bilingual parenting – Page 2 – Language on the Move

Language in education

What do migrant parents expect from schools?

Dr Fadila Boutouchent during her guest lecture at Macquarie University When she was in kindergarten, my oldest daughter came home one day talking about "our soldiers" who "went to war for…

Hanna TorshAugust 29, 2018

Multilingual families

Bilingual children refusing to speak the home language

Dr Sabine Little during her guest lecture at Macquarie University When my daughter was five years old, she one day solemnly informed me that, from now on, she was no…

Ingrid PillerAugust 15, 2018

Language and migration

Feeling weird using your home language?

Fliers for Persian community events (Persian Library Parramatta, Nov 2010) Editor’s note: In the second instalment in our series “Explorations in Language Shaming”, Dr Shiva Motaghi-Tabari examines children’s attitudes towards…

Shiva Motaghi TabariOctober 5, 2017

Multilingual families

Bilingual parenting in the early years

As a parent you know how complicated it is to find a childcare centre for your children: you have a mental list of must-haves and no-goes; you browse the web;…

Victoria BenzAugust 22, 2017

Multilingual families

Giving children the gift of bilingualism

Livia Gerber has just completed her Master of Research thesis entitled “We really believe that we have given our children a gift”: Discourses on bilingual child-rearing in an online parenting…

Livia GerberFebruary 18, 2016

Multilingual families

Children as language brokers

Nizaqete Bislimi (Source: DuMont Verlag / Franz Brück) Some of the most striking images from the refugees who have been trekking across Europe are of families and children. Beyond the…

Ingrid PillerOctober 7, 2015

Language in education

Dynamics of bilingual early childhood education

Benz, Victoria. 2015. Dynamics of bilingual early childhood education: Parental attitudes and institutional realisation. PhD. Macquarie University. Victoria Benz recently completed her PhD thesis about “Dynamics of bilingual early childhood education: Parental…

Lg_on_the_moveAugust 5, 2015

Language learning

The language cringe of the native speaker

"How bad is your cultural cringe?" (Source: Jenna Guillaume, BuzzFeed) Keith: I’m still really shit at pronouncing Lisa’s surname. With the umlaut o. Hanna: What is Lisa’s surname? (laughter) Keith:…

Hanna TorshJune 10, 2015

Language in education

Are the children of intermarried couples smarter?

Preschool in Karlsruhe, Germany (Source: DW) Ever since my research for my 2002 book Bilingual Couples Talk I’ve regularly been told by people – or been asked to confirm their…

Ingrid PillerMay 20, 2015

Language in education

Paying lip-service to diversity

Diversity in early childhood education: valued or silenced? (Source: easternct.edu) Bilingual education presents a major conundrum in contemporary diverse societies: on the one hand, bilingualism and diversity more generally are…

Ingrid PillerMarch 18, 2015

Multilingual families

Lost in bilingual parenting

Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken (Source: quotesnpoems.com) It is not unusual for bilingual parents to experience a sense of bewilderment when it comes to language choice in the family.…

Shiva Motaghi TabariDecember 5, 2014

Multilingual families

Bilingual Avenue

Visit the Bilingual Avenue! Bilingual Avenue is an insightful and entertaining new website devoted to bilingual parenting and bilingual education. Bilingual Avenue features weekly podcasts, a blog and a resources…

Language on the MoveNovember 2, 2014

Language learning

How the presence of a bilingual school changes the linguistic profile of a community

German International School Sydney It is one of the great narratives of our time that the market will fix everything. In education this means that parental choice is assumed to…

Ingrid PillerJuly 31, 2014

Language at work

Monolingualism is bad for the economy

Losing their heritage language decreases the earning potential of 2nd-generation migrants In most countries of immigration, linguistic diversity is by and large ignored by policy makers. If there are language-related…

Ingrid PillerDecember 4, 2013

Language in Australia

The burden of multilingualism in Australia

English-Only Australia? (Source: blogs.crikey.com.au) In recent Australian political conversation, there is an increasingly bipartisan recognition of the value of cultural and linguistic diversity. So it’s fair to ask, what is…

Hanna TorshJuly 28, 2013

Migrant children studying in a Brazilian school in Japan (Source: Japan Times)

Language in education

Educational outcomes of migrant children

Migrant children studying in a Brazilian school in Japan (Source: Japan Times) A recent study of the educational pathways of the children of Brazilian migrants in Japan offers a most…

Ingrid PillerMay 28, 2013