“all colors and hues”: an autoethnography of a multiethnic family's strategies for...

KIMBERLEY D. KENNEDY The University of Texas at San Antonio

HARRIETT D. ROMO The University of Texas at San Antonio∗

‘‘All Colors and Hues’’: An Autoethnography

of a Multiethnic Family’s Strategies for

Bilingualism and Multiculturalism

This two-year autoethnographic action researchstudy explores the processes a multieth-nic/multiracial family uses to maintain theirchildren’s heritage language of Spanish and thefamily’s multiculturalism. Data sources (includ-ing interviews and participant observations inthe home and the dual-language school) specif-ically focus on the eldest child, Nelia, from herkindergarten and first-grade years where sheattended a public dual-language program. Thefindings illuminate the integral link between thefamily’s ideology toward valuing bilingualismand the necessity of school support.

Today’s United States is increasingly heteroge-neous. As more children are born into familieswith differing languages, heritages, and back-grounds, many of our long-standing socially con-structed identity markers like native language,race, and ethnicity are increasingly blurred andchallenged (Luke & Luke, 1999). Lee and Bean

The University of Texas at San Antonio, Departmentof Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching, College ofEducation and Human Development, One UTSA Circle,San Antonio, TX 78249 ([email protected]).∗The University of Texas at San Antonio, Department ofSociology, College of Liberal and Fine Arts, One UTSACircle, San Antonio, TX 78249.

Key Words: bilingualism, dual-language education, multi-cultural families, multiethnic children.

(2010) have used the term ‘‘ethnoracial’’ to iden-tify White multiracial and non-White multiracialgroups. Although there has been an increasein ethnoracial diversity, intermarriages, and thenumber of multiethnic children, too many U.S.schools continue to cling to outdated policiesand practices serving an ever-shrinking ‘‘main-stream.’’ One way for our nation’s schools tothoughtfully consider how issues related to her-itage language play out in educational policiesand practices (e.g., bilingual education, Englishas a second language, and heritage languageprograms) is to understand how multiethnic andmultiracial bilingual families counter the domi-nance of English with strategies to successfullyvalue and promote bilingualism in their homes.

As a sociologist and an educator, I (firstauthor, Kim) share a common curiosity inthe area of language acquisition with myco-researcher, Harriett. I am not only abilingual educator but also an insider as themother of the multiracial, bilingual childrenpresented in this ethnographic study. Harriettis an outsider with an expertise in earlybilingual language acquisition and Hispanicfamilies. Together we worked closely on a2-year ethnographic study to examine thedeveloping Spanish-English bilingualism of mytwo daughters whose parents occupy differentsocially constructed identity markers in terms ofethnicity, race, immigrant status, socioeconomicbackgrounds, and native language. Although

Family Relations 62 (February 2013): 109 – 124 109DOI:10.1111/j.1741-3729.2012.00742.x

110 Family Relations

this bilingual (English and Spanish) familyis middle-class now, the father, an Afro-Colombian immigrant, grew up in a working-class, poor family in a small town in Colombiaand was the first in his family to graduatefrom college. The mother is a U.S.-born,White, native English speaker from a middle-class background. Although the middle-classposition this family now occupies offers manyadvantages in maintaining bilingualism, whichwe address in this article, the struggles theyencountered to promote their home language,the biracial identity of their children, andtheir multiculturalism are faced by manyworking-class and low-income families aswell.

This family’s blendedness is a testament to theincreasingly diverse cultural dimensions of U.S.families and how issues of heritage languagemaintenance play out in complex and individ-ual ways across different socioeconomic groups.Despite social capital acquired by virtue of edu-cational and class status that enabled the parentsfeatured here to successfully negotiate schoolpolicies for placement in bilingual programs,the challenges faced by this family highlightthe societal and educational barriers to valuingbilingualism and biculturalism and maintaininga heritage language. The experiences of thisfamily also illustrate processes that help supportbilingualism and biculturalism both in the homeand school settings, processes that are applicableto families of all socioeconomic levels.

HERITAGE LANGUAGE MAINTENANCE

Subtractive Bilingualism: FramingBilingualism as a Problem

Numerous educational policies and practicesin Anglo-centric countries, like the UnitedStates, tend to frame bilingualism as aneducational barrier for children who speaklanguages other than English (Martinez-Roldan& Malave, 2004). Proponents of English-onlypolicies and practices often tout a shift toEnglish monolingualism as the most desirableoutcome for children, as evidenced in thedismantling of bilingual education programs inCalifornia, Arizona, and Massachusetts since1998 (Ovando, Combs, & Collier, 2006; Wright,2005). This shift to English comes at the expense,or loss, of one’s native language, a processknown as ‘‘subtractive bilingualism’’ (Lambert,1975).

Research demonstrates that children inbilingual households who attend school in theUnited States learn social English within 1 to 3years (Ovando et al., 2006), often quickly losingtheir heritage languages (Peele, 2000; Rumbaut,Massey, & Bean, 2006; Rumbaut & Portes,2001). Indeed, heritage language maintenance isclearly the exception rather than the norm in theU.S. context (Klee, 2011). With language shift,the language loss that may follow represents aloss of ‘‘more crucial core values’’ and a partof one’s identity that is associated with culturaland ethnic groups (Lanza & Svendsen, 2007).For example, Hurtado and Vega (2004) foundthat language shift from Spanish to Englishamong Latino descendants is most pronouncedacross generations, with many third-generationyouth understanding some Spanish but unable tospeak it. Valdes (2011) demonstrated that third-generation Latino youth have less exposure toSpanish heritage at home and in the communitythan earlier generations. Moreover, high schooloptions for heritage language speakers tostudy Spanish are limited, raising issuesof heritage language literacy and advancedvocabulary. Even among Latino Americansecond-generation students—the group mostprone to preserve their parents’ linguisticheritage—less than half are fluent bilinguals(Portes & Hao, 1998).

