In my community, there is a growing population of immigrants
from India. Often, parents enroll their
children in preschool with minimal to no understanding of the English
language. This can be challenging and
even scary for young children to be dropped off in an entirely new environment,
one in which they do not understand the communications spoken by the caregivers
or other children around them. Children
who are dual language learners—especially those that experience a divide
between the home language and school language—can develop a delay in their acquisition
of language, as these children are taking in twice the amount of language input
and vocabulary as single language learners.
Some of the Indian parents in my community may have a
working understanding of the English language, but rarely have fluency
themselves. I find that many of the
families live in small communities made up of other Indian families and English
is usually not spoken at home or within their neighborhood. Among the families that I interact with,
there seems to be little apparent interest of the mothers in learning English,
as they are non-working and rely on the father to speak with the school. This can hinder vital communications between
school and home.
I am curious as to how schools can improve communications
between home and school and how they can increase parent participation. I would also like to learn how schools can
better provide for the dual language students’ developing language skills and
emotional security.
