The parental language policy on children's language acquisition: a case of international family

Faridatul Istighfaroh; Sonny Elfiyanto; M. Faruq Ubaidillah

doi:10.23971/jefl.v13i2.6339

The parental language policy on children's language acquisition: a case of international family

Faridatul Istighfaroh, Sonny Elfiyanto, M. Faruq Ubaidillah

Abstract

Discussing second language acquisition (SLA) from the perspective of one same-nationality family has been massively conducted. However, the recent study regarding SLA in toddlers in mixed-marriage families, especially with Indonesian mothers, has not been previously observed. Directed to the study demonstrated by Li (2007), this present study aimed to examine the three essential marks of family roles on their children's acquisition, such as the parent's literacy accomplishment, the daily occupation choice and opportunity, and adaptation as well as integration into the local country. Two families with Sudan-Indonesia and America-Indonesia backgrounds participated as research subjects. The narrative inquiry method through interviews (see Duff, 2019) was employed to gain the data. Then, the data were analyzed by using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six thematic analysis stages. The results revealed that the parental academic records of accomplishment, the family's occupation, and the socialization to the domestic environment positively affected family language policy (FLP), shaping the stairs of children's SLA. Moreover, this study may contribute to Indonesian families, school stakeholders, and EFL teachers in teaching the foreign language to their children and EFL students in gaining new languages.

Keywords

children's language acquisition; family language policy (FLP); Indonesian mother; international family; second language acquisition (SLA)

Full Text:

PDF

Article Metrics

Abstract view : 23 times | PDF view : 13 times

References

Alonso Dos Santos, M., Llanos Contreras, O., Calabuig Moreno, F., & Augusto Felicio, J. (2022). Should a family firm communicate their family identity and country of origin? a cross-cultural study from Chile and Spain. International Journal of Emerging Markets, 17(3), 725–746. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOEM-01-2020-0027

Bailey, J. (2008). First steps in qualitative data analysis: transcribing. Family Practice, 25(2), 127–131. https://doi.org/10.1093/fampra/cmn003

Blake, H. L., McLeod, S., & Verdon, S. (2020). Intelligibility enhancement assessment and intervention: a single-case experimental design with two multilingual university students. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics, 34(1–2), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699206.2019.1608470

Bourdieu, P. (1977). The economics of linguistic exchanges. Social Science Information, 16(6), 645–668. https://doi.org/10.1177/053901847701600601

Bown, J., & White, C. (2010). A social and cognitive approach to affect in SLA. IRAL - International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 48(4), 331-353. https://doi.org/10.1515/iral.2010.014

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa

Clément, R., Gardner, R. C., & Smythe, P. C. (1977). Motivational variables in second language acquisition: a study of Francophones learning English. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science / Revue Canadienne Des Sciences Du Comportement, 9(2), 123–133. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0081614

Connelly, F. M., & Clandinin, D. J. (2006). Narrative inquiry. In J. L. Green, G. Camilli & P. B. Elmore (Eds.), Handbook of complementary methods in education research (pp. 477–488). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers.

Curdt-Christiansen, X. L. (2009). Invisible and visible language planning: ideological factors in the family language policy of Chinese immigrant families in Quebec. Language Policy, 8(4), 351–375. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-009-9146-7

Curdt-Christiansen, X. L. (2016). Conflicting language ideologies and contradictory language practices in Singaporean multilingual families. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 37(7), 694–709. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2015.1127926

De Houwer, A. (2019). Bilingual language acquisition. In F. Paul & M. Brian (Eds.), The Handbook of Child Language (pp. 219–250). Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Duff, P. A. (2019). Case study research: making language-learning complexities visible. In M. Jim & R. Heath (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Research Method in Applied Linguistics. Routledge.

Duncan, S. T., & Paradis, J. (2020). Home language environment and children's second language acquisition: the special status of input from older siblings. Journal of Child Language, 47(5), 982–1005. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000919000977

Fiorentino, A. (2022). Receptive multilingualism and second language acquisition: the language transition process of adopted children. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 25(4), 1243–1258. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2020.1749232

Firth, A., & Wagner, J. (2007). Second/foreign language learning as a social accomplishment: elaborations on a reconceptualized SLA. The Modern Language Journal, 91(S1), 800–819. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2007.00670.x

Fogle, L. W. (2012). Second language socialization and learner agency: adoptive family talk. Multilingual Matters.