Even within transitional bilingual educationprograms (the most common types of bilingualeducation programs), subtractive bilingualismoccurs (Lambert, 1975) because transitioningchildren to all English instruction takes prece-dence over developing strong bilingualism andbiliteracy. Much of the literature (Ovando et al.,2006; Wong Fillmore, 1991) discusses thesubtractive nature of transitional bilingual pro-grams, where neither language is developed toits full potential. Many factors contribute to thissubtractive bilingualism, including an unrealisticpush for children to transition as quickly as pos-sible to English (Cloud, Genesee, & Hamayan,2000; Guerrero, 2004), the remedial nature ofthe majority of bilingual education programs inthe United States (Valenzuela, 1999), and thedominance of English in U.S. school programs(Garcıa, 2011; Shannon, 1995; Valdes, 2011).The shift to English stems largely from poli-cies and practices, both formal and informal,that devalue and marginalize other languages inthe United States and in other English-dominantcountries (Alba & Nee, 2003; Klee, 2011; Portes

All Colors and Hues 111

& Hao, 1998; Portes & Rumbaut, 2001, 2005;Rumbaut & Portes, 2001).

Additive Bilingualism: Framing Bilingualismas a Resource

Despite the dominance of English in U.S.schools, countless families still yearn to raisetheir children bilingually and biculturally forreasons that include communicating with non-English-speaking family members or advan-tages in academic, professional, and economicspheres (Caldas, 2006; Menard-Warwick, 2007).Furthermore, multicultural/multiethnic bilingualchildren have been reared successfully in manycontexts both inside and outside of the UnitedStates. Kenner and Gregory (2003) noted:‘‘More children in the world are bilingual thanmonolingual and more children are being edu-cated bilingually or in a second language thanonly in their mother tongue’’ (p. 178). Thedevelopment of multicultural identities needsfostering, as Samuels (2006) stated, ‘‘Peoplewho are multiracial are not automatically multi-cultural’’ (p. 39). Instead, fostering of multiplelanguages and additive bilingualism (Lambert,1975) occurs when the native language contin-ues to be developed and maintained alongsidethe second language. The support and attitudesof parents then become particularly importantin transmitting Spanish to a new generation(Perez-Lerouz, Cuza, & Thomas, 2011).

Successful intergenerational language trans-mission depends on how parents plan aheadand modify language patterns to suit familyneeds (De Houwer, 2007). Indeed, bilingualfamilies manage, learn, and negotiate languagein unique ways within their families (King,Fogle, & Logan-Terry, 2008). Some familieswho have successfully reared bilingual childrenhave built associations between each languageand domains that may be place specific, con-text specific, or person specific or a combina-tion of these (Wong Fillmore, 1989). Familiesmay adopt a pattern of language use wherethe place (e.g., home, church, school, shop-ping mall) or the context (e.g., neighborhood,interactions with grandparents, school class)determines which language will be used. Dıaz(2011) documented the important role of thefamily, cultural community events, Latino pop-ular culture, and community language schoolsthat help legitimize Spanish. Portes and Hao(1998) found that strong proficiency in both

languages, which is uncommon, is more likelyamong those from high-status families and thosewho are able to attend high-status schools. Onereason for this tendency is that Spanish is lesslikely to be stigmatized and racialized to thesame degree among families of higher socialstatus as compared to families from working-class neighborhoods, where schools often treatheritage languages as deficits that must be reme-diated (Valenzuela, 1999).

Still, the majority of children enrolled inbilingual programs in the United States tendto be from working-class immigrant families,and the goals of the majority of those programsare rapid transition into English. Regardingyoung adults, Blair and Cobas (2006) founda gender difference also exists regardingbilingualism in Latino families: ‘‘Latino femalesappear to be more readily influenced bytheir bilingual characteristics than their malecounterparts’’ (pp. 302 – 303). Furthermore theinfluence of mothers speaking Spanish with theirLatino daughters showed an increase in 4-yeareducational attainment for the young women(Blair & Cobas, 2006).

Although the majority of bilingual educa-tion programs serving students who speak lan-guages other than English lead to subtractivebilingualism because transitioning to English istantamount, in contrast, dual-language programsfoster additive bilingualism. In dual-languageprograms, both native and second languages aredeveloped and maintained through fifth gradeand beyond in some cases (Cloud et al., 2000).Dual-language programs aim to serve bothnative English speakers and English-languagelearners in the same classroom, learning togetherin both languages. In dual-language programs,the home and school have the potential tobecome partners in promoting dynamic interplaybetween the heritage language and the dominantlanguage, where the shift to English monolin-gualism can be countered (Caldas, 2006).

CONTEXT OF THE STUDY

My eldest daughter Nelia (pseudonyms usedfor all participants) has attended three dual-language campuses in her academic career, andassessments by each district have identifiedher as a child unusually balanced in bothlanguages. Before she entered the dual-languagekindergarten in August 2005, for example,one district administered the Pre-Language


Assessment Scales (Pre-LAS) to Nelia thattested both her English and Spanish proficiency.Nelia scored in the 99th percentile in bothlanguages, which prompted the dual-languagedirector to state, ‘‘We had a lot of fun testingNelia. We haven’t seen a child this bilingual in along time.’’ Harriett also observed a high level ofbilingual competence via bilingual reading andwriting samples and home visits. Therefore, ourresearch question was: How does a multiethnicand multiracial family ensure that a high levelof bilingual competence is maintained? Asa result of a 2-year ethnographic study, weisolated key actions and processes employedby family members and teachers to engage andencourage a multiethnic identity through theuse of Spanish both inside and outside of thehome.

My Family as Participants

My husband, Roberto, an Afro-Colombianimmigrant, is one of the first in his family toreceive a university degree. Roberto emigratedwith his younger siblings from Cali, Colombia,to Miami, Florida, at the age of 14. I, on the otherhand, am a U.S.-born, White native-Englishspeaker from a middle-class background. Myfather was an Air Force pilot who was stationedin different countries and throughout the UnitedStates, which exposed me to many culturaland linguistic experiences. I learned Spanishas an adult while living and studying inLatin American countries, such as Mexico,Guatemala, and Ecuador, prior to becoming abilingual education teacher in the United States.These experiences have made me more aware ofthe benefits of multilingualism and enabled meto analyze the complexities of language learningand the maintenance of skills in more than onelanguage.

As a family with multiple identity markersliving in the United States, my husband andI have tried to actively ensure that his Afro-Colombian culture and Spanish language werepresent, promoted, and maintained in the home.Our daughters, Nelia and Lisa, both have acaramel-colored complexion, brown curly hair,and dark-brown eyes. Nelia was the primaryfocus of this article, because by the end of theautoethnographic study she had completed threeyears in a U.S. public school where she wasenrolled in dual-language (Spanish and English)programs.

