Shades of gender and dialectology in family language policy

Abstract This study touches upon a widely ignored topic in family language policy (FLP) research, gendered language ideologies. It also contributes to expanding the narrow literature of FLP in both formally, though mistakenly, viewed monolingual settings, and in the even rarer literature of dialectology in FLP. The aim of this study is to explore the family language policy of one Arabic speaking family in Jordan, with a special focus on the interplay between language (language varieties to be precise) and gender among family members. Ethnographic data collected from observations and recorded naturally-occurring interactions are described and analysed through the lens of Interactional Sociolinguistics. This study argues that family language policy can capture how gender roles and stereotypes are internalised through interaction in the home. The analyses reveal that the existence of contradicting language ideologies within the family is ascribed indexically to gender rather than language. This study suggests that, in the case of gendered languages like Arabic, gender stereotypes have their genesis at the linguistic level and in the home.