#992: Preserving Heritage: How Diaspora Children Engage with a Persian Language Learning App

Persian-speaking diaspora families face challenges in helping their children learn Persian due to limited engaging resources. We introduce a gesture-based multimodal mobile app using culturally inspired pedagogy to make Persian reading interactive and meaningful. Using a design-based research approach, we analyze video interviews to examine patterns of engagement of child-app interaction. Findings reveal three patterns: cross-linguistic mapping, gesture-based recall, and self-initiated engagement, emphasizing the potential of culturally relevant multimodal learning to support heritage language learning.