The Community

We currently live in a big city in South Texaswith a majority Latino population, mostly ofMexican origin. Nelia attends Bienvenidos Ele-mentary School (pseudonym), where the studentpopulation is 88% Hispanic (the majority isMexican origin), 7% non-Hispanic White, and4% African American. Bienvenidos is attendedby students mostly from working-class fami-lies; more than 95% of the student populationis eligible to receive free and reduced-pricelunch. The major reason that my family movedto this neighborhood was for the BienvenidosSpanish and English dual-language program.Both monolingual English-speaking and mono-lingual Spanish-speaking kindergartners begintheir formal schooling with majority Spanish-language instruction and then gradually increaseEnglish-language instruction until instruction isdelivered equally at the fourth- and fifth-gradelevels.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This autoethnographic action research studysheds light on aspects of a multiethnic andmultiracial family’s experiences striving topromote Spanish and English bilingualism.The research has been a collaboration ofinsights from two researchers who drew ona combination of research methodologies,including autoethnography (Ellis & Bochner,2000) and action research (Johnson, 2008;Stringer, 2007). Given the difficulties ofcapturing everyday family actions and processesthat are used to maintain heritage languagewithin the home, these methodologies were mostappropriate as discussed below.

Autoethnography, the first methodology, hasbeen cited as especially appropriate to connect‘‘the personal to the cultural’’ (Ellis & Bochner,2000, p. 739). An advantage of incorporatingautoethnography is that we were able toincorporate greater self-reflexivity in reportingfindings, which is consistent with the approach ofthe Chicago School researchers giving greaterattention to context and allowing for greateraccessibility of data (Hays & Singh, 2012).Autoethnographers draw on and documenttheir own experiences, thoughts, feelings, andresponses to sociocultural phenomenon as dataand provide a first-person analytic accountof relationships and events (Hays & Singh,


2012). In using this ‘‘historically, culturally,and personally situated’’ methodology (Gergen& Gergen, 2000, p. 1028), I engaged in thisstudy having inseparable roles as both motherand researcher by documenting, analyzing, andreflecting on my family’s experiences. My first-person voice is used throughout the study. Beingthe mother of the focal participant, I recognize,along with my co-researcher, that I obviouslyfelt a high level of pride toward Nelia’s and myfamily’s bilingualism. My co-researcher, whohas done considerable fieldwork in the homes ofLatino families focused on bilingual languageacquisition and education, independently tookfieldnotes after visits with the family and visitsto the school settings to balance my subjectivityas subject and object.

For the second methodology, action researchserved to produce information and knowledgethat can be useful to others who wish to raisebilingual or multicultural children, empoweringthose parents to consciously take up and usethe information gathered in this research tohelp their children maintain family heritagelanguages and cultures. We understand thatresearch on small samples and the particularcontext of this family cannot be generalizedto all families; however, there are insights thatcan be applied to families who speak languagesother than Spanish or who live in less ethnicallydiverse areas. An action research approach iscollaborative in that it encourages people toexamine particular issues affecting them or theircommunity and to formulate accounts of theirexperiences that address those issues (Berg,2009). This approach takes into account thestudy participants’ ‘‘history, culture, interactiveactivities and emotional lives’’ (Berg, 2009, p.251) with an emphasis on what the researcherscan gather with the assistance of the stakeholdersto be shared and used by others. In this mutualcollaborative study, an outsider (the sociologist)partnered with the parents trying to raisemulticultural children to reflect on family andschool interactions, identify language attitudes atthe child’s school, and document the processesthe family used to maintain bilingualism andmulticultural identity in the home in an effortto find ways to enable families to confront thedilemma of loss of heritage language and culture.

Over a 2-year period, beginning when Neliawas 5 years old, the outsider (the sociologistand coauthor) and I (a parent trying to raisebilingual, multicultural children) collected and

analyzed data from a variety of sources thatprimarily explored Nelia’s language and liter-acy development, including school observations,extensive interviews, recordings of family inter-actions, family observations, and work samples.As a sociologist, Harriett conducted more than 6hours of extensive joint interviews with my hus-band and me, covering a wide range of issues,from linguistic and cultural values to patternsof childrearing. Harriett also interviewed Neliaherself about how she felt about being bilingual,how she learned to speak English and Spanish,with whom she spoke each language, and herexperiences with languages at school and withfriends. Together, both researchers interviewedNelia’s first-grade teacher, who discussed spe-cific examples of Nelia’s bilingualism, her aca-demic achievement, and her role as a bilinguallanguage broker who mediated information andhelped make educational decisions for her peersin the classroom (Tse, 1996). The teacher alsoexplained the organization of the dual-languageprogram. I interviewed extended family mem-bers, such as Mamita (Nelia’s Spanish-speakinggrandmother), regarding language and culture ingeneral and Nelia’s bilingualism in particular.In addition to interviews, I tape-recorded fam-ily interactions, group discussions, and every-day taken-for-granted interactions like dinner-table conversation, homework interactions, andevents like shopping trips. We compiled specificexamples and anecdotes demonstrating bilin-gualism, work samples of Nelia’s achievements,and test scores from her school.

Using a Grounded Theory approach (Glaser& Strauss, 1967), we open-coded the interviews,at-home interactions, and fieldnotes separately.Then, we came together to discuss patternsthat emerged and to identify salient themes.In coding the different domains, we beganto see a more complete picture of thechallenges encountered and the actions takento maintain bilingualism and multiculturalism.We justified the selection of the dialoguespresented here as ‘‘critical case sampling’’(Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2007) to bring forwardthe discourse that best illustrates the strategiesthis family used to promote bilingualism andmulticulturalism. Each of the primary domainsof Nelia’s experience—family, extended family,and school—presented successful actions andobstacles in raising a bilingual, multiculturalchild. Four findings emerged as prominentcontributors to promoting Nelia’s bilingual,


multicultural development and maintenance: (a)deliberate language planning in the early years,(b) exposure to varied language and culturalmodels, (c) formal bilingual and biliteracyinstruction, and (d) fostering emotional ties toSpanish. There are many advantages for Nelia inliving in a middle-class, multiethnic family andhaving a mother who is a bilingual educator, butthe key processes that emerged for maintainingbilingualism can be implemented by multiethnicfamilies of different socioeconomic statusesor different heritage languages as well. AsKlee (2011) emphasized, parental choices andattitudes—particularly if they value bilingualismand take deliberate steps to counter the rapidlanguage shift toward English—can make asignificant difference in creating conditions thatsupport heritage-language maintenance.

