“We should speak 100 percent Nepali:” Translanguaging Perspectives and Practices of a Bhutanese Refugee Family

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 7:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Community-based bilingual experiences rooted in el suelo y sustento de la familia.

Abstract

Multilingual families with a refugee background inherit a plethora of languages, cultures, literacies, and funds of knowledge. With their movement from place to place in search of security and settlement, they do not leave everything behind (e.g., languages, cultures, stories, literacies, etc.). In this context, this ethnographic case study explores translanguaging practices and perspectives of a recently resettled Bhutanese refugee family in the Midwest. Informed by translanguaging theory and family language policy, the analysis of qualitative data collected through participant observations, artifacts, and semi-structured interviews revealed that Nepali-speaking Bhutanese refugee family members held contrasting ideologies towards their languaging practices. Despite their desire to speak pure Nepali, they mixed languages naturally, showcasing translanguaging reality in their everyday languaging practices.

Authors

• Tirtha Karki, Purdue University

• Wayne E. Wright, Purdue University