As a future bilingual/dual language educator, this research study really intrigued me. I have talked with multiple families who have decided to enroll their children in dual language (Spanish-English) programs in order to have them become bilingual and biliterate. I personally feel this is a very popular topic right now and dual language programs continue to develop throughout the country. As the demand for such programs increases, so must our attention to why parents are electing for their students to enroll. What is their justification for doing so? After all, many parents who don't even know Spanish have decided to have their students learn Spanish.
The research stated that children will be English-dominant if not English monolingual by middle to late childhood. Possible reasons for this are the high status of English, how language policies don't support non-English languages, the lack of high quality bilingual education, and the role of peers and siblings. Unfortunately, the quest for 'perfectly balanced' bilingual children leads may times to parental disappointment and a sense of failure. It is easy to image adding a foreign language into the curriculum, just like math or music, but I personally believe the United States is just not used to, or fully open to, this idea. Parents may assume that since their children are enrolled in dual language programs, they will have no difficulties in speaking in two languages. Their expectations may be set too high, especially if the parents themselves have never acquired a second language nor tried to.
The United States is ranked #25 in education world-wide. Coincidence or not, the US also fails to give many students the opportunity to grasp a second language at an early age. High school requirements consist of a foreign language component, but as we learned earlier, by then the critical age period has elapsed.
Overall, family language policies encompass beliefs and ideas about languages. This reminds me of Kubota and the idea of underlying power. In this case, the underlying power (and perhaps status) of knowing two languages is what drives many parents to have their children be bilingual. Many parents rely on parenting books, self-help resources, and the conviction of "being a good mother" to consider dual language programs/additive bilingualism for their children. Private sources such as family and friends also factored into decisions. The idea of "good parenting" through pushing bilingualism is a concept I will address later.
Throughout the parent interviews in the study, the focus was on goals for the child's language development, strategies to meet those goals, children's language exposure and proficiencies, and the parent's beliefs about language learning. The parents that participated in the study were on a continuum from both being native English-speakers to both being fluent in Spanish and using Spanish at home. I wish this study would have included single parent homes as well. Perhaps there is a stronger push for children of those homes to learn a second language so they have a "better chance at economic success" than their single parents might have. The research also didn't address children's preferences or competencies and parental strategies. These are important components to consider, though.
Not everyone would agree with the statement that "good parents" push for their children to be bilingual and that those parents who don't are less quality. In fact, some may think the very opposite depending on their backgrounds, context, and where they live/what their country thinks. The parents who did see benefits in being bilingual and had their children enrolled saw the importance of cultural ties and economic opportunities associated with knowing two languages. They recognized the risks perhaps involved in being bilingual, such as language delay, confusion, and effective teaching practices, but they chose to continue pursuing bilingual education for their students. I feel that there will always be a source that either defends or contradicts what you believe and choose to do. Therefore, there must be some strong influences and reasoning as to why parents have chosen to stick with bilingual education.
The three sources that parents with students in bilingual programs seemed to use to defend their decisions were popular press and parenting advice literature, other bilingual families (particularly extended), and personal experience with language learning. If I were to examine these three areas in my life (and if I had children now!), here is what I would say: As a bilingual educator, I am currently learning all about research regarding the bilingual education field and why additive bilingualism and dual language programs are so beneficial. I would have plenty of research and books to support why my children should enter 2-way bilingual education programs. Secondly, I know many other families who are raising their children to be bilingual. None of them are in my extended family, but I have a close support group of parents who are like-minded in me with seeing the benefits of being bilingual. Lastly, my personal experience with language learning would play an important role in my decision to have my students be bilingual at an early age. I didn't begin learning Spanish until high school, and feel it was much more difficult than it would have been if I had been learning Spanish since kindergarten.
I found it very interesting that many parents couldn't cite specific research articles, authors, or books to back up their reasoning. Rather, they just knew "general research" and had "vague openers." Many parents also relied on family comparisons to justify their decisions. For example, Krista's family member stopped teaching her child a second language because she thought it was affecting her L1. Krista didn't want to accept the same fate as this "negative example" so she is following through with bilingualism with her child. I personally agree with Krista. If you judge whether or not the child is being negatively affected by bilingualism at the earliest stages, chances are the results will appear negative because the child is in the beginning part of language acquisition! It does the child very few benefits to begin teaching him or her a second language and then abruptly stop!
Overall, parents contrasted their own 'good parenting' against an unsuccessful example to construct their own parenting processes as 'better' than others. These parents rejected the fears of language delay and confusion, enforced Spanish language use, and rejected stigmatized Spanish statuses. The most pervasive justification for parents' decisions, however, stemmed from personal language experiences. Carol wants her child's second language to be natural, not the process of thinking through each word he wants to say before translating it. Therefore, her child must have the second language introduced and taught to him at an early age and through specific methods.
