Growing up in a bilingual family

Glavni cilj ovog diplomskog rada bio je istražiti uvjete odrastanja u dvojezičnim obiteljima. U sklopu teorijskog dijela rada, između ostalog, opisan je proces usvajanja materinskog i drugog jezika, a unutar razrade pojma dvojezičnosti, predstavljene su različite vrste dvojezičnosti. Poseban naglasak stavljen je na aspekte kao što su uloga roditelja u dvojezičnoj obitelji, miješanje jezika te prednosti i nedostaci dvojezičnog odgoja djece. U svrhu prikupljanja materijala za analizu korištena je metoda intervjuiranja, a instrument koji se koristio intervju polu-strukturiranog tipa. Istraživanjem se obuhvatilo 10 sugovornika od kojih 5 roditelja dvojezične djece i 5 djece odrasle u dvojezičnim obiteljima. Osim ranije nabrojenih aspekata, preostali analizirani aspekti bili su: postupci za poticanje razvoja dvojezičnosti kod djece te utjecaj starije braće/sestara kao i utjecaj šire obitelji pri prijenosu materinskog jezika. Analiza odgovora sugovornika, među ostalim, pokazala je sljedeće rezultate: u procesu planiranja dvojezične obitelji presudna je uloga roditelja, sva dvojezična djeca prolaze kroz fazu miješanja jezika, starija braća/sestre i šira obitelj pomažu roditeljima prilikom prenošenja materinskog jezika i, na kraju, dvojezični odgoj djece ima više prednosti nego nedostataka.The main aim of this master thesis was to explore the conditions of growing up in bilingual families. The theoretical part of the paper describes, among other things, the process of acquiring the mother tongue and second language, whereas different types of bilingualism are presented within the elaboration of the concept of bilingualism. Particular emphasis was placed on aspects such as the role of parents in a bilingual family, the language mixing and the advantages and disadvantages of bilingual upbringing of children. An interview method was used for the purpose of collecting, whereas semi-structured type of interview was used as an instrument for obtaining the materials for the analysis. The study included 10 interviewees, 5 of whom were parents of bilingual children and 5 were children raised in bilingual families. In addition to the aspects listed above, the remaining analyzed aspects were: procedures to encourage the development of bilingualism in children and the influence of older siblings, as well as the influence of the wider family, in mother tongue transmission. Among other things, analysis of the interlocutors’ responses showed the following results: the role of parents in the process of planning a bilingual family is crucial, plus all bilingual children go through a language mixing phase. Furthermore, older siblings and wider family members help parents with mother tongue transmission and, finally, bilingual upbringing of children has more advantages than disadvantages