The Transmission of French Language in French-Thai families: language practices and the naming of children
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Abstract
This article presents certain results of a sociolinguistic research carried out in Thailand in 2022-2023 on the vitality of French language in French-Thai households. The aim here is to determine if and how the French language is transmitted by the French parent to the Franco-Thai (or Thai) children raised at home. The survey was conducted with written questionnaires submitted to French citizens residing in different regions of Thailand. The answers show that the French parents mostly use English (exclusively or in combination with Thai or French) with their Thai spouse, but that they mostly use French (exclusively or in combination) with their children. On the other hand, the attribution of first names of either French, Thai or other origin (and therefore neutral), as well as the respect or not of the Thai habit of attributing nicknames come to counterbalance the possible dominating use of one language over the other at home. This strategy certainly aims at helping children to appropriate their dual cultural identity, but also to ensure a balanced representation of both Thai and French cultures within the family. Therefore, we observe a transmission of French language to the children from their French parent as well as the expression of the French cultural value of equality.
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