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Intersections Between Language Retention and Identities in Young Bilingual Children

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Intersections Between Language Retention and Identities in Young Bilingual Children Intersections between language retention and identities in young bilingual children Christine Jones Díaz University of Western Sydney Submitted in fulfilment for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2007 Dedication This work is dedicated in loving memory of my father, Gregory Joseph Jones who passed away in November, 2006. Acknowledgements My sincere and profound gratitude goes to my supervisor Dr Michael Singh for his tireless support. I appreciate his generosity and helpful advice. His guidance kept me on track and his detailed feedback was invaluable. Special thanks also to my other supervisors Dr Kerry Robinson and Dr Tania Ferfolja. Kerry’s early inspiration at the onset gave me the necessary tools in conceptualising this thesis. Her friendship and support over the years steadily mentored my development as a researcher. Tania’s sharp editorial eye and practical suggestions greatly assisted me in the formatting of this thesis. I am also especially grateful to Dr Allan Luke whose early supervision provided the crucial theoretical foundations and research directions for the investigation. His critical insights and in-depth knowledge in the field and passion for equity inspired, shaped and refined my conceptual thinking of issues relating to bilingualism, identity and power that impact on families and children from cultural and linguistic minorities. I am also grateful to library and library staff at the University of Western Sydney for the support and helpful assistance. Also, I acknowledge the School of Education of the University of Western Sydney for providing me with the opportunity for sustained periods of time for working on this thesis. I thank the children, families and practitioners who participated in this study. They generously gave their time and shared their stories and experiences with me. I am very grateful to the children, families, practitioners and management committee at La Escuelita who openly allowed me to enter their lives and generously shared their lived experiences with me. My thanks go to Emma Wise who provided a fantastic job of editing and proofreading at short notice and to Ann Maria Martínez and Adriana Weissan who assisted in transcribing some of the Spanish family interviews. I would also like to acknowledge the assistance from Ramόn Díaz Gomez and Silvia Kirsman for their editorial help and proofreading of the Spanish family questionnaires, consent forms and covering letters. As a non-native speaker of Spanish, I gratefully acknowledge Ramon’s ongoing support in providing invaluable Spanish language assistance for i some of the more difficult transcriptions. I also thank Miriam Giugni who assisted in collecting some of the practitioner surveys. Special thanks also go to my extended family, my mother, brothers and sisters for their understanding and patience. I am especially grateful to my brother, whose expression of pride for my work has given me enormous encouragement. Finally, my sincere and profound gratitude goes to my partner, Ramon whose everlasting patience and tireless support throughout this thesis has been extraordinary. I am indebted to him as he has given me strength and endurance in the process of undertaking this thesis. To my children, Dominic and Miguel who have spent a good part of their lives giving me the space to work on this project, I am deeply grateful for their understanding and patience in the completion of this long journey. ¡Misión cumplida! ii Statement of originality The work presented in this thesis is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, original except as acknowledged in the text. I hereby declare that I have not submitted this material, either in whole or in part, for a degree at this or any other institution. ______________________________ Signature iii Table of contents Table of contents............................................................................................................. iv List of figures ..............................................................................................................xviii Abbreviations and acronyms ........................................................................................xix Transcription symbols and codes .................................................................................. xx Author’s note.................................................................................................................xxi Biography .....................................................................................................................xxii Recent publications 2003 - 2007.................................................................................xxiii Abstract........................................................................................................................ xxiv Chapter One .....................................................................................................................1 Parameters of this study................................................................................................... 1 Introduction............................................................................................................................. 1 The research problem............................................................................................................. 3 Reflexivity and the research problem ................................................................................... 5 Gaps and limitations in current research knowledge.......................................................... 7 The significance of this research study ............................................................................... 11 English as a global language ............................................................................................................ 12 Lack of educational support to languages education........................................................................ 14 Significance to practitioners............................................................................................................. 15 Significance to policy, curriculum and pedagogy ............................................................................ 15 Significance to research and theory.................................................................................................. 15 Thesis overview and findings............................................................................................... 16 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 18 Chapter Two................................................................................................................... 20 Reviewing the landscape................................................................................................ 20 Introduction........................................................................................................................... 20 Early research into child bilingualism................................................................................ 20 Dominant theories of child bilingualism: Sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic perspectives ........................................................................................................................... 21 iv How do children become bilingual?................................................................................................. 23 Languages learning and young children...........................................................................................25 Models of languages education in Australia..................................................................................... 26 What does the research tell us about language retention and shift in young bilingual children? ................................................................................................................................ 28 Children’s attitudes towards the use of their home language ........................................................... 30 Spanish language retention in Latin American families, communities and educational settings ..... 31 Researching languages, power and equity in education ................................................................... 33 Broader sociological forces that impact on child bilingualism, language shift/language retention and identity construction in Australia................................................................ 34 Political and historical context of linguistic and cultural diversity in Australia............................... 35 Limits to Australian multiculturalism .............................................................................................. 38 Cultural pluralism and languages policy in Australia ...................................................................... 40 Languages policy and early childhood education............................................................................. 42 Globalising English.......................................................................................................................... 43 Neoliberalism and globalisation....................................................................................................... 44 Pedagogies of ‘difference’ and languages support in mainstream settings ..................... 47 Limited languages support in mainstream prior-to-school settings.................................................. 49 Developmentalism and monolingualism
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