‘I think my parents like me being bilingual’: Cantonese–English DLBE upper elementary students mediating parental ideologies about multilingualism

ABSTRACT

While the role of parental ideologies on children’s bi/multilingual development and the role of children’s beliefs about multilingualism are well-documented, less work examines how parental and student ideologies are enacted through talk. That is, how do students interpret what their family caregivers tell them about bi/multilingualism, and how do these beliefs about English and partner language(s) get enacted as a form of social personae? This article examines talk about language and identity from two focus groups with upper elementary students attending a Cantonese–English DLBE school. Participants frequently referenced their parents/caregivers in discussing goals and aspirations and likes/dislikes towards bi/multilingual language use through various forms of reported speech. These evaluations often took the form of commenting on ‘good’ and ‘bad’ language immersion curriculum and what a ‘successful’ or ‘unsuccessful’ bi/multilingual speaker should be like. A deeper discursive look into the utilitarian and intrinsic ideologies about multilingualism illustrates how this talk works in conjunction with neoliberal, classed ideas about linguistic knowledge and competitiveness. Findings demonstrate the complex ways learners see themselves in relation to broader perceptions of language learning and use and how DLBE is used as a vehicle towards (upper-middle) class orientations.

摘要

雖然父母意識形態對兒童雙語/多語發展的作用及兒童對多語言信仰的作用有充分記錄, 很少研究對於父母和學生的意識形態是如何通過談話制定的。換言之學生如何解釋他們家庭照顧者關於學習雙語/多語的潛在內容, 而這些潛在雙語學習內容對於英語與第二語言如何制定他們在社會的角色? 本文考察了兩個焦點小組關於語言和認同的討論, 其中包括就讀粵英 DLBE 學校的高年級小學生。參與者透過各種第三者角度的形式來討論喜歡/不喜歡對學習雙語/多語言的目標與願望。這些評估採取以“好”與“壞”, 或“成功”與“失敗”來決定雙語/多語言學習者應該是怎樣的。對於多語言制的功利主義和語言意識形態更深入論述關於語言知識和競爭力的新自由主義分類思想的關聯。調查結果展示了學習者如何看待自己與對語言學習和使用的更廣泛看法以及 DLBE 如何被用作實現 (中上) 階級取向的工具的複雜方式。

KEYWORDS:

• Cantonese
• language ideologies
• parental beliefs
• discourse analysis

關鍵詞:

• 粵語
• 語言意識型態
• 父母的信念
• 論述分析

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank our research assistants, Melissa Chen and Michaela Ruiz, for their help on this project. This research was funded by a Language Learning Small Grant and USF Faculty Development Funds.

Disclosure statement

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

Declaration of interest statement

No financial interest or benefit has arisen from the direct applications of this research.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Language Learning Small Grant: [Grant Number NA].