Journal Article

Issues in Bilingualism and Heritage Language Maintenance: Perspectives of Minority-Language Mothers of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Yu, Betty

2013

Overview

Purpose: The author investigated the language practices of 10 bilingual, Chinese/English-speaking, immigrant mothers with their children with autism spectrum disorders. The aim was to understand (a) the nature of the language practices, (b) their constraints, and (c) their impact. Method: The author employed in-depth phenomenological interviews with thematic and narrative analyses to yield themes. Results: Interviewees reported that they adopted language practices perceived to be advantageous to intervention access and wellness. They valued Chinese language but did not pursue its use if it was believed to hinder the children's overall development of English acquisition. All of the mothers believed that bilingualism made learning more challenging. Many believed that it caused confusion or exacerbated disabilities. These deficit views of bilingualism were commonly reinforced by professionals. All of the mothers were motivated to help their children learn English but had no assistance to do so. Practices were sustainable only when they were aligned with families' preferred communication patterns. Conclusions: There is an urgent need for practitioners to be better informed about issues related to intergenerational language practices in minority-language families. Language use between parents and children is a complex matter that is unique to each family. Parents need to be supported to make language use decisions that are self-enhancing and congruent with their families' needs. (Contains 1 table and 2 footnotes.)

• Publisher: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA),American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
• Subject: Adult / Applied Linguistics / Asian cultural groups / Attitude / Autism / Autism Spectrum Disorders / Autistic children / Bilingualism / California / Case Studies / Child development / Child Development Disorders, Pervasive - ethnology / Child Development Disorders, Pervasive - psychology / Child Directed Speech / Child Language / Children / Children & youth / Chinese / Chinese languages / Communication / Confusion / Culture / Disorders / English / English (Second Language) / English language / Families / Families & family life / Family (Sociological Unit) / Female / Health Personnel / Heritage Language / Humans / Immigrants / Infant / Interpersonal communication / Interviews / Interviews as Topic / Language / Language Attitudes / Language Development / Language Impairments / Language Maintenance / Language Usage / Language Use / Languages / Learning Processes / Male / Mandarin Chinese / Massachusetts / Minority Group Children / Minority Groups - psychology / Minority languages / Monolingualism / Mothers / Mothers - psychology / Multilingualism / Native Language / Native language acquisition / Native languages / Parent attitudes / Parent-child relations / Parents / Parents & parenting / Pervasive Developmental Disorders / Resistance (Psychology) / Speech Language Pathology