Peer Interactive Practices and the Co-construction of Plurilingualism: A Case Study in a Family Context

Abstract

This study explores the mechanisms of acquisition and development of plurilingual
competences within spontaneous interactions between children in a family setting. Based on
the analysis of a corpus recorded during play, beach outings, and family gatherings, we
examine how children and adolescents (aged 7-15), with linguistic repertoires including
French, spoken Arabic (dialect), and English, mobilize and negotiate their linguistic resources.
The analysis, grounded in the theoretical framework of plurilingual and pluricultural
competence (Coste, Moore & Zarate, 1997/2009) and an interactionist approach (Vygotsky,
1934; Lüdi & Py, 2003), reveals that these informal exchanges constitute genuine micro
learning situations. The observed phenomena—strategic code-switching, lexical borrowings,
syntactic calques, and peer scaffolding—demonstrate an integrated and dynamic linguistic
repertoire. The findings highlight the central role of horizontal learning and affective bonds in
language socialization, calling for pedagogical recognition of these vernacular practices.