Open AccessAcquiring English then Reacquiring Indonesian: A Study of Family Language Policy
Author(s) -
Aris Bahari Rizki,
Muchamad Sholakhuddin Al Fajri
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the qualitative report
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2160-3715
DOI - 10.46743/2160-3715/2021.4751
Subject(s) - fieldnotes , indonesian , ideology , neuroscience of multilingualism , psychology , participant observation , reading (process) , developmental psychology , home language , language policy , linguistics , consistency (knowledge bases) , sociology , pedagogy , ethnography , social science , political science , computer science , philosophy , neuroscience , artificial intelligence , politics , anthropology , law
This study investigates how family language policies are shaped and developed in five Indonesian scholars’ families who live in England. More specifically, it analyses parents’ attitudes towards children’s bilingualism and second language development focusing on the investigation of factors that can influence parental language ideologies and the patterns of language practices within the families. Data were obtained from participant observations, fieldnotes, and semi-structured interviews. All the data were then analysed using inductive analysis approaches proposed by Cohen et al. (2011) and Thomas (2006) which include reading the transcripts several times, identifying the texts related to the purpose of the study, and deciding the categories. The findings reveal that children’s ability to acquire a new language becomes the driving force behind parental language ideologies. Additionally, parental experience, children’s education, and children’s language choice also contribute to the shaping of parental language ideologies. Based on the patterns of family language practices used by participant families, our findings show that the longer they live in England, the less Indonesian they use in their families’ interaction. This can happen as the children gradually develop their language proficiency. However, evidence from this inquiry indicates that parents’ consistency in giving their children exposure to Indonesian can be the determining factor in the success of children’s bilingualism.