Parents' Attitudes Toward First Language Acquisition for Their Children: A Case Study of Indian Immigrant Introduction In this study we explore Indian immigrant parent's attitude towards L1 acquisition for their child and their efforts to help their child acquire the best language whether it is Malayalum as their heritage language or English . Some implications for a complex relationship between the parents in terms of chose L1 for their child are mentioned briefly. Data were collected from an Indian parent(father) who had a child at age of 9 at the time of study using an interview. Two items designed to obtain information about parents' efforts to help their child maintain the L1 both at home and outside of the home were also included. The findings suggest that Indian immigrant parents are not very interested toward the majority language which is Arabic. Simply, they focus on an international language that is English or a heritage language which is Malayalum . In the following pages, we will present results from an interesting study exploring Indian immigrant parent attitudes toward heritage language, international language ,and majority language . In addition, we investigate one parent attitudes toward their child's L1 acquisition, Its domains ,and child' future. participant One immigrant parent who had a child at the age of 9 participated in this project. The age of participant was 46. He was born in Kirlla and immigrated to Saudi as adult in 2004. Mean length of residence in Jeddah was 9 years. The participant identified Malayalum as his native language. He also identified himself as a Muslim. Instrument The interview was divided into four parts: the first part was about language proficiency... ... middle of paper ... ...d conclusion It is important to note that the findings reported here are may not be generalsable to all Indian family who migrated to Saudi Arabia since only one participant participated. However, this field needs to be investigated in more details in the next few years because we, as Saudis, need to now more about different minority groups who live in our country. To conclude, the findings from this study suggest that, Indian parents in Jeddah are in struggle i.e. conflict due to who has the authority to choose the L1 on the behalf of the child. As appeared in the previous sections, the mother has more influence on the child's L1 whereas the father has a limited chance to do so. This is an interesting point, we could say now, in terms of L1 acquisition we have influenced by our mother's language , dialect, slang and accent more than our fathers.
The place of women in Saudi society is determined by a deeply conservative culture, vindicated by a narrow interpretation of religion, and enforced by law. That place it would appear is at home, subservient to and legally dependant on their male guardian. Saudi society suffers from pervasive segregation along gender lines and women's freedom of movement is impeded, forcing them to rely on male chaperons.
“Standard English was imposed on children of immigrant parents, then the children were separated from native English speakers, then the children were labeled “inferior” and “ignorant” (Hughes 70) because they could not speak Standard English. In addition to feeling inferior about their second language skills, these students also felt inadequate in regard to speaking their own mother tongues” (qtd in Kanae)
In Amy Tan’s essay “Mother Tongue” she illustrates the characteristics of both first and second generation immigrants. Also, she uses her short story “Two Kinds” to represent these characteristics. First generation immigrants are the first of their family to move to the United States. Tan’s essay describes her mother as a limited English speaker and describes her English as limited, broken and fractured (Tan essay, 3, 7). In “Two Kinds” the mother who is first generation in America also was a limited English speaker, throughout the story speaks in “broken
When these times arose, these children were the envy of most because they were not only bilingual and bicultural , but they also knew the lifestyles of both the white man and the Indian. The...
Recently immigrated parents often learn English from their children. Over 70% of Hispanic Americans in California are English Language Learners (ELL) and are given the resour...
Family and gender among American Muslims: issues facing Middle Eastern immigrants and their descendants. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
“Mother Tongue” is an essay that show the power of language and how Amy Tan uses the many forms of English and the different ways in which the language she knew impacted her life. I feel connected to Tan’s essay because I also come from a multilingual home. I have smart emigrant parents who are educated, but even though they are educated they still need my help with communicating with people occasionally. I believe the most important idea in Tan’s “Mother Tongue” is the limitation that an imperfect English can cause in a society and the richness that such English can bring to
Some theorists have argued that non-white parents who do not themselves speak English as a native language are more cynical about, or indifferent to, the value of education than are white or Asian parents (Gilborn, 2008). Some non-white parents have told researchers that education is unlikely to raise the status of their child; others, especially under-educated parents, have expressed the concern that education will somehow turn their children against them (Gilborn, 2008). Finally, scholars have noted that cultures in which English is deeply embedded
To function in a new country, the immigrants have to learn the country 's language. This is why the parents in Pat Mora 's “Immigrants” focus on speaking to their children in “thick English” (line 7). They do not think it is necessary to teach their children their own native language, instead they “whisper in their dark parent bed” (lines 10-11). They do this to make their children fit in;
In Amy Tan article “Mother tongue”, Amy Tan was talking about her love and fascination of language in daily life. Amy Tan explores the various forms of English that people from around the world use as they immigrate to the U.S. and how they are classified by the way they speak. Her mother plays a big role in telling of how her perspective on language has been changed. The author’s analyze the purpose and evaluate the effectiveness in her writing using persuasive devices to influence her audience. Through the article Amy use the various different rhetorical strategies such as the pathos and logos.
It is important to maintain children’s home language as it may help them learn and understand a second language. Barratt-Pugh (2000) discusses the benefits of bilingualism and maintaining it through early childhood settings, also mentions the concerns families have for their children maintaining two languages through schooling. Research within the article states that children who speak more than one language will have a higher level of understanding literacy content, form, genre, as well as understand the differences and translating within both languages. This demonstrates a contrast of strengths and experiences with literacy (linguist...
This report draws from many publications written over the last twenty years exposing the unique situation in Saudi Arabia, while also utilizing recent headl...
The idea to include L1 as part of the language teaching system has been debated upon in recent years. The strong anti-L1 suggest on a complete prohibition of L1 in classrooms, while many others see L1 as a tool to better students’ learning of the TL. This section will highlight the pros and cons arguments for using the L1 in classrooms, along with further evidence supporting the advantages mother tongue bring to the language learning, and teaching process.
...ents go on addressing them in their natural language, but the children reply in English. What the children of immigrants end up with is not a compromise, not a blend. They end up pure and simple with the language and culture of their peers” (pg. 30).
I came in contact with two of these refugees in my volunteer work with English language learners at Mann Middle School in Colorado Springs. Their families recently immigrated here from a refugee camp in Nepal. They had received only limited English schooling prior to moving to the United States but have, in the first few months they have been here, developed a limited but significant communicative competence. The girl, Khina, comes from a Hindu family, while the boy, Sita Ram, is Christia...