FAMILY LANGUAGE POLICY AND SIBLING VARIATION AMONG BILINGUAL CHINESE SINGAPOREANS

Abstract

This study aims to explore language practice of Chinese Singaporean families from the perspective of family language policy and child language development. Both qualitative and quantative research method are used to investigate parental ideologies of family language planning and language variation between siblings. Through the analysis of language choice in different types of family, parental language ideology and the influence of siblings in family language planning, it provides the up-to-date information of language use among bilingual Chinese Singaporean families. My research also supports the more general claim that, in early bilingual language development, family language ecology equips children with a range of linguistic practices to prepare them to integrate into a broader multilingual society. Furthermore, this study sheds light on children’s role in familial context and establishing a framework that can contribute to a better understanding of child language development and the relationship between governmental and family language policies.