Family Language Policy in the Minority and Migration Contexts of Cyprus

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Abstract Summary

This study investigated the family language policy of minority and immigrant families in Cyprus. The participants in our study were 30 immigrant and minority families in Cyprus with various first language backgrounds, namely Russian, Georgian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Romanian, English and Arabic, and minority speakers of Armenian, Lebanese and Pontic Greek. The data were collected via written questionnaires and oral, in-depth, semi-structured interviews, as well as via observations with a focus on the FLP, cultural and linguistic identities, heritage language attrition, use maintenance and transmission, linguistic interaction patterns and the material culture at home.

The analysis of the data revealed that minority and immigrant speakers in Cyprus had hybrid language and cultural identities, different perceptions regarding citizenship, inclusion and belonging, as well as the attrition, use, maintenance and transmission of the HL, which reflected their FLPs, agency, practices and negotiations. They attempted to assimilate into the target society, but they also had strong links to the community of residence, to their L1 country, and to their heritage or home language. The participants also employed hybrid language practices, as they used mixed/multiple languages both in the home and outside of it. Overall, they had a positive attitude towards multilingualism in Cyprus.


Submission ID :
AILA187
Submission Type
Argument :

The development, use, maintenance and transmission of the heritage language (HL) depend on the family language policy (FLP), on parental and child agency, and on the language choices, use and management practices at home, as well as regarding social networks and education (Lanza, 1997; Bohnacker, 2022). FLP can be explicit or implicit (Caldas, 2012). Immigrant or minority families live in the majority language (ML) environment; thus, children have more input in the ML via schooling and communication with their friends and peers (Pearson, 2007; Prevoo et al., 2011; Hoff et al., 2014). Without deliberate parental efforts to support the HL, language shift and loss may occur (Barron-Hauwaert, 2011; Bridges and Hoff, 2014; Rojas et al., 2016; Kheirkhah and Cekaite, 2018; Paradis et al., 2020). 

According to King et al. (2008: 907), FLP is 'explicit and overt planning in relation to language use within the home'. FLP practices can be implicit and covert (Curdt-Christiansen, 2009), and can be affected by emotions, identity, the impact of parental beliefs, strategies and practices in home language maintenance and development, child agency, and socioeconomic and sociopolitical factors (Curdt-Christiansen and Huang, 2020; Schwartz, 2020; Smith-Christmas, 2020). 

According to Spolsky's (2004, 2007) language policy model, the three components of language policy are language ideologies, language practices and language management, which are related to intra-family and societal factors (Bezcioglu-Goktolga and Kutlay Yagmur, 2022; Bohnacker, 2022). 

The success of the HL transmission depends on both macro factors, such as the sociolinguistic, sociocultural, economic and political environment of the families, and micro factors such as intra-family dynamics, FLP, parental efforts and expectations, attitudes, perceptions, affective domains, metalinguistic awareness and language experience, as well as cultural and linguistic identities (Curdt-Christiansen 2009, 2016; Leung and Uchikoshi, 2012; Spolsky, 2012; Liu and Lin, 2019). 

This study investigated the family language policy of minority and immigrant families in Cyprus. The participants in our study were 30 immigrant and minority families in Cyprus with various first language backgrounds, namely Russian, Georgian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Romanian, English and Arabic, and minority speakers of Armenian, Lebanese and Pontic Greek. The data were collected via written questionnaires and oral, in-depth, semi-structured interviews, as well as via observations with a focus on the FLP, cultural and linguistic identities, heritage language (HL) attrition, use maintenance and transmission, linguistic interaction patterns and the material culture at home.

The analysis of the data revealed that minority and immigrant speakers in Cyprus had hybrid language and cultural identities, different perceptions regarding citizenship, inclusion and belonging, as well as the attrition, use, maintenance and transmission of the HL, which reflected their FLPs, agency, practices and negotiations. They attempted to assimilate into the target society, but they also had strong links to the community of residence, to their L1 country, and to their heritage or home language. The participants also employed hybrid language practices, as they used mixed/multiple languages both in the home and outside of it. Overall, they had a positive attitude towards multilingualism in Cyprus.

Lecturer in Applied Linguistics/TESOL
,
University of Cyprus

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