ERIC Number: EJ763949
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007-May
Pages: 15
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0142-5692
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Available Date: N/A
Home Environment and Second-Language Acquisition: The Importance of Family Capital
Li, Guofang
British Journal of Sociology of Education, v28 n3 p285-299 May 2007
Framed within Coleman's theory of family capital, this article examines how different home variables such as family physical, human and social capital affect immigrant children's second-language acquisition in the homes of four Chinese immigrant families in Canada. Specifically, the study analyzes the relationships between family physical capital and family investment in second language learning, between parental human capital and levels of parental involvement, and between family social capital and access to familial and community resources. The analysis demonstrates that parental educational backgrounds, their occupational choices and chances, and their adaptation and integration into Canadian society had a significant impact on the families' accumulation and activation of family capital to support their children's second-language learning. (Contains 1 note.)
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Second Language Learning, Family Environment, Parent Participation, Human Capital, Immigrants, Social Capital, Economic Impact, Social Theories, Ethnography, Research Methodology, Ethnology, Chinese Americans, Community Benefits
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A