Language Biography of a Bilingual Australian Family

Scientists studying identity in SLLs (Second Language Learners) have concluded that categories which shape a person's identity such as gender, nationality, language etc. are constantly in a process of transformation. By acquiring knowledge and experience people change their attitudes and consequently re-shape their identity. The focus of this thesis is the change in attitudes towards language. The research is based on the premise that the acquisition of another language and a multicultural environment can influence a person's attitudes towards language. The premise was examined through qualitative research on the sample of a bilingual family from Australia. The research was conducted in the form of four separate sociolinguistic interviews with the family members. The results have shown that Son and Daughter exhibit a more favourable outlook on language variation than their parents. Additionally, it was found that Mother and Father express different criteria for the two languages. The results might imply that their dissimilar attitudes stand in correlation to the change in the environment and the type of second language acquisition.