Language Shift Among Elementary Students and Their Families in Ontario: A Large-Scale Investigation

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: Bilingualism and Language Shift in the Context of Heritage Language

Abstract

Despite the longstanding interest among researchers in this change in language use among students with immigration background, large-scale research is scant regarding how students and their family members in multilingual homes change their language use over time. The purpose of the current three-year longitudinal cohort study was to explore the patterns of changes in students’ home language environment during elementary school years regardless of their L1, using province-level population data (n=89,609). Overall, nearly half of the potentially bi/multilingual students’ homes used English to a greater extent in G6 than in G3. Our findings from a longitudinal perspective are consistent with the literature that witnessed prevalent, and rapid, intra-generation language shift.

Authors

• Hyunah Kim, Education Quality and Accountability Office

• Eunice Eunhee Jang, University of Toronto