‘I don’t like them to know I’m Syrian’: family language policy amongst Syrian refugees in Türkiye

Vafaibaaj S. A., Jesry M., Ateek M., Heron M., Wazzan M. M., Shaar A., ...Daha Fazla

International Journal of Multilingualism, 2025 (AHCI, SSCI, Scopus) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Basım Tarihi: 2025
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1080/14790718.2025.2575892
  • Dergi Adı: International Journal of Multilingualism
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, Communication & Mass Media Index, Communication Abstracts, EBSCO Education Source, Educational research abstracts (ERA), ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Linguistic Bibliography, Linguistics & Language Behavior Abstracts, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, DIALNET
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Family language policy, heritage language, language portraits, multilingualism, refugees
  • Anadolu Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

This study investigates an emerging area of inquiry: refugee family language policy (FLP), through examining the practices, management and ideologies of FLP among Syrian refugee families in Türkiye. It also examines the multilingualism of the children and their parents’ attitudes towards languages, focusing on heritage language maintenance (HLM). The study aims to understand how Syrian refugee families in Türkiye construct, negotiate and implement their FLP. Applying a qualitative approach, the study employed semi-structured interviews with ten families and language portraits coloured by seven children. Language portraits were used as a tool to make children’s multilingualism visible by using colours to present their linguistic repertoire. Thematic analysis using a coding scheme was used to analyse the data. The findings revealed different views by parents and children about language practices, management and ideologies.