Performing Neoliberalism: A Synecdochic Case of Kurdish Mothers’ English Learning in a Nebraska Family Literacy Program

Abstract

Adult refugees often turn to informal learning opportunities, such as family literacy programs, to learn English. These programs often promote dominant, neoliberal ideologies and invoke a deficit lens that intends to fix newcomers. This chapter looks at the learning experiences of Kurdish refugees who participated in a family literacy program in Nebraska and examines how their English learning was mediated by neoliberal ideologies. Using ethnographic methods, this case illuminates a synecdochic moment: Kurdish mothers improvised to finish a homework assignment minutes before class and were prodded by interpreters to write down ideas that later receive praise from the instructor. The assignment reflected the school’s underlying ideology of what it means to be an involved parent: one who replicates school activities with their children. The mothers’ use of the interpreter to complete this assignment indicated their understanding that achievement was connected to the school’s perception of their parenting. Findings shed light on how parents perform in the context of institutionalized family literacy and how the program personnel’s perceptions of refugees become embedded in language teaching and learning.