Family Language Policy and Bilingual Parenting in Beijing, Hong Kong and Singapore: A Corpus-based Comparison

Family Language Policy (FLP) is a pioneering yet dynamically thriving interdisciplinary field of study, which successfully integrates language acquisition, multilingual studies, sociolinguistics, and psycholinguistics. It is defined as both explicit/overt and implicit/language planning by family members in relation to language choice and literacy practices at home (Curdt-Christiansen, 2018). Explicit/overt FLP refers to the intentional and visible home language practices, whereas implicit/covert ones refer to the default and invisible practices as a consequence of ideological beliefs. FLP studies have focused on the core questions: (1) why (and how) some transnational families maintain their language whereas other families lose theirs; (2) what language planning and decisions caregivers make to encourage the use and practice of particular languages; and (3) how these decisions and practices interact with broader language ideologies and educational policies (Curdt-Christiansen, 2013). Bilingual parenting is a kind of parenting practice to implement FLP of early bilingualism and to deliver bilingual education at home. Without appropriate bilingual parenting, it is very challenging for those bilingual families to main their mother-tongue and the second language, and accordingly, the family language policy will not thoroughly be implemented. However, very few studies have explored the relationship between FLP and bilingual parenting and their joint effects on early bilingual development.

This is a pilot study for a larger research project to be submitted for DP22. It is approved by the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences Multilingualism Research Centre.
Ethical clearance is also approved.
Reference No: 52020906520374
Project ID: 9065