Content area
Full text
This study examines the home language and literacy practices of three madres mexicanas that used multimodal approaches to support their children's bilingualism and biliteracy.
Yo siempre le pregunto a sus maestras cómo va en la escuela, cómo le podemos ayudar en la casa. Solo me dicen que va bien y no me dicen nada de como va con el inglés. Y uno no sabe, pero le hacemos la lucha, le ayudo en lo que puedo. (I always ask his teachers how he is doing in school; how can I help at home. They only tell me that he is doing good and they do not tell me how is he doing with his English. One does not know, but we keep on fighting. I help him with what I can.)
The statement above is from Sra. Marta Ortega (all names in this article are pseudonyms), a Spanishspeaking madre mexicana (Mexican mother) who lived on the borderlands of Mexico and sent her child, Omar Ortega, to the United States on weekdays to attend an English-only school. Here, Sra. Ortega asked Omar's teachers how he was doing in school and how she might support him at home; however, school officials seemed to overlook her inquiries, responding with generalities such as "va bien" ("he is doing well") without addressing any specifics.
Fortunately, these experiences did not hold Sra. Ortega back. Le hace la lucha-she keeps on fighting; though she spoke only Spanish, she found multiple ways to support Omar's bilingualism and biliteracy on her own. In fact, Sra. Ortega, Sra. García, and Sra. Gonzáles, the three Spanish-speaking madres in this study, made use of digital tools at home to create authentic multimodal experiences that supported both Spanish- and English-language and literacy learning. These experiences were central to their daily interactions, helping to assert and assist their children's connections to their family and culture and to their education across national borders.
Research on Latinx Families' Language and Literacy Practices
Following the sociocultural tradition, several researchers have focused on documenting the language and literacy practices of Latinx families in their homes (Moll, 1992; Reese, 2012). These studies have generally been guided by the perspective that families and communities "use literacy in conducting their everyday life" (Delgado-Gaitán, 2005, p. 265)....