Parental Knowledge About Dual Language Development Predicts Children’s Dual Language Experiences at Home

• In Event: Dual Language Development in the U.S. and Singapore: Multifaceted Experiences, Multifaceted Effects During Early Childhood

Abstract

Introduction & Hypotheses. In monolingual contexts, parental knowledge about language development predicts the amount and quality of language experiences children have at home, and in turn, children’s language outcomes (Rowe et al., 2016). However, despite the rapidly growing numbers of dual language learners (DLLs), there is a scarcity of assessment tools to understand what DLL parents know about dual language development in early childhood and how their knowledge relates to children’s language experiences. We developed the Knowledge of Dual Language Development and Education (KnDLE) survey and used it to explore the associations between parental knowledge and children’s dual language experiences at home. We expected parental knowledge to predict children’s relative home language use and exposure and their engagement in learning activities in the home language.

Participants & Methods. Participants were 299 Spanish/Chinese-speaking or Spanish/Chinese-English bilingual parents with DLLs between 0 and 6 years, recruited online via Qualtrics Panel. Parents completed the KnDLE survey, which included three subscales that examined parental knowledge about: 1) Children’s capability of learning two languages, 2) the benefits and costs of bilingualism, and 3) the promising practices to support DLLs (see Table 1). Parents rated each item on a 4-point Likert scale (1-strongly disagree, 4-strongly agree), with higher composite scores indicating greater knowledge. Parents also reported demographic information (see Table 1), children’s relative language exposure from and relative language use with different family members (1-English only, 5-Home language only), and how often children engaged in learning activities (e.g., reading, storytelling) in each language (1-Never, 5-Everyday).

Results. Parents performed better on the Benefits and Costs subscale, M(SD)=3.23(.37), than on the Capability of Learning, M(SD)=2.83(.59), and Promising Practices subscales (M(SD)=2.97(.36); p’s < .001). Although parents understood that bilingualism and home language skills benefit rather than slow down children’s cognitive, academic, and social development, some of them were concerned that early dual language exposure might confuse children and were unaware of some of the strategies to support dual language development.

Regression models were used to examine the prediction of parental knowledge to children’s dual language experiences at home, controlling for demographic variables (see Table 2). Parental knowledge about Capability of Learning predicted the frequencies of learning activities in both English and the home language (Models 1a and 1b), and parental knowledge about Promising Practices predicted the frequency of learning activities in the home language (Model 3b). Parental knowledge about Benefits and Costs did not predict learning activity frequencies (p’s>.05). When all three subscales were included simultaneously (Models 4a and 4b), only Capability of Learning played a significant role. Finally, none of the three subscales predicted children’s relative language exposure or use (p’s>.05).

Parental knowledge might play a significant role in shaping children’s experiences with dual language learning activities at home. Even though parents of DLLs recognized the general benefits of bilingualism, there was still a knowledge gap in specific strategies and practices that support children’s dual language development. Early intervention and parent education programs should focus on these areas of improvement and strengths to support families of DLLs.

Authors

• Rufan Luo, Arizona State University
  Presenting Author

• Aniyah Davis-Hilton, Rutgers University - Camden

• Lulu Song, Brooklyn College CUNY