ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a case study of an immigrant Fujianese-speaking mother’s challenges and resistances in a Mandarin-English dual language (DL) program located in the southeastern United States. Through her children’s schooling experience in a predominantly White and middle-class school, as well as her own racialized experience as a first-generation Chinese immigrant with limited English proficiency, the mother is aware of the importance of English. Despite her awareness of the English hegemony, she purposefully implemented the family language policies that promote Fujianese and Mandarin to preserve her children’s cultural and ethnic identity, and she intentionally enrolled her children into a Mandarin-English DL program. Although she appreciates the program’s efforts in sustaining her children’s cultural pride, she also recognizes the power imbalance and the prioritization of White students’ interests in the program, and encounters questioning and oppositions from non-DL parents. Research notes and teaching activities are provided following the case narrative. Specifically, this case underscores the importance of incorporating the counter-stories of immigrant families in the DL curriculum, highlighting the heritage aspect of promoting DL programs, and critically examining race, ethnicity, class, and English hegemony in DL spaces, so as to foster critical consciousness and engage language-minoritized families in meaningful ways.
