








































Language Maintenance in Children


Language Maintenance in Children 

 
Jennifer Banh 

Child and Family Studies & Department of Sociology 
California State University, Los Angeles 

 

The purpose of this paper aims to explore the different areas of 
language maintenance and the pressures for a child to abandon 
their native tongue and adopt the dominant language. The first 
area that will be investigated is the attitude of the individual. 
Secondly, the attitude of the parents will be examined. Lastly, the 
educational system and the influences it has on the maintenance of 
language will be explored. This paper hopes to develop a deeper 
understanding in language development and the way it is acquired 
and maintained in children.  

 
1 I am ashamed of my illiteracy of the 
English language. I used to say I came to 
the United States for my children’s better 
education and their bright future. But 
frankly speaking, I have not spent enough 
time with them. I spend more time 
working. I thought it was the best way for 
them. I mean, I thought financial support 
was a more important factor than 
anything else. I have a sixteen-year-old 
boy and a twelve-year-old girl. I came to 

                                                 
Jennifer Banh has recently graduated 
from California State University, Los 
Angeles with her degree in Child and 
Family Studies and a minor in Sociology. 
Her interest involves studying the effects 
acculturation and assimilation in minority 
immigrants. The article submitted served 
as her writing sample for graduate 
school. Jennifer plans to pursue her 
Masters in Social Work and then go on to 
a Doctoral program in Sociology.  

the United States in 1977, when my son 
was two years old. After my son entered 
junior high school, I realized we had 
some gap between us. The gap was 
getting wider and wider because of a lack 
of communication. I should have learned 
the English language or I should have 
taught Korean to my children, but I did 
not do either. Now, I wonder why I came 
to the United States; for my children or 
for myself?” (Quoted in Jo, 1999:49) 

Every year, thousands of 
immigrants like this mother come to the 
United States in hopes of providing better 
opportunities for their children and a 
chance to reach the American dream. 
And every year, thousands of immigrants 
like this mother struggle with a growing 
language gap between parents and their 
children. It is an undoubted fact that the 
United States is one of the largest melting 
pots of immigrants. The ethnic diversity 
is the central characteristic of the United 
States and is the very aspect that makes it 

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LANGUAGE MAINTENANCE IN CHILDREN by Jennifer Banh                             51

such a unique country, yet there are 
undeniable social pressures to assimilate 
to the mainstream culture of America. 
The main basis behind assimilation is for 
minority groups to progressively take on 
the customs and attitudes of the 
prevailing culture. This is especially true 
in the case of language. Contrary to a 
popular assumption that immigrants do 
not want to learn English, immigrants 
themselves understand very well that 
learning English is not a luxury but a 
necessity (Shin 2005). It has been 
ingrained in the minds of first and second 
generation Americans that in order to 
have an equal opportunity to become 
successful, being fluent in English is a 
requirement. The ability to speak and 
understand English would enable one to 
seek out opportunities that are not given 
to non-English speakers. Inevitably, the 
pressure to assimilate from one native 
language to English is relatively high.   
 The execution of this paper aims 
to explore the realms of language 
maintenance and the pressures for a child 
to abandon their native tongue and adopt 
the dominant language. The first realm 
that will be explored is the attitude of the 
individual. The child’s motivation to 
acquire English as their second language 
will be investigated. I also look at the 
consequences of losing one’s native 
language and its negative effects on 
relationships and identity. The second 
realm that will be inspected is the attitude 
of the parents. I investigated how 
important parents believe it is for their 
child to acquire English and the amount 
of pressure they put on their child. The 
third realm that will be explored is the 
educational system and the influences it 
has on the development and maintenance 
of language in children. The educational 

institution has more influence on 
language than any other institution; 
therefore, I examined the roles and 
pressures disposed in schooling.  
 The development of language in 
children is one of the most amazing feats 
known to humankind. For that reason it is 
important to recognize these 
developments in children and the reasons 
that influence the maintenance of their 
native language. In hopes of developing a 
deeper understanding behind language 
development, I will investigate the areas 
concerning the child’s attitude, the 
parent’s attitude, and the child’s 
schooling.  
 