Gharibi, K., & Seals, C. (2019). Family language policy towards heritage language literacy acquisition and maintenance: Iranians in New Zealand. In S. Mirvahedi (Ed.), The Sociolinguistics of Iran's Languages at Home and Abroad (pp. 109–139). Springer International Publishing.

Gillham, B. (2001). Research interview. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Hassan, A., & Jusoh, W. Y. W. (2020). The relationship between orientations, ethnocentrism and parental roles in second language acquisition among form four students of fully residential schools in Terengganu. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 8(3C), 9–16. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2020.081602

Higgins, C. (2018). The mesolevel of family language policy. International Journal of Multilingualism, 15(3), 306–312. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2018.1477298

Hirsch, T., & Kayam, O. (2020). Academic mothers' definitions of bilingualism, bilinguality, and family language policies. Psychology of Language and Communication, 24(1), 22–43. https://doi.org/10.2478/plc-2020-0002

Hirsch, T., & Lee, J. S. (2018). Understanding the complexities of transnational family language policy. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 39(10), 882–894. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2018.1454454

Hollebeke, I., Struys, E., & Agirdag, O. (2020). Can family language policy predict linguistic, socio-emotional and cognitive child and family outcomes? a systematic review. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 41(1), 1–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2020.1858302

Izar, J., Nasution, M. M., & Ilahi, P. W. (2020). The stages, comparisons and factors of first language acquisition of two-years-old male and female child. JETLi: Journal of English Teaching and Linguistics, 1(2), 63–73. https://doi.org/10.55616/jetli.v1i2.17

Keijzer, M. C. J., & Schmid, M. S. (2016). Individual differences in cognitive control advantages of elderly late Dutch-English bilinguals. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 6(1–2), 64–85. https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.14032.kei

Kim, M., & Choe, H. (2020). A review of the literature on multicultural families in Korea. The New Studies of English Language & Literature, 75(2), 79–100. https://doi.org/10.21087/nsell.2020.02.75.79

King, K. A., Fogle, L., & Logan-Terry, A. (2008a). Family language policy. Language and Linguistics Compass, 2(5), 907–922. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-818X.2008.00076.x

King, K. A., & Logan-Terry, A. (2008). Additive bilingualism through family language policy: strategies, identities and interactional outcomes. Calidoscópio, 6(1), 5-19. https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=571561889002

Knauer, H. A., Jakiela, P., Ozier, O., Aboud, F., & Fernald, L. C. H. (2020). Enhancing young children's language acquisition through parent–child book-sharing: a randomized trial in rural Kenya. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 50(1), 179–190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2019.01.002

Lantolf, J. P., & Pavlenko, A. (1995). Sociocultural theory and second language acquisition. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 15, 108–124. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190500002646

Lanza, E., & Wei, L. (2016). Multilingual encounters in transcultural families. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 37(7), 653–654. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2016.1151198

Li, G. (2007). Home environment and second?language acquisition: the importance of family capital. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 28(3), 285–299. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425690701252028

Little, S. (2020). Whose heritage? what inheritance?: conceptualising family language identities. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 23(2), 198–212. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2017.1348463

Luo, R., Levine, D., Iglesias, A., de Villiers, J., Golinkoff, R. M., & Hirsh-Pasek, K. (2021). Home literacy environment and existing knowledge mediate the link between socioeconomic status and language learning skills in dual language learners. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 55(2), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2020.10.007

Martin, J. (2020). Multiculturalism and feminism. In B. Gill, D. L. Marie & M. Jeanne (Eds.), Intersexions (pp. 110–131). Routledge.

Menard-Warwick, J. (2019). "I always had the desire to progress a little": gendered narratives of immigrant language learners. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 3(4), 295-311. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327701jlie0304_5

Merriam, S. B. (1998). Qualitative research and case study applications in education. revised and expanded from case study research in education. Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Mitchell, R., Myles, F., & Marsden, E. (2019). Second language learning theories. Routledge.

Muslim, B. Z., & Mahbub, M. A. (2023). The role of self-regulated learning on foreign vocabulary learning: a multi-case study. Journal on English as a Foreign Language, 13(1), 78–101. https://doi.org/10.23971/jefl.v13i1.5238

Norton, B. (2012). Language, identity, and the ownership of English. TESOL Quarterly, 31(3), 409-429.

Ortega, L. (2014). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.

