Parental involvement in learning Mandarin Chinese among students in Chinese vernacular schools in Sabah
List of Authors
  • Alexander Funk

Keyword
  • second-language acquisition, parental involvement

Abstract
  • In this article, a study was conducted to explore the pedagogical strategies employed by non-Chinese speaking parents through daily interactions at home to support their children’s Mandarin Chinese language development. Data was collected in three phases, phase one was a pilot study to identify the problem, phase two collected data using a survey questionnaire and phase three involved interviews with parents. The quantitative survey indicated that many parents believe they should be involved and take an active role in their children’s learning. However, many did not have direct communication with the school or teachers but maintained strong links with other parents via social networks. The qualitative study showed that despite the effort to send their children to private tuition after school, the intervention did not have a direct impact on children’s academic achievement. Parental involvement goes a step futher with parents taking personal interest and carrying out specific activities with their child to support and enhance their learning experience.

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