When Expectations Meet Realities: Discursive Negotiation of Family Language Policy in a Transnational Chinese Heritage Family
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| Title: | When Expectations Meet Realities: Discursive Negotiation of Family Language Policy in a Transnational Chinese Heritage Family |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Changchun Li (ORCID |
| Source: | Multilingua: Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication. 2026 45(4):465-487. |
| Availability: | De Gruyter Mouton. Available from: Walter de Gruyter, Inc. 121 High Street, Third Floor, Boston, MA 02110. Tel: 857-284-7073; Fax: 857-284-7358; e-mail: service@degruyter.com; Web site: http://www.degruyter.com |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 23 |
| Publication Date: | 2026 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Descriptors: | Foreign Countries, Asians, Chinese, Immigrants, Family Environment, Family Influence, Language Role, Parenting Styles, Expectation, Spanish, Bilingual Students, Multilingualism, Native Language, Child Caregivers |
| Geographic Terms: | Spain |
| DOI: | 10.1515/multi-2026-0004 |
| ISSN: | 0167-8507 1613-3684 |
| Abstract: | This study examines a three-generation Chinese immigrant family in Catalonia, Spain, to explore how family members reconcile the gap between heritage language (HL) expectations and everyday realities in raising a mixed-background child. Adopting a discursive perspective on dissonance, the study focuses on how this gap is articulated, interpreted, and managed in interaction and social contexts. Drawing primarily on interviews with the mother and the maternal grandparents, the analysis shows that the expectation-reality gap is not simply a pre-existing condition, but is actively constructed in caregivers' accounts as an issue requiring explanation and response. Rather than consistently attempting to bridge this gap, family members employ various discursive strategies to make it understandable and acceptable, including downgrading expectations, naturalizing difference, reassigning responsibility, and reframing the child's trajectory. The study further demonstrates that tensions surrounding HL are reflected not only in practical challenges or emotional burdens, but also in how family members discursively negotiate responsibility, relationships, and meaning. From this perspective, family language policy (FLP) should be understood not only as language planning but also as involving ongoing processes of discursive negotiation and meaning-making. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 20260101 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1513374 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | This study examines a three-generation Chinese immigrant family in Catalonia, Spain, to explore how family members reconcile the gap between heritage language (HL) expectations and everyday realities in raising a mixed-background child. Adopting a discursive perspective on dissonance, the study focuses on how this gap is articulated, interpreted, and managed in interaction and social contexts. Drawing primarily on interviews with the mother and the maternal grandparents, the analysis shows that the expectation-reality gap is not simply a pre-existing condition, but is actively constructed in caregivers' accounts as an issue requiring explanation and response. Rather than consistently attempting to bridge this gap, family members employ various discursive strategies to make it understandable and acceptable, including downgrading expectations, naturalizing difference, reassigning responsibility, and reframing the child's trajectory. The study further demonstrates that tensions surrounding HL are reflected not only in practical challenges or emotional burdens, but also in how family members discursively negotiate responsibility, relationships, and meaning. From this perspective, family language policy (FLP) should be understood not only as language planning but also as involving ongoing processes of discursive negotiation and meaning-making. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0167-8507 1613-3684 |
| DOI: | 10.1515/multi-2026-0004 |