THE ROLE OF THE PARENT RESEARCHER

I have served as both a participant (i.e.,Nelia’s mother) and researcher; I am a teacherand an educational researcher interested inbiliteracy and multicultural education. Harriettis a sociologist who learned Spanish asan adult, teaching in Central America andworking with Mexican immigrant families.She is married to a Mexican American andhas two adult children who are bilingual.We initially met and learned of our mutualresearch interests because Harriett recruitedmy youngest daughter, Lisa, for a study onbilingual infants. Although Lisa had brought ustogether, we selected Nelia for our collaborativeexploration because of our interest in howthe school and family contexts influencedNelia’s development and attitudes toward herheritage language of Spanish. Data collectiontook place from the time Nelia was a 5-year-old kindergartner through second grade. Weacknowledge that the child’s characteristics,such as her young age and early grades of school,affect her cognitive and language developmentand that her language use preferences andcultural identities may change as she matures.The autobiographical and inherently subjectivenature of this exploration was mitigated, inpart, because Harriett, a sociologist and anoutsider to the family, brought objectivity andexperiences with other bilingual families as apoint of reference. As an insider, I was able tohave countless opportunities to observe Neliain intimate situations, realize nuances present

in family communication, and connect thepersonal to the cultural (Ellis & Bochner, 2000).Additional data sources included observationsin Nelia’s classroom, teacher interviews, schooldocumentation, and interviews with extendedfamily members.

THE FAMILY’S STRATEGIES FOR ADDITIVEBILINGUALISM

Most bilingual families have many pressingdemands that draw attention away from rec-ognizing the need to deliberately emphasizetheir heritage languages and cultures with theirchildren, often resulting in shifts to English (Hur-tado & Vega, 2004; Wong Fillmore, 1991). Amajor challenge for Spanish-speaking families,especially from working-class backgrounds, islinguistic marginalization compounded by lesssocial capital, fewer educational choices, andminimal financial resources. A common misas-sumption is that children will learn the heritagelanguage present in the home, but parents oftenunderestimate their children’s extensive expo-sure to English (Alba, Logan, Lutz, & Stults,2002; Klee, 2011).

Deliberate Language Planning in the EarlyYears

From observing other families whose childrenhad lost their bilingualism, Roberto and I real-ized that we would have to be deliberate aboutlanguage and cultural learning. Roberto statedthat many immigrants to the United States donot think about deliberately reinforcing theirchildren in the use of their home languageand culture because they themselves were notdeliberately taught culture and language butacquired them from their home community.When Harriett first interviewed us, Robertoexplained:

The culture is from what [Colombians] do. It isnothing we sit down and talk about. We go toparties; we listen to music. When we were in myhome community, we did not have to think aboutit, not like we have to do with our daughters now.I was part of the culture already; it is not like it isgoing to be with our children. They will have tobe taught.

Heritage-language speakers in U.S. schools whoare not immersed in their heritage cultures asRoberto was growing up ‘‘will have to betaught’’ more explicitly. The public schooling


system has the potential to play a key rolein valuing and fostering students’ heritagelanguages and cultures in everyday policiesand practices within the schools. Dual-languageprograms serve as a powerful model for additivebilingualism.

My side of the family does not speakSpanish; contact with English speakers in thelarger family context would be strong forcestoward an English-only language shift unlesswe deliberately fashioned bilingualism in ourimmediate family. In one of the interviews, thefollowing discussion occurred between Robertoand me:

Kim: When we were talking about having kids, Isaid, ‘‘Our kids are going to be bilingual.’’ Andhe said, ‘‘No, I don’t think so.’’ Because all hisfriends who have kids—they start switching toEnglish or they never follow through with it athome. The peer pressure for English is too\breakgreat.

Roberto: My greatest fear was when [Nelia’s]maternal grandparents would take her for morethan a week. ‘‘She’s going to forget. She’s goingto forget her Spanish.’’ Because most people saywith their kids, ‘‘You try and try, and your kidsdon’t work out to be bilingual.’’ I’ve seen it.[Raising bilingual children] is hard and. . . .I think it is [Kim’s] perseverance that made ithappen, because I did not think it was going tohappen.

Kim: So it was just very deliberate explanationfrom the time [Nelia] was young. And she hasbeen able to distinguish her language use fromvery young as well. . . . She was just very aware ofwho used what language, and when, and in whatcontext. She’s our little linguist. . . . We’re justhoping that Lisa [Nelia’s sister] follows in her bigsister’s footsteps.

The fact that Roberto credits me with having the‘‘perseverance’’ to make bilingualism happen

with our children brings to light our differingsubject positions; the ‘‘mainstream’’ typicallydoes not view my elective bilingualism (asa native-English speaker) through the sameanti-immigrant, racialized lenses as Roberto’sbilingualism. Many in the United States viewimmigrants’ efforts to maintain a home languageas a rejection of incorporation (Hurtado &Vega, 2004). Importantly, it is Roberto’snative fluency in Spanish and his racialidentity that bring authenticity to the bilingual,multicultural environment that we have takenspecial efforts to create in our home inorder to counter the strong pull of Englishin other contexts. In that same interview, Iexplained:

When I say we are very deliberate with languageuse, being a bilingual teacher, I have a lot ofSpanish books so we mostly read to Nelia inSpanish. Sometimes we’ll indulge her with anEnglish book but most of the time it is in Spanish.I only have canciones [songs] and cuentos [stories]in Spanish . . . in my car CD player. . . . We’donly buy DVDs with Spanish language tracks. .. . As soon as she went to an English-speakingday care, Roberto was like, ‘‘Ok, we can giveup now, she’s not going to continue with herbilingualism.’’ And I was like ‘‘Oh, yes shewill!’’

As an example of how we carried outour family language planning on an on-goingbasis, the following dialogue took place after aback-to-school shopping trip where Nelia andI had bought some colorful socks that weremade in Colombia—her father’s country oforigin. Nelia (N) was excited to show themto Roberto (R), making him guess where theywere made. I, Kim (K), played along as Lisa(L)—my 2-year-old—watched the exchangesand interjected at one point claiming the socksas her own:

N: ¿De donde son las medias? N: Where are the socks from?K: Pero no le digas! ¿Donde se echaron—donde se

hicieron?K: But don’t tell him! Where were they thrown—where

were they made?R: ¿China? R: China?N: No, siempre es de China. N: No, it’s always from China.K: Las otras [medias] son de— K: The others [socks] are from—N: Korea [using English pronunciation] N: Korea [using English pronunciation]R: Korea [using Spanish pronunciation] R: Korea [correcting with Spanish pronunciation]N: ¿Y de donde son estas? N: And where are these from?R: Bolivia. R: Bolivia.N: No. [whispers to K] Can I show him the package? N: No. [whispers to K] Can I show him the package?


