Promoting Critical Media Literacy in Bilingual Households Through Mother-Child Conversations About Gender: A Multiple Case Study

Abstract

ABSTRACT This qualitative case study explores the intersection of family literacy, bilingualism, and critical media literacy by examining how mother-child conversations about children’s videos helped preschool, bilingual children develop critical perspectives on gender roles. As part of a larger qualitative study, this study focused on 4-year-old, Korean-descent children’s conversations with their mothers about gender representations in children’s videos as well as in their drawing. The data were collected over three months through multiple sources, including observations, interviews, and children’s artifacts. The findings of this study suggest that critical media literacy practices can be used in bilingual households as a tool to enrich family literacy environments in which mother and child explore gender representations in children’s media in an interactive and critical way.