Parental ideologies and family language policies among Syrian refugees in Turkey

At the centre of any language education is the topic of bilingualism, especially in light of the recent global migration and refuge events. Notwithstanding this burgeoning movement, little attention has been paid to the role of Syrian refugee families in maintaining their children’s heritage language (HL), Arabic, in Turkey. Therefore, the present study aims at filling this gap by investigating the language ideologies and linguistic practices of the Syrian refugee families at home regarding their children’s HL development and maintenance. For this reason, the study will adopt a qualitative research approach based on semi-structured interviews and linguistic drawings with five Syrian refugee families living in four different cities in Turkey. To that end, the study aims to investigate this phenomenon by addressing the following research questions: How do Syrian refugee families in Turkey maintain their HL, in terms of practice ‎and management? ‎What ideologies do the Syrian refugee families in Turkey hold towards their ‎heritage language? The findings of this research can be used in arming these families with solid educational and linguistic backgrounds which can assist their children in overcoming any problems pertinent to maintaining HL rules at home, and in developing the field of family language policy amongst Syrian refugee families in Turkey.