Despite the existing body of knowledge on language maintenance and shift in families who speak (a) language(s) different from those of the host society, there are still many questions left unanswered about the sociolinguistic dynamics within such multilingual families. This presentation contributes to this knowledge gap and focuses on child agency in the family and how adolescents take part in the (trans)formation of the family’s linguistic practices. I investigate the case of a multilingual family living in northern Norway (two parents and five children, from kindergarten age to post high school). To a varying extent, and with varying degree of competence, all family members use three languages in their daily lives: English, Spanish and Norwegian. Through the analysis of self-recorded mealtime interactions and metalinguistic commentaries from interviews, I study how the individual family members relate to, and make use of these linguistic resources in different ways. This includes e.g. that the different resources are used to display different roles and identities in the family interactions. I also discuss how such choices relate to instances of (trans)languaging practices (cf. Jørgensen 2008, Wei and Zhu 2013). The analysis shows that the family members orient towards various (and different) norms and ideologies in family interaction. Viewing the family’s and each individual family members’ linguistic biographies through a Language Socialization lens, I analyse and discuss how the family members, and in particular the children and adolescents, employ and respond to these norms and practices. I argue that choosing one language over another, as well as (trans)languaging practices can be understood in terms of displaying different roles and identities in interaction, and more broadly that these practices can be seen in relation to i) social belonging, ii) expressions of transnational experiences and iii) constructing a personal as well as a family identity.
Jørgensen, J. N. 2008. "Polylingual Languaging Around and Among Children and Adolescents." International Journal of Multilingualism 5 (3):161-176. doi: 10.1080/14790710802387562.
Wei, L, and Hua Zhu. 2013. "Translanguaging Identities and Ideologies: Creating Transnational Space Through Flexible Multilingual Practices Amongst Chinese University Students in the UK." Applied Linguistics 34 (5):516-535. doi: 10.1093/applin/amt022.
