Caregiver-Child Interactions in Language-Minority Families: What Can We Learn From Studies Across Three Continents?

Session Type: Conversation Roundtable

Abstract

Around the world, a large and growing number of children learn a minority language at home before starting school in the majority language. On average, these language-minority children experience greater difficulties in school and leave formal education sooner than language-majority children (Espinosa, 2013). The sources of these difficulties are multifaceted and require a clearer understanding of the connections between children’s home language environments, their early school experiences, and the broader socio-cultural contexts. Much of what we know about the links between caregiver-input and child language skills comes from research conducted in monolingual-English speaking families in the U.S. Questions remain about how these findings generalize to contexts in which multiple languages are spoken at home and school, and how caregiver input in the minority and majority languages contribute to children’s development and school experiences. These questions are particularly urgent at a time when many young children around the world are confined to their homes due to COVID-19 and home-based interventions aimed at increasing parental input are on the rise (e.g., Wong et al., 2020). This conversation roundtable, moderated by Dr. Rufan Luo, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Rutgers University, brings together researchers (i.e., Laura Buckley, Ariana Loff, So Yeon Shin, and Sarah Surrain) studying caregiver-child interactions in four different sociolinguistic contexts (Luxembourg, South Korea, Massachusetts, and California). Drawing on their experiences working with language-minority families using methods ranging from direct observations to caregiver interviews, we will discuss the complex role of caregiver input in children’s bilingual development and school readiness.

Sub Unit

• Language, Communication

Moderator

• Rufan Luo, Arizona State University

Panelists

• Laura Buckley, Vanderbilt University

• Ariana Loff, University of Luxembourg

• So Yeon Shin, University of Maryland - College Park

• Sarah Surrain, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston