Situated in the broader economic, political, cultural, and linguistic contexts, families and their FLP are influenced by external factors constantly. While previous studies in FLP have focused on parental decisions, recently, child agency has attracted increased attention (Fogle & King 2013). Several studies have shown that the transition to schooling may have a disruptive effect on home language practices and children's language development. However, there is a lack of empirical knowledge about family members' experiences during the transitional phase and how the new situation is integrated into their daily lives (Krinninger &Schulz 2017).
Through an ongoing longitudinal study with five Chinese-German multilingual families living in Germany for one year, I analyze the continuities and changes in FLP and family multiliteracies practices before and after children's transition to primary school. In understanding the multilingual family spaces, I draw on Lefebvre's (2006) triadic understanding of space: social space is not naturally given but socially produced, jointly and simultaneously by the perceived space, the conceived space, and the lived space. Based on this understanding, I explore the changes and continuities at three levels: the child perspective, the parent perspective, and the practice level. The research questions are adressed as follows:
1. How do children perceive the language policies of the family and the educational institutions (kindergartens and primary school)?
2. How do parents relate their FLP to their children's transition to primary school?
3. How do children exert agency on the FLP and family multiliteracies? Can changes and continuity of child agency in family multiliteracies practices during the transition phase be observed?
Through innovative methodological approaches including "homescape walking tour"(see also Garvin 2010) and "language portrait"(Busch 2015), children and parents are involved in serveral interviews to share their lived language experiences and multiple perceptions of literacy resources. Typical multiliteracy practices and resources are both audio and video recorded by the researcher and by the parents. The first results of the qualitative study show that continuities and changes happen both at the practice level and the ideological level of parents and children.
Bibliography
Busch, B. (2015). Expanding the Notion of the Linguistic Repertoire: On the Concept of Spracherleben -The Lived Experience of Language. Applied Linguistics, amv030.
Fogle, L. W., & King, K. A. (2013). Child Agency and Language Policy in Transnational Families. Issues in Applied Linguistics, 19(0).
Garvin, R. T. (2010). 14. Responses to the Linguistic Landscape in Memphis, Tennessee: An Urban Space in Transition. In E. Shohamy, E. Ben-Rafael, & M. Barni (Eds.), Linguistic Landscape in the City (pp. 252–272). Multilingual Matters.
Krinninger, Dominik; Schulz, Marc (2017): Connected Dynamics: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives on Family Life and the Transition to School. In: Sue Dockett, Wilfried Griebel und Bob Perry (Hg.): Families and Transition to School, Bd. 21. Cham: Springer International Publishing (International Perspectives on Early Childhood Education and Development), S. 101–116.
Lefebvre, H. (2006). Die Produktion des Raumes. In J. Dünne & S. Günzel (Eds.), Raumtheorie. Grundlagentexte aus Philosophie und Kulturwissenschaften. (pp. 330–343). Suhrkamp.
