Multilingual cultural resources in child-headed families in Uganda

Abstract

This article reports on a study focusing on the use of multilingual cultural resources in child-headed households (CHHs) in Uganda’s Rakai District. Using funds of knowledge and sociocultural perspectives on children’s learning, we documented through ethnographic observations and interviews how children in four CHHs used multilingual cultural resources at home. Our findings show that children co-construct, re-appropriate and remix stories, songs, riddles and proverbs from their cultural environment in situated ways that are a response to the changing context of their social worlds. The study provides a window onto the unique production and use of multilingual cultural resources in CHHs, and further speaks to the need for educators and policymakers to better understand the critical role of siblings in their own learning of linguistic and cultural knowledge.