okazaki - rob waring · web viewhis/her own language and culture while also holding ... their...

How do young children become bilingual?

Graduation Thesis

Presented to

the Faculty of the Department of

English Language and Literature

Notre Dame Seishin University

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirement for the Degree

Bachelor of Arts

by

Takako Okazaki

2014

Contents

Abstract 4Chapter One: Introduction

1.1 Introduction 51.2 What is bilingual? 5

1.2.1 Introduction 51.2.2 Definitions of bilingual 61.2.3 Categorization of bilingual 6

1.3 How children learn their languages? 81.3.1 How children learn their L1 (mother tongue)? 81.3.2 How do we learn a second language? 91.3.3 How do children learn their L2 after they acquire their L1? 101.3.4 How do children learn their L2 while they learn their L1? 10

1.4 Research Questions 111.4.1 Introduction 111.4.2 Questions 11

1.5 Conclusion 11

Chapter Two: The Experiment2.1 Introduction 122.2 The experiment 12

2.2.1 Introduction to the questionnaire 122.2.2 Method 12

2.3 Results 132.3.1 Are you planning to bring up your children bilingually? 23

2.4 Summary 29

Chapter Three: Discussion3.1 Introduction 303.2 Summary of the results 303.3 Discussion of the results 30

3.3.1 Which is the most important factor when bringing up children bilingually? 30

3.3.2 What is more effective way to bring your children up bilingually? 313.4 Research questions 313.5 Implications 323.6 Limitations of the experiments 323.7 Further research 333.8 Conclusion 33

2

References 34Appendices 35

3

Abstract

Nowadays, speaking two languages is nothing amazing. We call those who speak two

languages without trouble, bilinguals. It is known that they have many advantages. There are

a lot of bilingual people all over the world. But, how did they grow up bilingually? This thesis

discusses the results of a questionnaire, to find out the good and effective ways to make

someone bilingual.

In Chapter One, we looked at four definitions of bilingual, and learnt how children

acquire their first language and second language. We found the different ways to learn L2 in

each case, one case of learning L2 is children acquire L2 after they acquire L1. Another case

is children acquiring L2 while they learn L1.

In Chapter Two, we looked at the results of questionnaire given to people who don’t

have bilingual children (Notre Dame Seishin University students) and those who actually

have bilingual children. They answered their ideas, gave important information and explained

effective ways to bring up children bilingually. Also, we looked at some plans of those who

have bilingual children and what did they did to make their children become bilingual.

In Chapter Three, we discussed the results of the questionnaire and research questions

in detail. There were some similar ideas between students and those who have bilingual

children, on the other hand, there were some differences too. Although students thought that

those ways are effective to bring up children bilingually, those who have bilingual children

thought it ineffective. Each student had a various opinions and ideas, thus they didn’t have the

same ones. Also, there were some different ideas among those who have bilingual children.

4

Chapter One: Introduction

1.1 Introduction

Nowadays, the number of people who use English keeps on growing with globalization.

According to the British Council, a billion people use English, and this institution guesses that

there will be 3 billion people by 2015. It means 40% of the world population including

children will use English at least some of the time.

Bilingual people are not rare now, because over half the world’s population is bilingual.

Yet a little reflection shows that the predominance of bilingualism, at least at national level,

must necessarily be the case; there are 3,000-5,000 languages in the world but only about 200

countries to fit them all. A lot of parents want their children to become bilingual, because of

these merits, for example developing their ideas, increasing a source of information, spreading

their network, they can become international, they can have a broad outlook and increasing

the choices of job.

However, many parents have a lot of plans to make their children become bilingual, but

it is quite difficult. In the bad case, children get confused about many problems, for example,

parents take their children to the English conversation school in a new country, but the

children can’t express their opinions with second language in a new environment. There is

only a chance of input, but there is no chance of output. Finally, the growth of languages is

delayed.

1.2 What is a bilingual?

1.2.1 Introduction

Bilingual means people who can speak and use two languages without any trouble in

their daily life, but there are a lot of opinions about bilinguals.

More than forty years ago, bilinguals were considered retarded, underachieving,

5

emotionally disturbed children (Baker, 1996). There was a lot of denial of access to bilingual

education. However, in recent years, studies have shown that there are many advantages to

becoming bilingual when it involves being fully capable in two languages or more. (These

persons, usually have been said, are often labeled ‘additive bilinguals’.) For instance, there is

often a high sense of creativity and high academic achievement (Baker, translated by Oka,

1996).

The other advantage point is that bilinguals can gain creative thinking skills. Users with

two or more languages may also increase their fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration

in thinking. Bilinguals will have two or more words for a single object or idea. For instance,

in Welsh, the word ysgol not only means a school but also a ladder. Thus having the word

‘ysgol’ in Welsh and ‘school’ in English provides the bilingual with an added dimension - the

idea of the school as a ladder. In the same way, having two or more words for folk dancing or

square dancing in different languages may give a wider variety of associations than having a

single word in one language (Baker, 1993).

1.2.2 Definitions of bilingual

There are various definitions of bilingual, so it is difficult to define it perfectly as we

can see in next section.

1.2.3 Categorization of bilinguals

The child learns to see his language as one particular system among many, to views its

phenomena under more general categories and this leads to awareness of his linguistic

operations. Mother tongue is important for bilinguals because it is used (1) to develop as a

social person (2) to communicate their emotions and minds (3) to develop their intelligence.

Penfield (1966) said that acquiring the second language is related to flexibility of the

cerebral cortex and people should start making their children bilingual by 9 years old. There is

6

a critical period or perceptive term. The Critical term means that if children are over a certain

age, it is difficult for them to acquire the second language. Recent research shows this is about

age 4. Perceptive term means that when one time comes, children can have a sharp sense of

acquiring the second language. When children become about 9 years old, the cerebral cortex

becomes hard and finally they lose much flexibility in adolescence.

