Family language policy and vocabulary of bilingual children across different ages

Abstract

Family language policy explores planning of home language use and is thought to shape language acquisition. Historically, heritage languages have often been considered ‘low prestige’. In Israel, there are immigrants speaking English, a global lingua franca, as a heritage language. This study focuses on characterizing the language policies of this unique community. It explores how these policies affect bilingual children's language through the investigation of vocabulary. Data was collected via questionnaires from English-Hebrew bilingual children (n = 82, ages 5; 1–14; 1) and their parents. Children's receptive and expressive vocabulary was assessed in both languages. Results show that this group of heritage speakers is distinct as the heritage language is sometimes perceived as more important than the societal language. Nonetheless, parents adopt a balanced pro-bilingualism approach. English is considered instrumental in connecting with family. Hebrew is beneficial for communicating with the community. Statistically significant correlations indicate a directional relationship between family language policy and vocabulary. Multiple regression analyses explored the contribution of family language policy variables to vocabulary outcomes, controlling for chronological age and age of onset of bilingualism. Findings allude that the relationship is complex; speaking English at home may predict English, and encouraging English use with friends may negatively predict Hebrew.