34.2436, Review: Multimodal Communication in Young Multilingual Children

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LINGUIST List: Vol-34-2436. Tue Aug 08 2023. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 34.2436, Review: Multimodal Communication in Young Multilingual Children

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Date: 28-Jun-2023
From: Eric ALVAREZ [eric.alvarez.perez at gmail.com]
Subject: Applied Linguistics: Kiaer (2023)


Book announced at https://linguistlist.org/issues/34.369

AUTHOR: Jieun Kiaer
TITLE: Multimodal Communication in Young Multilingual Children
SUBTITLE: Learning Beyond Words
SERIES TITLE: Bilingual Education & Bilingualism
PUBLISHER: Multilingual Matters
YEAR: 2023

REVIEWER: Eric ALVAREZ

SUMMARY

Jieun Kiaer’s longitudinal study “Multimodal Communication in Young
Multilingual Children: Learning Beyond Words” considers through a
translanguaging perspective (Wei, 2018) how children growing up in
multilingual environments use their languages multimodally. Kiaer’s
investigation is anchored on her two daughters who are growing up in a
Korean-English (henceforth KE) household in England, an
underrepresented group. As she explains, “the main body of evidence in
this book is videos of my own family communicating together.” (p.
xiii). The author depicts how multilingual children use their
languages through verbal means, and how they deploy various non-verbal
communication strategies in spontaneous interaction. This process is
not only dynamic, but also bidirectional (Beckner et al., 2009; King &
Fogle, 2013), where children and parents collaboratively co-construct
meaning. By transcending languages and cultures not only are
multilingual identities forged within the family, but so too do unique
language practices emerge since “no one family’s linguistic
environment is the same” (p. 124). The findings show how multilingual
families create a sense of unity through their use of multilingual and
multimodal resources. The implications are notable and provide rich
interactional data for anyone curious about multilingual language
development in children.

The book includes a preface, eight chapters, and an epilogue. In the
preface Kiaer underscores that the study documents her family’s
linguistic journey. In this language learning environment, the lines
between students and teachers are blurred since everyone constantly
learns from each other through family, neighborly, or friendly social
encounters. The author likens their KE language style to their
cooking, a rich blend of both Korean and English that depends on
real-time resource availability. The author also highlights the role
of gesture and prosody “in the process of tailoring language” (p. xv).
Finally, Kiaer insists on the importance of one’s culture. The
family’s multilingual language practices are enriching, reflecting
their identity and solidarity.

In Chapter 1, entitled “Everyday Talk: Beyond Languages and Cultures”,
Kiaer shows how “most people’s family histories are complex and
diverse” (p. 1) by briefly presenting two multinational neighborhood
families. She describes how their children communicate in multilingual
contexts where language mixing is normal. Translanguaging, following
García & Li (2014), is thus introduced as “multilingual individual
language and literacy practices (that) flexibly and creatively
interweave various linguistic features from two or more languages” (p.
2). Non-verbal resources are also “intrinsically (…) linked” (p. 9) to
the oral modality. For Kiaer, multilingualism is experienced-based and
supports a holistic, multidimensional approach. However, multilingual
research is largely Euro-centric despite census data from various
English-speaking countries showing that diverse Asian languages are
largely used. Following Montanari and Quai (2019), the author proposes
moving away from this vision since “understanding Asian-English is not
easily translatable in Eurocentric approaches due to complex,
pragmatic aspects that are rich in Asian languages unlike English and
other European languages” (p. 4). Kiaer then discusses the emergence
of family languages in the home and the community, how translanguaging
is a form of linguistic and cultural hybridity, and how it may indeed
favor bilingualism (Gorter, 2013). The author’s data collection is
longitudinal and naturalistic, consisting mainly of video and audio
recordings of her family from 2014-2022 where multimodal
(oral-visual), written, and computer mediated aspects are analyzed. To
a lesser extent she also includes observations and interviews.
Finally, transcription conventions are briefly discussed before
overviewing Chapters 2 through 8.

