How Can Language Minority Parents Help Their Children Become Bilingual In Familial Context? A Case Study of a Language Minority Mother and Her Daughter

Language Minority (LM) parents who communicate on a daily basis with their children have a crucial influence on the development of their children’s bilingualism. It is better for them to take initial actions to enable their children to develop both their first language (L1) and second language (L2), and to get together with the two respective cultures, rather than wait passively for schools and communities to reach out to them. The present case study illustrated this topic by presenting the author’s personal observations of her 12-year-old daughter in Hawaii over a five-month period. It addressed the issue from two perspectives: (1) LM parents’ attitudes toward L1/L2 and the cultures (valuing the heritage and respecting the new), and (2) Parent-child interactions (family talk aiming at keeping up L1 and bridging the generation gap; academic study confirming the interdependent hypothesis of L1 and L2; two-language nurturing home environment including parents’ own involvement in learning by means of L1 and L2, and concurrent use of the two languages at home.) The study showed that LM parents’ positive attitudes toward both languages and cultures and supportive interactions with their children at home are very important to the children’s bilingual education and identity establishment in the new environment.