METHODS

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NATIONAL LEVEL

At the national level, a large-scale survey of FLP types and language practices will be conducted in order to identify what types of family language policies exist in the UK. The survey can be accessed in online and print versions by anyone who knows English or the community language and who has multilingual and transnational family experiences. We aim to recruit at least 1000 respondents to the survey. Go to Survey.

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The data will be analysed to gain insight into what types of FLP, employed by different kinds of families, are more likely to lead to multilingual development and transmission or to discontinuity of heritage language. 

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COMMUNITY LEVEL

At the community level, community profiles will be constructed through document analysis, focus group interviews and event survey. A family language audit survey will be conducted to map the ‘who, what, why and how’ of FLP in the three ethnolinguistic communities, Chinese, Polish and Somali. These data collection tools will enable us to understand the changing cultural, political and linguistic landscape in the UK and how historical trajectories, different sociocultural conditions, institutional demands and political environments affect the decision-making processes. They will facilitate the construction of community profiles and identify community resources for linguistic transmission and cultural continuity. 

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FAMILY LEVEL

At this level, we use in-depth qualitative and ethnographic field work to address our research questions. Selected families will be observed in each community and audio recordings of ‘live’ events, interviews, and digital communications will be collected. The data will capture ideological positions, FLP dimensions and critical moments of parental aspirations.

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