This article presents a qualitative case study of a sevenyear-old Mexican American
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literature discussions, and his parents’ ideological discourses about the
use of a minority language in public schools. Vygotsky’s theory of
learning oriented this research on language ideologies, focusing on how
parents’ ideological discourses shape both literacy development and
identity formation in early childhood. Our findings illustrate the importance of
looking beyond the classroom and school contexts to identify diverse factors that
may affect children’s development of biliteracy in early childhood, such
as the role of language ideologies. This study demonstrates the complex
relationships between literacy, language ideologies, and issues of identity within
the broader contexts of controversies over bilingual education and official English
laws in the USA.
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