“Linguistic Tapestry of a Multilingual Family” is the theme of Chapter
2. It introduces autoethnography, a research method that gives Kiaer a
participant-observer role and grants her unique insight into the
“nuanced meaning in each multilingual encounter” (p. 15). The author
introduces the Kiaer family: Ian (English husband), Sarah (eldest
daughter), and Jessie (youngest daughter). Although they mostly speak
English, both  Korean and English are culturally integral to their
lives. Through reading and eating activities Kiaer explores their
translanguaging competence, or the ability to creatively “manipulate
their linguistic resources to make each interaction work” (p. 40), and
that develops across the lifespan in multilingual families. The use of
multimodal resources to accommodate Jessie renders communication
efficient and creates solidarity.

Focused on a mother-child reading activity, Chapter 3 is called
“Learning Together: A Case Study”. It shows how meaning is
co-constructed bidirectionally, and multimodally, i.e., using
technology and visual aids. Moreover, Kiaer suggests that children of
immigrant families tend to learn the host country’s language faster
than their caretakers. This places these young language learners in
the role of teachers as they aid their parents in navigating a wide
range of social, cultural, and linguistic encounters. For the author
“children may have to play the role of language broker or cultural
mediator for their parents” (p. 41), and through their agency actively
contribute to adult society.

Chapter 4 raises the issue of “Attitudes and Emotions”, and it
considers interviews both with Jessie and with other KE children.
Kiaer thus discusses children’s metalinguistic awareness as they are
rooted in their multilingual language learning environments. The
author shows “how KE children negotiate the differences between Korean
and English through the practice of translanguaging” (p. 59) even if
they did not learn these distinctions in school. Based on a range of
socio-interactional factors, including interlocutor age, status,
nationality, etc., children try to use their languages to accommodate
the needs of others. However, Kiaer also recognizes that while
language awareness may engender solidarity, it may also be a source of
conflict.

Chapter 5 is called “Politeness Matters” and Kiaer apprehends the
pragmatic distinctions between English and Korean verbal and
non-verbal forms of politeness. Korea maintains strict rules for
interactions between two or more participants, including the use of
honorifics and gesture to show varying levels of respect or intimacy.
As such, Korea is a high-context culture. Kiaer shows that for
heritage children this may be challenging since “second-generation
individuals find it hard to tune into Korean politeness” (p. 80),
especially when visiting their heritage country. Following Lakoff
(1990), politeness is meant to minimize potential conflict inherent in
all social encounters and multilingual children are quite capable of
navigating these complex cultural norms.

“Talking with Parents” is the focus of Chapter 6, and it examines the
unique language practices in the home. Kiaer presents a few examples
that highlight bidirectional parent-child interactions. For the
author, even if parents tend to set the tone for home language use,
family members may also be involved in the negotiation process.
Indeed, “at home, family members experiment, negotiate, concede and
create a dynamic, ever-changing system of co-existence” (p. 107). The
author thus considers the different language policies that KE families
deploy by analyzing interviews between KE children and their parents.
Kiaer also accounts for what motivates parental language policy,
namely for their children “to at least know they are Korean” (p. 111).

In Chapter 7, entitled “Talking with Grandparents, Wider Family and
Carers”, Kiaer considers translanguaging behaviors at the crossroads
of interpersonal relationships. Central to shaping a child’s identity
are grandparents and other caretakers since they may be additional
sources of heritage culture and tradition. However, despite the lack
of research in the area, “grandparents, in particular, have a great
desire to be connected, and so are influential in children’s language
acquisition – both their heritage language(s) and translanguaging
develops through the cultural conflicts (…) in interactions with
grandparents” (p. 125). The chapter is largely focused on Jessie and
her English-speaking grandfather and their use of multimodal
expressions. For example, gaze and pointing were more frequent “when
understanding was not being achieved through verbal strategies alone”
(p. 141).

