Mixed system 1: a language strategy for bilingual families

• Published in: ELIA no. 17; pp. 125 - 156
• Main Author: Ruiz Martín, Arancha
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sevilla Universidad de Sevilla, Departamento de Lengua Inglesa 2017
• Subjects: Bilingualism; Children; Children & youth; English language; Families & family life; Family (Sociological Unit); Interpersonal Relationship; Language Patterns; Language Planning; Language policy; Language Proficiency; Minority languages; Multiculturalism & pluralism; Multilingualism; Parents; Parents & parenting; Polls & surveys; Sociolinguistics; Spanish language; Vocabulary development; United Kingdom > UK; Japan; Spain
• ISSN: 1576-5059; 2253-8283
• DOI: 10.12795/elia.2017.i17.06

According to the literature on family bilingualism, parents raising their children in two languages by choice are recommended to choose from one of these two main language strategies: either One person/parent, one language (OPOL) or Minority Language at Home (ml@h). However, the results of a survey carried out by the author on a group of 110 English- Spanish bilingual families in Madrid showed that the second most popular language strategy after OPOL is another strategy named here as Mixed System 1(MS1). Therefore, this strategy proves to be interesting to explore in detail, looking at the reasons for its choice as well as the implications and consequences involved, both from a practical and an emotional perspective, for parents as well as for children. Research on the topic and a case study on the group of families that use this method in Madrid are the main points of this article. A questionnaire was designed in order to collect information about this language strategy and the answers confirmed the effectiveness of Mixed System 1 as an alternative strategy in this particular context.