Abstracts – Session Three
2:00 – 3:00 – 6EN – 551
Chair: Esther Yao
Julia Rietze: Motivation, Identity, and Affect in Heritage Language Research
Heritage languages are minority languages in the context of wider society yet they can be important in families and migrant communities. Concepts of motivation and identity are inextricably connected in many studies on heritage language learning. Affect, however, has barely been investigated. In the larger domain of second language acquisition, scholars have pointed out that affective factors deserve more attention and this is at least as valid for the domain of heritage language learning. Publications on heritage language learning within a New Zealand context are scarce, despite the great cultural diversity of this country. My aim is to address the aforementioned gaps and investigate the significance of motivation, identity and affect for German heritage speakers in New Zealand; more precisely, how they refer to these constructs when narrating their language biographies. In my presentation, I would like to show 1) how concepts of motivation, identity and emotion are treated in heritage language research, 2) how these concepts are inextricably connected and 3) change with contexts and stages of life.
Iuliana Rodinciuc: The Role of Emotion for Parents and Teachers of Early Childhood Education Settings Involved in System-wide Education Change
This study investigated the complex range of emotions and their role for teachers and parents involved in an early childhood education (ECE) setting which received Targeted Assistance for Participation (TAP) funding.
The study focused on a Tongan-immersed ECE setting, situated in a low socio-economic area which faced significant barriers to participation in ECE. The manager of the ECE setting, three teachers, and three parents all of whom identified as of Tongan heritage, contributed to this study.
Findings demonstrate that the TAP initiative and the process of removing participation barriers recognized by the reform significantly impacted on the emotional lives of parents and teachers. The centre manager’s and teachers’ work of sustaining participation in ECE for emotionally struggling parents, often amounted to traumatizing, painful and recurring emotional labour. The emotional responses of teachers and parents were found to be specific to each individual and heavily guided by Tongan cultural expectations of behaviour. On-going management of emotional responses required cultural-specific and change-aware actions and planning for all participants.
Therefore, it is increasingly important for ECE policy developers to consider including cultural-specific and change-aware emotional support strategies for parents and teachers in the design of ECE participation reforms. Building emotional knowledge that promotes and validates the cultural values, traditions and beliefs of teachers and parents of TAP-funded ECE settings is paramount for the successful management of their emotional responses to change. This study is also a tool for Western ECE teachers to better understand their non-Western (Pasifika) colleagues as it promotes meaningful understandings of culture, that are key in the management of emotions in contexts of system-wide change. By understanding what is contextually and culturally appropriate practice in non-Western ECE settings, Western ECE professionals can in turn promote acceptance and non-bias when teaching language, culture, values and traditions other than their own.
Ripi Kaur: Immigrant Parenting: Involvement, Beliefs, and Acculturation
The Indian ethnic group comprises approximately 3.9% of the New Zealand population, and this figure is expected to rise in the future (Statistics New Zealand, 2014). Despite this changing nature of New Zealand society, there is scant research on parenting with Indian immigrant families. Where Indian immigrant families have been researched, data for fathers and mothers has not been reported separately, or both parents have not been included in the same study. As Indian fathers and mothers immigrate and acculturate, parenting beliefs and parenting roles may shift. Thus, it is important to situate these in their cultural contexts, because cultural contexts provide meaning to parenting beliefs that, in turn, guide parenting behaviours (Bornstein & Lansford, 2010). This study compared Indian fathers’ and mothers’ parenting beliefs, parental involvement with their adolescents, and the influence of acculturation on parent involvement and beliefs with 150 Indian immigrant families in New Zealand. Using the Families First questionnaire (Coltrane et al., 2004), fathers and mothers reported the nature and frequency of involvement with their 13 to 18-year-old adolescent, their parenting beliefs using the Child-Rearing Beliefs Questionnaire (Lieber, Fung, & Wing-Leung, 1997) and acculturation using the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans-II (Cuellar, Arnold, & Maldonado, 1995) adapted for Asian Indians. Results showed similarities and differences between fathers and mothers in involvement, beliefs, and acculturation. This study will contribute to the father involvement and parenting literature by providing insights into patterns of Indian father and mother involvement and parenting beliefs in the context of immigration.