Bilanguaging Love as Resistance Praxis in Brazilian Transnational Families in the United States

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 9:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Navigating Identity, Culture and Heritage Languages in Diverse Contexts

Abstract

This study explores the practices of bilanguaging love among five Brazilian immigrant families in the U.S., enrolled in a two-way dual language program. Drawing from Mignolo's (2012) decolonial approach, the research aims to understand how these families resist linguistic, migratory, and structural inequalities and how the families enact Bilianguaging Love across familial, educational, societal, and transnational contexts. Based on a large ethnographic study and several home visits to the families, the findings demonstrate how mothers and daughters enact bilanguaging love through their linguistic choices, the maintenance of transnational connections, and the valuing of the Portuguese language. The research is significant for highlighting immigrant families’ knowledge and the diverse ways they use language as a form of resistance.

Authors

• Rosangela Araujo Silva, University of Georgia

• Mariana Lima Becker, University of Georgia