This project builds on the foundational study “The diaspora rumantscha in German-speaking Switzerland”, which proposed further research in two areas: 1) the ways in which new speakers and parents with passive skills in Romansh influence family language policies and 2) how children and parent-child dynamics impact the languages spoken in a family and how family language policies are approached (child agency). To adequately document the complex sociolinguistic situation of Rhaeto-Romanic-speaking families outside the Romansch-speaking homeland, it is essential to observe families over a longer period of time and to identify their language practices by means of various methodological instruments. This project draws on a set of qualitative and participatory methods to enable a documentation of experiences and motivations from the perspective of the individual family members. In the study, six families in German-speaking Switzerland will be observed, and their language practices studied, over the course of one year. A range of qualitative methods are selected to promote deeper insights into the linguistic situation of the families observed, including a better understanding not only of their needs and strategies for dealing with multilingualism, but also of their interest in passing on the Romansh language.
The project represents a significant contribution to basic sociolinguistic research into Romansh speakers outside the traditional language region, which is indispensable for the development of language preservation measures. The findings in both research areas (child agency and new speakers) will form a vital foundation for aiding policy-makers and language organisations in the formulation of effective language-promotion instruments. Moreover, the research project has implications beyond the Rhaeto-Romanic setting, and is of international significance, as the exemplary nature of the study not only enables basic research into the Romansh context, but also into family language dynamics in other minority languages. The methodologies developed in the project as well as the methodological and content-related discussions of family language policy with other institutions that conduct similar investigations are of central importance for both research and methodology development in the area of minority languages, but also for research into family language dynamics in general. Furthermore, the prospective international networks resulting from the project will bring benefits to research in Switzerland.