An
investigation into Tamil-speaking South Asian British mothers' beliefs,
perceptions and practices concerning language learning
Shyamani Hettiarachchi, Gary
Morgan, James Law and Tim Pring
The Parent-Child
Interaction (PCI) approach (Kelman and Schneider, 1994) and the Hanen Parent
Programme (HPP, Manolson, 1992) are arguably
the most widely used therapy approaches to support children with language
learning difficulties in
This project looks at two groups of Tamil-speaking mothers
living in
A pilot study conducted with 4 mothers indicates a strong
desire amongst the participants to preserve ‘tradition’ utilising language as
one of the means to do so. Asking
questions to verify word knowledge, introducing words and asking children to
repeat these words are the main features noted during mother-child interaction
in play, which were also aspects identified by the mothers as promoting
language development.
Semi-structured interviews have now been conducted with twenty-six
mothers (with or without a child with language learning difficulties). Initial findings support earlier findings of
a strong need to maintain ‘tradition’ through preserving language, religion and
customs.
Key words: parent-child interaction, language
acquisition, culture, perceptions, attitudes
It has been estimated that approximately thirteen percent of all
children have some form of language learning difficulty (Beitchman et al.,
1986a). The consequences of language
learning difficulties are manifold, including effects on educational progress
(i.e. reading; spelling), social and communication competence and behaviour
(Catts, 1993; Cohen et al., 2000).
Estimates of bilingualism in
Parent-child interaction and culture
Research on
‘normal’ language development suggests that children learn to speak at a
similar rate within differing cultural environments (Lieven in Gallaway and
Richards, 1994) including the absence of baby talk and older siblings as
communicative partners (Heath, 1983). There has been debate on whether or not a
difference exists between language used by parents to ‘typical’ and ‘atypical’
language learners (Conti-Ramsden and Friel-Patti, 1983). Unfortunately, methodological difficulties
have affected the findings of the above research (i.e. specification of groups;
appropriate comparison groups; type of analyses).
Parenting style
can be affected by culture, parental beliefs, the socio-economic position of a
family, and the condition of their child (Iwamoto, 1997). A review of parent-infant interaction rating
scales by McCollum and McBride (1998) raised important issues regarding the
cultural appropriateness of current therapy approaches. The authors questioned whether there was
commonality of developmental goals across cultures and universality of
parenting practices to achieve these goals.
Differing beliefs on the value of talk, the status of children, the
interface between social position and language dominance, and the importance of
parental teaching may affect parent child interaction (Crago, 1990; Van Kleeck,
1994; Westby, 1990). Investigations of
parents’ beliefs and values have revealed differences among cultures in what
behaviours are emphasized during child development (Cashmore and Goodnow, 1986;
Johnston and Wong, 2004; Okagaki and Sternberg, 1993; Quirk et al., 1986), the
parameters of typical development (Harry, 1992; Mendez Perez, 2000), and
expectations for future change (Fatimilehin and Nadirshaw, 1994). Therefore,
the goals of parent-child interaction may also be different across cultures (
Cultural and
religious beliefs appear to be a strong force in defining Bangladeshi mothers’
attitudes towards ‘disability’ (Iwamoto, 1997).
They reported that their child’s disability was ‘Allah’s will’ with some
mothers believing that it was a result of their sins. In a comparative study of Mexican mothers and
Anglo-American mothers, Rodriquez and Olswang (2003) concluded that
Mexican-American mothers held more strongly ‘traditional, authoritarian and
conforming’ educational and child rearing beliefs than their Anglo-American
counterparts. Similarly, Johnston and
Wong (2002) report differences on beliefs about child-rearing and verbal
interaction patterns with pre-school age children between Chinese and Western
mothers.
Typical language
development appears to thrive under various environments in different cultures
with culture-specific child-rearing practices.
Religious and cultural beliefs and views appear to influence the
behaviour of parents, which may in turn have an impact on parents’
responsiveness to the type of therapy offered.
This emphasises the need for speech therapists to learn about the
culture of their clients to lessen cultural barriers and maximise the
effectiveness of therapy (Delgado-Gaitan, 1991).
Parent-child
interaction therapy
The ‘Parent Child Interaction’ (PCI) approach (Hulme and Cummins, 1997)
based on western interaction style[1]
is used with children who have language-learning difficulties. Its most unique feature is the use of video
to analyse in detail the transitory nature of parent-child communication
(Kelman and Schneider, 1994).
