An ecological approach to family language policy research: the case of Miao families in China

This paper reports on a study that used an ecological approach to explore family language policy and practice among Miao families in China. In the study, we surveyed 900 Miao families and interviewed 20 parents with regard to their language practices, ideologies, and management efforts, to identify what mediated their family language policy decisions. The analysis of the data revealed a noticeable decline in the use of the Miao language across different generations, and an inconsistency between language ideologies and language management efforts. These findings suggest that family language policy decisions are profoundly mediated by the language policies and practices promoted in different organizations at meso (e.g. school) and macro (e.g. national) levels, which constitute an exo-system external to the family domain. We conclude that it is necessary for all languages to be recognized as resources so that a favorable discursive space can be maintained for ethnic languages such as the Miao language in China.