CHILD’S ATTITUDE 
 
The child’s attitude and views towards 
acquiring and maintaining English plays 
a crucial role in the child’s decision to 
acculturate to the larger society. It is clear 
that English dominates the United States 
government, education, popular culture, 
and industry, and has slowly formed 
itself to be the single most important 
component in the creation of national 
identity (Zolberg and Long 1999). Thus, 
the pressures of society for an immigrant 
to assimilate are relatively high. It can be 
seen that language shifts frequently occur 
where children come in contact with a 
language that offers greater practical and 
economical rewards (Shin 2005).  This 
may explain why children develop 
ambivalent feelings towards their native 
language. While their mother tongue is 
an entity that connects them to their 
culture and is a source for identifying 
themselves to their ethnicity, the 
dominant English language creates a 
struggle to maintain both languages. In 
many cases, the end result is a complete 

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LANGUAGE MAINTENANCE IN CHILDREN by Jennifer Banh                             52

loss of their mother tongue. 
The general attitude of the Anglo-

American majority has been that 
members of linguistic minorities should 
integrate themselves into the English-
speaking society as soon as possible. 
Although the official policy towards 
linguistic minorities has been neither one 
of encouragement, nor one of repression, 
it has been more of a policy of toleration 
(Grosjean 1982). The larger society 
believes that the maintenance of language 
and culture should be accepted; however, 
one should not slow down their 
acquisition of learning the English 
language. These pressures from society to 
assimilate largely influence children’s 
attitudes and views towards their 
language, including feelings of 
confusion. 

Over the years, there has been 
increasing pressure in our society 
directed towards the assimilation of 
immigrants. These efforts include the 
desire to make English the only language 
in governments, hospitals, and schools 
(Macedo 2000). Children have re-
cognized these growing changes because 
they realize that if they do not want to be 
alienated due to their inability to 
communicate, then learning English 
would be essential. With English being 
so dominant, it leaves very little incentive 
for children to maintain their native 
language. This concept links the desire of 
being able to strive in American with 
language loss.  

Children face many pressures to 
adopt the dominant language from 
parents, school, and society.  These 
strains can sometimes lead to unwanted 
consequences such as becoming mono-
lingual. Recent studies have shown 
negative effects when linguistic minority 

children are forced to learn the majority 
language, are not encouraged to maintain 
their native language, and whose social 
environment does not encourage 
maintenance (Shin 2005). 

The attitudes of minority children 
are affected by the demands to learn the 
dominant language. These demands may 
contribute to a child’s feelings of wanting 
to abandon their first language in order to 
be included in the larger society. From 
policies to the media, they all send the 
message that immigrants need to 
assimilate into the mainstream culture 
rapidly. These messages are not bold but 
rather subtle. Looking at the media, it is 
clearly dominated by English speaking 
cartoons and actors. Reading and 
coloring books are printed in English 
text. From toy instructions to restaurant 
menus, it is obvious that the English 
language dominates. Hence, children feel 
an enormous obligation to assimilate as 
an essential need to survive in America 
because their prior linguistic skills are 
deemed irrelevant and useless. As a 
result, many minority children end up 
losing their mother tongue and become 
monolingual.  

While societal pressures are one 
hurdle that hinders language main-
tenance, the child’s own ideologies about 
success is also another impediment. It is 
embedded in the minds of young children 
at an early age that language is linked to 
prestige. Children’s attitudes and views 
of a language are linked to how 
prestigious they feel that the language is, 
thereby influencing their development 
and maintenance of a language. If the 
people who speak a language have power 
and prestige, the language they speak will 
have the benefit of high prestige as well. 
If the people who speak a language have 

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LANGUAGE MAINTENANCE IN CHILDREN by Jennifer Banh                             53

little power and low prestige, their 
language is unlikely to be thought of as 
prestigious (Gernoble and Whaley 1998). 
Because the status of a language is so 
intimately tied to that of its speaker, it is 
primarily one of the major reasons for a 
language shift.  

It is important to remember that 
the attitudes and views of language of 
many young adults and children are on a 
continuum and differ from person to 
person. For many people, their attitudes 
change throughout their lifetime. Tse 
(2000) supported this idea by addressing 
the fact that ethnic identity formation is 
achieved in several stages. It typically 
starts moving from a period of preference 
for the dominant culture, to a period of 
awakening to one’s own ethnic minority 
status. Then to a stage of identity and 
cultural exploration and ending in a point 
of ethnic identity conflict resolution and 
incorporation of ethnic identity into one’s 
overall social identity. These attitudes 
then shape a person’s desire to acquire or 
discard a language. A child’s current 
stage in identity formation can help 
predict if a child will maintain their 
native language. When minority children 
exhibit a period called ethnic 
ambivalence or evasion, they begin to 
relate negative emotions to their heritage 
and language. Some children feel a need 
to abandon their minority group and join 
a more positively-valued dominant group 
if the members are willing to accept 
them. Other children show very little 
interest in their ethnic culture and believe 
it is more practical and desirable to be 
accepted by the dominant group (Tse 
2000). For that reason, many children 
abandon their native tongue altogether. 

