A1 Journal article (refereed)
Digital communication as part of family language policy : the interplay of multimodality and language status in a Finnish context (2023)

Palviainen, Å., & Räisä, T. (2023). Digital communication as part of family language policy : the interplay of multimodality and language status in a Finnish context. Language Policy, 22(4), 433-455. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-023-09666-3

JYU authors or editors

Palviainen, Åsa

Publication details

All authors or editors: Palviainen, Åsa; Räisä, Tiina

Journal or series: Language Policy

ISSN: 1568-4555

eISSN: 1573-1863

Publication year: 2023

Publication date: 28/09/2023

Volume: 22

Issue number: 4

Pages range: 433-455

Publisher: Springer

Publication country: Netherlands

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-023-09666-3

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Partially open access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/89378

Additional information: Thematic Issue: Ten Years Later: What has become of FLP? Issue Editors: Xiao Lan Curdt-Christiansen, Åsa Palviainen

Abstract

While mobile app-mediated communication between children and members of their family represents a substantial part of contemporary family communication and language input, we still know very little about the role of these technologies in family language policy (FLP). With an explorative questionnaire survey, the current study set out to examine (1) how Finnish state and language-in-education policies intersect with how families make use of their languages in spoken and in app-mediated communication, and (2) to what extent app-mediated FL practices function as a space for spoken and literacy language development. 1002 nine to twelve year-olds in minority-language Swedish-medium schools in Finland responded to the survey. The results showed the dominance of the two national, high-status languages Swedish and Finnish in the families, with texting being the most common app practice. Languages other than Swedish and Finnish (LOTSF) were used in 17% of the families and to a great extent also in the family apps. While app-mediated family communications overall were shown to serve as significant spaces for language and literacy development, in some cases of LOTSF with a lower status and less educational support, and with linguistic and writing systems deviating from Swedish and Finnish, children refrained from texting in the apps. The findings suggest that the relationship between choice of modalities in language(s) of different status and educational support is complex and needs further attention in future FLP studies.

Keywords: families; family members; communication; information and communications technology; communications technology; mobile apps; multimodality; literacy; linguistic interaction; minority languages; Swedish language; Finnish language; multilingualism; language policy; sociolinguistics; questionnaire survey