Hmong high school students' critical reflections on heritage language, academic success, and family communication
Author(s):
Lee, Bo Vang
Format:
Thesis
Degree granted:
Ed.D.
Publisher:
Ann Arbor : University of San Francisco, 2002.
Pages:
114
Language:
English
Abstract:
Hmong students experience numerous social and educational problems due to drastic changes in their academic, social, and economic lives without language and cultural assistance in both the home environment and the school setting. This study explored Hmong high school students' reflections on the role of their heritage in promoting academic success and family communication. The methodology implemented for this study was participatory research, a dialogic process that focuses upon and addresses the empowerment of people through collaborative dialogues between the researcher and participants. Eight Hmong high school students who participated in this study critically reflected on the topics included in the five research questions: (a) the participant Hmong students' definition of academic success, (b) the participant Hmong students' reflections on their academic success, (c) their reflections on the role of their heritage language in promoting academic success, (d) their reflections on the role of their heritage language in promoting communication in the family, and (e) their thoughts on what their family and school can do to maintain their heritage language. Participants were individually engaged in two dialogue sessions with the researcher, which were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed to discover the generative themes that emerged. The analysis of the dialogues revealed the following themes: (a) academic success and family communication, (b) heritage language shift/loss, (c) language mixing, (d) support for the heritage language at home and in school, and (e) heritage language as a foreign language. This study concludes with Hmong students' reflections that (a) proficiency in the heritage language provides indirect benefits for academic success and promotes family communication, (b) Hmong students no longer feel comfortable to carry on an ordinary and deep conversation with adults in the heritage language, (c) mixing Hmong and English is a common practice, (d) the role of parents and schools in heritage language learning is important and needs to be improved, and (e) schools can offer Hmong as a foreign language to help Hmong students learn the language, achieve academic success, and establish and maintain connection with their grandparents and elders in the Hmong community.