Family language policy among second- and third-generation Turkish parents in Melbourne, Australia

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study investigated the Family Language Policy of second- and third-generation Turkish parents in Melbourne, Australia. Earlier research has shown that the family home is a crucial site for language maintenance [Fishman 1991. Reversing Language Shift: Theoretical and Empirical Foundations of Assistance to Threatened Languages. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters]. The family, and the family home, remains for most migrant groups and their younger generations the main domain for heritage language use. The presence of heritage language speakers, especially those with lower majority language (English) proficiency levels in the family, is conducive to language maintenance. However, in the case of second and third-generation, particularly Australian-born parents, communication in English with their children becomes more dominant. As there has been no earlier study on Family Language Policy of Turkish-speaking parents in Australia, data were collected on the language beliefs and practices of 45 bilingual families. The findings show that Turkish maintenance is a symbolic part of cultural identity of the families studied. Findings reveal the challenges faced by families concerning heritage language maintenance within the family home, particularly as children become more fluent in English and as further generations become more intertwined within other cultures and an expectation to assimilate towards Australian culture and the English-speaking mainstream.