What are some unique issues related to working with families of these children?

Page 3: Importance of Dwelling Language Maintenance

young boys in the kitchen with their motherWhether a family has been in the U.s. for but a few years or for generations, they speak and pass on their languages and cultural heritages to their children through conversations, stories, music, prayers, and more than. When a child'due south first language is not nurtured, they often lose opportunities to communicate with parents, family unit members, and others in their community. In that location are many reasons early babyhood and special education professionals and families should work together to assistance maintain the children and families' home languages.

  • Second language development: A stiff foundation in the domicile language facilitates the learning of a second language.
  • Social-emotional development: Children who encounter that their abode language is valued build a positive and healthy self-identity and stronger sense of pride in their cultural and linguistic heritage.
  • Facilitates and deepens relationships: Professionals who ask families to just speak to their children in English should understand that family members who are non fluent in English cannot finer appoint and communicate with their children. More specifically:
    • Children and parents who share the same linguistic communication are able to collaborate with each other in more meaningful ways.
    • Family and community members who merely speak the home linguistic communication (eastward.one thousand., grandparents, friends, relatives in the home state) are able to contribute to the kid'south cultural growth, increase their vocabulary and communication skills, and share valuable learning experiences.
  • Home-school collaboration: When schools communicate with families in the habitation language:
    • Families can ameliorate support their children using the strategies and techniques that early childhood and special didactics professionals share with them.
    • Families can share important information that tin in turn exist used to raise their children's learning.
  • Knowledge: Bilingual students are generally flexible thinkers and problem solvers and have an easier time understanding math concepts and solving word problems.
  • Time to come employability: There is a growing need for individuals who are proficient in two or more languages in today'south world economic system and socio-political climate.

Heed as Robert Stechuk and Patsy Pierce discuss some of the reasons it is important to maintain a kid and family's home language.

Robert Stechuk, PhD

Robert Stechuk, PhD

(time: two:44)

Patsy Pierce, PhD

Patsy Pierce, PhD
Consultant, National Center on Cultural
and Linguistic Responsiveness

(time: 1:46)

Transcript: Robert Stechuk, PhD

Some school systems may have dozens of languages, more than than a hundred abode languages. The key message for me is that programs can clearly state to families that their dwelling language is important. Whether they're children with disabilities or children who are developing typically, we want families to understand the importance of the child's home language. The way to understand that importance is the recognition that all the developmental domains are continued. When the child grows upward with a home language—whether it'southward Arabic or Korean or Spanish or something else—all the other developmental domains are engaged with that dwelling language. The child's identity is rooted in that language. The child's thinking skills are developing in that language. The child's metalinguistic observations and understandings are developing in that language. If the message to families is, "Your language isn't important" so it negates all those important connections, and it really prevents the child from continuing to develop their identity, their thinking skills, their metalinguistic awareness, et cetera.

We want families to recognize that by continuing to speak their home language, continuing to ask questions, have conversations, sing songs, tell stories, read books, the child is able to develop and continue expanding their identity, their thinking skills, their metalinguistic awareness. And that, as the child learns English language over time, they tin can transfer that knowledge from the dwelling language into English. Simply if the access to the child's home language is interrupted then it seems inevitable that the child'due south development in other domains will be negatively impacted. So schools can communicate conspicuously to families the importance of the family'south dwelling house language and encourage families to use those basic strategies of conversations, of volume reading, of extended narratives, open up-concluded questions, et cetera, to support the child'southward maximum overall evolution.

Transcript: Patsy Pierce, PhD

Information technology's so of import for children who are dual language learners to continue to develop their domicile language while learning English, considering we know that the home linguistic communication is serving as the phonological footing and the semantic basis and the syntactical basis for language learning. Sometimes families think, "They won't learn English language unless I speak English to them, and I'm non going to use my abode language anymore." And we know from current inquiry that's only not true, because language e'er develops between people who share a positive relationship. And then if families terminate speaking the language they are strongest in then that could hinder the ongoing evolution of the relationship and would definitely hinder the home-language evolution of the child. So helping families to realize, for young dual language learners, with or without disabilities, they really should go on to talk with them in their dwelling linguistic communication to continue to build that linguistic communication base. Then at school—if information technology's primarily an English-speaking school or whatever the second language is—the academic linguistic communication volition build on the habitation language. They're bringing that really stiff base of linguistic communication into school that so can translate and be the basis for further language learning. I remember that'south just really important to help families realize that it's essential to continue home-language development.

Keep in Mind

Many parents have experienced prejudice considering of their lack of English proficiency. They are concerned that their children volition non be every bit successful in school and in society if they keep to speak their home languages. Teachers can assist parents understand the benefits of being proficient in multiple languages.

Early childhood and special education professionals can support the maintenance of home languages by collaborating with families. Some strategies to help families understand the value and benefits of maintaining the home language include:

  • Sharing resources with families nigh the importance and value in maintaining the habitation language.
  • Connecting families with experts, business concern owners, and others in the community to learn about the benefits of maintaining the home linguistic communication. For instance, a local concern owner might explain her visitor's need to hire workers who are multilingual speakers in order to stay competitive in today's global economy.

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