Within therapy, the
mother-child interaction pattern during play is reviewed and aspects to be
changed identified (i.e. commenting; following the child’s lead). The mother is then requested to work at home
on the aspect identified, which in turn is reviewed at the next therapy
session. This requires parents to both reflect on their communicative behaviour
and be willing to change aspects of their natural communicative behaviour.
Hulme and Cummins (1997) report positive results in language development
in English-speaking children following this approach. Law et al (2003) report
‘mixed’ results for intervention targeting difficulties of grammar with no
current evidence of the efficacy of such an approach with children who speak a
language of the Indian sub-continent. As child rearing practices and adult-child
interaction patterns are culture-specific (Johnston and Wong, 2002; Lieven in
Galloway and Richards, 1994; Mackay, 1999; Rodriquez and Olswang, 2003; van
Kleeck, 1992), the appropriateness of using therapy approaches based on
‘western’ models of interaction with Asian communities needs to be reviewed.
Research
Question
1. What are Tamil-speaking mothers’
beliefs, perceptions and attitudes concerning language acquisition?
2. What are the features of mother-child
interaction in play within this community?
Aims
1. To describe the mothers’ attitudes,
perceptions, views and beliefs concerning the language acquisition process from
information gained during interviews held with the mothers
2. To document features of mother-child
interaction within play from observation and video data
3. To ascertain mothers’ views on two styles of
mother-child interaction from video clips and information gathered during the
interviews
Pilot
study
A pilot study was conducted with four
parent/child dyads: two mothers with a pre-school child with language delay,
two mothers with a pre-school child with typically developing language. As displayed in table 1, the age of the children
ranged from 3.6 to 4.6, with an average age of 3.8 years. The children’s hearing status, visual acuity
and cognitive function were reported by the mothers to be within normal limits. Two of the children were known to the local
speech and language therapy service and had received a diagnosis of ‘language
delay’. The other two children had
typically developing language skills.
All four mothers and children spoke Tamil as their first language.
Table
1: Demographic details
Children
|
Participant |
Age |
Gender |
Language(s)
spoken at home |
Language
skills |
|
P1 (only child) |
4 years 6 months |
Male |
Tamil |
Atypical |
|
P2 (second) |
3 years 8 months |
Male |
Tamil & English |
Typical |
|
P3 (second) |
3 years 7 months |
Male |
Tamil |
Atypical |
|
P4(only child) |
3 years 7 months |
Male |
Tamil |
Typical |
Yach et al. (1993, p.22) postulate a
negative effect of limited education levels of caregivers on ‘several aspects
of a child’s health’. The mothers were
between 25-34 years, all full-time mothers with an average of 10 years of
education (see Table 2 below).
Table 2: Demographic
details
|
Participant |
Language at home |
Age |
Socio-economic status |
Country of origin |
Years in the UK |
Immigration status |
Educational level |
|
P1 |
Tamil |
M:28 F:32 |
Full-time mum Shop staff |
India |
7 years |
1 |
O/L O/L |
|
P2 |
Tamil & English |
M:34 D:37 |
Full-time mum Board/Tamil organisation |
Sri Lanka |
12 years |
1 |
O/L A/L |
|
P3 |
Tamil |
M:34 D:44 |
Full-time mum Sports instructor |
Sri Lanka |
20 years |
1 |
A/L Grade 8 |
|
P4 |
Tamil |
M:26 D:32 |
Full-time mum |
India |
10 years |
1 |
O/L A/L |
M: Mother, F: Father
Immigration status: 1—1st generation; 2—2nd
generation
Educational status: O/L examination in Sri Lanka and India
is equivalent to the GCSE in the UK
As little is
known in this research field, a semi-inductive approach was deemed appropriate
with aspects of Grounded Theory (Strauss and Corbin, 1990) used in the analysis
of the data.
I started the
data reduction process by reviewing my research question and aims. I then read through the interview data
selecting and highlighting data relevant to each question. An open coping process was then undertaken. I
went through each sentence simplifying it where necessary and writing down
target codes, concepts, categories or themes that emerged from the data
(Strauss and Corbin, 1990). The
concepts/categories were written straight on the interview transcript and
colour-coded. Some of the codes came
from me, for example, ‘Parent as teacher’, while a few were ‘in vivo’ codes
(Glaser, 1978, p.70; Strauss, 1987, p.33; Strauss and Corbin, 1990, p.69)
derived from the participant data, such as, ‘strict rules’; ‘respecting
elders’. The next step was to develop
each category by listing its salient properties, which led to identifying
sub-categories. Each property was then
‘dimensionalized’ using a range. Next,
connections were made between a category and its subcategories by putting the
data back together in novel ways within axial coding. Memos and diagrams were
used to visually represent the emerging relationships between concepts.