Bilinguals can be broadly categorized into four types. Below is categorized by

Nakashima (1998) and Cummins (1996).

A. Additive bilinguals

These are defined by Landry (1987).

a) The person demonstrates a high level of proficiency in both communicative and

cognitive-academic aspects of L1 and L2.

b) The individual maintains a strong ethno-linguistic identity and positive beliefs towards

his/her own language and culture while also holding positive attitude towards the second

language and culture.

c) The person has the opportunity to use his/her first language in normal everyday

situations and there is no tendency to use it exclusively for less valued social roles or domains

of activity (diglossia), for example, among service personnel, nannies, or caretakers.

Other definitions,

・Controlling two languages like mother tongue user (Bloomfield, 1933)

・Using two languages by turns (Weinreich, 1953)

・Using their two languages for different purpose and functions (Colin Baker, 1993)

B. L1 dominant bilinguals

Only one language (the native language at home) is used at a commensurate level with

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age.

C. L2 dominant bilinguals

Fluency in a second language (local language from outside the home) is greater than

that of the native language and only fluency in the local language is commensurate with age.

D. Semilinguals or double limited bilinguals

Abilities in both languages have not developed commensurate with age level.

Semilinguals are considered to exhibit the following profile in both their languages ; displays

a small vocabulary and incorrect grammar, consciously thinks and language production, is

stilted and uncreative with each language, and finds it difficult to think and express emotions

in either language (Baker, 1993).

1.3 How children learn their languages?

1.3.1 How children learn their L1 (mother tongue)?

Children usually utter their first words at least 12 months after birth. It means that they

perceive languages before that time. Acquiring the L1 is characterized by (a) learning is very

early (b) it has a definite developmental stage or developmental order (c) not enough to learn

L1 with their input, because language abilities of some people have limits.

Children have to listen to the language around them to learn it, but according (a), (b)

and (c), they don’t remember the language by imitating it. There is an idea that people have

the innate Language Acquisition Device (Shirohata, 2006). It’s a grammar system of

correspondence to all languages, universal and abstract. UG is a language knowledge which

prepares a common base of under some natural languages in the early stages. There is a

principle which is common to all of natural language and a parameter which enables to deal

with individual language. For instance, in the case of Japanese children who want to acquire

8

Japanese. First, they get the data of Japanese with input, and then UG is working. They set up

a Japanese parameter using UG. Finally, they become to produce Japanese grammar.

Experience language acquisition device individual grammar

According to this section, is UG related to learning the L2? There are three hypotheses.

(A) Full access to the UG model, (B) Partial access to the UG model and (C) No access to the

UG model. (A) means that people can work UG to learn the L2 regardless of age. Scholars

who insist (B) hypothesis says that learners can use UG, but they only use the parameter and

the principle which were used to learn L1. Therefore, if you need to use UG to learn new

principle of L2, you haven’t already used UG. (C) hypothesis usually calls Fundamental

Difference Hypothesis. Namely, many functions of people become weaker, as they grow

older. UG which is the ability to acquire grammar isn’t exception. Whether people can use

UG or cannot, it is related to what kind of second language you learn. (Suzuki, Shirohata,

2012)

1.3.2 How do we learn a second language?

Two authors have provided overviews which integrate second language acquisition

theory and research with second language educational practice (Ellis, 1985, Spolsky, 1989).

The framework of Spolsky starts with the notion that all second language learning takes place

in a social context. The home, the community, the school, the nuclear and extended family,

peer groups and teachers provide second language values and venues, provision and practice.

Spolsky says that the social context of second language learning has two influences: firstly on

language attitudes (which in turn leads to motivation within the individual) and secondly on

9

Input Heart/Brain Output

learning opportunities second language learner motivation then interacts with a learner’s other

individual characteristics: previous knowledge age, aptitude, learning style and learning

strategies and personality variables such a anxiety.

Ellis suggests that there are five inter-related factors that govern the acquisition of a

second language: situational factors, input, learner differences, learner processes and

linguistic output. Situational factors refer to who is talking to whom, the environment of the

interaction, whether it is in a classroom, formal situation or in a naturalistic setting. Learner

differences are individual differences in age and learning style. Learner processes is clearly

insufficient to consider second language acquisition by external input and by second language

output. The input that second language learners receive is sifted, processed and organized.

Such processing cannot be easily observed. (Baker, 2003)

1.3.3 How do children learn their L2 after they acquire their L1?

Learning the L2 is different from learning the L1. People say the person is a

consecutive bilingual because of three points. First, learners have already learned a mother

tongue. Second, learners have a high condition of common recognized ability which means

the learners can guess from their social background and customs. Finally, when children

acquire the L1, they don’t need motivation, but if they try to acquire the L2 after they

acquired the L1, they need motivation. It means that if people have regular period and chance

to contact with the L1, they can acquire the L1 as a mother tongue. In case of acquiring the

L2, even if you have such a chance, you cannot acquire the L2 like mother tongue.

1.3.4 How do children learn their L2 while they learn their L1?

People say the children who learn their L2 while they learn L1, early simultaneous

bilinguals. Researchers think that all human children have a high ability of languages

discrimination. Children are affected two points, the input of their parents and some social

10

factors. That is to say, even if they try hard to learn L2 individually, it is difficult for children

to learn their L2 while they learn their L1.

1.4 Research Questions

1.4.1 Introduction

We looked at what is bilingual and how children acquire L1 and L2. We have already

discovered that bilinguals have a lot of advantages and how hard it is to acquire L2. Now, we

will find what is good way to make children becoming bilingual and what are some different

points or opinions between people have bilingual children and people who don’t.

1.4.2 Research Questions

1. What do people know about child language acquisition now? What is the different between

a bilingual family and others?