 
PARENTS’ ATTITUDE 

 
They didn’t want us to learn Tagalog or a 
dialect from their island, which is called 
Ivatan. At first they spoke both dialects at 
home with my sister and me. But after 
the incidents of language in school, they 
made a conscious decision not to mix the 
languages. So they didn’t speak any 
Tagalog to my sister or me when we were 
growing up (Quoted in Lee, 1991: 47). 

 

 Victor Merina recalled his parents 
discouraging him and his sister from 
learning their native tongue because they 
were being ridiculed for their non-native 
English. It was previously discussed how 
children feel an immense amount of 
pressure to discard their mother tongue in 
favor of English. Nonetheless these 
pressures are not only felt by children, 
but by their parents too.   
 While it is important to 
understand the role of the child’s attitude 
in developing and maintaining one’s 
native language, it is equally important to 
understand the parental attitudes as well. 
Children are extremely influenced by 
their parent’s attitude towards language 
use. They are the role models and rule 
keepers. Parents are the ones who set up 
the environment for children to learn in. 
They pick the schools, set up the 
household context, nurture language, and 
provide encouragement. In general, 
parents are the ones who expose children 
to the second language and the parent’s 
attitudes tend to impact their children’s 
use of language.  

 In 2003, a research study found 
that government policies and publication, 
popular media, and professional texts 
privilege English over minority 
languages (Fairclough 2003). Theses are 
large influential discourses that cause 
parents to abandon their native language. 

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LANGUAGE MAINTENANCE IN CHILDREN by Jennifer Banh                             54

Parents are overwhelmed by negative 
messages about having home language 
abilities, and its ability to obstruct 
American acceptance. This causes some 
parents to decide against home language 
maintenance, hence erasing any chance 
for a child to learn and practice their 
native language.   

Many parents go to great lengths 
to make sure that their children 
completely acquire English, so that their 
children will not be insulted for their 
imperfect English and to amplify 
opportunities given to fluent speakers.  
For example, they may enroll their child 
in an English only daycare, remove all 
obvious exposure of the native language 
(television, books, music), and even 
censor their playmates. When the 
parent’s attitudes reflect desires to have 
their child speak English fluently and 
have native-like proficiency, the general 
outcome is that their children will almost 
always completely lose their mother 
tongue.   

Another factor that influences a 
parent’s desire to either discourage or 
encourage language maintenance is the 
parents’ own views on their culture. If 
there are a lot of negative societal 
attitudes directed towards their culture, 
parents may begin to reject their own 
culture and adopt a more positively 
viewed culture. This would make it 
difficult for a child to maintain their 
native language. On the other hand, if a 
parent believes that acquiring both 
languages is beneficial to the child, they 
may encourage cultural exploration and 
associate positive feelings such as pride 
with their ethic identity (Mills 2001).The 
positive outlook of one’s own culture will 
help nurture language development in 

children and increase the likelihood of 
language maintenance. 

In a current study, Tse (2000) 
offers three main primary implications 
that influence parental attitudes on 
language. The first reason that parents 
may prefer English over their native 
language is the ideology that association 
with the dominant language affords 
prestige. Knowledge of the native 
language may create embarrassment and 
shame, similar to the feelings that result 
from association with ethnic group 
members.  Second, imperfect English 
speakers are judged as less valuable than 
those with fluency, similarly to those 
who are closely associated with the 
ethnic group that suffers lower status. 
Third, the need to emphasize American 
identity is reflected in the need to 
demonstrate English fluency. It should be 
recognized that not every parent thinks or 
acts the same. Every parent values 
different ideologies and believes in 
different ideas. Ultimately, their attitudes 
will reflect their desire to foster or 
abandon their native language in their 
children.  
 
EDUCATION 
 
While the child’s and the parent’s 
attitudes are important influences that 
shape language maintenance, it is also 
important to consider the role education 
plays. Education is handled separately 
from other institutions because it 
generally has more impact on the 
development of English. There are two 
possible roles of language in education, 
one is to act as a medium (language is 
used to teach subjects) or to be taught as 
a curriculum subject.  

