The relationship between parental involvement and children’s language acquisition

This study proposes that when parents are involved in providing learning support, the success rates for language acquisition are significantly higher. This paper explores the pedagogical strategies employed by non-Mandarin speaking parents through interactions to support their children’s language development. A cross case analysis carried out with five high achieving children and their families showed that parents were involved personally in their child’s education. They took it upon themselves to read with the child, play with the child, learn the language together with the child, assess the child and create opportunities for the child to practise the language. The study revealed that the support and psychological tools parents used helped to mediate their children’s language development process within family practices. These psychological tools could be adopted in classroom settings to supplement language acquisition pedagogies used by teachers.