A Hmong-English Dual Language Program: Parental Perspectives on Cultivating Cultural Pride and Belonging

• In Event: The Possibilities of Communal Learning Spaces: Fostering a Sense of Belonging for Asian American Young Children

Abstract

1. Objective:
In the past decade, with the growing trend for multilingualism, there has been an explosion of dual language programs (DLPs) that offer students the opportunity to learn two languages in typically monolingual settings (Dorner & Cervantes-Soon, 2020). Given their positioning as alternative programs that can help maintain and promote heritage languages like Hmong and ethnic identities, much research on DLPs has investigated parental beliefs, perceptions, and reasoning for choosing DLPs (Lee & Jeong, 2013; Montanari et al., 2022). However, they have not delved into parental perspectives about the role DLPs have in normalizing the heritage language culture between the home and school domain. This study investigates how one DLP is successfully foregrounding and validating the Hmong culture to foster strong cultural and ethnic identity in their students from the parents’ perspective.

2. Theoretical Framework:
The study adopts family language policy (FLP) (King et al., 2008) as the guiding conceptual framework, with an emphasis on beliefs and ideologies about language. In the body of research on FLP, scholars have paid close attention to language ideologies “representations that construe the intersection of language and human beings in the social world” (King et al., 2008, p.911). This study focuses on the parent’s beliefs about the importance of the heritage language for cultural and ethnic identity, and how such beliefs shape their language planning choice to enroll their children into a DLP.

3. Methods:
The study utilizes a comparative case study design (Yin, 2014) of two Hmong American families. The study draws on multiple interviews with family members, language portraits, and online information about the dual language program’s overall goals. The data was coded and thematically analyzed in MAXQDA, a qualitative coding software.

5. Findings:
The study found that both parents enrolled their children into the DLP for “integrative reasons” to foster positive cross-cultural attitudes (Gardner & Lambert, 1972). Family A appreciated the focus on Hmong history and the celebration of cultural events in an educational space that could contribute to their children’s Hmong pride. Family B saw the DLP as a space that successfully foregrounded the Hmong culture as something normal and valued in their community, thus heightening their children’s sense of belonging. Family B also viewed the program and home as a bidirectional bridge where they could take on the role of teaching and expanding their children’s cultural knowledge of concepts they initially encountered at school. Altogether, both families valued the DLP’s attempts to enhance the children’s ethnic and cultural pride through various Hmong cultural events.

6. Scholarly significance:
In alignment with AERA’s 2024 theme, this study offers perspectives of a different educational possibility where DLPs can act as a bridge to normalize less commonly taught languages and cultures from home to the wider school community, where they simply do not become tools to transition linguistically minoritized students and communities into American culture. The study also highlights the important partnership between families and schools in helping foster cultural pride and knowledge.

Author

• Lee Her, Lehigh University