K: Sı, si quieres. K: Yes, if you wish.N: [takes out the socks and covers up the words where

they were made.]N: [takes out the socks and covers up the words where

they were made]L: Aah! My medias. Mıas. L: Aah! My socks. Mine.R: Son de Michigan. R: They are from Michigan.K: [laughs] K: [laughs]N: [to K] ¿Le puedo dar una clave? N: [to K] Can I give him a clue?K: Sı. K: Yes.N: [whispers] I have one that he could guess, but I don’t

know—N: [whispers] I have one that he could guess but I don’t

know—K: Pues, preguntale a papi si quiere una pista. K: Well, ask your dad if he wants a hint.N: ¿Quieres una pista? ¿Buena? ¿Buena? N: Do you want a hint? A good one? Good?R: Sı. R: Yes.N: Son de donde naciste. N: They are from where you were born.R: ¡Medellin! R: Medellın!K: Tu no naciste en Medellin. Pues, es del paıs, no de la

ciudad.K: You weren’t born in Medellın. Well, it’s the country,

not the city.R: Oh, Colombia. R: Oh, Colombia.N: [starts to laugh] Mira. N: [starts to laugh] Look.R: De verdad. Si, son de colores. Pues, por lo menos

hicimos algo bueno.R: It’s true. Yes, they are the colors. Well, at least we

made something good.N: Y nunca son de Colombia. N: And they are never from Colombia.

Because Roberto has misled Nelia to believethat he speaks only Spanish fluently, Nelianever addresses him in English. Therefore, theinteraction was primarily in Spanish, exceptwhen Nelia switched to English when shewhispered to me. Nelia is aware that myEnglish proficiency is stronger than my Spanishproficiency, as evidenced when I corrected myawkward word choice: ‘‘se echaron.’’ Althoughnot always consistent, I responded to Nelia’swhispered English question in Spanish and Neliacontinued the interaction in Spanish.

Roberto modeled the Spanish pronunciationof Korea after Nelia pronounced it withan English accent. In this brief interaction,my 2-year-old daughter, Lisa, demonstratedher emerging bilingualism with a mixtureof English and Spanish when she claimed,‘‘My medias’’ (using the English possessivepronoun ‘‘my’’ and the Spanish noun ‘‘medias’’for socks). Nelia used the Spanish word‘‘clave’’ for clue, and I supplied additionalSpanish vocabulary ‘‘pista’’ for the sameidea of keeping someone on track or givingthem a clue. Nelia picked up on the newlymodeled word and repeated ‘‘pista’’ herself.Although English is sometimes used in thehome between Nelia and me, this interactiondemonstrates how Roberto and I strive to

promote Spanish as the common home languageby incorporating strategies such as modelingcorrect pronunciation, extending vocabulary,and requiring Spanish. Our efforts to maintainthe dialogue in Spanish and pride in Roberto’scountry of origin were evident throughout theexchange.

Exposure to Varied Language and CulturalModels

The importance of exposing Nelia to Spanishspeakers from different cultural groups, physicalappearances, and socioeconomic statuses alsoemerged from the interviews, observations, andreflections as a major theme. Roberto and Imade a deliberate effort to demonstrate toNelia that people from all different incomelevels, racial groups, and professions speakSpanish, as I touched on in the followingexcerpt:

And I think a lot of times, since we are middle class,that has helped her take more pride in Spanish. Iknow from being a bilingual teacher and from theresearch, when kids reject their home language,. . . they often see it as lower status, as havingless privilege. We live as a middle class, formallyeducated family. The issue of status and privilegeis never in question or, when it is in question,we can create a lot of counterexamples: Formally


educated people do speak Spanish, people all huesand colors speak Spanish as well.

Roberto and I emphasize the diversity ofSpanish speakers and continue to reinforcethe importance of learning about Roberto’shome country, culture, and language as afamily strategy emphasizing multiethnicity.Roberto and his mother, whom we callMamita, began a small restaurant featuringher renowned Colombian platos (dishes). Therestaurant draws many Latino and Latinaclients from the Caribbean and Central andSouth America as well as native Texans whospeak Spanish. As found in Samuels’ (2010)article about relational processes of biculturalidentity, having opportunities for children toengage in cultural immersion is central fordeveloping one’s identity. As I noted in oneinterview:

Nelia got to see people from all walks oflife, of all classes, all colors come in speakingSpanish. The fact that we have the restauranthas been fabulous for getting [Nelia] to knowthe food, the culture, and the language. Notonly does she eat her grandmother’s cookingeveryday from the time she was a year and ahalf, she sees her grandmother do what she doesbest—cooking—and having so much pride in thekitchen. It’s just been immeasurable the impactthat has had.

This restaurant context reinforced the Colom-bian culture through food and atmosphere andprovided many Spanish-speaking models forNelia ‘‘from all walks of life.’’ These funds ofknowledge (Gonzalez, Moll, & Amanti, 2005)provided by extended family—so often over-looked in school curriculum—can prove to berich sources of student expertise that can beincorporated into school classrooms.

Spanish language media became other impor-tant sources of language models and exposureto formal Spanish. The city where we live hastwo large Spanish-language media stations, Uni-vision and Telemundo. Roberto explained that‘‘Univision is the channel we watch the most.And Nelia has started to try to understand tele-novelas now.’’ Roberto and I also allow Nelia towatch cartoons in Spanish and select movies onDVD with Spanish-language audiotracks. TheInternet provides another valuable resource forchildren’s music, movies, games, and books inSpanish.

Roberto and I recognize the strong influenceof English when our children are outside of the

home. Roberto even feared that Nelia wouldlose her Spanish as soon as she entered anEnglish-speaking preschool. We continue toreinforce Spanish language and culture throughchildren’s books and by ensuring that Neliasees us reading and writing in Spanish. Robertoand I read magazines and books in Spanishand talk in Spanish to relatives and friends inperson and by telephone. This strategy helpsNelia navigate the transitions between homeand school. Futhermore, as Samuels (2006)explained, ‘‘A common question among parentsof multi-racial children is often, ‘Where shouldwe live?’’’ (p. 57). When we had to move,we sought a home in neighborhoods withindual-language school boundaries to assure thatNelia could receive formal bilingual instructionfrom a young age and community support forbilingualism and multiethnic families.

