A Language Watchman to Maintain Heritage Languages: Stories of Three Transnational Families

• In Event: Connecting Families and Bilingual Education: Communication and Dual-Language Education

Abstract

U.S. public school practices have often prioritized student’s acquisition of English while hindering language minority students’ efforts to retain or value their heritage languages. Therefore, most transnational families fulfill their lonely watchmen job to maintain their heritage language at home without public supports. In this paper, I ethnographically examine three transnational families’ family language policies (FLP) that are coming from three different countries: Poland, Ecuador, and Korea. I worked to understand what family language policies each case held and in what similar and different ways these three transnational families enacted FLP within- and across- these three cases. Findings reveal how different transnational families implement their FLP and how their transnational experiences can help maintain their heritage language experiences.

Authors

• Hyesun Kim, University of Utah

• Veronica E. Valdez, University of Utah