Diversity of Language Practices in Four Families of Asian American Immigrants

• In Event: Bringing Asian American Children and Families to Light: Expanding the Racial Discourse in Early Childhood

Abstract

Purposes
Literature has documented immigrant families’ efforts to support their children’s bilingual/multilingual development (Li, 2006; Song, 2016). Meanwhile, as bilingual/immigrant families are not a homogenous group (Ortiz et al., 2021), their bilingual/multilingual practices at home can differ a great deal from one another, which requires further research on the sociocultural contexts at the macro and micro levels (Reyes, 2012; Song, 2016). Therefore, this study aims to document the diversity of language practices in four families of Asian American immigrants.
Theoretical Background
The LatCrit perspectives that delineated many aspects in lived experiences of LatinX immigrants assisted us to examine similar in-betweenness experienced by Asian American immigrants in the United States. Nepantla (land in between), theorized by Anzaldúa (1987, 2002), explains how immigrants’ worldview, action, and language are transformed in the in-between spaces. We pay a particular attention to translanguaging (García & Kleifgen, 2019; Wei, 2018). In addition, AsianCrit framework (Iftikar & Museus, 2018) supports our work that investigates within-group differences among Asian American immigrant families.
Methods & Data
This collective case study (Merriam, 1998; Mills et al., 2010) documented family language practices of four families of Asian American immigrants. Four authors/presenters, who are Korean American immigrants, regularly met to speak about their family cases, which makes this case study co-autoethnographic (Coia & Taylor, 2009). Each monthly session used the suda [수다] research methodology (Authors, 2021a; 2021b). Derived from Korean culture, the suda [수다] method can appear similar to focus group interviews, but it is much more open-ended and non-hierarchical among participants. All suda [수다] sessions were recorded and transcribed, which became the main data sources. We focused on each familial contexts, that differed in terms of their multilingual practices primarily because of variance in history of the parents’ English uses as our cases. The data were systematically analyzed across cases through open coding, axial coding, and selective coding (Strauss & Corbin, 1990) to yield meaningful and credible themes.
Findings
We found a diversity of language practices among the four families of Korean American immigrant mother-educators. In explaining this diversity, several aspects such as parents’ language use/susceptibility, immigration history, children’s personalities, birth order, and parental pressure were identified. These families used/studied/learned more than two “named” languages (English and Korean), not necessarily emphasizing the achievement of unilinguistic perfection in English or other languages. They used these languages flexibly and strategically for communicative needs. Meanwhile, their children sometimes resisted using Korean (often outside of their families), which relates to their implicit understanding of language power hierarchies in the U.S. In addition, all families experienced language-related microaggression.
Significance
In terms of research, this study expands the existing literature about bilingual/multilingual practices in immigrant families, as it documented the within-group differences in families of four Asian American mothers with similar backgrounds (e.g., SES, profession, age, marital status). In terms of early childhood practice and policy, this study highlights that one-size-fits-all approaches or any stereotyping attempts should be avoided in supporting children’s bilingual/multilingual development.

Authors

• Sohyun Meacham, University of Northern Iowa

• Su-Jeong Wee, California State University - Los Angeles

• Sophia Han, University of South Florida

• Jinhee Kim, Kennesaw State University