With multilingual transnational families becoming increasingly mobile, supporting their efforts to maintain home languages while learning additional ones is essential. These families often prioritize dominant languages to adjust to diverse international and changing social contexts, disadvantaging minoritized home languages. Each multilingual family has a unique, dynamic and multi-dimensional linguistic tapestry. Tools like the Dominant Language Constellation (DLC) and other visual frameworks effectively raise awareness to parents’ own language use, linguistic backgrounds, and attitudes towards their partner’s language. This self-awareness impacts their expectations and beliefs about their children’s language development, particularly for minoritized languages. This chapter explores my personal personal multilingual experience and those of three multilingual families, representing a cross section of my current client body. Data was collected through a Language Use Questionnaire, linguistic narratives, biodata, and visual tools such as DLCs and Language Timelines. Findings reveal that DLC patterns in these families shift over time due to internal and external factors, with minoritized languages gaining prominence in specific circumstances. Such insights enable language consultants, teachers, and professionals to provide more effective, goal-oriented support for multilingual families, enhancing their ability to navigate complex linguistic landscapes.

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The Dynamic DLC of Mobile Multilingual Families

  • Ute Limacher-Riebold

摘要

With multilingual transnational families becoming increasingly mobile, supporting their efforts to maintain home languages while learning additional ones is essential. These families often prioritize dominant languages to adjust to diverse international and changing social contexts, disadvantaging minoritized home languages. Each multilingual family has a unique, dynamic and multi-dimensional linguistic tapestry. Tools like the Dominant Language Constellation (DLC) and other visual frameworks effectively raise awareness to parents’ own language use, linguistic backgrounds, and attitudes towards their partner’s language. This self-awareness impacts their expectations and beliefs about their children’s language development, particularly for minoritized languages. This chapter explores my personal personal multilingual experience and those of three multilingual families, representing a cross section of my current client body. Data was collected through a Language Use Questionnaire, linguistic narratives, biodata, and visual tools such as DLCs and Language Timelines. Findings reveal that DLC patterns in these families shift over time due to internal and external factors, with minoritized languages gaining prominence in specific circumstances. Such insights enable language consultants, teachers, and professionals to provide more effective, goal-oriented support for multilingual families, enhancing their ability to navigate complex linguistic landscapes.