Parental Support for Chinese Young Students' EFL Learning: A Perspective of Socio‐Economic Status

Previous research has examined the link between parental support and their children's learning achievement, but knowledge of how parental support is influenced by their socio‐economic status (SES) is limited. Using an open‐ended questionnaire and semi‐structured interview, this study investigated primary school students' perceptions of parental support for their English as a foreign language (EFL) learning in a Chinese context and then examined the data from the perspective of SES. The participants were 20 primary six school students selected from two primary schools located in distinctly different SES areas within a city. They completed the questionnaire and interview regarding parental support for their EFL learning. The findings show that high‐SES and low‐SES parents exhibited different support practices for their children's English learning in four aspects: parental monitoring, offering academic assistance, providing affective support, and supplying material support. A deep analysis of the data reveals that these disparities could be associated with four factors in parents' SES: educational level, profession, financial resources, and beliefs about English education.