Palomo, N. (2019). Multicultural education: professionals' beliefs and practices on acculturation and second-language acquisition [Master's thesis, University of Oslo]. https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/69133/Masteroppgave-kandidatnr.-146.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Pavlenko, A., & Piller, I. (2008). Language education and gender. In S. May & N. H. Hornberger (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Language and Education, (pp. 57–69). Springer Science+Business Media LLC

Pesando, L. M. (2019). Global family change: persistent diversity with development. Population and Development Review, 45(1), 133–168. https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.12209

Pfenninger, S. E., & Singleton, D. (2019). Starting age overshadowed: the primacy of differential environmental and family support effects on second language attainment in an instructional context. Language Learning, 69(S1), 207–234. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12318

Pica, T. (1987). Second-language acquisition, social interaction, and the classroom. Applied Linguistics, 8(1), 3–21. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/8.1.3

Pica, T., & Doughty, C. (1985). The role of group work in classroom second language acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 7(2), 233–248. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263100005398

Pinter, A. (2014). Child participant roles in applied linguistics research. Applied Linguistics, 35(2), 168–183. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amt008

Purba, N., Mukramah, M., Maulana, M., & Ningsi, G. (2020). Language acquisition of children age 4-5 years old in TK Dhinukum Zholtan Deli Serdang. LingLit Journal Scientific Journal for Linguistics and Literature, 1(1), 19–24. https://doi.org/10.33258/linglit.v1i1.347

Roberts, T. (2021). The social underpinnings of language practices in Swedish-English families. Nordic Journal of English Studies, 20(1), 155–193. https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-84816

Said, F. F. S. (2021). Arabic-English bilingual children's early home literacy environments and parental language policies. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 29(3), 424–440. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2021.1928724

Schmidt, R. (1983). Interaction, acculturation, and the acquisition of communicative competence. In N. Wolfson & E. Judd (Eds.), Sociolinguistics and language acquisition (pp. 137-174). Newbury House.

Schreiber, J., & Asner-Self, K. (2011). Educational research: the interrelationship of questions, sampling, design, and analysis. Wiley.

Schumann, J. H. (1975). Affective factors and the problem of age in second language acquisition. Language Learning, 25(2), 209–235. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-1770.1975.tb00242.x

Schwartz, M., & Moin, V. (2012). Parents' assessment of their preschool children's bilingual development in the context of family language policy. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 33(1), 35–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2011.638078

Sevinç, Y., & Mirvahedi, S. H. (2022). Emotions and multilingualism in family language policy: introduction to the special issue. International Journal of Bilingualism, 27(2), 145-158. https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069221131762

Spolsky, B. (2004). The Cambridge handbook of language policy. Cambridge University Press.

Stavans, A. (2012). Language policy and literacy practices in the family: the case of Ethiopian parental narrative input. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 33(1), 13–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2011.638073

Suardi, S., & Samad, S. (2020). Stimulation of the early childhood language development: optimalization of a mother's role in family education. RETORIKA: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Dan Pengajarannya, 13(1), 196–204. http://dx.doi.org/10.26858/retorika.v13i1.12300

Tran, V. H., Verdon, S., McLeod, S., & Wang, C. (2022). Family language policies of Vietnamese–Australian families. Journal of Child Science, 12(01), e67–e78. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0042-1743490

Troesch, L. M., Segerer, R., Claus-Pröstler, N., & Grob, A. (2021). Parental acculturation attitudes: direct and indirect impacts on children's second language acquisition. Early Education and Development, 32(2), 272–290. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2020.1740640

Ukeka, A., & Raimi, L. (2016). Work-family role conflict and job performance among women bankers in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria. International Journal of Development and Management Review, 11(1), 103–119. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ijdmr/article/view/137830

Ushioda, E. (2014). Motivational perspectives on the self in SLA: a developmental view. In M. Sarah & W. Marion (Eds.), Multiple perspectives on the self in SLA (pp. 127–141). Multlingual Matters

Wan, Z., & Gao, X. (Andy). (2021). 'Home away from home': understanding Chinese parents' ideological beliefs and involvement in international school students' language learning. Current Issues in Language Planning, 22(5), 495–515. https://doi.org/10.1080/14664208.2021.1882767

Wenhan, X., Bee Chin, N., & Cavallaro, F. (2022). Living in harmony: the negotiation of intergenerational family language policy in Singapore. Language & Communication, 82, 8–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2021.11.004

Yin, J., Ding, Y., & Song, M. (2021). Literacy planning: family language policy in Chinese kindergartener families. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 42(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2021.1874393

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23971/jefl.v13i2.6339