Language Strategies for Trilingual Families

Parents' Perspectives

By (author) Dr. Andreas Braun, Prof. Tony Cline

Publication date:

03 February 2014

Publisher

Multilingual Matters

Dimensions:

225x170mm
7x9"

ISBN-13: 9781783091157

This book aims to enable parents in trilingual families to consider possible language strategies on the basis of analysing their individual circumstances. It includes a tool for diagnostic self-analysis that will help each reader to identify their situation and learn how parents in similar situations have approached the task of supporting their children’s use of languages. Based on a unique survey of parents in trilingual families in two European countries, the book highlights the challenges that trilingual families face when living in mainly monolingual societies. It takes into account the recent emergence of a 'New Trilingualism' among educated parents who find themselves in trilingual families because of global trends in migration and the recent expansion of the EU.

1. Trilingualism and Multilingualism: An Overview

2. Comparing Bilingual and Trilingual Families

3. Monolingual Parents Living Abroad (Group 1)

4. One or Both Parents are Bilingual (Group 2)

5. One or Both Parents are Trilingual (Group 3)

6. Trilingual Proficiency in a Trilingual or Multilingual Society

7. Concluding Words

Appendices: Resources for Trilingual Families with Children

List of Illustrations and Tables

List of References and Further Reading by Chapter

Through their interviews with trilingual families in the UK and Germany, the authors present a complex and multifaceted reality of the various beliefs and language practices of trilingual families. This unique book shows that there is no single pathway to becoming trilingual and that trilingualism is a dynamic process that constantly adapts to evolving circumstances.