Family language policy in multilingual Luxembourg: the conceptual shift from a conflictual to a contrastive dynamic

The current paper explores family language policies (FLP) in multilingual Luxembourg based on 32 interviews with parents of children aged 4–5.We operate both a thematic and a pragmatic discourse analysis on the answers provided by the parents to one question: ‘What languages do you speak in your household?’. The thematic analysis looks at the specific languages reported as FLP by the 32 families: one language(16); one language ‘mostly’ (3); one parent, one language (10), a ‘mix up’ two languages (1); and three languages (2). Even though the parents use markers of certainty, self-identifying their FLP as ‘always’ monolingual/bilingual/trilingual as we see in the thematic analysis, the pragmatic analysis brings forward a contrast in the families’ discourse, advancing the possibility of a shift from the current conflictual dynamic to a contrastive dynamic. Therefore, in the multilingual context of Luxembourg, the FLP promoting home languages is in contrast, and not in conflict, with the languages of new environment. The paper contributes to the development of new conceptual models of FLP in a multilingual context and to further documenting the role of family in fostering the plurilingual development of the child.