‘When they speak English, it's normal’: the monolingual realities of multilingualism

Abstract

Canada is described as a mosaic of many ethnic groups, languages, and cultures, yet its ‘multiculturalism within a bilingual framework’ (Haque, Citation2012. Multiculturalism within a bilingual framework: Language, race, and belonging in Canada. University of Toronto Press) only supports two official languages (French and English). This study of language and identity scrutinises the implications of national language policies on intergenerational language shifts, family language policies, and identity negotiations of second-generation Chinese Canadian youth. Using data generated from a one-year qualitative study, this framework engages conceptualizations of performativity (Butler, Citation2021. Excitable speech: A politics of the performative. 1st ed. Routledge) and emotionality (Ahmed, Citation2014. The cultural politics of emotion. Edinburgh University Press) to analyse parent and student narratives about home language practices. The resulting analysis suggests that a force of power underlies the way speech acts, and emotion support family language policies. Namely, the data demonstrates that intentional and unintentional injurious language uphold the goals of home language maintenance and inscribe cycles of individual and institutional acts of symbolic violence within families. This study argues that family language policies of multilingual families are impacted by the ways cultural diversity is managed by a bilingual nation-state.

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