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Influence of Turkish Immigrant Parent Acculturation Strategies and Language Attitudes on Children's Bilingual Development: An Embedded Mixed Methods Study

Inan, Seyma
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1624279114174051

Abstract Details

2021, Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, Psychology.
A rapid migration of people to the US is changing the linguistic and cultural landscape of society. In turn, linguistic and cultural diversity have grown as the number of immigrants increases in the US. To date, only a few studies provide an in-depth look at children's bilingual development with the focus on aspects of multilingual households and bicultural environments in the US (Harris & Almutairi, 2016; Kalia, 2007). One way to understand the influence of acculturation and language attitudes on children's bilingual development is to examine immigrant families. There seems to be little well-documented research that has been done on the influence of the association between acculturation and attitudes toward preserving heritage culture and language among Turkish immigrant parents in the US (Nisanci, 2019). The current study explored the relationship between parental demographic variables (e.g., parents' educational level, child's age) and children's heritage language proficiency (Becker, 2013) using both Vygotsky's sociocultural theory and Berry's Acculturation Model. Fifty-two (52) Turkish parents age (M = 38.15, SD = 4.84) and their children age from 5 to 11 years (M = 8.23, SD = 2.18) living in various states (e.g., Ohio, Connecticut) participated in this study. The parents were administered a package of questionnaires and children's Turkish productivity samples were elicited for proficiency evaluation via a Turkish expressive vocabulary test (TIFALDI). The findings illustrate that parental language attitudes were negatively correlated with marginalization, assimilation, and integration attitudes but positively correlated with separation attitudes. Notable factors that influenced children's heritage language proficiency were also identified. Children's age was negatively associated with heritage language proficiency. Conversely, actively speaking Turkish with siblings at home, was positively correlated to children's Turkish proficiency. However, the amount of reading and watching movies in Turkish did not predict children's Turkish proficiency. The current research suggests that exposure to the majority language decreases heritage language proficiency. In turn, older children of immigrants lack the motivation to maintain the heritage language. Although immigrant parents seem to be the primary heritage language educators providing a supportive language home environment, their efforts may be hindered by the lack of heritage language exposure in other environments. Therefore, the current study suggests that school curriculum designers, teachers, and researchers should be involved in creating effective and supportive environments for immigrant families that promote the importance of preservation of heritage culture and language as part of bilingual education (Bayram & Wright, 2016).
Yvette Harris, R (Advisor)
Christopher Wolfe (Committee Member)
Lily Halsted (Committee Member)
Darrel Davis (Committee Member)
124 p.
Psychology
Cognitive Psychology; Developmental Psychology; Bilingualism

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Inan, S. (2021). Influence of Turkish Immigrant Parent Acculturation Strategies and Language Attitudes on Children's Bilingual Development: An Embedded Mixed Methods Study [Doctoral dissertation, Miami University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1624279114174051

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Inan, Seyma. Influence of Turkish Immigrant Parent Acculturation Strategies and Language Attitudes on Children's Bilingual Development: An Embedded Mixed Methods Study. 2021. Miami University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1624279114174051.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Inan, Seyma. "Influence of Turkish Immigrant Parent Acculturation Strategies and Language Attitudes on Children's Bilingual Development: An Embedded Mixed Methods Study." Doctoral dissertation, Miami University, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1624279114174051

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by Miami University and OhioLINK.