Savoring the Unsung Joy of Motherhood: A Family Language Policy and Practice Paradigm

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Curricular Possibilities: Reflections and Narratives of (Cultural) Education (Table 26)

Abstract

This evocative autoethnography is a narrative of how we (my child and I) practice Family Language Policy (FLP) as a black (im)migrant solo-parenting family in the home and how this is (un)supported by the school. Through observations, memos, and self-reflection, I realized that the child is growing to use language contextually and “appropriately,” but it is challenging to carry on her languaging practices in the school, especially because our home language, Yorùbá, is one of Less Commonly Taught Languages in the US. The significance of this study is the need for home-school educational collaborations, reconsideration of what constitutes a family aside from the “typical” two-parenting family, and promotion of a holistic and inclusive curriculum.

Keywords: FLP, Yorùbá, Solo-parenting household, emergent (bi)multilingual.

Author

• Yetunde S. Alabede, Michigan State University