Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1893/32446
Appears in Collections:Faculty of Social Sciences Journal Articles
Peer Review Status: Refereed
Title: What do children think of their own bilingualism? Exploring bilingual children's attitudes and perceptions
Author(s): Peace-Hughes, Tracey
de Lima, Philomena
Cohen, Bronwen
Jamieson, Lynn
Tisdall, E Kay M
Sorace, Antonella
Contact Email: t.l.hughes@stir.ac.uk
Keywords: Bilingualism
childhood bilingualism
children’s experiences
minority languages
qualitative methods
Issue Date: 1-Oct-2021
Date Deposited: 18-Mar-2021
Citation: Peace-Hughes T, de Lima P, Cohen B, Jamieson L, Tisdall EKM & Sorace A (2021) What do children think of their own bilingualism? Exploring bilingual children's attitudes and perceptions. International Journal of Bilingualism, 25 (5), pp. 1183-1199. https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069211000853
Abstract: Aims and objectives: This paper explores children’s experiences and perceptions of their own bilingualism in two contexts in Scotland, UK: a primary school with a high proportion of children using a language other than English at home; and a primary school where the language of instruction is an indigenous, minority language, Gaelic. Methodology: The paper draws upon data gathered from multiple qualitative methods, including interviews, group activities and discussion, with both children and their parents. The data in this paper draw upon a broader interdisciplinary project exploring children’s experiences of bilingualism. Ethics were duly considered. Data and analysis: Data were gathered from 27 children and 11 parents. Data were coded and analysed using thematic analysis. Comparison between contexts was of particular interest for this article. Findings: This paper highlights the importance of research with children in order to gain an insight into their experiences and perceptions of their own bilingualism. In particular, our findings illustrate how children’s language learning is encouraged and supported by children’s connections with others and the fundamental role of family (particularly parents/carers) and diverse community-based support systems (which encompass a wide range of individuals and community groups) in order to develop active bilingualism. Originality: This paper addresses a research gap in a largely quantitative field, by adopting a qualitative approach to explore children’s experiences and perceptions of their own bilingualism. A qualitative approach facilitates attention to complexity and the participants’ own meanings and understandings. Significance: The paper highlights the value of research with children in order to explore their views and perspectives. In particular, qualitative research methodologies, where children’s experiences are central to understanding the research phenomenon, and to facilitating the exploration of the range of complex issues that interact with a child’s bilingualism.
DOI Link: 10.1177/13670069211000853
Rights: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
Licence URL(s): http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
13670069211000853.pdfFulltext - Published Version436.06 kBAdobe PDFView/Open



This item is protected by original copyright



A file in this item is licensed under a Creative Commons License Creative Commons

Items in the Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

The metadata of the records in the Repository are available under the CC0 public domain dedication: No Rights Reserved https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

If you believe that any material held in STORRE infringes copyright, please contact library@stir.ac.uk providing details and we will remove the Work from public display in STORRE and investigate your claim.