This study examines the potential of virtual reality (VR) technology in language learning, specifically for the Maltese language. Despite the popularity and advancement of VR, its use in teaching minor languages like Maltese has not been extensively explored. The concern is that the lack of technological resources may lead to the extinction of the…

Paradis' (2023) keynote article is a timely documentation of the ongoing shift in focus within childhood bilingualism research from investigating the factors that modulate majority or second language (ML/L2) attainment (Chondrogianni & Marinis, 2011) to understanding the sources of variation that lead to minority heritage language (HL)…

This paper reports on an exploratory qualitative investigation of the discourses of plurilingual children's parents, with a view to developing an understanding of their family language policy. Drawing loosely on Spolsky [2004. "Language Policy." Cambridge: Cambridge University Press], family language policy was conceptualised as having…

The present study investigates immigrant parents' family language policies in regards to their children's heritage language development and maintenance by utilizing Spolsky's theoretical model on which research on family language policy (FLP) considerably draw. Following the three core components of the FLP model, Iranian parents' beliefs,…

Mixed-ethnic children in Japan do not usually acquire the language of their non-Japanese parent. This study looks at their lost opportunity to acquire their minority parent's language through a retrospective investigation of their language experiences from childhood to young adulthood. Transcripts of interviews with ten mixed-ethnic children (ages…

The paper describes the transformational role technology plays in the management and transmission of heritage (minority) languages (HL) in two UK-based multilingual families. Data were collected in the form of a language background survey, parental interviews, and recordings of interactional events within the home. Findings suggest that parents…

Macro-level policy makers, perceived as stakeholders of language management, employ a range of language policy strategies to legitimise hegemonic control over meso- (i.e. family) and micro- (i.e. individual) level language ideologies (Cassels-Johnson 2013). However, language policies of an individual are often difficult to detect because they are…

The aim of this article is to illustrate the fluid nature of family language policy (FLP) and how the realities of any one FLP are re-negotiated by caregivers and children in tandem. In particular, the paper will focus on the affective dimensions of FLP and will demonstrate how the same reality--in this case, a grandmother's use of a child-centred…

New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) became an official language (NZSL Act 2006) when its vitality was already under pressure. Even though its institutional status has improved recently, the traditional community domains of NZSL use and transmission are apparently shrinking inasmuch as most of the deaf children who have cochlear implants are acquiring…

Scholars have consistently theorised that language ideologies can influence the ways in which bilingual speakers in minority language settings identify and engage with the linguistic varieties available to them. Research conducted by the author examined the interplay of language use and ideologies among a purposive sample of adults who started in…

This article reports on a survey with 170 school-age children growing up with two or more languages in the Canadian province of Ontario where English is the majority language, French is a minority language, and numerous other minority languages may be spoken by immigrant or Indigenous residents. Within this context the study focuses on minority…

The present study explores the vocabulary development of bilingual children when neither of their languages has a minority language status. With both languages having high relative prestige, it is possible to address the impact of exposure variables: age of onset, length of exposure, and frequency of exposure (FoE) to both languages. Parents of 40…

English-only policies and the expiration of the "Bilingual Education Act," which is now replaced by "No Child Left Behind," make it clear that English is the official language of schools in the United States with the emphasis moved from the goal of maintaining students' home languages while learning English to a focus of ignoring minority…

Ajit Kumar Mohanty is a Professor of Social Psychology of Education at the Zakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. Mohanty received his doctorate from University of Alberta, Canada, in 1978, and was a postdoctoral Fulbright fellow at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, between 1981-1982. He was…

Multicultural policies and language policies claim to provide a favorable environment for the maintenance of immigrant languages. However, the relationship between multiculturalism and multilingualism is complex and contested. Rates of language loss and shift in Australia show that the multilingual heritage is very vulnerable even within the…