Indigenous communities working to reclaim their languages have called for a shift from the traditional research paradigm of language documentation and description, in which outsider scholars set the agenda, to one in which community language workers take on leadership roles at every stage of the process, possibly with secondary support from…

This paper presents a critical assessment of the utility of the orthography of Dagbani (a Gur language of Ghana) in the documentation, linguistic research, and literacy acquisition of Dagbani. While written literature on Dagbani dates to over a century, it was only in 1997 that the only known documented orthographic rules of the language, the…

The research on language dynamics in the context of migration and integration has been dominated by applied linguists and educators, who described and measured native language attrition and emerging bilingualism among immigrants and their children. In parallel, sociolinguists discussed the role of language ideology/policy of the host society and…

The dissertation focuses on the Chinese literacy experiences of different generations of Thai Chinese families in Thailand, spanning periods characterized by varying ideologies toward the Chinese language, which have either constrained or facilitated its acquisition. This qualitative work examines how evolving national policies and international…

Malaysia is a multilingual and multiethnic country with a substantial population of ethnic Chinese, who use standardized languages such as Malay, English, and Mandarin, as well as various Chinese dialects in their daily lives within and beyond Chinese communities. Cantonese is a community language that significantly impacts the lives of local…

Using transnational literacies as the theoretical framework, this qualitative case study explores the transnational language and literacy practices of one female China-U.S. transnational adolescent, Meiyi, and her family. The data corpus includes critical ethnographic data generated over 3 years. Through data generation and analysis guided by…

Families that live temporarily abroad for work or education (amongst other reasons) often encounter some difficulties to maintain their children's L1; particularly when they live in English-speaking countries. This study explores the language maintenance experiences of ten Saudi Arabian families sojourning in Australia, from the perspective of…

The primary aim of this study was to explore and understand Chinese American parents' language and literacy beliefs, perceptions, and practices with regard to their preschool-age children. Using a convergent parallel mixed-methods study design, parents (seven mothers and one father) were recruited from a community center in a large southern city…

This paper provides insights into online language practices among bilingual teenagers who speak and learn a lesser-used language. Regarding language diversity, the internet is seen to pose both challenges to and opportunities for smaller languages. Focusing on German-Upper Sorbian adolescents, this study enquires to what extent new media and…

This qualitative study investigates the process of family language policy and planning among a group of immigrant mothers with south Asian backgrounds in Hong Kong, and explores the underlying cultural, socio-political and ideological reasons. Moving beyond a discrete analysis of family language policy within the home context to incorporate…

In U.S. schools, educators are often regarded as knowledge producers and sole pedagogues, whereas parents (particularly of Color) are perceived as not engaged or interested in their child(ren)'s education (Colgrove, 2019; Nun~ez, 2019; Ramirez, 2020). These negative stereotypes and white-centered discourses sustain raciolinguistic perspectives…

We examined factors determining parental success in transmitting heritage language (HL) and literacy in Russian-speaking migrant families of comparable socioeconomic status (SES) in Cyprus, Ireland, Israel and Sweden. A total of 345 Russian speakers completed a questionnaire about their language use and home language practices. Of those, we chose…

The Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (EGIDS), developed by Lewis and Simons and based on work by Fishman, provides a means of rating "language vitality"--the level of development or endangerment--where "development" is understood as adding or preserving functions and "endangerment" as loss of…

This study aimed to clarify the relations between morphological awareness and literacy skills in Spanish and English in young simultaneous bilingual learners. Guided by theoretical perspectives on the associations between morphological awareness and word- versus sentence-level literacy skills, and their transfer between bilinguals' two languages,…

The growing demand for Indigenous language education in the United States often relies on community teachers with widely varying proficiencies as part of local language reclamation efforts. While these English-dominant 'teacher-learners' play a central role in the success of classroom-based K-12 language programs, their classroom experiences and…