Tell Me: language education representations and family language policies in transnational Bangladeshi low socioeconomic status families living in Italy

ABSTRACT

The aim of the paper is to present the results of a research project called ‘Tell Me’, conducted from October 2018 to March 2020. The project focused on Bengali children living in Venice, Italy, and aimed to describe (1) children’s languages in the home environment and at school; (2) the quality and quantity of input they receive in every language (both at school and at home); and (3) how the family language policy and the Italian language institution policy at schools may influence and impact their language development. The project studied seven children with migration background between the ages of four and six. All these children are suspected of having a communication disorder or a language acquisition disability, since they do not speak Italian fluently as a second language at school or Bengali as their first language at home. According to neuropsychiatrists’ hypothesis, results will show that children are just not exposed sufficiently to quality L1, L2, or L3 input (at home and in different social contexts) and that in many cases these children are learning English as their main language, as it is considered as a status symbol, as well as a resource able to improve their lives.

KEYWORDS:

• Family language policies
• language education
• transnational families
• migration
• Bangladesh

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 In the present study, both children who experience migration together with their families and those who were born in Italy are considered to be children with migration background.

2 OECD – Social Policy Division – Directorate of Employment, Labor and Social Affairs. http://www.oecd.org/education/school/26031567.pdf

3 https://www.european-agency.org/projects

4 For a more complete and detailed description of all the Tell Me project, participants and different contexts where the research was carried out, see Tonioli (2020).

5 Quotes have been transcribed verbatim.

6 Translation: You should try it, it is good. The translation of these sentences was done by the researcher who has an initial level of knowledge of the Bengali language. Other data were transcribed and analysed by mediators.

7 In the Bengali language, moja means that it is good and it is used for food.

8 Translation: ‘Do you know what a bird is?’ ‘No’. ‘Bird means paki’. ‘Ah, I understand’. Paki is the Bengali word for bird.