Family language policy tensions in Ndebele-Shona intermarriages

Abstract

Linguistic intermarriages are now a common feature of contemporary societies as a consequence of migration and globalisation. In some contexts, intermarriages contribute to the creation of bilingual families because of children's exposure to the different languages of their parents. In these families, tensions around bilingual child-rearing and language socialisation often arise from mismatched parents' ideologies about what languages represent and their subjective dispositions towards each other's language, particularly in the context of historical conflicts. This study presents part findings of a larger study investigating the emotional dimensions of family language policy in a post-conflict context. It reports on how parents' language practices and negotiations within selected Ndebele-Shona intermarried families reveal underlying tensions which reproduce the prevailing socio-political order. The study deploys in-depth interviews with parents from each family to understand their language socialisation preferences for their children in the context of family bilingualism. Using the concept of family language policy, we argue that parents' language practices and negotiations in each of the families are products of historical Ndebele-Shona tensions, and the family becomes a site of conflictual bilingualism, resulting in the re-negotiation of family linguistic identities.