ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the presentation of issues related to Family Language Policy remaining the central theme of the monograph. While discussing FLP it needs to be implied that research interest in the field dates back to the beginning of the 20th century when two emblematic studies based on the One Parent – One Language (OPOL) tenet were conducted by Grammont and Ronjat. FLP obtained the status of a discipline in its own right not so long ago thanks to the contributions by King and Fogle who added much to our understanding of family language policymaking and child language outcomes. While conceptualising FLP, referring to the language policy model that considers the speech community proposed by Spolsky also seems vital. As a result, the concept of FLP should be understood as a construct combining language ideologies, language management and language practices. Because the discipline is anchored in language policy and child language acquisition, its research is primarily informed by the sociology of education, sociolinguistics, applied linguistics and psychology. A family is considered to be a predominant domain for studying language policy mainly due to the fact that it plays a critical role in the formation of children’s linguistic environment. Hence, as discussed in the chapter, the favourable maintenance of a community language is determined by a successful transmission of the language in the home.
