Abstract
The goal of this research was to explore thoroughly the perceptions of dispersed immigrant professionals and their bilingual and bicultural children regarding the place of new media technology in their lives. Open-ended interviewing and autoethnography were used to explore families’ perceptions of the role of media technology in their children’s development and maintenance of heritage language (HL) skills, relationships with relatives in the heritage country, and cultural identity. The voices represented are those of two Hungarian immigrant professionals and their families. The families found media technology beneficial in all three areas explored: the development and maintenance of HL, relationships with relatives, and heritage culture. Adult family members also repeatedly pointed out the significance of their own active involvement in the process, and their responsibility in selecting appropriate resources and in being available to support children in their optimal use of media technology. The study provides important insights for immigrant families and practitioners for nurturing children’s heritage language and culture.
