Family Language Policy in the Latvian and Multilingual Families in the Diaspora

• In Event: Facing Contemporary Multilingualism

Abstract

Language planning and language practices in bi/multilingual families are challenging tasks for those who immigrate and who possess high-level ability in the primary language of their new country, or who have little knowledge of their new home’s language but want their children to be able to speak it. The task is even more complicated when the family is transcultural, with two or more family languages.
In the paper we will present preliminary results of ongoing research on family language planning, management, and practices in Latvian diaspora. We will speak about the concept of family language policy in relation to child agency and parents’ discourse strategies (Curdt-Christiansen, 2018; Lanza & Wei 2016). The goal of the paper is to analyze, which ideologies underlie the language practices and language choices at home, involving both parents and children, and which parental discourse strategies are used in families with regard to the maintaining heritage language.
Our research is primarily based on 13 interviews with parents from monolingual and bi-/multilingual national and transnational families in Latvian diaspora (in Europe, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand) who have lived outside of Latvia for more than 10 years or are second-generation Latvians. Additional data are audio recordings of interactions between parents and children (in diaspora), classroom observations, and visits to weekend schools.

Curdt-Christiansen, Xiao Lan (2018). Family Language Policy. In: James W. Tollefson, and Miguel Pérez-Milans (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Language Policy and Planning, Oxford Handbooks, 420–441.
Lanza, E., & Li, Wei (2016). Multilingual encounters in transcultural families. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 37(7), 653–654.

Short Bio

Dr. Sanita Martena. I am a professor of Applied Linguistics at Rēzekne Academy of Technologies in Latvia, specializing in languages in education, multilingualism, languages in public space, curriculum development, and minority languages. Currently my research interests are related with heritage languages, their role in diaspora (family language policies and language education at schools). I am also working on the development of language corpora, exploring the possibilities of using corpora in language acquisition. Among my publications are “Multilingualism in the Baltic States” (2019) and main editor of the book “Lingvodidaktika” (2020; in Latvian) for language teachers and students, providing theoretical backgrounds. I am also the co-editor of the Special Issue of the Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development on Literacy (Development) in Collateral Regional Languages of Europe (planned to be published in 2024).

Dr. Solvita Burr is a Senior Researcher at the Latvian Language Institute of the University of Latvia and a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Washington (Seattle, USA). Her research includes comprehensive studies of linguistic, semiotic, and cultural landscapes in terms of multilingualism, language policy, language management, multimodality, and language pedagogy. In 2020, she published a methodology book and a textbook (both in Latvian), both concerning how to include public texts in the language-learning process. She is editor in chief of the journal “Linguistica Lettica” (Latvian Language Institute).

Authors

• Sanita Martena, Rēzekne Academy of Technologies

• Solvita Burr, University of Latvia