PUBLISHED
January 6, 2021
A Pilot Study of Singapore’s Young Chinese Parent’s Perceptions, Attitude and Behaviours Towards Bilingual Learning
Authors:
Aw Guat Poh, Chen Yuan, Connie Lum, Peng Xuan-hui, Tong Qi-ying
Source:
Sino-US English Teaching; Sep2017, Vol. 14 No. 9, p523 – 538.
Type:
Journal Article
Subjects:
English-Knowing Bilingualism
Home Language Environment
Language Acquisition
Language Inputs
Language Learning
Mother Tongue Language Curriculum Reformation
Parents' Linguistic Behaviour
Keywords:
Bilingual Education
Parents' Attitude
Parents' Behaviours
Parents' Perceptions
Singapore
Abstract:
This study aims to study parents’ attitude, perceptions, and behaviours towards bilingual education in Singapore’s bilingual social context. The study involves 78 young Singapore’s Chinese parents, using mixed methodologies including multiple choice questionnaire, interview, checklist, and focus group discussion to collect data. Qualitative and quantitative research have shown four important findings. First, young parents acknowledge the importance of learning mother tongue to maintain cultural heritage. They also realize that Chinese could become their next generation’s crucial social capital in the future. Those families have great potential in raising bilingual children. Second, more attention should be paid to the gap between young parents’ positive attitude and passive behaviour in supporting children’s bilingual learning. Third, there are some misunderstandings about bilingual learning. Some parents doubt or deny the possibilities of fostering bilingual children and simply think learning Chinese language would impede children’s English competence. Fourth, parents focus more on children’s primary school study rather than kindergarten period, including learning interest, reading, and writing of written language abilities. More in-depth research is needed to examine the relevance of those four findings as well as propose a more comprehensive perspective for research on Singapore’s future bilingual education reform and development.
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