Choose one question to tackle or respond to both:
Based on the article we read this week and other sources of information, which factors influence parents’ decisions on whether or not to raise their children bilingual? What can be done to encourage parents to do so?
Many popular magazines for women suggest that even mothers with low levels of proficiency in a foreign language can teach their babies to speak and understand an L2. Would you agree with this advice?
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October 26, 2011 at 11:02 pm
Lance Armistead
Parents often read popular literature such as magazine and newspaper articles for advice on whether to raise children bilingually. If these articles do include scientific studies, often the parents do not remember specific findings and selectively remember vague generalizations that tend to match their current schemas of raising children to be bilingual. They also listen to friends and family members who have experience or knowledge about bilingualism. Their most important source of information (and basis for their decision) actually tends to be their own personal experiences and preferences, so they tend to reject/ignore advice and studies that go against these beliefs and preferences.
Since the general public is quick to make judgments and typically does not like to dedicate time to doing balanced, non-biased research on a topic, it would be helpful for them to get advice from experts in terms they can understand. In a perfect world,pediatricians and OB/GYNs would be educated with the facts and most up-to-date research. They could dispel myths and explain the pros and cons (i.e. potential challenges, hard work involved, etc) to the parents in terms they can understand. Pamphlets summarizing the information could even be given to the parents to take with them. While this may help the situation, in the end, many people are hard-headed and believe whatever they want to believe no matter what the facts are.
October 27, 2011 at 8:30 pm
yanjinli
1. Three major factors, which frame and shift parents’ decisions on language policy, are uncovered in this article: popular parenting advice literature, family network and parents’ personal experiences of language learning. It appears that these three factors come into play in the one and same picture and shed effects on parents’ decisions. Though each of these three elements weighs in a similar scale based on the numeric terms mentioned by all the 24 families’ interviews; the fact is that parents’ personal experiences are the first in-hand recourse to defend their own decisions as well as to fight against different opinions from both family members and friends. In addition, personal experiences also serve as evidence to explicitly select appropriate approaches and pedagogical methods from the popular parenting literature and family network’s suggestions. In short, when making the decision on children’s language policy, parents usually incorporate their own experiences into the selection process.
Some other factors mentioned in this article including but not limited to prevalent public recognition of “good parent”, current tendency and sociopolitical conditions, and national language learning trend and policies. Similar to the author, I also agree that the gradual shift of sociopolitical conditions can influence parent’s decisions slowly. Parents also in turn pay attention to what has been acknowledged as “good parent”, and they might try to accomplish their goals of raising children in accordance with such norms.
October 28, 2011 at 3:26 pm
Anastasia Sorokina
2) I do not think that mothers with low L2 proficiency should talk to their babies in L2. The input might have L1 transfers and wrong pronunciation. A child can pick up those mistakes. Also, if a mother uses L1 syntax structures in her L2, a child will not really have an exposure to 2 languages. It is not going to do any favor to the child. Children have a great capacity to learn, and one’s broken L2 should not waste the space in that child’s brain. It would better to use that time for play dates with native speakers of other languages.
October 30, 2011 at 8:16 pm
braddinardo
I agree with Anastasia. It seems to me that there are other more effective ways to introduce a 2nd language. The input a child receives is really important and it is not advantageous for a child to receive input which contains errors, whether phonological or syntactical. A mother should focus her energy on increasing her child’s languages skills in her L1 rather than using an L2. Also, how much can a child really gain from someone who speaks at a low level? The mother most likely wouldn’t be able to put together anything that would resemble natural conversation, as low level learners lack the ability to express themselves in their L2. I guess you could teach a child some vocabulary, but once again, there are so many other ways to promote bilingualism.
October 29, 2011 at 4:26 pm
Caleb
I agree with Lance and YanJin’s comments that bilingual parenting policies are complex, personal, and influenced by a variety of sources: pop. literature & ideas from peers.
The research ‘subjects’ were all families just beginning their bilingual journeys with their kids, and I think it needs to be pointed out that their decisions and opinions about bilingualism child rearing will likely evolve over time. It’s very unlikely that their beliefs and practices will stay in a static state over the growth and development of their family and of their child. It was especially strange to me that financial, time, and energy resource constraints were not talked about; this is going to be a major shaping factor going forward with many of these families and greater planning materials for practical matters such as this will be needed.
Second, language is not a knowledge base you turn-on or off b/c your parents decide to educate you bilingually. I believe that kids and learners are not mindless containers of knowledge, but interact with their environment intelligently and purposefully. The most effective and healthy environment is likely to include a community beyond the family where the language knowledge + language use is able to take root. Technology such as facebook or other social network tech can help to connect bilingual famiies with other like-minded people that are middle-class, upper level class, and researchers even. And what of lower-class immigrants or families who wish to have bilingual kids? Like I said before, practical concerns such as financial, time, and energy resources are not matters to simply be ignored by researchers and educators, and so the debate rages on.
October 29, 2011 at 8:44 pm
Karen Graf
I am interested in the idea of parents with a minimal proficiency in a second language speaking to their children and what, if even, benefits could arise. Some factors to consider would be if they are minimally proficient but in the process of learning the L2 and evolving linguistically. Also, it is important to understand if the child will hear input or be able to interact with this L2 from other sources. And, if so, I don’t think it would be completely detrimental if the parent does not posess perfect proficiency in the language, provided that they are receiving input from other native-like sources.
October 30, 2011 at 12:59 pm
Jialing Wang
1) Based on the article we read this week, the most important factor influence parents’ decision on raising their children bilingual is their personal experience. It is the key criterion to judge the reliability of other, such as the emotional and practical support from friendship and family networks, and popular press and parents advice literature. And I think, personal experience is hard to change. The thing linguists, educators can make effort of is making fully use of mass media to disseminate the benefit and successful paradigms from real families.
2) I can’t agree with these popular magazine’s suggestions. I think parents teaching their babies to speak an L2 should have a level of proficiency above a certain threshold. Their accent or grammar mistakes will influence children’s future development in L2. In addition, I don’t think mothers with low level of proficiency in a foreign language can successfully let their children learn a “L2”. As we know, it is even hard for proficient L2 parents to teach their children speak L2 (see a lot of examples from second generation immigrants who failed in keeping their parents original language) in the mainstream society. And most parents raising bilingual children take the measure of OPOL policy. If the mother’s L2 proficiency is limited, it is hard for her to keep using one language at home all the time. Hence I think it is almost impossible for mothers with low proficiency in L2 to influence their children’s language development.
October 30, 2011 at 1:16 pm
Jialing Wang
I just thought of one of my friends, whose son is almost ten years old now. She is an English learning “enthusiast”. She kept learning English herself after learning it at school for three years. But she had some difficulties passing the CET-4 (college english test). So I would think her English is kind of low level proficiency. When her boy was born, she started teaching him some English vocabulary. I’m not sure if she talked a lot English sentences to the child. But when he could speak Chinese, he also could use some English words. One day I met them, and she was so happy to tell me her son could say some English words. When I pointed at the lamp, he could say “lamp”.
But several years later, when I met her again when she was studying in another city in her master program, I asked about her son. She said she was depressed because her son forgot those English words at all. Fortunately, he would soon go to elementary school and start English learning again.
I haven’t seen them for a long time, I’m really curious about the boy’s English learning now. Even though he forgot the vocabulary he could remember when he was a baby, maybe that experience still has some subconscious influence to him. I think parents with low level of proficiency in L2 cannot teach their children an L2, but can encourage them through developing their interests in L2, teaching some vocabulary, establishing a good L2 learning environment, etc. Not direct teaching, but it’s still helpful in their future L2 learning, I think.