Promoting Heritage Language Learning: Hybrid Literacy Practices of Korean Families Raising Young Children in America

• In Event: 14.044 - Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: 14.044-5 - Plurilingualism and Multimodal Literacies Among U.S. Korean Children and Their Parents

Abstract

This qualitative multi-case study examined how four Korean-speaking international families organized and arranged literacy practices to promote their children’s awareness of heritage language and literacy. Data for this study came from participant observation with video recording and field notes and interviews with parents. From an activity setting analysis, the findings of this study showed that the families employed various strategies to support their children’s learning of heritage language and culturally valued ways of interacting. The families used institutions and programs both in the U.S. and in Korea. Parents also incorporated traditional school activities and discourse patterns to teach Korean. Mixing two languages instead of emphasizing Korean only along with appropriate support extended opportunities for children to speak in Korean.

Author

• Kwangok Song, The University of Kansas