Using a 'Family Language Policy' lens to explore the dynamic and relational nature of child agency

Abstract

This article contributes to a dialogue between childhood studies and the sociolinguistic subfield ‘Family Language Policy’ (‘FLP’). The article argues that the two fields provide complementary vantage points for exploring child agency. It explains a revised version of a model I developed to conceptualise child agency in FLP, consisting of four intersecting dimensions: compliance regimes; linguistic norms; linguistic competence and generational positioning (Smith-Christmas, Handbook of home language maintenance and development. De Gruyter Mouton, pp. 218–235, 2020a). The article examines two conversational excerpts as a means to illustrating the dynamic and relational nature of child agency and how it is both shaped by as well as shapes interactional practices over time and space.