‘Right an turn agadsa’: The reflexivity between language socialisation and child agency in exploring ‘success’ in FLP

Abstract

The article explores the mutual relationship—or reflexivity— between language socialisation and child agency. It discusses two respective models developed to: (a) better theorise successful language acquisition in a ‘Family Language Policy’ context (b) conceptualise how children construct their agency through language. These models are implemented in analysing interactions in a family in which the mother is making concerted efforts to transmit the autochthonous minority language Scottish Gaelic to her children. It shows how although initially her attempts in fostering her son Billy's Gaelic linguistic development appear to be ‘unsuccessful,’ later in the interaction, Billy actively uses Gaelic in playing a card game, evidencing his linguistic competency and his embedded knowledge of the power of language in achieving certain interactional functions.