Interest, home environment, and young Chinese children’s development of English as a second/foreign language

Abstract

The current study examined the relationship between interest, the home environment, and young Chinese children's development of English as a second/foreign language in Hong Kong. Two hundred and seventy-four Hong Kong kindergartners were assessed on their interest in learning English and their English language skills (i.e., expressive and receptive vocabulary). Their parents completed questionnaires eliciting family socio-economic status, parental beliefs, and home learning environment. The results indicated that (1) interest was related to children's English language abilities after controlling for children's gender, non-verbal intelligence, and kindergarten type; (2) parents' beliefs about their child's English ability and self-efficacy were related to children's interest in learning English; and (3) interest uniquely contributed to children's English language ability in the home environment. The present findings provide evidence of the active role that children play in their second/foreign language development and highlight the significant influence of parental beliefs on children's interest in learning English.

本研究以香港爲背景 , 探討興趣、家庭環境與幼兒英語作爲第二語或外語發展之間的關繫 。研究測量了274名香港幼稚園學童對學習英語的興趣及其英語语言能力 (即表達性及接收性詞匯) 。幼兒的家長填寫了有關家庭社經地位、家長信念和家庭學習環境的問卷 。研究結果顯示 : (1) 在控製了幼兒的性別、非語言智力和幼稚園類型等條件後 , 學習興趣與幼兒的英語语言能力相關 ; (2) 家長對其孩子英語能力的信念和自我效能感與幼兒學習英語的興趣相關 ; (3) 學習興趣在家庭環境中對幼兒的英語语言能力有獨特的貢獻 。本研究的結果表明幼兒的學習興趣在其第二語或外語發展中發揮著積極作用 , 並強調家長信念對幼兒的英語學習興趣有著關鍵的影響。