A chronotopic-scalar approach to family language policy research: the case of Azerbaijanis in Iran

Envisaging the family as a space at the crossroads of internal and external factors and grounded in a chronotopic-scalar theoretical framework, this paper sheds light on the complexities, dynamics, and nuances of Family Language Policy. We adopted a qualitative approach and used in-depth interviews and field notes to collect data from 17 Azerbaijani families in Iran’s monoglot public governance. Content analysis helped us identify four major chronotopic configurations: juxtaposing, (dis)aligning, collapsing, and flattening different times-spaces, further affecting families’ language/semiotic practices. Participants framed their linguistic practices by invoking local/regional, national, transnational, and global chronotopes. The scaling process and orders of indexicality intrinsic to any social spaces helped us view family space as one which projects the dynamic, dialogical, and fluid nature of family in an unequally embedded hierarchical world. We use our findings to maintain how participants’ ideal and imagined personhood contributes to our understanding of linguistic practices drawing on Bakhtin’s chronotopic notion. This theoretical paper contributes to the epistemological use of chronotopes and scales by arguing for a move beyond frequently used models in the field of language planning and policy and FLP, repositioning family as a scalar chronotope.