What can interactional sociolinguistics bring to the family language policy research table? The case of a Malay family in Singapore

This research applies interactional sociolinguistics within a family language policy framework to investigate how social structures and institutional discourses outside the home trickle into daily mundane activities Malay-English bilingual in Singapore. Drawing upon ethnographic interviews naturally-occurring interactions at home, study examines parents’ reported linguistic ideologies ‘practiced’ policy. The analysis suggests that embraces mixing reports making efforts strike balance between Malay English as way of raising children bilingually. familial interactions, however, shows children’s practices vary certain frames are evoked conversation. findings suggest better understanding maintenance shift processes through necessitates nuanced examination languages used evoke, negotiate establish during home.