“He Thinks He Is Polish, but the Way He Acts Is Irish”: the Negotiation of Family Language Policy Within Polish Migrant and Transnational Families in Ireland

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“He Thinks He Is Polish, but the Way He Acts Is Irish”: the Negotiation of Family Language Policy Within Polish Migrant and Transnational Families in Ireland “He thinks he is Polish, but the way he acts is Irish”: The Negotiation of Family Language Policy within Polish Migrant and Transnational Families in Ireland Lorraine Connaughton-Crean, B.Ed., MEd. Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of PhD School of Language, Literacy and Early Childhood Education Dublin City University Supervisor: An tOllamh Pádraig Ó Duibhir July 2020 Declaration I hereby certify that this material, which I now submit for assessment on the programme of study leading to the award Ph.D. is entirely my own work, that I have exercised reasonable care to ensure that the work is original, and does not to the best of my knowledge breach any law of copyright, and has not been taken from the work of others save and to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work. Signed: ID No:15211367 Date: 30/07/2020 i Acknowledgements Do mo stiúrthóir, an tOllamh Pádraig Ó Duibhir. Go raibh míle maith agat as gach rud. Roinn tú do chuid saineolais go fial flaithiúil liom. Ón bhfíorthús, mhúin tú dom go dtabharfadh buanseasmhacht go ceann cúrsa mé. Tá mé fíorbhuíoch díot as ucht mo chuid ceisteanna a fhreagairt láithreach agus aiseolas a sheoladh chugam go tapa. Tá cumas agat ó dhúchas, aiseolas a chur ar fáil ar bhealach a bhíonn tráthúil agus dearfach i gcónaí agus a chuireann ar mo shuaimhneas mé. Bhí a fhios agat nuair a theastaigh sos uaim. Bhí a fhios agat freisin nuair a theastaigh spreagadh uaim chun leanúint ar aghaidh. Bhain mé sult as a bheith ag obair leat i rith an phróisis go léir. To my supervisor, Professor Pádraig Ó Duibhir. Thank you for everything. You always generously shared your in-depth knowledge and expertise. From the very beginning, you taught me that perseverance would get me to the end. I truly appreciate your immediate responses to queries and your quick turnaround with feedback. You have an innate ability to provide feedback in a way that is always timely, constructive and reassuring. You knew when I needed breaks. You also knew when I needed the encouragement to keep going. It has been a pleasure to work with you throughout the process. Special thanks also to Dr. Geraldine French, Head of School of Language, Literacy and Early Childhood Education in the Institute of Education DCU, for displaying a keen interest in my research and for providing me with constructive feedback, questions and meaningful suggestions for improvement during the PhD transfer process. Do rodzin biorących udział w tym badaniu naukowym. Pozostanę na zawsze wdzięczna za Waszą otwartość, szczerość i gotowość na wpuszczenie mnie do Waszych domów, ii gdzie zawsze czułam się mile widziana. W Waszym towarzystwie nigdy nie czułam się jak ktoś obcy. Dziękuję Wam za odwagę na bycie sobą i podzielenie się ze mną Waszymi niezwykłymi doświadczeniami życiowymi. Dziękuję, że nauczyliście mnie tak wiele o Polsce i jej kulturze. Ta praca naukowa opowiada Wasze historie. To the participating families in this study. I will be forever grateful for your openness, honesty and willingness to allow me into your homes, where I always felt welcome and relaxed. I never felt like an outsider in your presence. Thank you for having the courage to be yourselves and for sharing your amazing life experiences with me. Thank you for teaching me so much about Poland and its culture. This thesis tells your stories. To all my work colleagues in the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA). You have been a constant source of support to me in so many ways. Working in an organisation where research is so highly valued has helped me to reach the end of the PhD journey. Many of you have already completed the doctoral journey and it was inspiring to see colleagues graduate over the last few years. Thank you Mags for sharing insight and knowledge from your own research, and for providing me with injections of humour and positivity during the difficult moments. Thank you Susan for encouraging me all the way to submission with your motivational words, useful resources and comradeship. It was really great to share our PhD journeys together. To Anita. My amazing mam, a woman like no other. Without your constant support as a mother, and grandmother (Nang) to Heidi and Eli, I wouldn’t have had the time and space to engage in research with the participating families. I was able to invest my time in the research because I knew how happy and safe the kids were with you. To my dad Gerry, thank you for a lifetime of support, positive encouragement and much needed humour. A special thanks also to my siblings Daniel and Aisling for all your help and iii support. Thanks to my parents-in-law Tom and Eileen, and my sisters-in-law Helen, Fiona and Sinéad for your encouraging words and much appreciated family dinners and celebrations. In the midst of PhD challenges, you all helped me to keep stock of what is most important in my life, my family. I look forward to more family gatherings with a lighter mind. To John. A fantastic husband and a true family man. My fear of flying made it difficult for me to look forward to and attend international conferences and you always took time out of your work when it least suited to travel with me. You never let me fly alone, despite the fact I always left you alone to roam big cities while I enjoyed the conference events! You have been a constant source of encouragement to me and you have continued to remind me of my ability to reach the finish line when I least thought I could. To Heidi. My little girl. An eight-year-old version of myself. You have always been so interested in languages and culture, just as I have been. You wanted to know everything about my research once you found out I was visiting Polish families. You are already a little researcher with so many questions about the world. I look forward to having more time to answer your questions. To Eli. My little boy. You were a small baby, and not yet talking, when I first embarked on the PhD journey. Funnily, your words pushed me to believe in myself as I approached the last leg of the journey and began to visibly doubt my ability to finish. The words one Saturday morning, “If you say you can do it, you will do it, but if you say you can’t do it, you won’t do it” put me in my place and got me back on track! I quickly dried my eyes and got on with work. I also wrote down your words for daily reference, and to take in how much you have grown alongside this PhD. iv To John, Heidi and Eli. Thanks for your patience with me. Thanks for understanding how much this study meant to me for five long years. I look forward to many trips in our much-loved campervan, minus the PhD! v Table of Contents Declaration ......................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. vi List of Figures ................................................................................................................. xii List of Tables.................................................................................................................. xiii List of Acronyms ........................................................................................................... xiv Abstract ........................................................................................................................... xv Chapter 1 ........................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction and Research Background ............................................................................ 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 Globalisation, Migration and Transnational Families ................................................... 2 Migratory trends in Ireland ....................................................................................... 3 Polish migration to Ireland: A demographic overview ............................................. 7 Language Policy and Language Education Policy in Ireland ........................................ 9 Polish Complementary Language Schooling in Ireland .............................................. 14 Research Rationale and Questions .............................................................................. 15 Thesis Outline .............................................................................................................. 18 Chapter 2 ......................................................................................................................... 20 Literature Review ............................................................................................................ 20 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 20 Language Socialisation ................................................................................................ 21 Ethnolinguistic Identity Theory ................................................................................... 26 Identity Formation in Transnational Contexts ............................................................. 28 Language Policy .........................................................................................................
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