Download resource

Please enter your details to download this resource
Login
 

Enter your details to access this video

Or if you already have an account login to watch the video (if you don't you can register here).
Login
a parent and child talking and reading
Download Information card: Maintaining your children's mother tongue
Email share link LinkedIn share link Twitter share link Facebook share link
Approximate reading time: 2 minutes

Often, for busy EAL teachers, the focus is on the child. However, it is important to remember that, for some parents, the transition period can be just as difficult.

Approaches to bilingual upbringing

Some parents worry about bringing up their child with two languages and question whether it would be more beneficial for the child if they speak the language of the new country to help them become more competent in the new language and learn it faster. We need to discourage this approach, supporting parents in understanding the value of using their mother tongue.

Parents need to appreciate that language is as much about communication as it is about identity (Baker, 2007). Language is fragile and easily lost (Cummins, 2001), and to continue to support and teach a child’s mother tongue actually provides a better platform for developing a second or third language. 

Supporting parents

It’s essential to provide parents with the right information about how to successfully support their learners at home. Some books to assist both teachers and parents in understanding more about bringing up a bilingual child include:

  • A Parents’ and Teachers’ Guide to Bilingualism by Colin Baker (2007). An excellent book written entirely in question and answer format. 
  • The Bilingual Family: A handbook for parents by Edith Harding-Esch, Philip Riley (2003). Written by two linguists who bring up their children bilingually, includes many case studies. 
  • Does Anybody Else Look Like Me?: A Parent's Guide To Raising Multiracial Children by Donna Jackson Nakazawa (2004).  The focus is not on bilingualism but on raising biracial children. 
  • Growing Up with Two Languages by Una Cunningham-Anderson. A down -to-earth guide written by a bilingual couple raising their children to speak English and Swedish (2011).
  • Language Strategies for Bilingual Families: The One-Parent - One-Language Approach (Parents' and Teachers' Guides) by Suzanne Barron-Hauwaert (2004).
  • Raising Bilingual-Biliterate Children in Monolingual Cultures by  Stephen J. Caldas (2006).
  • Third Culture Kids: The Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds by David C. Pollock and Ruth van Reken (2009).

Summary

It is crucial that families are encouraged to maintain their mother tongue to remain connected to their parents and extended family. As Joseph Shaules points out, "a positive and encouraging attitude to a child's home language is motivating and can only have favourable repercussions." (Shaules, 2007).

You can download a free parent information card on maintaining children's mother tongues by clicking on the download buttons at the top and bottom of this article.

References:

Shaules, J (2007) Deep Culture: The Hidden Challenges of Global Living

Cummins, J (2001) Bilingual Children's Mother Tongue: Why Is It Important for Education?

Download Information card: Maintaining your children's mother tongue
Email share link LinkedIn share link Twitter share link Facebook share link

More articles from our blog

EAL and language learning mindmap

What is EAL? - Talking to other teachers about EAL

Created: Mon 16th Aug 2021

You're the EAL lead in your school - or a teacher with responsibility for EAL. You're a class teacher who's been asked to look into EAL - or a teaching assistant who runs a special EAL group. But do your colleagues really know what you do? Do they know what EAL is - and why it matters for all staff in a school, and not just you?

Plan successfully for EAL learners

Created: Thu 5th Jun 2014

Everyone is talking about differentiation for EAL in whole class teaching, but how do we actually approach it consistently and effectively?

At Across Cultures we have been developing some systematic ways of approaching this in a structured, yet flexible format. In the downloadable plan you'll see a framework to support EAL teachers with planning for content learning alongside language learning. The plan is based about the theme of sea pollution and provides a writing frame for a persuasive text.

This lesson follow a particular format:

Structuring play to support language learning

Created: Tue 25th Apr 2017

Play is a crucial part of language development and ideas for play and games are an essential part of any teacher’s toolkit. One of the most informal and obvious contexts for language development takes place in the playground for any child (Pinter, 2006). Children will often pick up every day language from their peers and this can be an essential part of their learning. Pinter (2006) explains that when a child moves to a new country, after the initial silent phase, children will then start to pick up phrases, conversation language and so-called playground language fairly fast.

Back to Blog