It is interesting and exciting to analyze, study, and see correlations in the data generated by my survey. I gained a lot of knowledge and insight into how bilingualism is maintained and viewed. I gathered information that I will be able to share with people, parents, and administrators that I work with in the future. Inputting data into an online survey and seeing the tabulated results organized by Google Drive is amazing! It is a very useful and easy tool to use. I look forward to using it with surveys and studies I conduct in the future.
The ages of 101 children whose parents participated in the survey ranged from 2-8 years of age. Since our Masters of Early Childhood Education focuses on the development of children birth-8 years of age, I made it a goal to approach parents with children who are in this age bracket. Parents of ten children ages 10-13 attending a school in which they study a second language three times a week for eight years also participated in the survey.
Child's gender.....almost 50/50!
| 42 boys! | 48% | |
| 45 girls! | 52% |
Below are my survey results that reveal the language or languages spoken by the children and family closely involved in the children's lives. In order to reach and maintain a balanced level of bilingualism, both languages must be practiced! Learning English at school is easy because instruction is balanced and opportunities to speak English are available all day long, every day. Learning to speak a second language presents challenges such as not having sufficient opportunities and time to practice speaking the language.
Does the father speak a language other than English?
Albanian
Arabic
Polish
French
German
Italian
Spanish
Thai
Ukrainian
Ukrainian and Russian
Assyrian and Arabic
Polish and Russian
Polish and German
German and Spanish
French and Italian
German and French
German and Italian
Polish and Ukrainian
French, German, and Italian
Polish, German, and Spanish
Polish, Russian, and German
Polish, Russian, Arabic and French
Wow, ELEVEN different languages! What a multitude of languages spoken by fathers! Some are bilingual and some are trilingual, using and able to use three languages, with equal or nearly equal fluency. A person who speaks 3-4 languages is called a polyglot :)
Does the mother speak a language other than English?
Arabic
Assyrian
French
German
Italian
Polish
Russian
Spanish
Ukrainian
Ukrainian and French
Ukrainian and Italian
Ukrainian and Polish
Assyrian and Arabic
German and Spanish
German and French
German and Italian
French and Italian
Polish and Russian
Polish and French
Polish and Spanish
Polish and German
German, Spanish, and Italian
As a group, the mothers speak a total of NINE different languages. Many of them are trilingual.
Does your child speak a language other than English?
| Yes | 67 | 78% |
| No | 19 | 22% |
Arabic
Chinese
German
Mandarin
Polish
Ukrainian
Assyrian and Arabic
French and Italian
French and German
German and Italian
German and Spanish
Polish and German
Polish and Arabic
Polish and French
Polish and Ukrainian
Albanian and Polish
Thai, Polish, and French
French, German, and Italian
As a group, the children speak a total of TWELVE different languages! The children outnumber the languages spoken by their parents. It looks like children are learning their father's and mother's second languages, making them trilingual and some even speaking four languages! I wonder how many of these additional languages are being learned in school and not directly from parents?! I wonder if the mothers or fathers are more disciplined in teaching their children the languages that they know? I wonder what it is like to not be able to understand what your spouse and child are saying! I think that it takes sensitivity to do this. I also think it is an art to do this successfully. Children whose parents speak multiple languages have the opportunity to learn the languages spoken by both their parents. Very interesting! What amazing opportunities for these children!
Arabic
Chinese
German
Mandarin
Polish
Ukrainian
Assyrian and Arabic
French and Italian
French and German
German and Italian
German and Spanish
Polish and German
Polish and Arabic
Polish and French
Polish and Ukrainian
Albanian and Polish
Thai, Polish, and French
French, German, and Italian
As a group, the children speak a total of TWELVE different languages! The children outnumber the languages spoken by their parents. It looks like children are learning their father's and mother's second languages, making them trilingual and some even speaking four languages! I wonder how many of these additional languages are being learned in school and not directly from parents?! I wonder if the mothers or fathers are more disciplined in teaching their children the languages that they know? I wonder what it is like to not be able to understand what your spouse and child are saying! I think that it takes sensitivity to do this. I also think it is an art to do this successfully. Children whose parents speak multiple languages have the opportunity to learn the languages spoken by both their parents. Very interesting! What amazing opportunities for these children!
