Abstract
This study offers insight into heritage language maintenance among an understudied population of Czech and Slovak immigrants in North Carolina. Due to their relatively low numbers and geographical dispersal, Czechs and Slovaks in North Carolina find themselves in situations where neither an ethnic community nor a language school is available to support heritage language maintenance.
Based on qualitative in-depth interviews with immigrant mothers in ten families, this chapter describes the struggles and dilemmas the mothers faced when attempting to raise bilingual children in a new gateway state. Findings show that immigrant mothers felt isolated and often unsuccessful in their efforts to (a) provide heritage language exposure and instruction for their children; (b) secure suitable language materials; and even (c) supply a viable motivation for heritage language learning.
Unable to find support from schools and the larger society, the families relied heavily on transnational contexts and resources. At the same time, the mothers prioritized children's English language proficiency over heritage language learning, perhaps a result of the general lack of support for societal bilingualism in the United States.
The struggles and dilemmas of the mothers have profound implications for both educational theory and practice.