ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates multilingual language use in institutional settings other than educational ones. Just like schools, institutions such as those providing health or legal assistance are ideological sites, where existing ideologies of power tend to be reproduced. The chapter discusses various studies carried out in different workplaces in Barcelona and Brussels. It focuses on an immigration office, in Barcelona, and an asylum agency in Brussels, thus shifting the focus to multilingualism in legal settings. The chapter explore another institution, namely the family and in particular the multilingual family, as a further site of linguistic struggle. The multilingualism studies were carried out in Australia, Japan, Bolivia, the USA and Mexico. The chapter highlights the tension between language separation policies and translanguaging practices, as well as the powerful influence of peers, school and other external factors upon language practices and beliefs within the family.
