Families of ELL's
List 3 questions that were asked to the families in the interview.
What languages were spoken by the adults in the family?
What kind of programs have the children been in?
What languages were being used in class by teachers and students?
What did the parents like or not like about the program?
What language did the adults use to the children?
More on pg 326
Why was it called the "No Cost Study"?
The study was done immediately because of the urgency of the situation so there were no funds to conduct the study hence the name, “No-Cost Study.”
What does the study recommend as far as learning English?
The study introduces that the problem does not lay in learning English but rather the timing in which it is learned. Children have to learn English but “they should not be required to do so until their native languages are stable enough to handle the inevitable encounter with English and all it means” (pg. 345).
What US State paved the way by passing legislation that supported language learning Early Childhood programs for children with minority backgrounds?
Texas
What has been touted as the "ideal solution" to the academic problems of language minority students?
Early education
What is the typical English level for the parents and what are the factors behind this?
English was not a language they could express themselves easily but were using it in speaking to their children. Many more families in the Main sample were able to use english words with their children than in the comparison sample.
What were the two different groups in the study?
Main sample
Comparison families
What is subtractive bilingualism and is it increasing or decreasing with today’s immigrant groups?
Subtractive bilingualism (coined by Wallace Lambert) is the phenomenon of American immigrant/native children/adults who have lost their ethnic languages in the process of becoming linguistically assimilated into the English-speaking world of the school and society (pg 324)
It is increasing with today's immigrant groups
What language speakers are the largest language minority group in the US?
Spanish speakers
"Although young children neither know nor care abour prestige and status, they do care about ______ and _____."
belonging and acceptance
What is the impact of the difference in English levels on genuine parent-child communication?
It hurts the connection between parent and child as the child doesn't know the native language well enough to communicate/likewise with the parent and english.
What was the purpose of “The No-Cost Study on Families"?
The purpose of “The No-Cost Study on Families” was to distribute surveys to children of language-minority families participating in preschool programs that were conducted partly or entirely in English to determine the extent to which these programs were affecting the children’s language patterns.
Why has bilingual education lost public support over the last few years?
Bilingual education has lost public support over the last few years because of the false belief people hold about it which is: bilingual education being blamed for the reason why immigrants are not assimilating fast enough in their environment.
What US state no longer has a legal mandate for billingual education?
California
Over the past several years there has been increasing concern among educators, policy-makers, and members of the public that the new immigrants are not.....?
Describe what happens in the home due to the children becoming proficient in English?
More of a divide between parents and children, as well as older and younger siblings.
Describe the structure and participants of the study
An interview form was created that was translated into many different languages (Spanish, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Khmer, and Vietnamese) and they interviewed families of language minorities that have had children in pre-school programs in the US.
Why is it more problematic for children in the preschool period (under the age of 5) to encounter assimilative forces that affect their primary languages?
"At this age, children have simply not reached a stable enough command of their native language not to be affected by contact with a language that is promoted as heavily as English is in this society" (Pg342).
What kind of education is blamed in the US for the immigrants lack of success in learning English?
Bilingual education
What is the (incorrect) widespread belief as to why new immigrants are not achieving acadmeic success?
They are resisting the necesity of learning english
What are the consequences of children losing their primary language?
“The consequences of children losing a primary language affect social, emotional, cognitive, and educational development of language-minority children, as well as the integrity of their families and the society they live in” (pg. 342).
- The way parents socialize their children, conveying values and beliefs is more difficult.
- Changes of communication patterns in the home
- Parents are unable to effectively share their culture
What was the “negative change” found in the study?
The “negative change” viewed the home language being displaced by English especially in homes where the adults speak little or no English whereas an increase in home language usage represents a positive change.
Why does second language learning result in the loss of primary language in the U.S. and Canada?
Second language learning results in the loss of primary language in the U.S. and Canada especially because linguistic or ethnic diversity are not especially valued. Americans are not “comfortable with either kind of diversity in our society” (pg. 341).
American society provides both _____ and _____ pressures for immigrants learning English.
Internal and External
Once these children learn English, they tend not to _____ or to _____ the language spoken at home, even if it is the only one their parents know.
Maintain or to develop