Chapter 8 concludes the study by considering “Sibling and Peer Talk”.
In it, Kiaer examines how KE children talk to each other in the
absence of adults. The author analyzes KE children’s social
interactions, their language mixing, and how they help and challenge
one another. Based on interactions between the author’s two daughters
and their friends, talk among children is a fertile ground for studies
of language development because “the presence of siblings in
multilingual families can significantly influence home language and
literacy events” (p. 147). For example, pretend-play opens a space for
children to experiment with language both linguistically and
pragmatically. Following Nelson (2014), Kiaer argues that “peer
culture is central to cognitive development and language advancement”
(p. 149).

In the epilogue, “Towards a Culture of Translanguaging”, Kiaer resumes
translanguaging as a creative bidirectional process that involves the
family across the lifespan. Other semiotic factors impact the
co-creation of meaning like gesture, age, context, relation, etc. From
these cues, multilingual children decide what language to use in
addressing their interlocutor. For translanguaging competence to
emerge from interaction, the role of non-verbal behavior, and
attitude, or emotion are critical. In these unique language learning
environments, children tailor their output, and translanguaging may be
fitting. To better understand multilingual societies where all
languages and cultures are valued, Kiaer thus argues for a more
nurturing view of translanguaging culture.

EVALUATION

Jieun Kiaer’s compelling monograph meets its objective: to explore how
an underrepresented population of multilingual children uses multiple
languages and various multimodal communication strategies.
Multimodality is understood both in terms of visual-gestural cues and
in the use of technology and visual aids in interaction. Kiaer’s
longitudinal work shows that parents and children not only learn from
each other, but also that in doing so they shape their unique family
language practices to create solidarity, or shared ethnicity (Holmes,
2000) across generations (Chung, 2010).

Language mixing discussed within the translanguaging paradigm is
non-transitional, hybrid, and an efficient mode of communication for
multilingual children. Translanguaging is not always experimental,
i.e., where mixed language patterns disappear. In multilingual
interaction languages may be mixed at the construction level and
conventionalized within a community (Alvarez, 2020). Moreover,
“language use (…) characterized by extensive CS often reflects just
one of the registers in the repertoire of speakers” (Aalberse et al.,
2019: 82), such as Mexican-American bilinguals in Southern California
(Bustamante-López, 2008). Translanguaging enhances the meaning-making
process as it transcends language and culture even though language
mixing has been perceived as “degenerative” (Mar-Molinero, 2010: 174)
or even attributed to “laziness” (Gardner-Chloros, 2009: 14).
Nevertheless, Kiaer fulfills the aim of explaining why it is crucial
to foster a culture where translanguaging is accepted and nurtured in
the home and in society at large.

The objective of filling a gap in the literature is also achieved.
Kiaer gives unprecedented insight into multilingual children’s
language development within their multi-layered communities of
practice. Kiaer accounts for the various parents in her study, but
also reaches beyond and analyzes siblings, grandparents, and friends,
etc. These interlocutors all form part of a child’s unique language
learning environment, but they are often unaccounted for in heritage
language research. The study is at the intersection of family,
society, emotion, gesture, culture, and transnationalism in language
learning. While mostly naturalistic video and audio recordings were
used, some observations, pictures, letters, and interviews were also
included. Kiaer, through her attentive and respectful analyses, thus
meets the goal of assessing multilingualism multimodally.

The book will undoubtedly become a valuable resource for the
traditional readership, i.e., students, researchers, and teachers.
Moreover, Kiaer’s study is not overwhelmingly scientific, and most of
the theoretical concepts are clearly explained. Thus, the book may
also be readily accessible to the public interested in
multilingualism, or to caretakers who are in the process of raising
multilingual children. The book is not overly lengthy, it is well
organized, and the brief chapter summaries were appreciated. Kiaer
throughout her work brings the reader with her on a multilingual and
multimodal journey. The reader’s immersion is intensified as we
witness the author in interaction with her children, but also as she
presents and analyzes the rich multimodal (technology and visual aids)
data.

One main drawback of the investigation is related to the very notion
of multimodality and gesture. Early in the book Kiaer advances the
observation that “it is rare to see the non-verbal features of
language acquisition closely examined alongside their verbal
counterparts” (p. 9). Therefore, the reader would expect a broader and
more in-depth examination of the oral-gestural modality, but this is
not the case. The analyses seemed to be limited mostly to pointing
with other gestures like gaze sometimes mentioned in parenthesis
within the transcript. Therefore, the study is left with a wide range
of visual-gestural resources that are unaccounted for, including
“signs, gaze, facial expressions, postures, (which) are all part of
our socially learned, communicative system” (Benazzo & Morgenstern,
2014: 173).

The discussion on Translanguaging Competence (Chapter 2.3) is tricky,
especially for a study with a pragmatic approach to multilingualism.
Building on Pinker’s (1994) notion of instinct, the term
“translanguaging instinct” is suggested for multilinguals, which is
close to the term “translanguaging competence” and, for Kiaer, it is
“an innate property of human language (in) Chomskian linguistics” (p.
26). Indeed, linguistic competence has been viewed as innate (Chomsky,
1965), but input and interaction have been considered peripheral in
the UG paradigm. Therefore, one wonders if translanguaging competence
as Kiaer’s work nicely defends is more fitting within a
cognitive-functional linguistic perspective that sees language not as
an instinct (Tomasello, 1995), but rather as emerging through use
(Tomasello, 2003), input, and social interaction.

Kiaer’s book provides a unique snapshot of children growing up with
Korean and English in a cosmopolitan setting. The length and variety
of the data exploring the family’s multimodal communication is
impressive, and truly expands the literature. Only a few studies, for
example Alvarez (2023), have explored multilingual practices
multimodally in immigrant contexts. Autoethnography as research is
also noteworthy. Bilingualism scholars (Wei, 2000; De Houwer, 2009;
Pauwels, 2016) argue that advanced knowledge of any language under
investigation is essential. Bilinguals’ linguistic behavior may only
be apprehended with insider knowledge of the community where said
behaviors are practiced, and with an understanding of the
circumstances that lead to such behavior (Garner-Chloros, 2009). Kiaer
gently underscores a social justice perspective (Ortega, 2019),
advocating for a culture that embraces translingual practices in
private and in public spaces. The present multimodal study of
multilingual children advances interdisciplinary inquiry into heritage
bilingualism research. Future research could further explore the
parental discourse strategies (Lanza, 1997; De Houwer & Nakamura,
2021) used to maintain multilingualism in ever-shifting participation
frameworks (De León, 2011) common in these types of immigrant
communities.

REFERENCES

Aalberse, S., Backus, A., & Muysken, P. (2019). Heritage Languages: A
language contact
approach. John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Alvarez, E. (2020). Partially Schematic Constructions in Multilingual
Interaction: A Vector for Intergenerational Transmission? In M. T.
Calderón-Quindós, N. Barranco-Izquierdo, & T. Eisenrich (Eds.), The
Manifold Nature of Bilingual Education (pp.105–126). Cambridge
Scholars Publishing.

Alvarez, E. (2023). Third-generation heritage Spanish acquisition and
socialization in Los Angeles, California. A cognitive-functional and
socio-interactional mixed methods case study of Spanish-English
bilingualism. [Ph.D. Dissertation: Unpublished].

Beckner, C., Blythe, R., Bybee, J., Christiansen, M. H., Croft, W.,
Ellis, N. C., Holland, J., Ke, J., Larsen-Freeman, D., & Schoenemann,
T. (2009). Language Is a Complex Adaptive System: Position Paper.
Language Learning, 59, 1–26.

Benazzo, S., & Morgenstern, A. (2014). A bilingual child’s multimodal
path into negation. Gesture, 14(2), 171–202.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Eric Alvarez holds a Ph.D. in linguistics from Sorbonne Nouvelle
University. His research interests include heritage bilingualism,
language maintenance and shift, language contact, language mixing, and
corpus linguistics. Eric's Ph.D. is a longitudinal
cognitive-functional and socio-interactional mixed methods case study
of third-generation heritage Spanish acquisition and socialization in
Los Angeles, California.



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