Intergenerational heritage language practices: A case study of Spanish-speaking families in Britain
-
Naomi Tyrrell
Naomi Tyrrell (formerly Bushin) is Lecturer in Human Geography at Plymouth University UK. She is co-author ofChildhood and Migration in Europe (2011), and co-editor ofTransnational Migration and Childhood (2012) andThe Changing Faces of Ireland (2011). Her research interests include family migration, children's geographies and academic mobility.
,
Pedro Guijarro-Fuentes
Pedro Guijarro-Fuentes is a Profesor Contratado Doctor in Spanish at the University of Balearic Islands. His main research interests are in the interdisciplinary fields of Spanish applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and bilingualism. He has authored and co-authored numerous articles, book chapters and books by different publishers (e.g., de Gruyter and John Benjamins amongst others). His research has appeared in different international, refereed journals such asLanguage Learning, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, Cognition, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Applied Linguistics, Applied Psycholinguistics and First Language. Claudia Blandon has conducted research in refugee camps in Cairo and rural Britain. She is currently working on different projects with Plymouth University's Institute of Education. Her interests include indigenous rights, human rights, migration studies and the right to self-determination.
Abstract
This paper analyses data from a multiple-method study exploring intergenerational heritage language practices in Spanish-speaking families in Britain. The paper harnesses interdisciplinary perspectives (human geography, childhood studies and socio-linguistics) to explore families' accounts of their intergenerational language practices within the home specifically, due to the dearth of work in this area in Britain. There is an urgent need to examine the multiple intersections between language, home and identity, particularly from intergenerational and/or life course perspectives. Currently, little is known about the ways in which members of migrant families evaluate their heritage language practices socially and linguistically in the home in European contexts, or how their heritage language practices are informed by their identities (often multiple) in European migrant-receiving countries. Specifically, the paper explores: the comparative geographical patterns of Spanish in Britain, using data from Census 2011; how and why children's and parents' heritage language practices differ in the home space (and beyond); and the ways in which these practices are rooted in senses of identity and belonging.
About the authors
Naomi Tyrrell (formerly Bushin) is Lecturer in Human Geography at Plymouth University UK. She is co-author of Childhood and Migration in Europe (2011), and co-editor of Transnational Migration and Childhood (2012) and The Changing Faces of Ireland (2011). Her research interests include family migration, children's geographies and academic mobility.
Pedro Guijarro-Fuentes is a Profesor Contratado Doctor in Spanish at the University of Balearic Islands. His main research interests are in the interdisciplinary fields of Spanish applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and bilingualism. He has authored and co-authored numerous articles, book chapters and books by different publishers (e.g., de Gruyter and John Benjamins amongst others). His research has appeared in different international, refereed journals such as Language Learning, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, Cognition, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Applied Linguistics, Applied Psycholinguistics and First Language.
Claudia Blandon has conducted research in refugee camps in Cairo and rural Britain. She is currently working on different projects with Plymouth University's Institute of Education. Her interests include indigenous rights, human rights, migration studies and the right to self-determination.
©2014 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Munich/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Maintaining Language and Developing Multilingualism
- Intergenerational heritage language practices: A case study of Spanish-speaking families in Britain
- Changing argument structure in (heritage) Pennsylvania German
- Convergent developments in Dutch Turkish word order – A comparative study using ‘elicited production’ and ‘judgment’ data: Converging evidence?
- Maintained and acquired heritage Spanish in the Netherlands: The case of dative constructions
- Language competencies of future teachers – Design and results of an empirical study
- Heritage language use and maintenance in multilingual communities
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Maintaining Language and Developing Multilingualism
- Intergenerational heritage language practices: A case study of Spanish-speaking families in Britain
- Changing argument structure in (heritage) Pennsylvania German
- Convergent developments in Dutch Turkish word order – A comparative study using ‘elicited production’ and ‘judgment’ data: Converging evidence?
- Maintained and acquired heritage Spanish in the Netherlands: The case of dative constructions
- Language competencies of future teachers – Design and results of an empirical study
- Heritage language use and maintenance in multilingual communities
