Siblings' play and language shift to English in a Malay-English bilingual family in Singapore

Abstract

This research applies language socialization theory within a family language policy framework to investigate how language shift is realized in daily activities within a Malay-English bilingual family in Singapore. Applying Goffman's frame analysis to two excerpts of siblings’ play from ninety hours of recordings of family interactions, we illustrate how children as young as four and seven enact adult roles such as teacher and student within the frame of play. In creatively enacting these roles, identities and social relations, the children draw upon their knowledge of play-external structures – with which they have experience from other (non-play) situations. The children consequently use English – what is typical of educational settings in Singapore – to portray an image of a teacher and student within the frame of play.