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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 0009-0007-6734-2020), Claudia Vallejo Rubinstein (ORCID 0000-0002-1920-4623), Melinda Dooly (ORCID 0000-0002-1478-4892)
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
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  Data: When Expectations Meet Realities: Discursive Negotiation of Family Language Policy in a Transnational Chinese Heritage Family
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Changchun+Li%22">Changchun Li</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0009-0007-6734-2020">0009-0007-6734-2020</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Claudia+Vallejo+Rubinstein%22">Claudia Vallejo Rubinstein</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1920-4623">0000-0002-1920-4623</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Melinda+Dooly%22">Melinda Dooly</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1478-4892">0000-0002-1478-4892</externalLink>)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Multilingua%3A+Journal+of+Cross-Cultural+and+Interlanguage+Communication%22"><i>Multilingua: Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication</i></searchLink>. 2026 45(4):465-487.
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  Data: 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
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  Data: 23
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Spain%22">Spain</searchLink>
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  Data: 10.1515/multi-2026-0004
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  Data: 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.
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        Value: 10.1515/multi-2026-0004
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      – Text: English
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        PageCount: 23
        StartPage: 465
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      – SubjectFull: Foreign Countries
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      – SubjectFull: Chinese
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      – SubjectFull: Family Environment
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      – SubjectFull: Expectation
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      – SubjectFull: Bilingual Students
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      – SubjectFull: Spain
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      – TitleFull: When Expectations Meet Realities: Discursive Negotiation of Family Language Policy in a Transnational Chinese Heritage Family
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