ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors advance the definition of emergent bi- and multilingual learners by first defining the limitations of the terminology ELL. Next, they define an ecological perspective toward human development that recognizes the role of context in language learning and development. Additionally, the authors discuss their experiences with language learning within their own family structures. Through self-stories and counternarratives, this chapter investigates the notions that revolve around emerging bilingual and multilingual language learners in early education with particular emphasis on children zero to six years of age. The co-authors discuss their language learning experiences within their family structures. These stories counter the White gaze of White Mainstream English (WME) as dominant and recenter the gaze upon a narrative of raciolinguistic justice originally seeded in our family stories. We came together as bi- and multilingual mother/grandmother scholars to weave our narratives and add our voices to the counternarrative tradition using a critical lens to frame and reflect upon our stories.
