal language learning in public contexts
- Communicative competence in the virtual breathing space: Minoritized language learning in social media 149
- Researching the benefits of integrating language and museum education on students’ linguistic, cognitive, affective, and intercultural development 171
- Bringing the outside in: Attitudes towards multilingual competence in Zambia and Tanzania 199
- Student teachers’ attitudes toward translanguaging in formal learning vis-à-vis informal interaction: A survey of a university in Kenya 231
- About the contributors 261
- Index of subjects 265
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements V
- Contents VII
- Setting the scene: Informal language learning and socialization in additional languages 1
-
Part I: Informal language learning in private contexts
- The impact of family and media on L2 development in early childhood in a multilingual society: The case of the Seychelles 19
- ELF and other languages in the family: Portraying multilingual repertoires at dinner tables across Europe 51
- Dynamic language repertoires: The case of an Italian-Turkish couple in Istanbul 87
- A multimodal perspective on communicative competence in multilingual Afro-Surinamese speaker communities 111
-
Part II: Informal language learning in public contexts
- Communicative competence in the virtual breathing space: Minoritized language learning in social media 149
- Researching the benefits of integrating language and museum education on students’ linguistic, cognitive, affective, and intercultural development 171
- Bringing the outside in: Attitudes towards multilingual competence in Zambia and Tanzania 199
- Student teachers’ attitudes toward translanguaging in formal learning vis-à-vis informal interaction: A survey of a university in Kenya 231
- About the contributors 261
- Index of subjects 265
