The Role of Early Maternal Cultural Orientation on Spanish-English Child-Directed Speech and Vocabulary Knowledge in Mexican-American Children

Abstract

Cultural contexts shape numerous child development outcomes and may be particularly salient for dual language learning children who experience heritage and societal cultures. Previous research suggests that caregivers' cultural orientation is associated with the language their child is exposed to and knows. However, less is known about how caregiver cultural orientation is linked with early child-directed speech and child language knowledge in immigrant households. In a sample of primarily Spanish-speaking, Mexican immigrant mothers and their child (N = 112; 58.9% female) from low-income households, this study examined the links between maternal Mexican and Anglo cultural orientation at child age 9 months, maternal Spanish and English child-directed speech (measured via mother-child free-play) at 2 years, and children's Spanish and English vocabulary knowledge at 3 years. A path model revealed that maternal Anglo orientation predicted children's English vocabulary through English child-directed speech. Although Spanish child-directed speech predicted Spanish vocabulary, maternal Mexican orientation did not predict Spanish child-directed speech or Spanish vocabulary scores. The findings implicate acculturation and societal- and heritage-language child-directed speech as important features to consider when assessing children of immigrants' language environments and learning, making salient the role of cultural contexts on childhood bilingualism.