2. What are the good ways to make children become bilingual?

1.5 Conclusion

In this chapter, we looked at the definition of bilingual, and how children acquire their

L1 and L2 in each case. One case of learning the L2 is children acquire the L2 after they

acquire L1. The other case is children acquire L2 while they learn L1. In Chapter Two, we

will look at the result of the questionnaire.

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Chapter Two: The Experiment

2.1 Introduction

In Chapter One, we looked at the definition of bilinguals and how children learn their

languages. Also, we looked the different ways to learn our mother tongue and second language.

We could find out that there are some types of bilingual.

In this chapter, we will look the results of questionnaire to find out ideas or opinions what

are some different points who have bilingual children and who don’t have. We also look the best

way to make children bilingual.

2.2 The experiment

2.2.1 Introduction to the questionnaire

The questionnaire asks what people who don’t have bilingual children think about some

good ways to make their children becoming bilingual and what people with bilingual children did

for their children to become bilingual. In this way, we can compare some ideas or opinions of

them who have bilingual children and people who don’t have them. Finally, we search the best

way to make children becoming bilingual.

2.2.2 Method

1) Subjects

The 69 subjects were students of Notre Dame Seishin University in the department of

English language and literature. These students are mainly studying English and have many

chances to speak English. All of the students use Japanese language as their mother tongue except

a student. A student’s mother tongue is English.

The 15 bi-lingual family subjects were person who married internationally and have

children. The 4 of the 15 are teachers of Notre Dame Seishin University. 13 people use English as

12

their mother tongue. 2 people use Japanese and Icelandic.

2) Test design

The questionnaire asked students of Notre Dame Seishin University what are the most

important choices to make a teenager bilingual. There were 17 items which students choose 5 of

17 items about what they do for their children if they make their children becoming bilingual. The

next question had 18 items and the table was divided into five levels.

The questionnaire, which had to ask them who had married internationally and have

children, was conducted online and by paper. Full and part-time teachers in Notre Dame Seishin

University to teach students answered in paper. On pages 1 and 2 include the same question as

students. It used 17 items and a table too. Also the subjects had to ask what their children speak in

various cases, for example some emotions and situations, their first language and second language

levels of any members of their family, for example how good are their language skills (speaking,

understanding, reading and writing).

3) Procedure

The questionnaire for students was collected on paper. The questionnaire for native teachers

was collected on paper too and the questionnaire for people who married internationally and have

children was collected online. Finally, these questionnaires were analyzed with Excel. We can see

some different points between them who have bilingual children and people who don’t with pie

graph and tables.

2.3 Results

First we will look at the data which compared students and those who have bilingual

children. They chose 5 from the 17 items. After that they chose the best one to make children

become bilingual and wrote the reason. Also we look some effective ways to make children

13

becoming bilingual and whether ages relate to make children becoming bilingual or not. After that

we can see some answers by people who have bilingual children, are you planning to bring up

your children bilingually and what do your children speak in various situations.

14

Table 1 : Mean scores for the them who have bilingual children and who don’t. Which is the

most important thing to make children up to about age 10 bilingual?

(They chose 5 items of 17 items.)

StudentsPeople with bilingual

children

1 parents 86% 100%

2 brothers/sisters 10% 53%

3 relatives 4% 47%

4 friends 7% 20%

5 teachers 12% 20%

6 education 41% 53%

7 social surroundings 81% 67%

8 age 57% 0%

9 ability 3% 0%

10 aptitude 4% 7%

11 personality 6% 13%

12 whether you have some chances to have intercultural communication

46% 27%

13 mother tongue 16% 0%

14 culture 16% 27%

15 motivation 48% 33%

16 experiences of studying abroad 30% 20%

17 media 23% 20%

15

Figure 1 : Students chose the best one of 17 items.

As we learned from Table 1, 59 students chose parents and 56 students chose social

surroundings as the most important things. Next items are age, motivation and whether you

have some chances to have intercultural communication. From Figure 2, we can see 22

students think parents are the most important item and 15 students think social surroundings

is the most important item. Each of the 9 students think that age and motivation are the most

important items. We can see a few students think about that there are other important things,

teachers, education, mother tongue and experiences of studying abroad.

16

parents 53%

friends7%

social surroundings 20%

experiences of studying abroad

7%others13%

Which is the most important thing?(People with bilingual children)

Figure 2 : People with bilingual children chose the best one of 17 items.

As we learned in Table 1, all of the subjects (15 people) chose parents. 10 people chose

social surroundings. Each subject chose brothers/sisters and education was chosen by 8

people. There were seven who said relatives. From Figure 2, there are 8 people that think that

parents is the most important item. Three people think that social surroundings is the most

important item. Also there are a few people who chose these items, friends, experiences of

studying abroad and others. Two people chose others. One person answered role models.

Another person answered that it’s not that simple, because he thinks that it's to do with what

languages children play and interact in and what languages do they need to communicate

genuinely and meaningfully with people who they want to communicate with. Those people

are usually parents when children are very young, but it depends on each family's

circumstance. Once children go to school, then friends play a huge role.

17

Table 2 : If students make your children becoming bilingual, how would you help for them, how effective is it?

