The impact of bilingualism and parents’ nationality on attitudes towards foreign languages.
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2021-08-10
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en
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Abstract
Multiculturalism and globalization have led to a growing number of people studying foreign languages, even from a very young age. The number of bilinguals has increased all over the world. This raises a question of the differences between monolinguals and bilinguals. More specifically, the interest of the present study is whether an individual’s linguistic background has an effect on their attitudes towards foreign languages. The study compares the attitudes of monolingual and bilingual children, who speak either Finnish and English or Finnish and French. In addition, this study aims to gain insight into the impact of parent’s nationality on the child’s attitude toward languages. The participants have either both parents native or one native parent and one parent foreign. In the study, 99 Finnish participants from ages 8-12 filled in an attitude and motivation questionnaire, concerning their attitudes toward foreign languages. Findings showed that linguistic background had an effect on a child’s attitude towards foreign languages. Bilingual children showed a more positive attitude than the monolingual children did. A significant effect was also found in terms of parent’s nationality. Children with one Finnish parent and one foreign parent were more positive towards learning foreign languages than children whose both parents were Finnish. The findings indicate that both linguistic backgrounds as well as the nationality of parents has a significant impact on the attitudes a child has towards foreign languages.
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Faculteit der Letteren