Beyond Problem, Right, and Resource: Transnational Family Language Policy and Language Racialization Across Borders.

• In Event: Parenting as Praxis: Families, Schooling, and the Quest for Racial, Linguistic, and Disability Justice

Abstract

This study explores the language orientations (language as a problem, language as a right, and language as a resource) that are negotiated by transnational families circulating the US-Mexico school systems in the development of their family language policies (King et al., 2008). Building on Ruiz's (1984) orientations and drawing from a raciolinguistic perspective (Rosa & Flores, 2017), this study suggests another orientation: language as a racialized practice. Findings reveal that families actively resist racialized ideologies across borders and reframe language policy to protect linguistic goals and foster belonging. This research positions families as critical language planners and highlights the need for educators to engage more deeply with the sociopolitical realities shaping multilingual family life across national contexts.

Author

• Vania Ledesma, University of Texas at Austin