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About this paper symposium
| Panel information |
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| Panel 11. Language, Communication |
| Paper #1 | |
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| Maternal-Child Contributions in Shared Book Reading Among Mexican and Chinese Heritage Preschool-Age Dual Language Learners | |
| Author information | Role |
| Emily Mak, U.C. Davis, United States | Presenting author |
| Rufan Luo, Arizona State University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Qing Zhou, U.C. Berkeley, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Yuuko Uchikoshi, U.C. Davis, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Abstract | |
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The present study, unique in its inclusion of both Mexican American and Chinese American immigrant groups, characterizes the quality of mother-child shared book reading using cognitive demand levels from Sigel’s (2002) Psychological Distancing Model. Although inferential discussion - the highest cognitive demand level - is labeled as quality language interaction for children (Rowe & Snow, 2020), it is crucial to acknowledge that young children may also benefit from less cognitively demanding discussions (Luo et al., 2022). Furthermore, little is known about how Mexican American and Chinese American dual language learners (DLLs) and their mothers from low-income immigrant families interact during book reading with respect to cognitive distancing in their discourse (Luo & Tamis-LeMonda, 2017). Understanding the relations between cognitive demand language and developmental stage is essential for optimizing the benefits of book sharing discussions for children across ages. The current study thus aims to determine whether DLLs’ responses would sequentially match the cognitive demand level of their mothers’ language and whether their mothers would adapt the cognitive demand level of their language to match the level of their children’s previous contributions. This study uncovers similarities and differences in storytelling practices and mother-child interactions between the Mexican American and Chinese American groups. Participants included 67 Mexican American (36-63 months) and 85 Chinese American (36-61 months) DLLs and their families recruited from federal- and state-funded preschool programs in California. Multilingual mothers were instructed to use any language to tell a story to their child using Frog, Where Are You? (Meyer, 1969). The activity was transcribed and coded by trained research assistants for cognitive demand levels (yes/no, referential, behavioral, and inferential), adapted from Luo and Tamis-LeMonda (2017). Sequential analysis was used to examine the contingent relationships between maternal and child contributions in each cultural group using the generalized sequential querier (Bakeman & Quera, 1995). Additionally, children were divided into younger and older groups using median age to explore if the sequential associations were influenced by child age. The findings illustrated that while mothers and children in both groups tended to match the cognitive demand level of each other’s speech, some deviations from this pattern, including “overmatching” and “undermatching,” were observed differently for each cultural group. Mexican American children tended to respond at matching cognitive demand levels, except for inferential questions, where they often reverted to yes/no answers. Chinese American children responded at the same cognitive demand level for all question types. Mexican American mothers frequently followed up with yes/no questions, while Chinese American mothers used referential and behavioral questions. Child age also played a role in the contingency of cognitive demand levels. Mothers of older children were more likely to adjust their speech and encourage their children to engage in inferential discussions. Together, this study highlights the complex relations between multilingual speakers in mother-child shared book reading and the importance of developing culturally sensitive interventions to support language and literacy development that foster positive parent-child interactions for children from different backgrounds. |
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| Paper #2 | |
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| Bilingual Mothers and Children Discuss and Display Emotions Differently in their First and Second languages | |
| Author information | Role |
| Jessica Yung-Chieh Chuang, Northwestern University, United States | Presenting author |
| Sirada Rochanavibhata, San Francisco State University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Viorica Marian, Northwestern University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Abstract | |
