LANGUAGE CODES IN MULTILINGUAL FAMILY TO REPRESENT THE CHILDREN'S IDENTITY
Keywords:
Code-mixing, Code-switching, Multilingualism, bilingualism, multilingual family, language codes, children's identityAbstract
ABSTRACT. This study examines the use of language codes in a Javanese-Mbojo multilingual family to
understand how such codes represent children's identity. In multilingual families, code-mixing, code-switching,
and the language strategies applied by parents play a significant role in shaping children's cultural, social, and
linguistic identity. This study aims to examine the language codes used by each family member, to identify the
strategies implemented by parents, and to explain how language use in the family contributes to children's identity
within the home domain. This study employed a qualitative ethnographic approach through non-participatory
observation and semi-structured interviews with the parents and two multilingual children in Malang, East Java,
analyzed using the interactive data analysis model of Miles, Huberman, and Saldana (2014). The findings show
that the family flexibly used Indonesian, English, Javanese, and Mbojo across twelve instances of code-mixing
and code-switching, eight strategies of Family Language Policy and One Parent One Language, and six
representations of identity involving belonging, cultural affiliation, and power relations. Language codes were
found to function not merely as communication tools but as symbols of cultural heritage, family solidarity, and
children's social identity within a multilingual context.
Keywords: language codes; multilingual family; children's identity; code-mixing; code-switching
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