The effect of multicultural family structures on the language attitudes of children and adolescents
Attitudes toward languages of bi- and multilingual children and adolescents have not yet become a focus of research. Despite rapid growth in the number of bi- and multilingual children and adolescents across the globe, surprisingly few studies have been devoted to this significant phenomenon. Bi-...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2018
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| Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/13585/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/13585/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/13585/1/19422-69264-1-PB.pdf |
| Summary: | Attitudes toward languages of bi- and multilingual children and adolescents have not yet
become a focus of research. Despite rapid growth in the number of bi- and multilingual
children and adolescents across the globe, surprisingly few studies have been devoted to this
significant phenomenon. Bi- and multilingualism is a major consequence of immigration and
cross-cultural marriages. Regardless of whether cross-cultural marriage is involved, the
immigration of families has considerable linguistic consequences on children and
adolescents. This paper draws on five case studies in examining the complex factors
determining the attitudinal patterns evinced by bi- and multilingual children and adolescents
from immigrant families in Thailand. Five households agreed to participate in this research
endeavor and data were also collected from surveys, interviews, observations and field notes
acquired through the employment of ethnographic investigative methods. The data collected
were analyzed through constant comparative method and content analysis. Findings showed
consistent patterns for those bi- and multilingual children and adolescents whose Thaispeaking
mother was linguistically dominant in a family with an immigrant father speaking a
minority language. The results showed that these children were more likely to perceive Thai
as more highly regarded language. By contrast, it was also found that Thai was not as highly
regarded by the children of parents if both were minority-language speaking immigrants. It
was concluded that the family structure of immigrant families is associated with the language
attitudes of their children. By the same token, the type of marriage of immigrant families has
long-reaching effects on the development of children and adolescents’ language attitudes.
Moreover, data showed that a non-migrant mother’s dominant language played a more
influential role in contrast to the minimal role-played by the migrant father’s minority
language in the development of children and adolescents’ language attitudes. |
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