Acquisition of Multiple Languages Among Children of Immigrant Families: Parents' Role in the Home-School Language Pendulum

Abstract

This study examined immigrant parents' role in their young children's language learning and development in linguistically different contexts in Chicago. At home the children lived with parents who spoke little or no English. At school the children were taught by mostly English speaking teachers, occasionally with teacher aides who spoke some of the other languages the children understood. The children had to operate in two linguistic worlds that were considerably different. The study sought to explain the means by which immigrant parents helped their children learn English effectively and also maintain their mother tongue. Five data collection instruments were used in the study: a parent questionnaire, an activity chart, audio recorders, an observation guide during home visits and parent interviews. The parent interviews were conducted towards the end of the study as a means to triangulate information and to crosscheck and clarify meanings of the data from the other instruments. The study revealed that parents' roles included different factors that supported children's learning of the languages. The factors included: the parents' attitudes towards language in general, parents' interest in both mother tongue and English, joint parent-child activities and direct, linguistic exchange between child and parent. Other factors included teacher flexibility, teacher-parent communication, parents' English classes school support, and parents' sensitivity to school support. Problems faced by parents and teachers included parents' lack of English proficiency to communicate effectively about children's school learning, and lack of effective linguistic link between home learning and school learning.