Formal Bilingual and Biliteracy Instruction

Previous child bilingual acquisition research(Gutierrez-Clellen & Kreiter, 2003) has indi-cated that teacher estimates of languageuse and proficiency are useful to determinea child’s bilingual status. We interviewedNelia’s first grade teacher, Mrs. Rodriguez(pseudonym), and visited the classroom. Mrs.Rodriguez explained that enrolling Nelia inthe dual-language program was a delib-erate undertaking, because she would nothave qualified as ‘‘Limited English Profi-cient:’’

[Nelia] scored high enough in both languages.It’s an oral proficiency test. It is based on picturevocabulary and verbal analogies. . . . As you cansee, some of these are difficult. Well, Nelia scoredhigh in both languages, . . . which [means] that sheis bilingual but she doesn’t need bilingual services.. . . So her mom has to say that she wants her to bein the dual-language program and that’s how shecomes into the bilingual setting.

Despite the fact that this is a dual-languageprogram, this teacher states that Nelia, ‘‘doesn’tneed bilingual services.’’ This fact is oneexample of how the prestige and dominanceof English plays itself out in our schools:Because Nelia was considered a fluent Englishspeaker, her heritage language of Spanishwould have been disregarded altogether in mostschools. Fortunately, the dual-language programin Bienvenidos sought additive bilingualism andbiliteracy for its monolingual English-speaking,


monolingual Spanish-speaking, and bilingualstudent population.

Mrs. Rodriguez also reinforced Nelia’sawareness of and proficiency in both languages:

I think [Nelia] has already learned which childrenspeak Spanish and which children speak Englishmost of the time and she can converse with eitherchild and it just depends on what we are doing. . . .It just depends what we’re speaking at the momentand she’ll speak in that language but she’s veryvery bilingual. . . . I’ve already talked to a coupleof second grade teachers ‘‘Do you want an extrareading student?’’ . . . We need her as a verygood model in both languages. She brings in newvocabulary.

Nelia’s teacher positively reinforced Nelia’sbilingualism in the classroom by emphasizingher role as a bilingual model and language brokerfor other children. She often called upon Neliato help both the native English- and Spanish-speaking children in her class. Nelia’s work inboth languages was prominently displayed inthe classroom. The teacher explained that Neliatested at high levels on state assessments in bothEnglish and Spanish, was able to read fluentlyabove grade level in both languages, and wasable to express herself very well in scienceand social studies class discussions in Spanishand English. The teacher also recognized theparents’ deliberate role in utilizing strategies tofoster bilingualism and vocabulary developmentin Spanish.

The teacher confirmed the value of bilingual-ism as a positive cognitive ability. She discussedthe advantages that bilingual children bring tothe classroom:

My theory is the children come to me, somespeak Spanish, some speak English, some arelike Nelia, they are bilingual students—althoughNelia . . . she goes from one language to anotherat a time. . . . They become critical thinkers andthey become very good problem solvers. Theyalso learn how to relate. . . . They learn howto help each other and then we are learning alot about cultures, not only the uniqueness oftheir culture and what that means to them butthe uniqueness of other children’s culture andhow we are becoming a blend. . . . No onehere speaks one language anymore; we are allbilingual.

Mrs. Rodriguez went on to describe the pressureson students to transition into English at thehigher grade levels and the community contextsthat reinforced Spanish:

As they go into third grade there is a big shift,there is a lot of peer pressure for English allof a sudden. It just depends on what era itis. When we were in the Selena [top MexicanAmerican singer-songwriter of the 1990s] era,then everybody wanted to speak Spanish; eventhe English speakers wanted to speak Spanish.So there is a lot of influence from the mediatoo. . . . These last few years, there has been moreEnglish. The kids want to use more English; eventhe Spanish speakers now, they are all speakingEnglish. Third grade is a critical year. When Iwas teaching third grade, it was a strict rulewhen we were in Spanish you had to speakespanol. You have to sort of put rules like thatso that they will practice their Spanish becausethey will want to talk in English and stay inEnglish.

The teacher attempted to reinforce differentcontexts or situations in which Spanish wasdominant in order to counter the pressures ofEnglish. She emphasized the role of the Spanishpopular culture and Spanish language mediain supporting the acquisition of Spanish. Theopportunity for Roberto and me to choose apositive teacher and a strong dual-languageprogram has been key for Nelia’s formal andacademic bilingual and biliteracy development.These examples of the way Nelia’s school andhome mutually reinforced rich heritage languageand multicultural environments demonstratethe power of school to validate and promotestudents’ linguistic resources in dual-languageprograms.

Fostering Emotional Ties to Spanish

Given the prevalence and inherently high statusof English in the United States, fostering Nelia’semotional ties to English had never been as muchof a concern as ensuring that Nelia developed anaffection for Spanish. Therefore, the final themethat emerged regarding our actions to promoteand maintain Spanish and English bilingualismwas focused on fostering emotional ties toSpanish.

Roberto and I explicitly discussed his coun-try of origin, Colombia, so Nelia could asso-ciate Spanish with her father’s historical andgenealogical background, thus emphasizingpride in a multiethnic and multiracial iden-tity. In kindergarten, Nelia explained toHarriett how she learned Spanish as adirect result of her father’s emigration fromColombia:


Harriett: . . . ¿Y como aprendiste espanol? Harriett: And how did you learn Spanish?

Nelia: Mi papa nacio en Colombia. Nelia: My dad was born in Colombia.

Harriett: ¿Y por eso aprendiste espanol? Harriett: And that’s why you learned Spanish?

Nelia: Sı. Nelia: Yes.

Because Roberto’s immediate family cur-rently lives in the United States and travelingto Colombia is quite costly, Nelia had neverbeen to Colombia. We tried to convey to Neliaan understanding of Roberto’s country of originand what it was like to grow up there.

