Family language policy and intergenerational heritage language Transmission among Inter-ethnic families in Tanzania: An interpretive phenomenological analysis

Abstract

This article explores parents' views on languages in inter-ethnic families, how the former influence language practices in the family, and how heritage languages are transmitted to their children. The data for the study were collected using in-depth interviews with five participants living with their partners drawn from different ethnicities. Using the Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis approach (Smith et al., 2009; Van Manen, 2016), ten themes emerged from the participants’ interviews. These were grouped into three super-themes representing parents’ perceptions and beliefs about languages and family language policies. The findings revealed that parents had positive attitudes towards their ethnic languages and the transmission of these to their children. However, such a positive attitude is not reflected in the language practices of the families and in the strategies used to transmit heritage language to their children.