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LANGUAGE MAINTENANCE IN CHILDREN by Jennifer Banh                             55

When language is used as a 
medium in education, it is used to teach 
subjects other than English. For example, 
math taught through the medium of 
Chinese and science through the medium 
of English. Bilingualism is very effective 
in helping children maintain their native 
language when their two languages are 
used effectively as a media. There is 
substantial evidence that an educational 
medium is one of the most effective 
means of promoting language main-
tenance and bilingualism (Swain and 
Lapkin 1982). This is because the school 
will provide a fostering environment that 
allows children to practice and apply 
their native language. However, there is 
also considerable evidence that poor 
bilingual education is ineffective in 
language maintenance. In some schools, 
the structure of bilingual education does 
not provide substantial amounts of 
education in the weaker language, or the 
educator lacks the ability to engage the 
learner and makes the material 
comprehensible (Gibbson and Ramirez 
2004). This may happen when the teacher 
mixes the two languages until only one of 
the languages is needed for the students 
to comprehend the subject matter. “When 
this happens and the home language is 
ignored by the education system, this 
sends a clear message to the student 
about the values given to languages other 
than English in the wider society, and 
helps to create the attitudes that make 
situations self perpetuating” (Gibbson 
and Ramirez 2004). When their home 
language is brought to school and not 
recognized and used by the school, it is 
devalued.  
 Education also plays a large role 
in language maintenance when English is 
taught as a curriculum subject. Language 

instruction varies in its effectiveness 
because of the different resources, social 
context, and attitudes of students. 
Moreover, teachers provide different 
amounts of encouragement and support, 
and these are priceless factors in 
enhancing the child’s development of 
English and influencing language 
maintenance. Having English taught to 
students does not only provide them 
access to an English speaking environ-
ment, but also provides language learning 
opportunities. Therefore, it may be 
difficult for children to maintain their 
native language when English is so 
strongly supported by mainstream 
education.     
 
CONCLUSION 
 
It is not a secret that language is an 
important part of our lives. Not only is it 
a form of communication, but it is 
indirectly a form of identity. Therefore, it 
is important to study the way in which 
language is acquired and maintained 
because it gives us a deeper under-
standing about how humans function.  It 
is especially important to study the 
difficulties in maintaining one’s native 
language since there are an estimated 
6,000 languages spoken in the world 
today, only half of which will still be 
spoken a century from now (Gernoble 
and Whaley 1998). The process of 
acquiring and maintaining a language is 
relevant in understanding human 
behavior, but also to the psychological 
reality of immigrants and their families. 
Children face all sorts of pressures from 
society to fully assimilate and abandon 
their native language. Through reviewing 
current studies, I have hypothesized that 
there are three major factors that 

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LANGUAGE MAINTENANCE IN CHILDREN by Jennifer Banh                             56

influences a child in the maintenance of 
their native language: the child’s attitude, 
the parent’s attitude, and the child’s 
education. 
 There is a lot of pressure from 
society for immigrants to assimilate and 
learn English quickly. The English 
language dominates the media and 
education system. Children recognize this 
direction our society is moving towards. 
Hence, they feel a strong need to 
integrate themselves into the mainstream 
society in hopes of preventing feelings of 
alienation. They recognize the problems 
associated with the lack of fluency in 
English, embarrassment, inability to 
exercise one’s right adequately, and 
being perpetually perceived as a foreigner 
by Americans (Krashen 1998). 
Consequently, many children do not feel 
motivated in maintaining their native 
language which leads them towards 
abandoning their mother tongue.   
 These pressures are not only felt 
by children, but by their parents as well. 
Every year thousands of immigrants 
come to America in hopes of giving their 
children more opportunities. However, 
they recognize that these opportunities 
require the ability to speak English 
fluently. Feeling a need to integrate 
themselves into the American society 
rapidly, they may discourage the use of 
their native language at home. This 
makes it difficult for a child to maintain 
their native language if they are no longer 
exposed to the language and lack the 
opportunity to practice it.  
 While the child’s and parent’s 
attitudes are important to recognize in the 
maintenance of language, another 
important factor to include is the child’s 
education. The school that a child attends 
is probably the most powerful socializing 

institution in their life. Depending on the 
type of school the child attends, the 
school might promote the usage of the 
child’s native language or the school 
might integrate language minority 
children into English classes. In most 
cases the child’s English skills will 
continue to improve and refine, and their 
native language will decrease from the 
lack of use, eventually resulting in loss 
(Shin 2005).   

The significance of language 
maintenance in children has far-reaching 
effects. It can destroy relationships and 
build communications barriers. There-
fore, it is important to recognize language 
developments in children and the 
underlying reasons that influence the 
preservation of their native language. As 
a society we should promote language 
maintenance and encourage cultural and 
linguistic experiences in the home and at 
school. Every child deserves the 
opportunity to express themselves freely 
in their native language without fear of 
embarrassment and judgment.  
 
 
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