Language Socialization and Education
Immigrant Children and Intercultural Competence
2 Participants: Children, Their Families and Socialization Contexts
Criteria Used in the Study of Interviews, Narratives and Small Stories
Kasia’s Family Life and Schooling
Marcin’s Family Life and Schooling
Wiktoria and Janek and Polish Weekend School
Wiktoria’s Family Life and Schooling
Janek’s Family Life and Schooling
Limitations of the Methodology Used
Child-Centered Approaches
Layers of Analysis and Coding
On Stances and Positioning Taken by Participants
Notes on Translation
3 Power of Belonging
Identity and Membership
Constructing ‘Belonging’
Being an ‘Insider’
‘My siblings are more Irish than I am’
Constructing ‘Not Belonging’ or Out of ‘Otherness’
Wiktoria: ‘Pack of lies’
‘Not belonging’
Janek: ‘I’m a stranger’
‘They do not understand jokes’
Technologically ‘different’
Rejection of Participation
Accent and Other Language Practices as Belonging or Not Belonging
Kasia: Accent as negotiation of ‘self’
‘American accent’: Kasia’s Perspective
Accent and Kasia’s Mother’s Perspective
Marcin: Having the same accent?
Wiktoria: ‘They wouldn’t laugh at somebody’s accent’
Janek: Rejecting Native Accent
‘Sheet’ [SHIT]: ‘They want to hear this word’
To be ‘more equal than the others’: Symbolic Power of Language
Language, Identity and Emotions
Janek: ‘He just does not write enough for it’
Between Home and School: Two Persons in One?
4 Agency and Socio-Historical Mediation
Socio-Historical Context and Discourses
Language Practices when Addressing Others
‘I talk with more grown-up voice’
Marcin: Greeting Others or Acknowledging Social Hierarchy?
Wiktoria: Being Polite or Lying?
In Between Two Cultures
Marcin
Resisting Culture
Agency or Adherence to a Moral Code: The Case of Wiktoria?
Wiktoria
Wiktoria, Liberal Values, Religion and ‘Polishness’
5 Language Ideologies and Parents
Language Ideologies among Parents
‘Polishness’ and Parents
High Status of English
Language of ‘success’
Status of English: An Open Door?
Final Remarks
6 Conclusion and Implications
Negotiation of Internal and External Family Socialization Processes
A Complex Interplay of Engagements, Alignments, Socio-Historical Contexts and Agency
Janek and Wiktoria
Kasia and Marcin
Implications for Supporting Immigrant Adolescents
Notes on Participants
References
Index
From a Bilingual to a Multilingual Country
During the last decade, Ireland has experienced a substantial influx of immigrants. According to the 2011 census, a total of 544,357 non-Irish nationals were living in Ireland in April 2011, representing 199 different nations. The growth in the number of non-Irish nationals has continued since 2006, although at a slower pace than earlier years. The main immigrant groups include Polish (2.7%); British (2.5%); Lithuanian (0.8%); Latvian (0.5%); Romanian (0.2%); Slovakian (0.2%); and German (0.2%); and the largest non-European groups include Nigerian (0.4%); Indian (0.4%); Filipino (0.3%); US American (0.2%); and Chinese (0.2%) (Central Statistics Office, 2011). From 2006 to 2011, there was a steady increase in the number of Polish nationals, from 63,276 to 122,585, marking this group as the largest ethnic minority group ahead of UK nationals with 112,259. By 2016, the situation was unchanged with the Polish population stabilizing at 122,515 (2.57% of the population), according to the 2016 census figures (Central Statistics Office, 2016). After Poland joined the European Union (EU) in 2004, Ireland, along with the United Kingdom and Sweden, was among three existing EU members to open its borders and welcome Polish workers as relatively cheap and qualified laborers. Ireland quickly became a key destination for many young Poles seeking work outside Poland.