How parents raise bilingual children and the differences between different minority languages in an English context
- Rhodri Jamieson-Ball
King's College London, UK
The report is on a study that addresses the questions:
- What are the factors behind raising children bilingually?
- In an English majority context, what differs when raising a child bilingually between different minority languages?
These questions are covered as there is limited research behind how specifically families raise children bilingually, and limited research comparing different minority languages.
The research is based on interviews with six parents who are raising their children bilingually. All the parents have children aged between 4 and 10.
The minority languages spoken are Italian, Swedish, Cantonese and Mandarin. All the parents are following a "one parent one language" or "minority language at home" strategy.
The results show that raising a child bilingually is more complex than the "one parent one language" or "minority language at home" strategy. Parents' view, opinions, expectations and experiences greatly shape this process. Additionally there are significant differences with the availability of resources, attitudes and motivations for different minority languages.
The main conclusion is that language ideologies of governments and supranational bodies have a significant impact in the raising of bilingual children within and beyond their geographic areas. More research is needed to understand this impact in more detail.