Investigation of Parents’ Involvement in Minority Language Maintenance: Case Study of Chinese Heritage Learners’ Parents

In the past 40 years, studies have been conducted to determine the relationship between levels of parental involvement and school performance of bilingual students (Clark, 1983; Cronsnoe, 2001; Epstein, 1995; Gillum, 1977). Among all the different factors that contribute to the bilingual learners’ literacy development, home-context is ranked as one of the most important factors. Children enter formal school settings holding the knowledge that arises within their home-context (Marsh and Turner-Vorbeck, 2010). Although extensive research has concluded that Chinese parents generally hold positive attitude towards bilingual education (Lao, 2004; Li, 2006), it remains largely unknown how they translate their beliefs into home practices (Li, 2006). This study is an ethnographic case study of two Chinese families. These two groups of parents share a similar cultural background as well as their education level and annual revenue. However, one group of parents relies heavily on multi-media aids to promote their child’s literacy development at home, while the other group is inclined to encourage children’s interest in language learning by inviting them to participate in various culture-related activities. By controlling for cultural backgrounds, namely Chinese heritage and immigrant status (e.g. both groups of parents are green-card holders, and they have been living in U. S for more than five years), this study examines 1) the different strategies which are employed by the parents in maintaining Chinese as a minority language and in promoting its culture’s heritage, 2) the potential influence these teaching strategies have upon the construction of bilingual learner’s ethnic identity, and 3) the role which ethnic identity has played in promoting heritage language acquisition.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts and Education

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Judith Herb College of Education

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Toledo

Year dc:date

2013

Author dc:creator

• Li, Shikun

Contributors dc:contributor

• Coleman , Douglas

• Education

Statement dc:rights

• unrestricted
• This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1365118083

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:etd.ohiolink.edu:toledo1365118083