As this was a
small pilot study, it was not possible to reach data saturation or to verify
the tentative working hypothesis of ‘tradition’ as a key category. This category has emerged as the core
category though further validation is required.
The data was
analysed with reference to the research question:
¥ What are Tamil-speaking South Asian British mothers'
beliefs, perceptions and attitudes concerning language learning?
The four mothers
talked about language acquisition, their role within this process and the
influence of their specific culture on parent-child interaction. The main themes to emerge were:
a) The parent in the ‘role’ of teacher. ‘Teaching’ language, particularly their first
language Tamil was stressed by all mothers.
Example: ‘I
think…mm…if the parents don’t play with him a lot. For example, they do, they are working
parents and not spending time with them.
That could be one of the reasons that he is not talking. … Because they are working, they will be too
tired after coming from work. That’s
understandable. Because I’m a housewife,
so I have enough time. So, I’m not
blaming them, but it could be one of the reasons’ (P3)
‘If children don’t have any ideas then the mothers
must teach. But shouldn’t ask too many questions
because it will put mental pressure. The child may avoid play times’ (P1)
‘Say the words and ask him to repeat it. That’s important as well’ (P3)
‘That is good.
Teaching him the names of things and asking him to repeat. But asking him to say it again, he will get
confused and not know what to do. If
fewer things, it’s a good way’ (P2)
b) The importance of the Tamil-speaking
community
Example: P4: ‘They are not being taken
out. It could be family, socialising is
the main thing. If they don’t take them
out, you know. We need to introduce them
to our own community. Otherwise they
don’t understand. Even though we speak
to them in Tamil, still, if we don’t take them to social gatherings…’
c) The importance of tradition and a
traditional upbringing: Enforcing firm boundaries, teaching children to respect
parents, elders and older siblings, religious instruction and knowledge of
traditional values/customs were all seen as important aspects of child rearing
and a parental and community responsibility
Example: ‘The thing is, I don’t believe in
cultural, cultural things, but, the way I (was) brought up, my mum and certain
things, I’m doing the same thing with him’
(P4)
‘In our culture, we have strict rules’
(P1)
‘To everyone who is elder he would respect
them. We will call them ‘anna’ or
‘akka’. All younger brothers will be
called ‘thambi’. Respecting elders is
important’ (P2)
Within the pilot study, ‘tradition’
emerged as a core category, which needs further validation. The Tamil language is seen as a vehicle to
preserve Tamil culture, heritage and communication within the Tamil community
in London and with those in the home country, especially grandparents. Therefore, the mothers see a role for themselves
to teach/instruct their child in Tamil.
All four mothers commented on the role of parents as ‘teacher’ in the
language development process. The video
data indicated that the mothers asked questions, taught words and requested
repetition of these words during play, which emerged as the main features of
parent-child interaction.
Following on from the pilot study, I have
just finished collecting data from 26 mothers in London. Initial analysis of the data reveals a strong
need to preserve Tamil ‘traditions’ away from the home country, with language
playing an integral part in this process.
Some mothers explain language delay as a result of a ‘bad planetary
period’, ‘karma’ or as ‘god’s will’. Others reported a belief in traditional
sayings such as ‘if the teeth are early, the speech will be delayed’. These beliefs have implications for early
identification of speech and language difficulties and for providing culturally
appropriate therapy.
Beitchman, J. H., Nair, R., Clegg, M. and Patel, P. G. (1986a) Prevalence of speech and language
disorders in 5-year-old kindergarten children in the Ottawa-Careton region. Journal
of Speech and Hearing Disorders 51: 98-110
Cashmore, J.A. and Goodnow, J.J. (1986) Influences on
Australian parents’ values. Journal of Cross-Cultural
Psychology, 17, 441-454.
