Heritage language retention in bilingual children is commonly explained through exposure, schooling, and community support. However, emerging research suggests that language choice may also be shaped by emotional attachment and relational experience (Vidrine-Isbell, 2020; Ghimenton, Cohen, & Minniear, 2023). This line remains underdeveloped, particularly regarding single-parent migrant families, which have received limited attention in research by Vorobeva (2022).

Grounded in attachment theory by Bowlby and Ainsworth, this exploratory qualitative case study examines how attachment dynamics may influence heritage language preference in a single-parent migrant context. It was motivated by the observation of a bilingual child who consistently preferred the heritage language despite full immersion and strong competence in the dominant societal language. The study combines a review of literature on bilingual development, attachment, and heritage language maintenance with an in-depth qualitative case analysis.

The case centers on a Russian-Turkish bilingual child living in Turkey and raised in a single-mother household. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and attachment-based and projective methods, including the Child Attachment Interview (CAI), the Attachment Story Completion Task (ASCT), and selected projective techniques. The material was analyzed through qualitative thematic analysis within an attachment-theory framework.

Findings suggest that the child’s preference for Russian is linked less to exposure alone than to emotionally salient attachment relationships, particularly those associated with maternal and grandmaternal caregiving. Although not generalizable, this single-case study offers conceptual insight into how emotional security may shape heritage language retention and points to the need for more psychologically informed research across diverse single-parent migrant families.

Authors:
Venera Kildyusheva, Campus CA, Türkiye
Anna Volkova, Moscow City University, Russia

About the Presenter(s)
Venera Kildyusheva is Chief Academic Advisor at Campus Consulting Agency and an MA student in Psychology researching emotional attachment and heritage language retention in bilingual children from migrant families.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/venera-kildyusheva-8524061a0/

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