From this research study, it is evident that personal decisions are influenced by one's own experiences. When directly challenged by families regarding their decisions, parents sought research that confirmed their beliefs. However, I can also look at the flip side of the coin and say that these families that confront the parents may have their won research backing up what they say. It is a matter of looking at the child and seeing what his or her specific needs are. How do they perform academically? Are they motivated? Would they be invested in learning another language? I think research should be done on the factors involved in student reception to second languages. Research studies likely vary in results because each child is so different, especially in learning abilities. Parents accept AND reject expert advice, depending on what they want to believe. Amy rejected the idea of 'one person one language on her own evaluation of the situation and in what was practical for HER family. In other words, she went against research in this case because it just wasn't feasible for her family (only one language spoken at home). In the end, parents must be confident with the decision they have made and stand behind their child to support him or her the entire academic career. Parents must also remain critical consumers of advice. They can't just openly accept and believe everything they hear, but rather learn to discern the facts.
Another question I thought of while reading the study was how the students would acquire their second language. I was reading elsewhere about classroom settings vs. natural settings for SLA. With naturalistic settings, students seemed to develop better fluency. With classroom settings, students were more accurate in their second language. Perhaps parents should read more into this when deciding on their child's academic concerns. Dual language classrooms are very beneficial in this sense because students can interact with native speakers of the second language AND have access to more formal instruction in the classroom.
A final thought worth mentioning is viewing the embrace of additive bilingualism for children as a movement towards hyper-parenting (the management of children's lives in pursuit of child success as a measure of parental achievement). Promoting additive bilingualism, just like promoting early math or early science, is becoming a part of mainstream parenting. Overall, this research study was very interesting. However, I want more research and input from parents who maybe chose NOT to support their children in additive bilingualism, or those who changed their positions and thoughts.
I was speaking with a parent of two young boys. She had initially enrolled them in a dual language program (Spanish and English) but pulled them out just two years in. She pulled them out because they weren't getting the social component of school. It was very hard for them to interact with others because of the language barrier and also because their Spanish-speaking peers couldn't socialize with them after school fro various reasons (lived far away, parents struggled to communicate with other parents, etc.) If we look back at "good parents" vs. "bad parents," shouldn't social skills be something parents consider when they consider bilingualism for their children? This parent decided to hire private tutors to teach Spanish to her children, and they are able to now read Spanish chapter books by age 8! Not everyone can afford Spanish tutors, but the point here is that this parent considered both academic and social skills when deciding on bilingualism. Often the mother is the one who must carry the weight for the decision, and this was the case.
The research study really ties into the McKay Chapter 4 reading, which deals with language planning and policy. What designates an official language? There are three ways that the designation of an official language has consequences for language learning and teaching. They are, "the insight the designation provides into prevalent social attitudes towards particular languages, the effect of approved language policies on the stated language-in-education policy, and the setting of linguistic standards, particularly in relation to nativized varieties of English."
It is important to understand the difference between language planning and language policy. Language policy is the more general linguist, political, and social goals that underlie the actual language planning process. Language process, on the other hand, refers to al conscious efforts that aim at changing the linguistic behavior of a speech community. We can think back to the research study and how parents looked at language policy to plan their children's linguistic development. Language planning can be distinctive in status (position and function of a language in the country) and language corpus (script, grammar, spelling, etc.) In regards to status, many parents see a need for their students to be bilingual because of the large increase in the Spanish-speaking population and more job availability. Those who are learning English in the United States need to be able to communicate freely. Globalization has also impacted parents- the majority of other countries have speakers of multiple languages. That is just the way the world is. Parents don't want their children to be "linguistically behind" so there is a push fro additive bilingualism at a young age.
Language education is compartmentalized through the bilingual policy. English is the medium of instruction, besides the mother tongue classroom. In fact, in many classrooms, the use of other languages is banned or strongly discouraged. This makes me very upset, because there is such richness of knowledge that can come from other languages.
In the United States, there are two debates on language: English as an official language and bilingual education. Previously, there was reluctance in the US to have an official language policy. However, a momentum began in the early 1980s to make English the official language. As with any change, there is sure to be controversy and debate to follow. Those who wanted English as the official language stated the a common language benefits a country and its people because it serves as a bond, especially in a country with such rich diversity. This seems contradicting to me. If we value such rich diversity, why do we have to make one common language?
The Bilingual Education Act of 1968 began as a legislative movement to address the education needs of children who spoke languages other than English as their L1. Children are educated through two languages, one being their L1. The controversy comes in to play because a policy that makes the status of English official would make the use of other languages problematic. I personally see many benefits to bilingual education. Students have the opportunity to interact with peers who are learning another language as well. They are excellent resources for each other and everyone can build confidence because everyone is learning.
To summarize McKay's chapter, we see a few prominent themes. First, there is a relationship between language and social class. In our research, though, we found that not just the elite were pushing for additive bilingualism. Also, there seem to be benefits to knowing English all throughout the world. The spread of international English is a way to increase economic opportunity in many cases. English is seen as being neutral and without ethnic identity. We must also consciously and critically consider the marginalization of those who speak only linguistic forms other than the Standard.
It was very interesting to read about the research on parents and their decisions regarding raising their children to be bilingual. There were also important themes in McKay's chapter. English seems to hold a lot of power, but perhaps there is true power to being bilingual, and perhaps this power will help shatter the "superior status" English holds internationally. After all, I believe all languages are truly rich and powerful.
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