Letters Across Languages: Building Community, Agency, and Joy through Multilingual Penpalship Program

Authors

Yetunde S. Alabede, Michigan State UniversityFollow

Abstract

This reflective article explores the Multilingual Pen-Pal Program, a free, community-based initiative that connects children across Nigeria and the diaspora through letter writing and storytelling. Grounded in ẹ̀bùngogy, an offshoot of ẹ̀bùnlingualism, a framework that views language transmission as a communal gift, the program embodies teaching as gifting. Through translanguaging, storying, and reflexivity, children and families engage in multilingual literacy practices that center care, reciprocity, and joy. This article highlights how the program bridges theory and practice, offering teachers practical ways to cultivate culturally sustaining and multilingual classrooms where literacy becomes a shared, liberatory act of connection.

Author Bio

Yetunde Alabede is a Ph.D. candidate in Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education at Michigan State University and founder of Ebunoluwa Children School in Ogun State, Nigeria. Her research explores family language policy, multilingualism, and multiliteracy practices among African and diasporic families. She advocates for culturally sustaining and language-affirming education for young multilingual learners. She can be reached at alabedey@msu.edu.

Recommended Citation

Alabede, Yetunde S. (2026) "Letters Across Languages: Building Community, Agency, and Joy through Multilingual Penpalship Program," Michigan Reading Journal: Vol. 58: Iss. 2, Article 7.
Available at: https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/mrj/vol58/iss2/7