Linguistic M(other)work as Pedagogy, Resistance, and Disruption: Language and Immigrant Futurity in Education Research

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Educational research has long advocated for asset-based pedagogical approaches. Yet, asset-based pedagogies have traditionally focused on children’s, and more recently, college students’ learning. Nevertheless, thousands of immigrant adults engage in formal and informal learning spaces in the U.S., though their skills and linguistic knowledge as immigrants of color or from marginalized areas remain underappreciated – especially when intersecting with gender. This session explores several learning spaces created specifically for and by immigrant mothers, shaped by their needs and expressed desires. We examine how their leadership and skills emerge discursively in ways that challenge hegemonic narratives of immigrant adults as lacking knowledge and expertise. We push back against such narratives, highlighting the agency, leadership, and resistance of these Latina, immigrant mothers.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Language and Social Processes

Chairs

• Flora Zempleni, University of California - Los Angeles

• Jackson Gzehoviak, University of California - Los Angeles

Papers

• Liderazgo & Languaging: Maya Mam Women’s Practices of Survivance in Diaspora - Cristina Selena Mendez, University of California - Berkeley

• Recuerdos Caminantes: Mother-Daughter Mappings of Pasts and Futures Through Language - Sarah Perez, University of California - Los Angeles

• In Search of Standard English: Accent and Prescriptivism as Linguistic Tools for Immigrant Mothers and Family Futurity - Jackson Gzehoviak, University of California - Los Angeles; Flora Zempleni, University of California - Los Angeles

• Rooted in Amistades! M(other)work for Language, Learning, and Thriving in the U.S. - Sophia Piral Lee, University of Missouri

Session Organizer

• Flora Zempleni, University of California - Los Angeles

Discussant

• Cati V. de los Rios, University of California - Berkeley