Spanish-speaking parents’ experiences after English-only and Spanish-only interactions with their children

Authors

  • Maria Morales Florida International University
  • Alliete R. Alfano Florida International University
  • Angela M. Medina Florida International University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jmbs.18804

Keywords:

second language learning, second language learner experiences, native language usage

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore L1 versus L2 (or English-only versus Spanish-only) language use during play activities with their children from the perspective of the immigrant parent. Nine primarily Spanish-speaking parents of typically developing children 12–46 months of age were interviewed after completing play activities with their children in English and in Spanish. To develop participant language proficiency profiles, descriptive data were collected and analysed using clinical language tools. Data on participants’ perceptions of language were collected using semi-structured interviewing and analysed using thematic analysis procedures. Participant–child forced language interaction data were collected during play activities and analysed using linguistic analysis software. One major theme (forced English as a barrier to authentic communication) and three subthemes (child did not understand parent, parent felt uncomfortable and code-switching) were found based on their experiences. The results from this study show that these Spanish-speaking parents who are learning English feel more comfortable speaking to their children in their native language. The lack of comfort and proficiency in English had a negative impact on parents’ language output in quality and quantity which has implications for the children’s overall language exposure. The information obtained from this study may be used to educate professionals working with Spanish-speaking parents that are learning a second language.

References

ACTFL. (2015). Oral proficiency levels in the workplace. Retrieved from www.actfl.org/resources/actfl-proficiency-guidelines-2012

Albarracin, J., Cabedo-Timmons, G. & Delany-Barmann, G. (2019). Factors shaping second language acquisition among adult Mexican immigrants in rural immigrant destinations. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 41(1), 85–102. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986318821703

Archila-Suerte, P., Zevin, J. & Hernandez, A. E. (2015). The effect of age of acquisition, socioeducational status, and proficiency on the neural processing of second language speech sounds. Brain and Language, 141, 35–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2014.11.005

Babatsouli, E. & Nicoladis, E. (2018). The acquisition of English possessives by a bilingual child: Do input and usage frequency matter? Journal of Child Language, 46(1), 170–183. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0305000918000429

Bail, A., Morini, G. & Newman, R. S. (2014). Look at the gato! Code-switching in speech to toddlers. Journal of Child Language, 42(5), 1073–1101. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0305000914000695

Bialystok, E. (2009). Bilingualism: The good, the bad, and the indifferent. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 12(1), 3–11. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1366728908003477

Bialystok, E. & Miller, B. (1999). The problem of age in second-language acquisition: Influences from language, structure, and task. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 2(2), 127–145. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1366728999000231

Birdsong, D. (2006). Age and second language acquisition and processing: A selective overview. Language Learning, 56, 9–49. hhttps://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2006.00353.x

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

Buac, M., Gross, M. & Kaushanskaya, M. (2014). The role of primary caregiver vocabulary knowledge in the development of bilingual children’s vocabulary skills. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 57(5), 1804–16. https://doi.org/10.1044/2014_jslhr-l-13-0055

Carbajal, M. J. & Peperkamp, S. (2019). Dual language input and the impact of language separation on early lexical development. Infancy, 25(1), 22–45. https://doi.org/10.1111/infa.12315

Cheng, L. R. & Butler, K. (1989). Code-switching: a natural phenomenon vs language ‘deficiency’. World Englishes, 8(3), 293–309. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-971x.1989.tb00670.x

Chondrogianni, V. & Marinis, T. (2011). Differential effects of internal and external factors on the development of vocabulary, tense morphology and morpho-syntax in successive bilingual children. Internal and External Factors in Child Second Language Acquisition Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 1(3), 318–45. https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.1.3.05cho

Cummins, J. (2001). Bilingual children’s mother tongue: Why is it important for education? Sprogforum, 7(19), 15–25.

Fernald, A. (2006). When infants hear two languages: Interpreting research on early speech perception by bilingual children. Childhood Bilingualism, 19–29. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853598715-003

Flege, J. E., Munro, M. J. & MacKay, I. R. A. (1995). Effects of age of second-language learning on the production of English consonants. Speech Communication, 16, 126.

Flege, J. E., Mackay, I. R. & Meador, D. (1999a). Native Italian speakers’ perception and production of English vowels. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 106(5), 2973–87. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.428116

Flege, J. E., Yeni-Komshian, G. H. & Liu, S. (1999b). Age constraints on second-language acquisition. Journal of Memory and Language, 41(1), 78–104. https://doi.org/10.1006/jmla.1999.2638

Genesee, F. (2015). Myths about early childhood bilingualism. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne, 56(1), 6–15. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038599

Ginsburg, K. R. (2007). The importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent–child bonds. Pediatrics, 119(1), 182–91. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2006-2697

Goldenberg, C., Reese, L. & Rezaei, A. (2011). Contexts for language and literacy development among dual- language learners. In A. Y. Durgunoglu C. Goldenberg (eds), Language and Literacy Development in Bilingual Settings (pp. 3–25). New York: Guilford Press.

