Argument for exploring the development of family language policy through Vygotskian perezhivanie

What is it about?

This study suggests a new way to understand family language policy (FLP) by using Vygotskian perezhivanie as the unit of analysis. Instead of focusing on single factors often researched in FLP research, such as language practices and planning, we shift our attention to the becoming of individuals. Specifically, we propose looking at how individuals sift their explicit and implicit FLP decisions through their emotional lived experiences -- perezhiviniya. To explore this, we analysed interviews with two single Russian-speaking mothers in Finland. We explored how they interpreted their experiences with language use (Finnish and Russian), refracting these experiences through the lens of perezhivanie, emphasising significant events that influenced their family language policies. The analysis revealed that participants assigned different, sometimes contradictory, meanings to their FLPs. It also highlighted the non-linear nature of individual development and, consequently, the development of their FLP. By tracing the mothers' journeys through the perspective of perezhivanie, we uncovered complex trajectories that empowered them to implement a bilingual language policy in their families despite facing challenges. This approach illuminated the emotional and personal aspects that contributed to their determination and ability to act in establishing and maintaining a bilingual FLP.

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Why is it important?

We build an argument for using an analytical lens that shifts the focus of research from individual factors shaping family language policy to the historical becoming of the individual.

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