Family Language Planning
A family language plan is a plan that follows a bilingual child from birth, through the start of primary school all the way to secondary school. The purpose is to safeguard the child’s best chance for success in ALL of their languages. I my opinion, every bilingual family should have a language plan.
A family language plan gives an opportunity for the family to:
- Think of all the languages that will be used in the family
- Set goals for the future
- Prioritize goals
- Think about schooling (for the short term and long term)
- Look for opportunities for (quality) language input (From whom? Where? When and how frequently?)
- Think about how reading and writing will happen in each language
- Be flexible about possible changes to the plan (e.g. if some strategies don’t work as hoped)
The discussion about the above topics helps families to be on the same page, decide on priorities, and understand the key to success. It also helps them make changes easily as their situations change (e.g. when the family moves to another country). The process may also influence the family’s views on schooling and additional language choices.
Although this might seem to be a lot of work, it is worth the effort, because one family language plan usually lasts the child’s upbringing. The plan’s complexity will depend on the family’s circumstances and the number of languages involved.
By choosing to spend time and energy on creating a family language plan, parents of bilingual children make a conscious effort to truly understand the complexities of their situation. This way, they will be able to guide their children towards success on their bilingualism journey.