From Dili to Dungannon

An ethnographic study of two multilingual migrant families from Timor-Leste

Bibliographic Data

ID12739288
AuthorsIldegrada da Costa Cabral (0000-0001-8189-6547, University of Birmingham, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume15
Issue3
Pages276-290
Publication date2018-05-30
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Multilingualism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1479-0718 • E-ISSN: 1747-7530
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14790718.2018.1477289
OpenAlexW2807274229
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited27

This paper contributes to the growing field of family language policy by considering the life trajectories, language ideologies and linguistic investment of two transnational and multilingual families who have moved from Timor-Leste to the UK - to Dungannon, Northern Ireland. The paper draws on an ethnographic study conducted in Dungannon [da Costa Cabral, 2010. From Dili to Dungannon: A case study of two bilingual migrant families from East-Timor (Unpublished master’s thesis). University of Birmingham]. The research included participant observation, field notes, language diaries, diary-based interviews and semi-structured interviews. It took as its starting point the view that migrant families are not static, self-contained units. Such families are situated within different social and historical contexts, and the language ideologies, repertoires and practices of family members are shaped by their lived experiences, over time, within these different contexts. The key insights gleaned in this study were as follows: The parents’ beliefs and values regarding the languages in their communicative repertoires – Tetum, Portuguese and Indonesian – reflected their lived experiences in education and work, at different moments in the recent history of Timor-Leste. After moving to Northern Ireland, their language ideologies became closely bound up with their aspirations for their children. They encouraged their children's learning and use of English and did not show a strong commitment to the use of Tetum at home

Critical ethnography · Ethnography · Ideology · Indonesian · Language ideology · Linguistics · Local language · Multilingualism · Participant observation · Pedagogy · Political science · Politics · Situated · Sociology · Anthropology · Gender Studies · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Multilingual Education and Policy