Language ideologies and practices in flux: the case of an Italian-Chinese transnational family

ABSTRACT

Transnationals constitute one-third of the population of the economically prosperous Singapore. Applying a family language policy (FLP) framework and collaborative autoethnography from data (interviews, videos, and diaries) spanning 13 years, this study delves into the linguistic journey of an Italian-Chinese family with two children born in Singapore. The analysis demonstrates the dynamics of language ideologies, management, and practices, following changes in parental beliefs, children’s linguistic proficiencies and agency, availability of resources within the family and the host country, and unexpected events like COVID-19. The article highlights how multilingual parents’ ideologies shape up owning to individual experiences, beliefs, and aspirations, and how these ideologies are translated into language choices and day-to-day language maintenance, vis-à-vis Singapore’s English-centric policies. This unique longitudinal case study also touches on features pertaining to transnational families in Singapore, such as the perception of the local variety ‘Singlish,’ caregiving, and schooling options, illustrating the intricate interplay of micro and macro factors governing family multilingualism.

KEYWORDS:

• Family language policy
• heritage language
• transnational
• multilingualism
• Singapore

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1 Upon the paper’s final submission, both children have shown improvement in their primary languages - English, Italian and Mandarin – particularly Italian, due to their migration. Their limited French became nonexistent, and Eva’s Cantonese has regressed.

2 At the final submission of the paper (March 2024), the children have not seen the maternal grandparents in person for four years.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yvonne Tse Crepaldi

Yvonne Tse Crepaldi is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Alberta, and an associate fellow at Nanyang Technological University. Her research focuses on children's interactions and multilingualism, using conversation analysis and ethnography. She has published in the Journal of Pragmatics and Research on Children and Social Interaction, and developed resources for parents of bilingual children with support from the Singapore Ministry of Education.

Seyed Hadi Mirvahedi

Seyed Hadi Mirvahedi is an assistant professor of language and society at the Center for Language and Cognition Groningen (CLCG) at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. His research focuses on multilingualism in policy and practice, investigating ideological dimensions of national language policies, policy formation and implementation, and visual language use in multilingual communities.