From Language to Civic Engagement: Building Transnational Social Spaces in Heritage Language Schools

• In Event: Using Family-School-Community Partnerships to Enhance Early Literacy and Biliteracy

Abstract

This case study focuses on the expanded role of a Chinese heritage language school in a Deep South state, North Carolina. The paper argues that, by moving beyond the traditional roles of teaching a heritage language and building an ethnic community, this school also serves as a transnational social space that facilitates collaboration between ethnic communities and public school systems, increases civic participation and engagement among first-generation immigrant parents, and promotes mutual understanding among diverse ethnic and racial communities. The study aims to help educators and policy makers to understand the new possibilities of heritage language schools’ roles not only in educating children, but also in transforming immigrant parents’ civic socialization and the landscape of the larger community.

Authors

• Wenyang Sun, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

• Xue Lan Rong, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill