ABSTRACT
Chapter 4 takes an ethnographic approach to multilingualism at Warruwi, beginning with detailed linguistic biographies of four Elders. These biographies examine how they learned each of their languages, how they use language and their views on Indigenous languages. Language portraits and drawings of their linguistic repertoires are used as a jumping-off point for each to reflect on how the languages they speak relate to their life stories, identities, families, friends and careers. This brings to light some common language practices and language ideologies in the community. Chapter 4 also looks at how children’s multilingualism develops within the complex multiplicity of relations that are referred to locally in English using the term ‘families’. Chapter 4 is where we see how learning and using many languages occurs as part of everyday life at Warruwi, so that over an entire lifespan, people learn many different languages.