Mamita, Nelia’s monolingual Spanish-speaking grandmother, had only attended schoolthrough the second grade in rural Colombiaand therefore never felt especially confidentin her literacy abilities in Spanish, whichcaused her much frustration and angst whenshe had tried to learn English both formallyand informally. Although she had been inthe United States for more than 15 years,she used only Spanish in her everyday life.When I interviewed Mamita, she continuallymentioned the fact that ‘‘A Nelia le gusta elespanol. [Nelia likes Spanish].’’ In additionto emphasizing the importance of children

liking Spanish, Mamita also named someof the actions previously mentioned, suchas speaking only Spanish in the home andplacing Nelia in a bilingual education programas ways the family had maintained Nelia’sbilingualism:

Roberto elaborated on the emotional con-nections to Spanish: ‘‘The fact that [Nelia] isbilingual, my mother is really excited, becauseof the four grandchildren, she is the only onethat is bilingual and the only one that [mymother] can talk to—really talk to.’’ Mamitaechoed these observations and stated that she cancommunicate only with signs with her mono-lingual English-speaking grandchildren, using‘‘senas nomas.’’ Mamita’s other grandchildrenare enrolled in all-English instruction at theirschools, although Spanish is their heritage lan-guage on both maternal and paternal sides of thefamily. The bilingual curriculum and context

Kim: ¿Y como llego a ser bilingue Nelia? Kim: And how did Nelia become bilingual?

Mamita: Ustedes le ensenaron desde el principio. . . . Sepreocuparon para que aprendiera el espanol. . . . Enla casa aseguraron que se hablara unicamenteespanol. . . . Tambien esta en una escuela bilingue.

Mamita: You both taught her from the beginning. . . .You concerned yourselves that she learn Spanish. . . .At home, you made sure that you would only speakSpanish. . . . Also, she is in a bilingual school.

Kim: ¿Usted cree que Nelia lo va a mantener? Kim: Do you think that Nelia is going to maintainSpanish?

Mamita: Sı, porque aprendio desde pequena. Y si siguehablando, no se le olvida.

Mamita: Yes, because she learned it since she was small.And if she continues speaking it, she won’t forget it.

Kim: ¿Y espera que Lisa sea bilingue? Kim: Do you think Lisa will be bilingual?

Mamita: Ojala que sı. Si le gusta, sı. Pero si no legusta, no.

Mamita: I hope so. If she likes it, yes. But if she doesn’tlike it, no.

Kim: ¿A Nelia le gusta? Kim: Do you think Nelia likes Spanish?

Mamita: Creo que le gusta porque si no, nadie lepodrıa convencer.

Mamita: I think that she likes it because, if not, no onecould convince her to like it.

Kim: ¿Y que pasa si no le gusta? Kim: And what happens if a child doesn’t like it?

Mamita: Hay ninos que rechazan el espanol aunque sehabla espanol en la casa. Pero si no les gusta, no lovan a hablar. Los padres les hablan en espanol y [losninos] les contestan en ingles.

Mamita: There are children who reject Spanish eventhough they speak Spanish at home. Because if theydon’t like it, they aren’t going to speak it. The parentsspeak Spanish to them and the children answer inEnglish.


in Nelia’s school have supported her bilingual-ism and multiculturalism and, in turn, allowedher a closer relationship with extended familymembers.

Harriett asked Nelia about the importance ofbeing bilingual. She seemed to prioritize thesocial benefits more than any other aspect:

Harriett: ¿Piensas que un idioma es mas importante queel otro?

Harriett: Do you think that one language is moreimportant than the other?

Nelia: Creo que los dos son importantes. Nelia: I think that they are both important.

Harriett: ¿Y por que? ¿Por que es importante serbilingue?

Harriett: And why? Why is it important to be bilingual?

Nelia: Bueno, podemos ayudar a muchas personas. Yhablar a las personas.

Nelia: Well, we can help a lot of people. And talk to thepeople.

Nelia described how she helped her class-mates: ‘‘Los que no saben mucho espanol lesayudo. . . . Les ayudo a trabajar y a escribir. [Ihelp those who don’t know much Spanish. . . .I help them with their work and their writing.]’’As a translator and language broker who facili-tates communication between her linguisticallyand culturally different peers, Nelia gains socialstatus for her bilingualism.

Besides promoting emotional ties to Spanishthrough learning about Roberto’s countryof origin and connecting to monolingualSpanish-speaking family members, we providedopportunities for social interactions whereSpanish was the language of preference. Robertoand I make the most of Nelia’s affections forher little sister by emphasizing her role asteacher and role model for Lisa’s bilingual andbiliterate development. During a family dinner,for instance, Nelia said something to Lisa inEnglish. I reminded Nelia, ‘‘Hablale en espanol[Speak to her in Spanish.].’’ Without battingan eye, Nelia quickly interpreted what she hadjust said in Spanish. I then asked, ‘‘¿Por que esimportante hablarle a Lisa en espanol [Why isit important to speak Spanish to Lisa?]?’’ Neliareplied with a matter-of-fact tone, ‘‘Porque meva a copiar. [Because she is going to copy me.]’’By promoting Nelia’s bilingualism in this way,Lisa’s bilingualism is supported.

When Nelia was younger, we had a rule:‘‘Espanol en la casa. [Spanish at home.]’’ Inour first interview with Harriett, I explained inSpanish:

Now we don’t have to be so strict because it isa routine. The rule was more explicit when Neliawas little but now it is not as explicit. She talks

more in English now that she is bigger, sometimeswe will converse in English but I only have to say,‘‘¿Como? [What?]’’ and she automatically speaksin Spanish because it is easy for her. Sometimesshe will scold me and say, ‘‘You understand,Mom.’’ And I say, ‘‘Yes, but you have to speakin Spanish and you have to be the most important

teacher for Lisa.’’ We told [Nelia] that she had tospeak Spanish, because when the baby was born,she was talking to her in English and we told hershe was going to be the most important model.

As a bilingual teacher and researcher, I knowfrom experience that older siblings are oftenmore bilingual than their younger siblings.Therefore, Roberto and I have placed a majorresponsibility on Nelia. Emphasizing Nelia’srole as a Spanish model for her younger sister hasenhanced the prestige of Spanish and has raisedawareness and consciousness of the importanceof the language and culture.

In general, maintaining Spanish requiresconstant vigilance because of the prevalenceof English and its high status in U.S. society.I often point out the emotional connections toNelia in relation to the people she loves whospeak Spanish to emphasize the importance ofmaintaining the language. I explained:

I remember when Nelia was probably two and ahalf she started to request all her bedtime storiesin English and that really was traumatic for me. SoI went overboard and went into who’s bilingualin her life, who’s English-speaking in her life,who’s Spanish-speaking in her life, and why thepeople she loves are not all bilingual so she hasto be bilingual. Gi-Gi (my mother) speaks Englishand you have to speak English. And Mamita(Roberto’s mother) speaks Spanish so you have tospeak Spanish. And then we talked about who isbilingual and how she is going to be bilingual.

