Exploring the complexities of transnationalism: The temporality, the family, and the host language – An empirical study

Abstract

Transnational living patterns have become increasingly more common. Language is how transnationals ‘forge and sustain multi-stranded social relations that link together their societies of origin and settlement’ (Basch et al. 1994:7) and partake in different opportunities. In the present work, we empirically examine relationships between two types of transnationalism: immigrant and transsettler, as rooted in the initial, temporal factors associated with the move (Hirsch and Lee 2018) and the host language within the family milieu. In the context of English speakers in Hebrew-dominant Israel, data presented here were collected online from 232 participants. We found a statistically significant relationship between temporality factors differentiating immigrants and transsettlers and (1) their attitudes toward the host language, as well as (2) their reported family language policy (FLP) planning and practices. We discuss these findings and their practical implications within the education domain and conclude with potential future directions into the inquiry.