Parental Views of Minority Language Instruction in a Spanish Enrichment Program and for English Language Learners

Abstract

Forty parents of children enrolled in a Spanish Enrichment Program (SEP) at a Southern California university’s children’s center responded to a questionnaire inquiring on their attitudes toward their children learning Spanish, as well as the principles of bilingualism and the instructional use of minority languages with English Language Learners (ELLs). While parents appeared to support the SEP and the tenets of bilingualism, and value their children’s development of bilingual skills, their support for the instructional use of minority languages with ELLs to help these students develop bilingual skills was not as strong. However, notably, a large number of participants were “not sure”. This finding hints at the need for a concerted effort on the part of the SEP’s faculty and staff to provide parents with more information on the principles of second language acquisition and bilingualism in general, in order to benefit all children, not just their own