‘She doesn’t speak Hebrew, she speaks English:’ a case of language socialisation of a quadrilingual girl

Abstract

ABSTRACTLimited research to date has addressed the language socialisation of transnational children during global movement with their parents. The aim of this study was to explore the complexity of language socialisation for a transnational child experiencing a multilingual environment both at home and in preschool. This transnational English – and Spanish-speaking girl was immersed in two novel languages, Hebrew and Arabic, in a bilingual Hebrew- and Arabic-speaking preschool in Israel. Drawing on Bronfenbrenner’s human ecology theory, the research questions were as follows: (1) What is the role of this child’s social information processing during socialisation in her novel languages? (2) What is the role of peers and teachers in the child’s socialisation in her novel languages in the multilingual classroom environment? A qualitative methodology was applied to collect and document data using ethnographic methods such as fieldnotes, video-recorded observations, and semi-structured interviews with teachers during one academic year. The study reveals the uniquely complex situation of this multilingual transnational child, who was in the challenging position of having to develop social skills and simultaneously make progress in learning her novel languages. The study highlights the role of peers and classroom teachers as anchors in this girl’s complex language socialisation process.