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, Elsa Tragant Mestres de la Torre (tut. tes.) , Raquel Serrano Serrano (secret.) , Xiao-Lan Curdt-Christiansen (voc.) Summary This thesis assesses how languages are managed in families with at least one transnational anglophone parent (TAP) resident in the metropolitan region of Barcelona. The languages chosen by TAPS for use with family members and especially for intergenerational transmission are the focus of the analysis, which combines quantitative and qualitative methods, macro and micro perspectives in order to account for the multiple influences that language choice is subject to at different levels. The way in which family language choices are made, justified, implemented and revised by parents as the (at least initially) primary actors of family language management (FLM) are then analysed.
The first stage of the study contextualises the second by means of a sociodemographic and sociolinguistic description of 164 TAPs and their families, using quantitative data from the Family Language Questionnaire representing 614 individuals (331 parents and 283 children).
The responding parents are of relatively high socio-economic status compared to other migrant groups and are fairly mobile, often for professional reasons. A considerable amount of English is used by TAPs within the family, which corresponds to its high rate of intergenerational transmission, both when measured according to children’s language ability and use.
Family language use indexes, created for each type of interaction, are then used in cluster analysis procedure to identify four distinct profiles. The first two clusters are the largest: cluster one (n=47) representing Castilian-English bilingual families and cluster two (n=94) representing monolingual English families. The third cluster includes fifteen trilingual families whose parents use Castilian with each other but English and Catalan with the children, and the fourth cluster is the smallest, made up of just eight Catalan-English bilingual families.
The second stage involves the qualitative analysis of interview data with 26 TAPs who represent the different family profiles and three age ranges of children (0-5, 6-11 and 12-16).
Almost all parents recount conscious FLM decision-making processes and detail ambitious intended linguistic outcomes for their children, with many hoping for their children to attain native or native-like levels of English, Castilian and Catalan, as well as abilities in additional foreign languages. English is given high importance by all parents, who link it closely with ideologies of authenticity and identity whilst simultaneously underlining how advantageous it might be for their children as a global lingua franca and valuable linguistic capital. Castilian VIII and Catalan are also considered important, although the different profiles demonstrate varying orientations towards Catalan. Differences in the way parents relate global and local language hierarchies are understood to account for this.
In terms of FLM strategies, few differences are noted between profiles. Parents enact some strategies themselves, including conscious language choice and literacy support, while they enable others by managing external actors according to their assessments of their children’s overall language input and the opportunities available. External sources of English input include television and digital media, family and friends from the home country, and local networks of playdates with other English-speaking children.
When evaluating FLM processes, most parents express considerable satisfaction with their children’s linguistic outcomes so far. Several admit that their initial expectations have been exceeded. Nevertheless, some parents express disappointment: most for their children’s level of English but one for Castilian and Catalan. Interestingly, most dissatisfaction is found in the discourse of TAPs from cluster one.
It is hoped that the insights gained from the present thesis will help to contextualise further research on TAPs raising children plurilingually not only in Barcelona but generally; to provide more specific guidance to concerned parents; to shed light on the different language socialisation processes experienced by transnational migrants and to build theory relating to how these inform FLM decision-making processes.