Green, D. W. & Wei, L. (2014). A control process model of code-switching. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 29(4), 499–511. https://doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2014.882515

Grosjean, F. (2010). Bilingual: Life and reality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Hammer, C. S., Davison, M. D., Lawrence, F. R. & Miccio, A. W. (2009). The effect of maternal language on bilingual children’s vocabulary and emergent literacy development during head start and kindergarten. Scientific Studies of Reading, 13(2), 99–121. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888430902769541

Hart, B. & Risley, T. R. (1992). American parenting of language-learning children: Persisting differences in family–child interactions observed in natural home environments. Developmental Psychology, 28(6), 1096–1105. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.28.6.1096

Hoff, E. & Core, C. (2015). What clinicians need to know about bilingual development. Seminars in Speech and Language, 36(2), 89–99. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0035-1549104

Hoff, E., Core, C. & Shanks, K. F. (2019). The quality of child-directed speech depends on the speaker’s language proficiency. Journal of Child Language, 47(1), 132–45. https://doi.org/10.1017/s030500091900028x

Kohnert, K., Windsor, J. & Ebert, K. D. (2009). Primary or ‘specific’ language impairment and children learning a second language. Brain and Language, 109(2–3), 101–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2008.01.009

Lee, M., Shetgiri, R., Barina, A., Tillitski, J. & Flores, G. (2015). Raising bilingual children. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 37(4), 503–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986315602669

Menashe, A. & Atzaba-Poria, N. (2016). Parent–child interaction: Does parental language matter? British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 34(4), 518–37. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12147

Montanari, S., Ochoa, W. & Subrahmanyam, K. (2019). A longitudinal investigation of language mixing in Spanish–English dual language learners: The role of language proficiency, variability, and sociolinguistic factors. Journal of Child Language, 46(5), 913–37. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0305000919000278

Moore, S. & Pérez-Méndez, C. (2006). Working with linguistically diverse families in early intervention: Misconceptions and missed opportunities. Seminars in Speech and Language, 27(3), 187–98. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-2006-948229

Mosty, N. L., Lefever, S. & Ragnarsdóttir, H. (2013). Parents’ perspectives towards home language and bilingual development of preschool children. Netla—Online Journal on Pedagogy and Education. Retrieved from https://netla.hi.is/serrit/2013/rannsoknir_og_skolastarf/006.pdf

Nowell, L. S., Norris, J. M., White, D. E. & Moules, N. J. (2017). Thematic analysis. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 16(1), 160940691773384. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917733847

Oh, J. S. & Fuligni, A. J. (2010). The role of heritage language development in the ethnic identity and family relationships of adolescents from immigrant backgrounds. Social Development, 19(1), 202–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.2008.00530.x

Pearson, B. Z., Fernández, S. C. & Oller, D. K. (1993). Lexical development in bilingual infants and toddlers: Comparison to monolingual norms. Language Learning, 43(1), 93–120. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-1770.1993.tb00174.x

Petitto, L. A., Katerelos, M., Levy, B. G., Gauna, K., Tétreault, K. & Ferraro, V. (2001). Bilingual signed and spoken language acquisition from birth: implications for the mechanisms underlying early bilingual language acquisition. Journal of Child Language, 28(2), 453–96. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0305000901004718

Place, S. & Hoff, E. (2011). Properties of dual language exposure that influence 2-year-olds’ bilingual proficiency. Child Development, 82(6), 1834–49. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01660.x

Rowe, M. L. (2012). A longitudinal investigation of the role of quantity and quality of child-directed speech in vocabulary development. Child Development, 83(5), 1762–74. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01805.x

Stipek, D. J. (2001). Pathways to constructive lives: The importance of early school success. In A. C. Bohart & D. J. Stipek (eds), Constructive & destructive behavior: Implications for family, school, & society (pp. 291–315). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10433-014

Thomas, W. P. & Collier, V. P. (2002). A national study of school effectiveness for language minority students’ long-term academic achievement. Berkeley, CA: Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence.

Toppelberg, C. O. & Collins, B. A. (2010). Language, culture, and adaptation in immigrant children. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 19(4), 697–717. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2010.07.003

Tseng, V. & Fuligni, A. J. (2000). Parent–adolescent language use and relationships among immigrant families with East Asian, Filipino, and Latin American backgrounds. Journal of Marriage and Family, 62(2), 465–76. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2000.00465.x

Unsworth, S., Brouwer, S., Bree, E. D. & Verhagen, J. (2019). Predicting bilingual preschoolers’ patterns of language development: Degree of non-native input matters. Applied Psycholinguistics, 40(5), 1189–1219. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0142716419000225

Vicol, S. (2019). The politics of bilingualism in the United States: A new perspective on the immigration debate. SURJ: The Stanford Undergraduate Research Journal, 18(1), 43–49.

Volterra, V. & Taeschner T. (1978). The acquisition and development of language by bilingual children. Journal of Child Language, 5, 311–26.

Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Woodcock, R. W., Alvarado, C. G., Ruef, M. L. & Schrank, F. A. (2010). Woodcock–Muñoz Language Survey, revised, English form A. Rolling Meadows, IL: Riverside Publishing.

Zigler, E. F. & Bishop-Josef, S. J. (2009). Play under siege: A historical overview. Zero to Three (J), 30(1), 4–11.

Zimmerman, F. J., Gilkerson, J., Richards, J. A., Christakis, D. A., Xu, D., Gray, S. & Yapanel, U. (2009). Teaching by listening: The importance of adult–child conversations to language development. Pediatrics, 124(1), 342–9. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2008-2267

Published

2021-12-10

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Morales, Maria, Alliete R. Alfano, and Angela M. Medina. 2021. “Spanish-Speaking parents’ Experiences After English-Only and Spanish-Only Interactions With Their Children”. Journal of Monolingual and Bilingual Speech 3 (2): 212–237. https://doi.org/10.1558/jmbs.18804.