Catts, H. W. (1993) The relationship between speech-language
impairment and reading disabilities. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research 36: 948-958
Cohen, N. J., Valance, D. D., Barwick, M. In Menna, R.,
Horodezjy, N. B., Issacson, L. (2000) The interface between ADHD and language
impairment: An examination of language, achievement and cognitive processing. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 41: 353—362
Conti-Ramsden, G. and Friel-Patti, S. (1983) Mothers’ discourse
adjustments to language-impaired and non-language-impaired children. Journal
of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 48, 360-7
Crago, M. (1990) Development of communicative competence in
Inuit children: Implications for speech-language pathology. Journal of Childhood Communication Disorders,
13, 73-83.
Delgado-Gaitan, C. (1991) Involving parents in the schools:
A process of empowerment. American Journal of Education, 100, 20-46
Department of Health, (2000a) The NHS Plan: A plan for
investment, a plan for reform. London: Department of Health.
Department of Health, (2003) Getting the right start:
National Service Framework for children.
Emerging findings. London: Department of Health.
Fatimilehin, I. A. and Nadirshaw, Z. (1994) A cross-cultural
study of parental attitudes and beliefs about learning disability (mental
handicap). Mental handicap Research, 7, 202-227
Ferguson, C. A.
(1977) Baby talk as a simplified register. In C. E. Snow and C. A.
Ferguson (eds.), Talking to children:
language input and acquisition. Cambridge University Press.
Girolametto, L. E., Pearce, P. and Weitzman, E. (1996)
Interactive focused stimulation for toddlers with expressive vocabulary delays.
Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 39, 1274-1283
Glaser, B. (1978) Theoretical sensitivity Mill
Valley, CA: Sociology Press
Harry, B. (1992) Making sense of disability: Low-income,
Puerto Rican parents’ theories of the problem. Exceptional Children, 59,
27-40
Iwamoto, N. (1997) Bangladeshi mothers’ knowledge of and
their attitudes towards children with disabilities Unpublished MSc in Community
Disability Studies, Institute of Child Health, UCL
Johnston, J. R. and Wong, A. M. Y. (2004) Cultural
differences in beliefs and practices concerning talk to children. Journal of
Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, Vol. 45, 916-926
Kelman, E. and Schneider, C. (1994) Parent-child
interaction: an alternative management of children’s language difficulties. Child Language Teaching (1).
London Research Centre (2000) The annual report. London Research Centre: London
Mackay, L. (1999) An introduction to Sociology. College
Press New York
McCollum, J. A. and McBride, S. L. (1997) ratings of
parent-infant interaction: raising questions of cultural validity. Topics in
Early Childhood Special Education, 17 (4) 494-520
Mendez Perez, A. (2000) Mexican American mothers’
perceptions and beliefs about language acquisition in infants and toddlers with
disabilities. Bilingual Research Journal, 24, 277-294
Okagaki, L. and Sternberg, R. J. (1993) Parental beliefs and
children’s school performance. Child Development, 64, 36-56
Quirk, M., Ciottone, R., Minami, H., Wapner, S., Yamamoto,
T., Ishii, S., Lucca-Irizarry, N., and Pacheco, A. (1986) Values mothers hold
for handicapped and nonhandicapped preschool children in Japan, Puerto Rica,
and the United States mainland. International Journal of Psychology, 21,
463-485
Rodriquez, B. L. and Olswang, L. B. (2003) Mexian-American
and Anglo-American mothers’ beliefs and values about child rearing, education,
and language impairment American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology Vol.
12 452-462
Snow, C. E. and Fergusan, C. A. (eds.) (1977) Talking to children: language input and
acquisition.
Strauss, A. (1987) Qualitative analysis for social
scientists.
Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. (1990) Basics of qualitative
research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. SAGE Publications
Van Kleeck, A.
(1994) Potential cultural bias in training parents as conversational partners
with their children who have delays in language development. American
Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 3, 67-78
Westby, C. E.
(1990) Ethnographic interviewing: Asking the right questions to the right
people in the right ways. Journal of Childhood Communication Disorders. Vol
13 (1) 101-113
Yach, D.,
Richter, L., Cameron, N. and Dewet, T. (1993) Maternal education and child
health: Emerging evidence from birth to ten. Paper presented at Birth-Ten
Seminar on methods and findings of the first years.
[1] There is evidence from this research to
suggest that adults make lexical and syntactic simplification when addressing
pre-school children (Fergusan, 1977; Snow and Fergusan, 1977). These changes in turn are said to maximize
the language learning process in children (Giralometto et al., 1996).