Recent scholarship has highlighted the importance of supporting home languages for linguistic-minority families in multilingual settings, as the family language is the means through which they can more successfully socialize their children into the beliefs, values, ideologies and practices surrounding their languages and cultures. Although there has been some research examining issues of Spanish acquisition, maintenance and loss in Canada, the language socialization ideologies and practices of Hispanic families have not yet been examined in this context. This ethnographic study investigated language socialization in immigrant families from ten Spanish-speaking countries residing in Greater Vancouver. Thirty-four families participated, three of which were selected for intensive case study in their homes and in three grassroots community groups. More specifically, the study examined the families’ desires and goals with respect to Spanish maintenance, the meanings they assigned to Spanish, and the processes through which they attempted to valorize Spanish with their children. The study found that many families formed support groups in order to transmit language and culture to their children. A cross-case analysis revealed that the families further exerted their agency by strategically turning these spaces into “safe houses” to resist assimilation and into venues for the Spanish socialization of their children, which enabled them to also transmit cultural values, such as familism. The families conceptualized Spanish maintenance as an emotional connection to the parents’ selves and as a bridge between the parents’ past and the children’s future. It was also constructed as a key that opened doors, as a bridge for learning other languages, and as a passport to a cosmopolitan worldview. Detailed discourse analyses revealed how the families utilized explicit and implicit directives, recasts, and lectures to socialize children into Spanish language ideologies. These analyses also showed how children at times resisted the parents’ socialization practices, but other times displayed their nascent understanding of their parents’ language ideologies in their own use of cross-code self-repair. The study offers unique insights into the complexity of L1 maintenance and the dynamics of language socialization in the lives of linguistic minorities and concludes with implications for policy, pedagogy and research.

Recent scholarship has highlighted the importance of supporting home languages for linguistic-minority families in multilingual settings, as the family language is the means through which they can more successfully socialize their children into the beliefs, values, ideologies and practices surrounding their languages and cultures. Although there has been some research examining issues of Spanish acquisition, maintenance and loss in Canada, the language socialization ideologies and practices of Hispanic families have not yet been examined in this context. This ethnographic study investigated language socialization in immigrant families from ten Spanish-speaking countries residing in Greater Vancouver. Thirty-four families participated, three of which were selected for intensive case study in their homes and in three grassroots community groups. More specifically, the study examined the families’ desires and goals with respect to Spanish maintenance, the meanings they assigned to Spanish, and the processes through which they attempted to valorize Spanish with their children. The study found that many families formed support groups in order to transmit language and culture to their children. A cross-case analysis revealed that the families further exerted their agency by strategically turning these spaces into “safe houses” to resist assimilation and into venues for the Spanish socialization of their children, which enabled them to also transmit cultural values, such as familism. The families conceptualized Spanish maintenance as an emotional connection to the parents’ selves and as a bridge between the parents’ past and the children’s future. It was also constructed as a key that opened doors, as a bridge for learning other languages, and as a passport to a cosmopolitan worldview. Detailed discourse analyses revealed how the families utilized explicit and implicit directives, recasts, and lectures to socialize children into Spanish language ideologies. These analyses also showed how children at times resisted the parents’ socialization practices, but other times displayed their nascent understanding of their parents’ language ideologies in their own use of cross-code self-repair. The study offers unique insights into the complexity of L1 maintenance and the dynamics of language socialization in the lives of linguistic minorities and concludes with implications for policy, pedagogy and research.

Recent scholarship has highlighted the importance of supporting home languages for linguistic-minority families in multilingual settings, as the family language is the means through which they can more successfully socialize their children into the beliefs, values, ideologies and practices surrounding their languages and cultures. Although there has been some research examining issues of Spanish acquisition, maintenance and loss in Canada, the language socialization ideologies and practices of Hispanic families have not yet been examined in this context. This ethnographic study investigated language socialization in immigrant families from ten Spanish-speaking countries residing in Greater Vancouver. Thirty-four families participated, three of which were selected for intensive case study in their homes and in three grassroots community groups. More specifically, the study examined the families’ desires and goals with respect to Spanish maintenance, the meanings they assigned to Spanish, and the processes through which they attempted to valorize Spanish with their children. The study found that many families formed support groups in order to transmit language and culture to their children. A cross-case analysis revealed that the families further exerted their agency by strategically turning these spaces into “safe houses” to resist assimilation and into venues for the Spanish socialization of their children, which enabled them to also transmit cultural values, such as familism. The families conceptualized Spanish maintenance as an emotional connection to the parents’ selves and as a bridge between the parents’ past and the children’s future. It was also constructed as a key that opened doors, as a bridge for learning other languages, and as a passport to a cosmopolitan worldview. Detailed discourse analyses revealed how the families utilized explicit and implicit directives, recasts, and lectures to socialize children into Spanish language ideologies. These analyses also showed how children at times resisted the parents’ socialization practices, but other times displayed their nascent understanding of their parents’ language ideologies in their own use of cross-code self-repair. The study offers unique insights into the complexity of L1 maintenance and the dynamics of language socialization in the lives of linguistic minorities and concludes with implications for policy, pedagogy and research. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate

Rather limited research and few significant field studies have been done on recent immigrant students particularly from the Muslim societies of the Horn of Africa and the Middle East in the American high school context regarding their linguistic, cultural and religious needs. Most research studies suggest that immigrant students receive insufficient provision. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role high schools play in provision addressing the following questions: (1) What kinds of provision have been implemented to support a culturally sensitive education in public high schools in the U.S., and how effective have they been? (2) If any, what was the effect of the reform paper No Child Left Behind? (3) How could the role of teachers as culturally responsive educators be further enhanced regarding first/heritage language and cultural heritage maintenance? (4) Which steps would have to be taken in order to move towards a culturally responsive system? Peterson’s iceberg theory regarding cultures was the guiding theoretical approach which emphasizes the fact that in order to get to know each other’s cultures, one has to closely examine the underlying issues that belong to them as the information available on the surface is simply not sufficient. Qualitative case studies were conducted based on survey questionnaires and interviews among students, parents, ESOL/ELL teachers and mainstream teachers from 6 different high schools. This study has demonstrated that high schools can, in fact, be inviting, well-equipped with adequate ESOL/ELL programs. Findings from field work carried out in Loudoun and Fairfax County public schools in Virginia in 2011, indicate that there is a need to address misconceptions among ESOL/ELL students, their teachers and their parents as to what constitutes as multicultural education environment, and first language maintenance. It is explained how the role of culture-based after school extracurricular clubs like the Muslim Students Association can serve as a bridge between the culture of one’s origin and the host society. While teachers could serve as facilitators, students can become researchers and see relevance of their culture. The result from this investigation through existing literature, stories of individuals and institutions will add to current knowledge on ESOL/ELL provision and offer a deeper understanding of needs from both parties.