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TRANSNATIONAL PARENT KNOWLEDGE IN HERITAGE LANGUAGE EDUCATION: A NARRATIVE INQUIRY WITH THREE CHINESE IMMIGRANT MOTHERS

Date

2024-05-03

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

ORCID

0000-0001-9747-0604

Type

Thesis

Degree Level

Doctoral

Abstract

In this dissertation, I explore the perspectives of transnational parents in bilingual education, particularly how they maintain connections to their home countries while adapting to the new country. Through my research, I investigate their strategies and practices for supporting heritage language development amidst transnational life complexities. The focus of my research is on how these parents navigate language decisions, bridge cultural divides, and weave multiple languages into their family dynamics, all while embracing their transnational identities. Using narrative inquiry, I emphasize the interplay of personal, social, and material environments in shaping human experiences. This research approach goes beyond merely representing experiences; it involves engaging with them to forge new connections between individuals and their surroundings. I collaborated with three Chinese immigrant mothers in Saskatoon, Canada. Our interactions, including recorded conversations, shared observations, and family artifact analysis, revealed their ways of supporting their children's language learning. The collected field text of diverse moments and conversations across both English and Chinese languages, reflects the authentic language practices of these families. In this dissertation, I present a compassionate inquiry into these mothers' journeys in heritage language education for their bi/multilingual children. Central to this exploration is "transnational parent knowledge," encompassing the mothers' deep insights and experiences. Through this research, I intertwine my personal narrative as an immigrant parent with the challenges of preserving Chinese heritage language in an English-dominated context, providing an empathetic lens to understand similar experiences of other immigrant mothers. Using this collective portrait, I illuminate the daily language practices of these families, showcasing how the mothers, living in transnational and translingual realities, nurture their children's bilingualism. I showcase their stories to highlight the dynamic facets of language teaching and learning within transnational families. The narratives, developed collaboratively, spotlight the mothers' strategies in maintaining heritage language, their resilience against raciolinguistic challenges, and their efforts against linguistic discrimination, emphasizing their pivotal role in fostering their children's bilingual identities and cultural connections. I extend the narrative to emphasize the significance of transnational parent knowledge in heritage language education. Challenging deficit narratives, I use this dissertation to advocate for an inclusive, strength-based approach to education that recognizes and celebrates the linguistic and cultural diversity of immigrant families. By foregrounding transnational parents' voices and experiences, I call for a reimagined heritage language education that fully integrates immigrant families' insights, enriching the educational experiences of bi/multilingual children.

Description

Keywords

transnational parent knowledge, heritage language education, multilingual children, narrative inquiry

Citation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Department

Curriculum Studies

Program

Curriculum Studies

Part Of

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DOI

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