Not Very Very

1 2 3 4 5

1 Listening to some songs 1% 1% 22% 41% 35%

2 Singing some songs together 0% 3% 29% 36% 32%

3 Watching some videos or DVDs (like Disney and animation) 0% 1% 10% 41% 48%

4 Reading some books to your children 0% 10% 22% 39% 29%

5 Making your children read some books aloud 0% 0% 12% 36% 52%

6 Making your children repeat one sentence many times 4% 13% 31% 34% 18%

7 Speaking to your children in the second language 0% 4% 10% 28% 57%

8 Correcting your child’s mistakes 4% 14% 28% 32% 22%

9 Taking your children to the preschool or kindergarten 1% 3% 10% 32% 54%

10 Taking your children to the international school (children need a definite level in second language) 1% 1% 16% 36% 45%

11 Taking your children to the English conversation school (like ECC and AEON) 7% 10% 26% 30% 26%

12 Playing some games 4% 16% 35% 33% 12%

13 Making your children remember a few words a day 3% 17% 28% 32% 20%

14 Sticking some words on daily materials 0% 7% 22% 36% 35%

15 Teaching the culture of the second language 0% 13% 31% 32% 24%

16 Taking your children to some foreign countries 1% 13% 26% 29% 30%

17 Teaching how to write the alphabet or some words 1% 12% 30% 30% 26%

18 Taking part in some activities together (parents and children) 4% 6% 42% 29% 19%

18

Table 3 : If People with bilingual children make your children becoming bilingual, how would you help for them, how effective is it?

Not very Very

1 2 3 4 5

1 Listening to some songs 0% 13% 7% 33% 47%

2 Singing some songs together 7% 0% 27% 13% 53%

3 Watching some videos or DVDs (like Disney and animation) 0% 0% 7% 33% 60%

4 Reading some books to your children 0% 0% 0% 7% 93%

5 Making your children read some books aloud 0% 7% 0% 50% 43%

6 Making your children repeat one sentence many times 53% 20% 20% 0% 7%

7 Speaking to your children in the second language 0% 0% 7% 0% 93%

8 Correcting your child’s mistakes 13% 27% 20% 20% 20%

9 Taking your children to the preschool or kindergarten 14% 7% 50% 7% 21%

10 Taking your children to the international school (children need a definite level in second language) 0% 7% 13% 33% 47%

11 Taking your children to the English conversation school (like ECC and AEON) 7% 33% 60% 0% 0%

12 Playing some games 0% 7% 13% 33% 47%

13 Making your children remember a few words a day 27% 20% 33% 7% 13%

14 Sticking some words on daily materials 20% 20% 40% 7% 13%

15 Teaching the culture of the second language 0% 7% 27% 27% 40%

16 Taking your children to some foreign countries 0% 0% 13% 13% 73%

17 Teaching how to write the alphabet or some words 0% 0% 20% 20% 60%

18 Taking part in some activities together (parents and children) 0% 0% 7% 13% 80%

19

From Table 2, we can see that half of the student subjects think that these ways are very

effective to make children becoming bilingual

・Speaking to your children in the second language

・Taking your children to the preschool or kindergarten

・Making your children read some books aloud

From Table 3, we can see that almost all of them think that these ways are very

effective.

・Reading some books to your children

・Speaking to your children in the second language

・Taking part in some activities together (parents and children)

Half of the subjects think that these ways are very effective.

・Taking your children to some foreign countries

・Teaching how to write the alphabet or some words

・Watching some videos or DVDs (like Disney and animation)

・Singing some songs together

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Figure 3 : Do you feel that the age a child starts to learn a second language will affect how

quickly and how well they learn? (Students)

YES80%

NO6%

UNSURE14%

55 of the 69 students answered yes, 4 students answered no and 10 students answered

unsure. 19 of the 55 students answered children start learning a second language from birth.

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Figure 4 : What is a good up to age to acquire a second language? (Students)

9%5%

15%

18%29%

7%

4% 13%1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

From Figure 4, we can see 9% of the students answered children should learn a second

language by 3 years old. 5% of the students answered by 5 years old. 15% of the students

answered by 8 years old. 18% of the students answered by 10 years old. 29% of the students

answered by 12 years old. 7% of the students answered 15 years old. 4% of the students

answered by 18 years old. 13% of the students answered over 18 years old. The oldest age is

30 years old.

22

Figure 5 : Do you feel that the age a child starts to learn a second language will affect how

quickly and how well they learn? (People with bilingual children)

YES80%

NO0%

UNSURE20%

12 of 15 people answered yes, nobody answered no and 3 people answered unsure. 7 of

12 people answered children should start learning a second language from birth. 3 of 12

people answered children should learn a second language by spending times with their

parents. 2 of 12 people answered all ages are good to learn a second language.

The person who answered unsure said his child hadn’t learn a second language, so his

child learned two languages simultaneously. Another person who answered unsure said that

it's often said that pronunciation and listening to particular sounds is easier for kids to pick

this up before the 'critical period' (around puberty), but this is only generally true and not

always the case.

2.3.1 Are you planning to bring up your children bilingually?

All of them (15 people) answered agree to bring up children bilingually, and wrote

many reasons, how did they bring up their children bilingually, what did they do for them,

what is a good way.

23

a. In Japan, they speak only English, in Canada, they speak only Japanese

at home. Now, they sent their child to a good international (English)

preschool and now to a good elementary school (with an international

course, English curriculum 35% / Japanese 65%).

b. Reading a lot of books is good. He introduced his children to some

interesting books.

c. They talked together every day with a second language.

d. They always mix two languages. If they are in Japan, their children don't

need to learn and use English, then they will limit use of Japanese at

home. If they are in Canada, they do the opposite. But for them, raising

their children as bilinguals means they are bicultural too. They make

sure that their children are comfortable using both languages and living

in both cultures.

e. Their children are 5 and 8 years old. One attends a nursery school where

no English is taught, but goes to an evening class for English learning.

The 8 year old attends a state-school which teaches two subjects in

English and therefore calls itself an immersion program. The 8 year old

also attends the same evening class as the 5 year old. Parents speak to

them in English consistently and ask them to speak in English.

f. They plan to continue to expose their children to a rich language media

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and social situations.

g. They spoke with their children only in English and they read a lot with

them as their children grew up. They sent the older one to international

school (for educational, not linguistic reasons) from 4th grade in

elementary school. Their younger son went all the way through in

Japanese school and is not fully bilingual.

h. Mostly by speaking to them in English.

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Table 4 : What language do your children speak in these cases? (Emotion)

First

language

Second

languageboth unsure

1. angry 43% 0% 50% 7%

2. disappointed 43% 0% 43% 14%

3. happy 29% 0% 57% 14%

4. sad 36% 0% 57% 7%

5. surprised 43% 0% 50% 7%

6. frightened 36% 0% 57% 7%

7. ashamed 29% 0% 57% 14%

8. satisfied 29% 0% 57% 14%

9. relaxed 29% 0% 57% 14%

10. confused 36% 0% 50% 14%

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Table 5 : What language is your children speak in these cases? (Situation)

First

language

Second

languageboth unsure

1. around the house 27% 0% 73% 0%

2. doing things together such as cooking or

cleaning33% 0% 60% 7%

3. shopping 27% 0% 73% 0%

4. in the car 21% 0% 79% 0%

5. playing with their friends 50% 0% 43% 7%

6. playing with their brothers or sisters 29% 0% 64% 7%

7. talking with their parents 20% 0% 80% 0%

8. playing alone 40% 0% 40% 20%

9. watching TV 27% 0% 73% 0%

10. reading some books 29% 7% 57% 7%

11. drawing some pictures 15% 0% 62% 23%

According to Table 4 and Table 5, almost all the children hardly use only the second

language in their daily life, but half or more than half of children use both languages. It means

that they mix their language or they use their languages depending on which person or case by

case. In case of emotions, children often use their first language more than for the situation

questions.

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Table 6 : If you want to help your teenage child to acquire a second language, what is important for them?

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th

a. going to the language school (e.g. English conversation school) 0% 25% 8% 0% 8% 17% 0% 17% 27%

b. going abroad 75

%8% 8% 0% 0% 8% 0% 0% 0%

c. interacting with friends who had already learned the language that your

children is trying to learn as a second language

33

%25% 8%

17

%8% 0% 8% 0% 0%

d. learning from materials (e.g. TV, movies, books, games and music) 17

%17% 8%

42

%17% 0% 0% 0% 0%

e. forcing children to use only the second language everyday 0% 0% 0% 0% 8% 0% 8% 25% 58%

f. learning from teaching materials (e.g. textbooks)0% 17% 8% 8% 25% 17%

25

%0% 0%

g. teaching by parents 25

%0% 0%

17

%0% 25% 8% 25% 0%

h. having high motivation 25

%17% 33% 0% 17% 0% 8% 0% 0%

i. setting goals 17

%17% 8% 0% 8% 8%

17

%8% 17%

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According to Table 6, 9 of 11 people who have bilingual children think going abroad is

the most important to help teenage children to acquire a second language. From 2nd to 8th,

people chose various items, but in 9th, 7 of 12 people thought that forcing children to use only

the second language everyday is not so important.

2.4 Summary

In this chapter, we looked some ideas and opinions of respondents, Also we looked at

the different ideas between people who have bilingual children and those who don’t. In

Chapter Three, we are going to discuss, analyze and explain what the results mean. Finally,

we will think about the best way to make children become bilingual.

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Chapter Three: Discussion

3.1 Introduction

In Chapter One, first, we learned what bilinguals are and we found out that there are four types

of bilingual. Next, we saw how young children learn L1 and L2 and found out that there are two

questions about the learning of a second language. For example, how do children learn their L2 after

they acquire their L1 and how do children learn their L2 while they learn their L1?

In Chapter Two, we looked at some results of the questionnaires. We compared some results of

students and People with bilingual children.

In this chapter, we will discuss the results of the questionnaire in more detail and find a good

way to make children become bilingual.

3.2 Summary of the results

In Chapter Two, we looked at the results of the study. There were some different opinions about

the way to make children bring up bilingual between students and them who have bilingual children.

Also, we saw the good ways which people with bilingual children used to bring up their children

bilingually. And we saw how their bilingual children use their languages in their daily life.

3.3 Discussion of the results

We looked at the results of the questionnaire in Chapter Two. In this section, we will look at

each question in great detail.

3.3.1 Which is the most important factor when bringing up children bilingually?

Most subjects chose parents. The students thought that parents can spend a lot of time with their

children and so the children will naturally learn languages from their parents at first, children think that

the language which their parents speak is their language and parents are deeply involved in bringing up

their children. When we compare parents bringing up children and children growing, if children bring

themselves up, they need strong motivation to acquire languages and real chances to practice language.

30

People who have bilingual children think that parents have the most exposure to children, they can talk

to children most, and they can create the bilingual environment and maintain it as well as providing a

lot of early linguistic input.

The next most common item was social surroundings. Students think that getting the chances for

children to use the second language is important, if people around the children have a high motivation

for the second language, children will become more interested in it and even if children learn the

second language, they cannot acquire it without having chances. People with bilingual children think

that strong social pressure let children learn and use the language, if the social surroundings where

parents and children live together the children need to use the second language, parents and children

try harder, become more motivated and become exposed to more than language and if other people

don’t use the language, children don’t feel need the language.

3.3.2 What is more effective way to bring your children up bilingually?

Both students and subjects with have bilingual children think “Speaking to your children in the

second language” is effective. Students also think that “Making your children read some books aloud”

is effective. Those who have bilingual children think that “Reading some books to your children” is

effective. Students think “Taking your children to the preschool or kindergarten” is effective, but more

than a half of them don’t think that this item is strongly effective.

People with bilingual children chose “Taking your children to some foreign countries” is effective, and

according to the Table 6 almost all of them think that it is the best for teenager children to go abroad to

acquire the second language.

3.4 Research questions

In this section, we will look at some answers of research questions.

Research question 1 : What do people know about child language acquisition now? What is

31

different between a bilingual family and others?

From the results of the questionnaire, more than half of the students chose taking children to

preschools, kindergartens, international schools and English conversation schools as effective to bring

up children bilingually. On the other hand, people with bilingual children think that taking children to

international schools is effective, but the other ideas are not so effective.

Half of the students think that making children read some books aloud is effective, on the other

hand almost all of those who have bilingual children think that reading some books to children is

effective showing a little difference between students and those with bilingual children.

More than a half of them think that making children repeat one sentence many times is not very

effective, but students don’t think so. Students think this item is not very effective but it’s very

ineffective. We can see that it is important for parents to do a various things with their children.

Research question 2 : What are the good ways to make your children become bilingual?

From the results of the questionnaire answered by those who have bilingual children, some of

them make many chances to give exposure to the second language. For example, when parents ask

some questions in the second language, children have to answer it in the same language, or they have

some rules about which languages to speak. All most all of them make some chances for their children

to use their second language. Thus the role of parents is quite important to bring up children

bilingually.

3.5 Implications

This study tried to understand the actual situation of bilingual education, because there are some

fixed ideas of bilingual education between person who have bilingual children and who don’t.

3.6 Limitations of the experiments

There were 69 students, on the other hand there are only 15 people who have bilingual children.

It would have been better to ask more people to get useful results comparing the data between students

32

and them. If we had asked more people, we could have had more variety of opinions.

If we use the questionnaire again, we will ask same number of students and them who have

bilingual children, about 30 people.

3.7 Further research

We asked how effective it is to make children become bilingual in each question of this

questionnaire, so we suggest that we can think about bilingual education methods suitable to the

characteristic of each child. The other research question will know more useful bilingual educations, so

we will find out the bilingual education in more detail.

3.8 Conclusion

We found a lot of opinions from the questionnaire. Making children become bilingual includes a

wide variety of different conditions, circumstance and situations. Bilingual education is not so simple.

The conclusions were wide and complex. Thus, there is no simple right or wrong, good or bad.

We suggest that the effectiveness of bilingual education needs to consider the children, their

community, their schools and teaching materials. Particularly, considering the children is the most

important. Each child has their own character, so parents need to create the best bilingual education

which correspond with their children.

33

References

Articles

Baker, C. (1993). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism. England: Multilingual Matters.

Harding, E. and Riley, P. (1986). The Bilingual Family A handbook for parents. Cambridge University

Press.

山本雅代 (1996).『バイリンガルはどのようにして言語を習得するのか』明石書店.

中島和子 (1998).『バイリンガル教育の方法　地球時代の日本人育成を目指して』株式会社

アルク.

桶谷仁美 (2007).『家庭でバイリンガルを育てる―0 歳からのバイリンガル教育』明石書店.

鈴木孝明、白畑知彦 (2012).『ことばの習得　母語獲得と第二言語習得』くろしお出版.

Websites

Istvan, K. and Tunde, P. Foreign Language Learning Affecting Mother tongue. Accessed in April 2013.

From

http://webs.uvigo.es/ssl/actas1997/03/Kecskes.pdf#search='Vygotsky+1962%3A110'

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http://webs.uvigo.es/ssl/actas1997/03/Kecskes.pdf#search='Vygotsky+1962%3A110

Appendices

(A) Questionnaire for students

卒業論文アンケート名前＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿

アンケートにご協力いただきありがとうございます。私はノートルダム清心女子大学文学部英語英文学科 4 年の岡崎貴子です。卒業論文のテーマとして「How do young children become bilingual?(子供をどのようにしてバイリンガルに育てるか)」について研究しています。そのため、皆さんの考えるバイリンガルの教育方法、バイリンガルの子供を育てるにあたって自分ならこのような育て方をしてみる、というものがあれば教えていただきたいと思います。このアンケートは卒業論文の作成に関すること以外では、決して利用いたしません。

A. あなたの母語は何ですか。( )

B. 以下の項目の中で 10 代の子供をバイリンガルに育てるために最も大切だと思うものを 5 つ選び、数字に○をして下さい。1. 両親 2 兄弟、姉妹 3 親戚 4 友人 5 先生 6 教育(教材) 7 社会(環境) 8 学び始める年齢 9 能力(成績) 10 適正 11 性格 12 異文化との交流があるかどうか 13 母語 14 文化 15 積極性 16 留学 17 メディア(映画、TV、本)

C. B で選んだ中で最も大切だと思うものを教えて下さい。またその理由も答えて下さい。最も大切なもの( )その理由( )

D. 第二言語を学習する子供の年齢はより良い第二言語取得に影響すると考えますか？・はい・いいえ・わからない

「はい」と答えた方へ質問です。何歳から何歳までが第二言語学習期に適していると考えますか。( 歳から歳まで)

E. B の他に子供が第 2 言語を獲得するために必要だと思うことがあれば答えて下さい。

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F. もし子供をバイリンガルに育てるなら、どのような手助けをしますか？

どのくらい効果的か?Very Not very

どのくらいの頻度か?Very often Never

1 音楽、歌を聞かせる 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 12 一緒に歌を歌う 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 13 ビデオや DVD を見せる(ディズニーやアニメ) 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 14 本を読み聞かせる 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 15 子供に本を声に出して読ませる 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 16 子供にひとつの文を何回も繰り返させる 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 17 親が子供に第二言語を使って話しかける 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 18 子供の間違いを正してやる 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 19 第二言語を話す保育園や幼稚園に通わせる 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 110 インターナショナルスクールに通わせる(一定の学力レベルが必要な学校) 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 111 ECC や AEON などの教室に通わせる 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 112 ゲームをして遊ぶ 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 113 1 日 2~3個の単語を覚えさせる 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 114 日常品に単語を貼って覚えさせる 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 115 第二言語の文化について教える 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 116 海外旅行に連れていく 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 117 アルファベットの書き方や単語のつづりを教える 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 118 親子で何かしらのプログラムに参加する 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1

G. 上記のもの以外に、親が子供をバイリンガルに育てる手助けとしてできることがあれば、記入してください。

36

ご協力ありがとうございました。岡崎貴子

37

(B) Questionnaire of those who have bilingual childrenName________________________

Thank you for answering these questions. My name is Takako Okazaki. I’m a student of Notre Dame Seishin University. I study “How do young children become bilingual?” as a graduation thesis. I want to know what you think about bilingual education and if you want your children to become bilingual, how you bring up your children. If you have bilingual children, how did you bring them up?

A. Which is the most important thing to make children up to about age 10 bilingual? Please circle five of the following.

1 parents 2 brothers/sisters 3 relatives 4. friends 5 teachers6 education (e.g. teaching materials) 7 social surroundings 8 age 9 ability (e.g. school records)10 aptitude 11 personality 12 whether you have some chances to have intercultural

communication13 mother tongue 14 culture 15 motivation 16. experiences of studying abroad17 media(e.g. movies, TVs and books)

B. Which is the most important thing of above-mentioned, and why do you think so?the most important thing ( )reason ( )

C. If you have some ideas to make your children become bilingual, please answer (except above-mentioned).・・・D. Do you feel that the age a child starts to learn a second language will affect how quickly and how well they

38

learn?YES NO UNSURE

If you choose YES, what age is a good period to acquire the second language?(from to years old)

39

E. If you want your children to become bilingual, how would you help them?

How effective is it?Very Not very

How often do you do it?Very often Never

1 Listening to some songs 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 12 Singing some songs together 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 13 Watching some videos or DVDs (like Disney and animation) 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 14 Reading some books to your children 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 15 Making your children read some books aloud 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 16 Making your children repeat one sentence many times 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 17 Speaking to your children in the second language 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 18 Correcting your child’s mistakes 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 19 Taking your children to the preschool or kindergarten 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 110 Taking your children to the international school (children need a definite level in second

language) 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1

11 Taking your children to the English conversation school (like ECC and AEON) 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 112 Playing some games 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 113 Making your children remember a few words a day 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 114 Sticking some words on daily materials 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 115 Teaching the culture of the second language 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 116 Taking your children to some foreign countries 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 117 Teaching how to write the alphabet or some words 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 118 Taking part in some activities together (parents and children) 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1

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F. If there are any others, please write them here.

41

G. What languages do your children speak in these cases? Please check items on the list.

Emotion1. angry □first language □second language □both □unsure2. disappointed □first language □second language □both □unsure3. happy □first language □second language □both □unsure4. sad □first language □second language □both □unsure5. surprised □first language □second language □both □unsure6. frightened □first language □second language □both □unsure7. ashamed □first language □second language □both □unsure8. satisfied □first language □second language □both □unsure9. relaxed □first language □second language □both □unsure10. confused □first language □second language □both □unsure

Situation1. around the house □first language □second language □both □unsure2. doing things together such as cooking or cleaning

□first language □second language □both □unsure

3. shopping □first language □second language □both □unsure4. in the car □first language □second language □both □unsure5. playing with their friends □first language □second language □both □unsure6. playing with their brothers or sisters

□first language □second language □both □unsure

7. talking with their parents □first language □second language □both □unsure8. playing alone □first language □second language □both □unsure9. watching TV □first language □second language □both □unsure10. reading some books □first language □second language □both □unsure11. drawing some pictures □first language □second language □both □unsure

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H. Please complete this table.

What is your second

language?How well do you / they know it?

Husband

Speaking High Med Low Beginner Understanding High Med Low Beginner Reading High Med Low Beginner Writing High Med Low Beginner

Wife


Child 1

First language(Japanese)


Second language ( )


Child 2

First language(Japanese)


Second language ( )


I. Are you planning to bring up your children bilingually? YES / NO

(1) If you answer YES, what are your plans?

(2) If you answer NO, why not?

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J. If you want to help your 3-year-old child to acquire a second language, what is important for them? Please rank these from 1 to 9.

a. going to the language school (e.g. English conversation school)b. going abroadc. interacting with friends who had already learned the language that your children is trying to learn as a second languaged. learning from materials (e.g. TV, movies, books, games and music)e. forcing children to use only the second language everydayf. learning from teaching materials (e.g. textbooks)g. teaching by parentsh. having high motivationi. setting goals

1st _____ 2nd ____ 3rd _____ 4th ______ 5th _____ 6th _____ 7th ____ 8th ______ 9th ____Please write any others that are important here.

K. If you want to help your teenage child acquire a second language, what is important for them? Please rank there from 1 to 9.

a. going to the language school (e.g. English conversation school)b. going abroadc. interacting with friends who had already learned the language that your children is trying to learn as a second languaged. learning from materials (e.g. TV, movies, books, games and music)e. forcing children to use only the second language everydayf. learning from teaching materials (e.g. textbooks)g. teaching by parentsh. having high motivationi. setting goals

1st _____ 2nd ____ 3rd _____ 4th ______ 5th _____ 6th _____ 7th ____ 8th ______ 9th ____Please write any others that are important here.

Thank you for your help.44

(C) Online questionnaire

Bilingual Questionnaire

Thank you for answering these questions. My name is Takako Okazaki. I’m a student of Notre Dame Seishin University. I study “How do young children become bilingual?” as a graduation thesis. I want to know what you think about bilingual education and if you want your children to become bilingual, how you bring up your children. If you have bilingual children, how did you bring them up?

If you have a question please email me on [email protected]

Please write your name here. *

What is your first language (mother tongue)? *

A. Which is the most important thing to make children up to about age 10 bilingual? Please choose five. *

1 parents

2 brothers/sisters

3 relatives

4 friends

5 teachers

6 education (e.g. teaching materials)

7 social surroundings

8 age

9 ability (e.g. school records)

46

10 aptitude

11 personality

12 whether you have some chances to have intercultural communication

13 mother tongue

14 culture

15 motivation

16 experiences of studying abroad

17 media(e.g. movies, TVs and books)

B(a). Which is the most important thing of the above-mentioned items? *

B(b). Why do you think so? *

C. If you have some ideas to make your children become bilingual, please answer (except the above-mentioned).

D(a). Do you feel that the age a child starts to learn a second language will affect how quickly and how well they learn? *

YES

NO

47

UNSURE

D(b). If you choose YES, what age is a good period to acquire the second language? e.g.) from 3 to 12 years old

E(a). If you want your children to become bilingual, how would you help them? How effective is it? If you think it's effective, please answer 5. If you think uneffective, please answer 1.

5 4 3 2 1

1 Listening to some songs

2 Singing some songs together

3 Watching some videos or DVDs (like Disney and animation)

4 Reading some books to your children

5 Making your children read some books aloud

6 Making your children repeat one sentence many times

48

5 4 3 2 1

7 Speaking to your children in the second language

8 Correcting your child’s mistakes

9 Taking your children to the preschool or kindergarten

10 Taking your children to the international school (children need a definite level in second language)

11 Taking your children to the English conversation school (like ECC and AEON)

12 Playing some games

13 Making your children remember a few words a day

49

5 4 3 2 1

14 Sticking some words on daily materials

15 Teaching the culture of the second language

16 Taking your children to some foreign countries

17 Teaching how to write the alphabet or some words

18 Taking part in some activities together (parents and children)

E(b). If you want your children to become bilingual, how would you help them? How often do you do it? If you think you want to do it often it, please answer 5. If you think you want to never do it, please answer 1.

5 4 3 2 1

1 Listening to some songs

2 Singing some songs together

3 Watching some videos or

50

5 4 3 2 1

DVDs (like Disney and animation)

4 Reading some books to your children

5 Making your children read some books aloud

6 Making your children repeat one sentence many times

7 Speaking to your children in the second language

8 Correcting your child’s mistakes

9 Taking your children to the preschool or kindergarten

10 Taking your children to the international school (children need a definite level in second

51

5 4 3 2 1

language)

11 Taking your children to the English conversation school (like ECC and AEON)

12 Playing some games

13 Making your children remember a few words a day

14 Sticking some words on daily materials

15 Teaching the culture of the second language

16 Taking your children to some foreign countries

17 Teaching how to write the alphabet or some words

18 Taking part in some activities

52

5 4 3 2 1

together (parents and children)

F. If there are any others, please write them here.

G(a). What languages do your children speak in these cases? Please check items on the list. Emotion

first languagesecond language

both unsure

1. angry

2. disappointed

3. happy

4. sad

5. surprised

6. frightened

7. ashamed

8. satisfied

9. relaxed

10. confused

G(b). What languages do your children speak in these cases? Please check items on the list. Situation

53

first language second language both unsure

1. around the house

2. doing things together such as cooking or cleaning

3. shopping

4. in the car

5. playing with their friends

6. playing with their brothers or sisters

7. talking with their parents

8. playing alone

9. watching TV

10. reading some books

11. drawing some pictures

H(a). What is the second language of the husband?

H(b). How well does he know it?

54

High Med Low Beginner

1. Speaking

2. Understanding

3. Reading

4. Writing

I(a). What is the second language of the wife?

I(b). How well does she know it? High Med Low Beginner

1. Speaking

2. Understanding

3. Reading

4. Writing

J(a). Are you planning to bring up your children bilingually?

YES

NO

J(b). If you answer YES, what are your plans?

J(c). If you answer NO, why not?

55

K(a). How well does your child1 know Japanese? High Med Low Beginner

1. Speaking

2. Understanding

3. Reading

4. Writing

K(b). How old is Child 1?

K(c). What is the second language of child1?

K(d). How well does Child1 know it? High Med Low Beginner

1. Speaking

2. Understanding

3. Reading

4. Writing

L(a). How well your Child2 speak Japanese, and how know it? High Med Low Beginner

1. Speaking

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High Med Low Beginner

2. Understanding

3. Reading

4. Writing

L(b). How old is Child 2?

L(c). What is the second language of your Child2?

L(d). How well does Child 2 know it? High Med Low Beginner

1. Speaking

2. Understanding

3. Reading

4. Writing

M. If you want to help your 3-year-old child to acquire a second language, what is important for them? Please rank these from 1 to 9.

1st 2nd 3ed 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th

a. going to the language school (e.g. English conversation school)

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b. going abroad

c. interacting with friends who had already learned the language that your children is trying to learn as a second language

d. learning from materials (e.g. TV, movies, books, games and music)

e. forcing children to use only the second language everyday

f. learning from teaching materials (e.g.

58


textbooks)

g. teaching by parents

h. having high motivation

i. setting goals

N. If you want to help your teenage child to acquire a second language, what is important for them? Please rank these from 1 to 9.


a. going to the language school (e.g. English conversation school)

b. going abroad

c. interacting with friends who had already learned the language that your children is trying to learn as a

59


second language

d. learning from materials (e.g. TV, movies, books, games and music)

e. forcing children to use only the second language everyday

f. learning from teaching materials (e.g. textbooks)

g. teaching by parents

h. having high motivation

i. setting goals

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ZmDOSga2HNNmpUzauKUlrE1qqsrUyj8KykMrL7CrE7M/viewform

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https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ZmDOSga2HNNmpUzauKUlrE1qqsrUyj8KykMrL7CrE7M/viewform

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