Do the grandparents speak a language other than English?
| Yes | 72 | 86% |
| No | 12 | 14% |
Arabic
Filipino
French
German
Italian
Polish
Ukrainian
Albanian and Polish
Assyrian and Arabic
Polish and German
French and Polish
French and Italian
German and Italian
German and Spanish
Russian and German
Thai and Polish
Ukrainian and Russian
Ukrainian and Polish
Ukrainian, French, and Russian
Ukrainian, Russian, and German
Polish, Russian, and Arabic
French, Italian, and German
French, German, and Russian
Spanish, German, and Italian
Polish, French, Russian, and German
German, Italian, Russian, and Czechoslovakian
As a group, the grandparents speak THIRTEEN different languages! I wonder how many of these languages are passed down to their children and grandchildren? I know from personal experience that my parents had to learn Russian and German when attending school in Poland as children. If these grandparents are immigrants, then they too had to learn some of these languages in school. It must be hard for the grandparents to be the only ones teaching their grandchildren a language that they do not hear from their parents nor in school.
What is the dominant language spoken at home?
Arabic
Assyrian
English
French
German
Polish
Ukrainian
French and Italian
Well these results are very surprising and interesting. I thought that if both parents speak different languages, then one or both of these languages would be the dominant languages spoken at home. Most people indicated that English is the main language spoken at home. It seems as if parents choose one language as the one spoken most often. I wonder what concerns, frustrations, challenges, and successes parents have with supporting their children with becoming bilingual? What resources are available to make this experience easier and more positive?
Arabic
Filipino
French
German
Italian
Polish
Ukrainian
Albanian and Polish
Assyrian and Arabic
Polish and German
French and Polish
French and Italian
German and Italian
German and Spanish
Russian and German
Thai and Polish
Ukrainian and Russian
Ukrainian and Polish
Ukrainian, French, and Russian
Ukrainian, Russian, and German
Polish, Russian, and Arabic
French, Italian, and German
French, German, and Russian
Spanish, German, and Italian
Polish, French, Russian, and German
German, Italian, Russian, and Czechoslovakian
As a group, the grandparents speak THIRTEEN different languages! I wonder how many of these languages are passed down to their children and grandchildren? I know from personal experience that my parents had to learn Russian and German when attending school in Poland as children. If these grandparents are immigrants, then they too had to learn some of these languages in school. It must be hard for the grandparents to be the only ones teaching their grandchildren a language that they do not hear from their parents nor in school.
What is the dominant language spoken at home?
Arabic
Assyrian
English
French
German
Polish
Ukrainian
French and Italian
Well these results are very surprising and interesting. I thought that if both parents speak different languages, then one or both of these languages would be the dominant languages spoken at home. Most people indicated that English is the main language spoken at home. It seems as if parents choose one language as the one spoken most often. I wonder what concerns, frustrations, challenges, and successes parents have with supporting their children with becoming bilingual? What resources are available to make this experience easier and more positive?
Very interesting, Malgosia, and a lot of wondering! If you had done that survey on my side of town, the top 2 languages would have been Spanish and Arabic! We seem to get a new African language spoken every year or so, too, that I have never heard of before. How brave all of these people are to commit to a country and culture that is so foreign to them. I hope that you are able to keep researching and advocating in the future, well beyond this class. Helping parents to understand the strengths of multilingualism is not easy to do, especially when people do not want to be perceived as not fitting in. Very interesting data! I'm so glad that you were able to do this - and I imagine the fact that you are not a "typical" English speaking person (whatever that is) made it easier for people to connect with you during your face to face surveys.
ReplyDeleteThe extent to which second language learning happens with this group and the number of times per week is impressive. You are right in thinking that if you were to do this again, some in person interviews would reveal more.
ReplyDeleteWhat diversity we are fortunate to live in!
ReplyDelete