IMMIGRANT PARENT vs. IMMIGRANT CHILDREN: ATTITUDES TOWARD LANGUAGE LEARNING IN THE US

Year 2013, Volume: 7 Issue: 2, - , 01.06.2013

Ismail Hakkı Mirici Rebecca GALLEANO, Kelly Torres

Abstract

Interlocutors who come from different cultural backgrounds often find themselves in need of a shared language in order to successfully communicate. Sometimes the language they share may be the native language of one and the second language of the other, or it may be the lingua franca of both speakers. The purpose of this study is to develop an understanding of immigrant families’ attitudes toward language learning in the United States. Developing second language proficiency in English is important for both social interaction and educational achievement of immigrant children in the US whereas their parents may have a different set of linguistic needs for social interaction or professional advancement. This research investigated perceptions of immigrant parents and children about second language learning by administering an attitudinal questionnaire developed by Henry & Apelgren (2008). Data were collected from both children and their parents in the Southeastern US, and analysis revealed that parents perceived their children’s attitudes toward second language learning to be more positive than the children’s actual attitudes.

Keywords

Immigrant children, English as a Second Language, language learning attitude, elementary education

IMMIGRANT PARENT vs. IMMIGRANT CHILDREN: ATTITUDES TOWARD LANGUAGE LEARNING IN THE US

Abstract

Farklı kültürel birikimlere sahip insanlar başarılı bir şekilde iletişim kurmak için kendilerini sıklıkla ortak bir dil ihtiyacı içerisinde bulurlar. Bazen paylaştıkları dil bir tanesinin ana dili veya bir başkasının ikinci dili olabileceği gibi, bazen de bu her ikisi için de geçerli olan bir uluslararası dil olabilir. Bu çalışma göçmen ailelerin Birleşik Devletler’de dil öğrenmeye karşı olan tutumlarını açıklamaya çalışmaktadır. İngilizce’de ikinci dil yeterliğini geliştirmek Birleşik Devletler’deki göcmen çocukların hem eğitim başarıları hem de sosyal etkileşimleri açısından önemli bir hal alırken, onların ebeveynleri profesyonel gelişimleri ve sosyal etkileşimleri için farklı dil ihtiyaçlarına sahip olabilirler. Bu araştırma, Henry & Apelgren (2008) tarafından geliştirilmiş olan bir tutum anketi uygulayarak göçmen ebeveynlerin ve çocukların ikinci dil öğrenmeyle alakalı tutumlarını incelemektedir. Güneydoğu Birleşik Devletler’deki çocuklardan ve onların ebeveynlerinden veri toplanmıştır ve analiz ortaya çıkarmaktadır ki ebeveynler çocuklarının ikinci dil öğrenmeye ilişkin tutumlarının onların gerçek tutumlarına gore daha olumlu olduğunu düşünmektedirler.

Keywords

Göçmen çocuklar, İkinci dil olarak İngilizce, dil öğrenme tutumu, ilköğretim

References

• Bankston, C. L. & Zhou, M. (2002). Social Capital as Process: The Meanings and Problems of a Theoretical Metaphor?. Sociological Inquiry, 72(2), 285-317.
• Brown, C. (2011). American elementary school children’s attitudes about immigrants, immigration and being an American. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 32, 109Brownlee, J., Purdie, N. & Boulton-Lewis, G. (2003). An investigation of student teachers' knowledge about their own learning. Higher Education, 45(1), 109-125.
• Carhill, A., Suarez-Orozco, C. & Paez, M. (2008). Explaining English language proficiency among adolescent immigrant students. American Educational Research Journal, 4(4), 1155-1179.
• Chu, S. (2009). Implementation of supportive school programs for immigrant students in the United States. Preventing School Failure, 52(3), 67-72.
• Cook, T., Blachman, D., Dye, J., Macartney, S. & Lukacs, S. (2011). English language learners: Becoming fluent in afterschool. Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, 49, 229-336.
• Csizer; K. & Dörnyei, Z. (2005). Language learners’ motivational profiles and their motivated learning behavior. Language Learning, 55(4), 613–659.
• Dörnyei, Z. & Csizer, K. (2002). Some dynamics of language attitudes and motivation: results of a longitudinal nationwide survey. Applied Linguistics, 23, 412-462.
• Gans, H. (1992). Second generation decline: scenarios for the economic and ethnic futures of post 1965 American immigrants. Ethnic Racial Studies, 15(2), 173-192.
• Gardner, R. & Lambert, W. (1972). Culture and language as factors in learning and education. In F. Bound & R. Meade (Eds.), Cultural factors in learning and education, (pp. 184-203). Bellingham: Fifth Western Washington Symposium on Learning.
• Ghazvini, S. & Khajehpour, M. (2011). Attitudes and motivation in learning English as a second language in high school students. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15, 120912
• Henry, A. & Apelgren, B. (2008). Young learners and multilingualism: A study of learner attitudes before and after the introduction of a second foreign language to the curriculum. Elsevier, 36, 607-623.
• Janssen, M., Bakker, J. Bosman, A., Rosenberg, K. & Leseman, P. (2012). Differential trust between parents and teachers of children from low-income and immigrant backgrounds. Educational Studies, 38(4), 383-396.
• Johnson, K. (2001). An introduction to foreign language learning and teaching. England: Pearson Education Limited.
• Kaya, I. (2011). The case of Turkish Americans. Geographical Review, 95(3), 425-440.
• McEachron, G. & Bhatti, G. (2005). Language support for immigrant children: A study of state schools in the UK and US. Language, Culture, and Curriculum, 18(2), 164-180.
• Mori, Y., Satō, K. & Shimizu, H. (2007). Japanese language students' perceptions on "kanji" learning and their relationship to novel "kanji" word learning ability. Language Learning, 57(1), 57-85.
• Oroujlou, N. & Vahedi, M. (2011). Motivation, attitude and language learning. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 29, 994-1000.
• Phinney, J. & Ong, A. (2007). Conceptualization and measurement of ethnic identity: Current status and future directions. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 3, 271-281.
• Portes, A. & Zhou, M. (1995). Divergent destinies: immigration, poverty and entrepreneurship in the United States. In K. Mc- Fate & R. Rawson (Eds.), Poverty, Inequality and the Future of Social Policy Western States in the New World Order. WJ Wilson, New York: Russell Sage.
• Pritchard, R. M. O. & Loulidi, R. (1994). Some attitudinal aspects of foreign language learning in Northern Ireland: focus on gender and religious affiliation. British Journal of Educational Studies, 42(4), 388-401.
• Ramburuth, P. & McCormick, J. (2001). Learning diversity in higher education: A comparative study of Asian international and Australian students. Higher Education, 42(3), 333-350. Rutter, M. & Tienta M. (2005). Ethnicity and causal mechanisms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Shields, M. & Behrman, R. (2004). Children of immigrant families: Analysis and recommendations. The Future of Children, 14(2), 4-15.
• Tremblay, P & Gardner R. (1995). Expanding the motivation construction in language learning. The Modern Language Journal, 79(4), 505-518.
• Wells, R. (2010). Children of immigrants and educational expectations: The roles of school composition. Teachers College Record, 112(6), 1679-1704.
• Woolard, K. A. & Gahng, T-J. (1990). Changing language policies and attitudes in autonomous Catalonia. Language in Society, 19, 311-330.
• Worthy, J. & Rodríguez-Galindo, A. (2010). “Mi hija vale dos personas”: Latino immigrant parents' perspectives about their children's bilingualism. Bilingual Research Journal, 30(2), 579-601.
• Zhou, M. (1997). Growing up American: The challenge confronting immigrant children and children of immigrants. Annual Review of Sociology, 23, 63-95.