Mak Emily, Nichiporuk Vanni Natasha, Yang Xintong, Lara Maria, Zhou Qing, Uchikoshi Yuuko
School of Education, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States.
Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States.
Front Psychol. 2023 Jan 30;14:1059298. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1059298. eCollection 2023.
Dual language learners (DLLs), especially those from immigrant families in the United States, risk losing their home language as they gradually shift to speaking English as they grow up. Given the potential benefits of bilingualism on children's cognitive, linguistic, and social-emotional development, it is crucial to maintain children's home language to foster bilingual development. The current literature suggests that parental beliefs toward bilingualism and the language and literacy environment are linked to children's language development. With the growing number of DLLs living in the United States, little is known about what parental beliefs about bilingualism of their children are integrated into these bilingual households and parents' role in home language maintenance. The present study addresses the gap in the literature by investigating low-income immigrant families, specifically Chinese American and Mexican American families, and exploring the parental perceptions of children's bilingual language learning. Further, the present study examines the relations among parental perceptions of bilingualism, home language and literacy practices, and home language oral proficiency. Data were collected from a total of 41 Mexican American and 91 Chinese American low-income immigrant families with DLLs ages 50-88 months who had been recruited from Head Start programs and state-funded preschools in Northern California when the children were 3-4 years old. Information about shared reading frequency, home language exposure and usage, and parental perceptions of bilingualism was collected through parental interviews, and DLLs' home language oral proficiency was individually assessed. No significant difference in home language oral proficiency was observed between the two groups. Principal Components Analysis on the parental perceptions of bilingualism measure revealed two components, "Importance of Being Bilingual" and "English over Bilingualism." Stepwise regression analysis results show that "Importance of Being Bilingual" was associated with children's home language oral proficiency after controlling for culture, child age, the frequency of home language shared book reading, and child home language exposure and use. The results show that parents' positive beliefs toward bilingualism are related to the children's use of that language and their children's language outcomes. Implications and suggestions for home language and literacy support for DLLs are discussed.
双语学习者（DLLs），尤其是那些来自美国移民家庭的孩子，在成长过程中逐渐转向说英语时，有失去母语的风险。鉴于双语对儿童认知、语言和社会情感发展的潜在益处，维护儿童的母语以促进双语发展至关重要。当前的文献表明，父母对双语的信念以及语言和读写环境与儿童的语言发展有关。随着生活在美国的双语学习者数量不断增加，对于这些双语家庭中父母对孩子双语的信念以及父母在维护母语方面的作用知之甚少。本研究通过调查低收入移民家庭，特别是华裔美国家庭和墨西哥裔美国家庭，并探索父母对孩子双语学习的看法，填补了文献中的空白。此外，本研究还考察了父母对双语的看法、母语和读写实践以及母语口语能力之间的关系。数据收集自总共41个墨西哥裔美国家庭和91个华裔美国家庭的低收入移民家庭，这些家庭的双语学习者年龄在50 - 88个月之间，他们是在孩子3 - 4岁时从北加利福尼亚的启智计划项目和国家资助的学前班招募而来的。通过父母访谈收集了关于共同阅读频率、母语接触和使用情况以及父母对双语的看法的信息，并对双语学习者的母语口语能力进行了单独评估。两组在母语口语能力方面未观察到显著差异。对父母对双语的看法进行主成分分析，结果显示有两个成分，即“双语的重要性”和“英语优于双语”。逐步回归分析结果表明，在控制了文化、孩子年龄、母语共同阅读书籍的频率以及孩子的母语接触和使用情况后，“双语的重要性”与孩子的母语口语能力相关。结果表明，父母对双语的积极信念与孩子对该语言的使用及其语言学习成果有关。文中还讨论了对双语学习者母语和读写支持的启示及建议。
