Children learn language in the family. They also learn about the ways in
which language can be used to communicate needs, share ideas, express
cultural identity and negotiate and reinforce group membership. In bilingual
and minority language families children also learn about the existence of
different languages, of different ways of talking about the same object and
expressing the same ideas, and the appropriate time and place to use each
language. The place of language in the development of cultural identity and
group membership is particularly important for people who speak more than
one language and feel attachments to more than one culture.
This study explores what it is to be a bilingual parent of young children.
Parents who were themselves bilingual were asked about their own
experiences with language, and their experiences with raising their children.
The dissertation is organized around the themes of language learning in the
family, in the community, and within the context of school.
This study has resulted in a broad range of findings, among which are: that
raising children to be bilingual is a deliberate act requiring considerable,
conscious effort on the part of parents, that parents who have a mentor,
someone they know who has successfully raised bilingual children, are more
likely to persist with their efforts despite difficulties, and that close religious,
cultural or familial ties to other speakers of the minority language are
positive influences on both parents and children. Another important finding
is that parents are greatly encouraged by meeting health and/or educational
professionals who are positive and informative about bilingualism in young
children.
Conversation is the methodology for this study because it allows the
participants and the researcher to work together toward a greater
understanding of the topic under study. Through conversations with other
interested people I was able to invite them into my questions. Sharing stories
of language, and reflecting on what these stories mean and how they have
affected and continue to affect us, opens the possibilities for a much greater
understanding of what it means to speak more than one language in this
society, and how that will affect our children.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/10922 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Thomas, Lynn Alexandra |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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