Offering important, but also heartwarm-ing, reasons to speak Spanish and provid-ing respected role models in Spanish becameimportant strategies to confront the sometimesnegative images in the larger society againstlanguages other than English, such as efforts to


promote English only or derogatory commentsof strangers who did not understand Spanish.Roberto heard a radio report about a school dis-trict suspending a child for speaking Spanish inschool, which confirmed our need to emphasizethe positive aspects of bilingualism:

We are just hoping we have the ability tounderstand. I guess some people feel threatened.In Europe there are countries where many peoplespeak several languages. I think it is completelywrong to forbid students to speak Spanish. Thestudents are trying to keep their culture alive. Iguess it is the school board or the teachers whofear that it is taking over. I don’t feel that way. Ifeel it is a plus and in other areas of the country itis a plus.

Roberto and I foster Nelia’s emotional ties toSpanish by emphasizing the positive relationswith Mamita and other Spanish-dominantrelatives. We help her know that Spanish willfacilitate knowledge and understanding of herfather’s heritage culture as part of her ownmultiethnic identity. We stress the importanceof Spanish for maintaining connections with herpeers and younger sister and her responsibilityas a teacher and role model in family, school,and community contexts.

FINAL REFLECTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

It is often erroneously assumed that bilingualismhappens automatically at home, that the privatehabits and patterns of the household will holdsway against a dominant language and culture.We cannot, however, underestimate formalschooling’s influence on heritage language useand the rapid loss of children’s bilingualproficiency. In exploring and documentingactions that were crucial in fostering Nelia’sadditive bilingualism and multiculturalism,this case study illuminates the importanceof the family and school’s ideology towardadditive bilingualism and access to dual-language programs. As iterated in previousresearch (Caldas, 2006; Zentella, 2005), childrenlike Nelia who continue to use the heritagelanguage in both social and academic situationscan be expected to develop proficiency in thatlanguage, especially if they have favorableperceptions of the importance of maintainingit. Nelia’s case could also be attributed toher gender, as emphasized in the Blair andCobas’s (2006) study where they found agreater propensity within Latino females to

embrace bilingual characteristics such as actingas translator in a family. Thus, this casestudy supports the need for more dual-languageprograms that build on the linguistic andmultiethnic resources children bring from hometo promote bilingualism.

The dialogue excerpt regarding the socksmade in Colombia demonstrates how pride inthe country of origin and heritage languagemaintenance can become an integral part of howfamilies reinforce language and ethnic identityin the homes. Teachers could ask families andchildren to share such examples in the classroomto bridge families’ funds of knowledge aboutbilingualism and countries of origin withinclassroom instruction.

Nelia’s experiences in the school also empha-size the important role of teachers in recognizingchildren’s bilingual, multicultural strengths inthe classroom and valuing bilingualism. Byencouraging Nelia to act as a language brokerand recognizing her contributions to class activ-ities in Spanish, the teacher gave Nelia moreconfidence and pride in her bilingualism andsent a strong message to all children in the classregarding the value of bilingualism.

In spite of the privileges of my family’seducational background, social and culturalcapital, and socioeconomic status, we (as parentswanting to raise bilingual, multiethnic children)had to consciously reinforce the value ofbilingualism and take actions to support it in theface of challenges and resistence from the largerU.S. society. Our analysis demonstrated that itwas necessary to deliberately and consistentlyreinforce the home language and culture evenwithin a bilingual household. This idea of‘‘teaching’’ one’s culture at home was discussedby Samuels (2010) in her study of multiracialadoptees in White families, where she foundthat establishing ‘‘racial kinship’’ ties, such asthe strategies we employed in our household,provided an important connection to one’sheritage and culture.

All families can point out the emotional con-nections to persons in the child’s immediateand extended family, friends, and other rolemodels who are bilingual who legitimize theheritage language. All families can identify per-sons from different socioeconomic backgroundswho take pride in their bilingualism. All familiescan continue to reinforce the heritage languagein the home and still value learning English.All families, particularly recent immigrants, can


tap into the wealth of fluent heritage languagespeakers available to reinforce heritage languageand culture maintenance. Strategies for main-taining bilingualism and multiculturalism caninclude respecting family and ethnic celebra-tions and encouraging family time and routines(Dıaz, 2011) as well as promoting languageflexibility and emphasizing positive feelingstoward bilingualism and multicultural familylife.

In looking to the future, we recognize thehegemony of English in the United States.As Nelia and her younger sister mature, theywill face many challenges. There are few dual-language programs at the secondary level tosupport literacy and academic development inSpanish. In adolescence they will be exposed tosustained contact with English in the schools,in media, and in peer groups. Their ethnic andcultural identities and language attitudes andlanguage use will continue to evolve in these newcontexts. As explained by Klee (2011), ‘‘Latinoyouth, in particular, face complex issues as theyconstruct an ethnolinguistic identity within anEnglish-speaking society’’ (p. 364). At the veryleast, however, we aspire for Nelia to be ableto effectively communicate with other Spanishspeakers across her life span. At the very best,we hope that Nelia will continue to develop heracademic register in Spanish that was given asa foundation in the home and dual-languageprogram. We hope that she will continueto identify with her Afro-Colombian culturalbackground and her Spanish heritage language,although we recognize that intergenerationaltransmission of Spanish is quite difficult beyondthe second generation.

In the end, it is important to recognize thatmy family has an asset of social capital in theform of postsecondary education in the UnitedStates, and my training as a bilingual teacherassists in enabling us to navigate the schoolsystem and work closely with teachers. Wealso have economic resources that enable usto replicate school resources in the form ofbilingual books and videos in the home. Werecognize that additive bilingualism is often adifficult undertaking, particularly for working-class families. Parental choices and attitudes,however, can make a significant difference increating the conditions for support of Spanishlanguage maintenance. Additive bilingualismrequires a collective school-home effort toelevate not only the value of bilingualism

but also the cultural value of Spanish as alanguage. These collective efforts are crucialfor working-class children with a multiplicityof identity markers who are more vulnerableto discrimination and deficit-oriented attitudestoward their native or heritage language becauseof their immigration status, race, educationalbackground, and socioeconomic status. Accessto high-quality dual-language programs fornative and heritage speakers of minoritylanguages can encourage children and theirfamilies to embrace and utilize the culturaland linguistic resources that students bring withthem from home, resources that all too oftenare overlooked or seen through deficit-orientedlenses.

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