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Children acquire language through social interactions with their caregivers, simultaneously developing their socio-emotional skills (Schieffelin & Ochs, 1986). While socio-emotional development has been shown to be both a facilitator and a consequence of language acquisition, few studies have examined how bilingual and bicultural experiences contribute to this interdependent process. Previous research has revealed that one’s cultural and linguistic background can influence their socio-emotional development (Zhang et al., 2020). For example, Thai mothers and children used more emotion words (e.g., “happy”) than their American peers, while the American mother-child dyads exhibited higher emotional intensity and more emotion behaviors (e.g., laughing) than the Thai dyads (Rochanavibhata & Marian, 2023). In this study, we investigated whether Thai-English bilingual mothers and children discuss and display emotions differently across their two languages. Particularly, we examined cross-linguistic differences in discussion of feelings, use of emotion words, and display of emotion behaviors. Participants were 26 mothers and their four-year-old children (age range: 3;11 to 5;0) living in Thailand. The dyads engaged in a prompted reminiscing task (e.g., Minami & McCabe, 1995). Mothers were asked to elicit autobiographical memories from their children using two sets of word prompts. Half of the dyads received Set 1 in English and Set 2 in Thai while the other half received Set 1 in Thai and Set 2 in English. The interactions were video-recorded in the dyads’ homes. We transcribed and coded the videos using the Child Language Analysis (CLAN) program. The transcripts were coded for mentions of feelings (e.g., “I loved it”), use of emotion words (e.g., “happy, “sad”), and displays of emotion behaviors (e.g., laughing, frowning). We used generalized linear mixed models to analyze maternal and child emotion discussion and behaviors. Results revealed that bilingual mothers and children discuss and display emotions differently across languages. When speaking in English, mothers more frequently addressed their children’s thoughts and feelings and displayed emotion behaviors. Similarly, children discussed their own and their mother's thoughts and feelings more, while displaying greater positive emotion behaviors (e.g., laughing) when conversing in English than in Thai. There was a significant interaction between language and child gender for displays of negative emotion behaviors. Post-hoc comparisons revealed that boys displayed more negative emotion behaviors than girls when speaking Thai. Cross-linguistic differences in bilingual mothers and children’s patterns of emotions talk and display may be explained by the cultural frame switching hypothesis (Hong et al., 2000), which describes how biculturals and bilinguals shift their values and behaviors based on culturally-relevant stimuli (e.g., languages). Specifically, cultural values related to child-rearing practices may be primed by the associated language (i.e., Thai and Thai culture versus English and American culture). Through characterizing emotion socialization across languages and cultures, the present study can inform social emotional learning curriculums, speech-language interventions, and parent coaching programs for families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. |
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| Paper #3 | |
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| Emotion Experiences, Emotion Perceptions, and Evaluations in Bilingual Chinese Immigrant Parent-Child Dyads' Conflict Discussions | |
| Author information | Role |
| Cindy J. Huang, M.Ed., M.A., Teachers College, Columbia University, United States | Presenting author |
| Cindy Y. Huang, University of Oregon, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Hansun Zhang Waring, Teachers College, Columbia University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Stephen H. Chen, Wellesley College, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Abstract | |
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The link between language and emotions as well as the impact of perceptions of others’ emotions in conflict has been robustly documented (Harris et al., 2006; Pavlenko, 2005). Bilingual Chinese immigrant parents’ and children’s evaluations of their conflict discussions may thus depend on their perceptions of the other person’s emotions during the discussion. Previous studies have primarily relied on parent self-report rather than observations of actual bilingual parent-child communication during conflict. To address this gap, the present study uses a multi-informant, mixed methods approach to 1) quantitatively examine how emotion perceptions mediate the association between emotion experiences and conflict discussion evaluations, and 2) qualitatively examine parents’ and children’s language use and conversational practices in the conflict discussions using Conversation Analysis (CA), an applied linguistics approach that utilizes a Jeffersonian transcription system to examine the structural underpinnings of everyday conversations. Participants were 168 children between the ages of 7-11 (M = 9.16 years, SD = 1.05) and one of their parents (Mage = 40.93 years, SD = 4.88). Most participating parents were mothers (n = 145, 86.3%), and most participating children were male (n = 87, 51.8%). All participating parents were born in China (Myears in US = 12.01 years, SD = 7.29 years). Most parents reported speaking only Chinese at home (n = 92, 54.8%), while most children spoke both English and Chinese at home (n = 103, 61.3%). All parent-child dyads participated in a 3-minute conflict discussion task. Parents and children reported on their own emotion experiences during the conflict discussion (happy, sad, angry), perceptions of the other’s same emotions, and their conflict discussion evaluation (i.e., how satisfied they felt, how much they agreed, and whether they solved the conflict). Qualitative analysis was conducted using CA. Path analyses using structural equation modeling were conducted to investigate the indirect associations between parent-child emotions and conflict evaluations, while controlling for parent and child language proficiency in English and Chinese. Results indicated that the path from parent anger to parent conflict evaluation via parent perceptions of child anger was significant (β = -.111, SE = .054, p = .040). That is, parent’s anger was positively associated with parent perceptions of child anger, which, in turn, negatively impacted parent conflict evaluation. All models indicated that greater parent English proficiency was associated with better child conflict evaluation, and greater child Chinese proficiency was associated with better parent conflict evaluation. Qualitative results using CA support the quantitative findings linking language use, emotions, and emotion perceptions during the conflict discussion. These results have implications for clinicians and educators working with bilingual Chinese immigrant families to understand how to support families with effective conflict discussions and to promote positive parent-child relationships. |
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| Paper #4 | |
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| Bilingual Language Switching Activates Multiple Cultural Scripts of Emotion In Chinese-American Parent-Child Affirmation Discussion | |
| Author information | Role |
| Aya Williams, Ph.D., Santa Clara University, United States | Presenting author |
| Qing Zhou, U.C. Berkeley, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Chang Liu, Washington State University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Yun-Ru Chen, McMaster University, Canada | Non-presenting author |
| Stephen H. Chen, Wellesley College, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Abstract | |
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Language is central to expressing, regulating, and communicating feelings (Lindquist, 2017). For bilingual parents and children, these emotional processes are shaped by multiple languages (Marian & Kaushanskaya, 2004; Pavlenko, 2005; Williams et al., 2020). The present study examined how expressions of love are articulated in conversations between Chinese American immigrant parents and their children. Further, we attempted to test whether strategic shifts between languages activated different cultural scripts of emotion during bilingual parent-child conversation (i.e., emotional code-switching). Chinese American immigrant parents participated in an affirmation discussion in which they were instructed to express love and care to their children (N = 110, M = 9.16 years, 48.5% girls). Proposition-level analyses of dyadic speech (total 8,825 propositions) resulted in three types of affection: training (guan, or caring for and loving one’s child by teaching appropriate behaviors), relational affection (qin, or child feeling close to and loving their parent in response to their benevolence), and validation (acceptance and encouragement of child’s own expression of emotions, thoughts, and behaviors; CFI = 0.96, TLI = 0.90, RMSEA = 0.03, SRMR = 0.06). At the person-level, latent profile analyses (LPA) was used to identify subgroup profiles based on the three cultural expressions of love and care. A three-profile solution emerged (SABIC = 2439.61, Entropy .828, LMR-LRT = .077), including Chinese affection style (Profile 1), American affection style (Profile 2), and low affection (Profile 3; see Figure 1). Those profiled as having Chinese affection styles had higher socioeconomic status than others (X2 = 22.37, p < .001). Bilingual parents profiled as having Chinese affection styles also spoke more Chinese and less English relative to others during the affirmation discussions (X2 = 14.74, p < .001). At the proposition-level, capturing moment-to-moment changes in language and affection expression, multilevel modeling showed that bilingual parents were more likely to use Chinese when discussing training (v20 = -.36, p = .01) and relational affection (v20 = -.85, p < .001). In contrast, parents were more likely to use English when discussing validation (v01 = .89, p < .001). Critically, when parents spontaneously code-switched from Chinese into English, they were more likely to express validation (v30 = .59, p < .01) and less likely to express training in the next moment of speech (v30 = -.71, p = .03), suggesting a causal function of bilingual code-switching on cultural expressions of love. Bilingual speakers may shift cultural footing, and activate distinct cultural scripts of emotion through the use of multiple languages. Our findings extend prior research on language switching, and demonstrate that code-switching in emotional contexts may be a tool to negotiate and bridge cultural gaps in immigrant families. |
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Multilingual parent-child conversations in the family context: Implications for children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development
Submission Type
Paper Symposium
Description
| Session Title | Multilingual parent-child conversations in the family context: Implications for children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development |