Technology and Identity Enactment among Muslim Immigrant Families

Michael K. Thomas*, Rohany Nayan**
* Department of Educational Psychology, University of Illinois Chicago, United States.
** Jariyah Foundation Inc, United States.
Periodicity:October - December'2024

Abstract

Grounded in sociocultural theory and informed by Bakhtinian's notions of dialogism, utterance, heteroglossia, and addressivity, this paper presents findings from a collective case study of the identity enactments and negotiations by way of their literacy practices of three children in the three families of Muslim immigrants (i.e., Muslim-Moroccan, Muslim- Somali, and Muslim-Indonesian) living in an American Midwestern town. Three types of data were collected: observations, spoken data, and artifacts. Data were analyzed at two tiers, first as individual cases and then as part of a cross-case analysis. This study revealed that there are co-occurring and mutually affirming processes that took place among the study participants identified as “eMersion,” “acquiring Qur'anic literacy,” “forging nostalgic alignments,” and “bilateral nostalgia.” This paper specifically highlights the complex process of literacy practices called “Acquiring Qur'anic Literacy” and “eMersion” and identity enactments called “Forging Nostalgic Alignment,” and their relationships to a phenomenon called “bi-lateral nostalgia” among these three Muslim immigrant families.

Keywords

Muslim, Immigrant, Technology, Identity Enactment, Literacy, Sociocultural Theory, Negotiations, Dialogism, Utterance, Heteroglossia, Addressivity.

How to Cite this Article?

Thomas, M. K., and Nayan, R. (2024). Technology and Identity Enactment among Muslim Immigrant Families. i-manager’s Journal on School Educational Technology, 20(2), 12-30.

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