Unacknowledged Negotiations: Bilingual Students Report on How They Negotiate Their Languages Within the Monolingual Primary School System in Cyprus

Abstract

As part of a larger study on language and identity, the chapter reports on language use among a select group of Greek/English speaking bilingual children in state elementary schools in the Republic of Cyprus. Using a participatory case study approach, multiple in-depth interviews and artifacts were collected from the children and family members. The chapter describes what these simultaneous bilingual children report about how they negotiate their languages within a school system that does not actively acknowledge their bilingualism. The findings point to what can be termed a “secret space” of linguistic negotiations beyond the purview of the classroom teacher. It is within this space that the children detail their experiences of language use, negotiation, manipulation, and translanguaging (Garcia 2009). With increased globalization and immigration throughout Europe, the findings are important for what they reveal about bilingual children’s language use and needs within monolingual school systems.