Race, Language, and Ability: Kenyan Immigrant Parents' Perspectives Toward Their Children's Heritage Language Maintenance

• In Event: 63.084 - MTCC Roundtable Session 25
  In Roundtable Session: 63.084-9 - Does It Have to Be Complicated? Honoring Voices and Experiences of (Disabled) Parents With Students With Disabilities

Abstract

This qualitative phenomenological study reveals tensions Kenyan immigrant parents encounter surrounding heritage language maintenance for their children in the US. Data are primarily drawn from document analysis, individual interviews, focus groups, and critical reflections of twenty Kenyan immigrant parents in the US. Using Critical Race Theory, Racial-linguistics and Intersectionality, and DisCrit frameworks to provide a robust analysis of Kenyan immigrant parents’ perspectives, preliminary findings indicate the power of systemic forces, historical and structural processes, and institutionalized hierarchies as portrayed in language policies, as marginalizing Kenyan heritage languages. This study, therefore, calls for necessity in examining immigrant parents and children’s heritage language learning experiences.

Author

• Sylvia Nabwire Nyegenye, The University of Kansas