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Minority Language Parenting in Europe and Children’s Well-Being

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Abstract

Language is of central importance in parenting. This becomes particularly clear in a minority context, where parents may be pressured into speaking a language to children that they hardly know, or where children may not speak the language that their parents speak with them. Because of linguistic issues, minority language background parents may feel insecure in their parenting role, and their children’s positive development may be adversely affected. This chapter reviews research from various research traditions in the currently (2015) 28 countries of the European Union that can potentially inform relations between language use by parents with a minority language background as an integral part of parenting on the one hand‚ and young children’s socioemotional well-being on the other. Few European research projects so far have specifically addressed the complex relations between the language related aspects of parenting in minority language background families and children’s socioemotional well-being. However, the evidence brought together here supports the notion that children’s minority language use and proficiency as mediated by their parents’ linguistic choices and practices positively affects both parents’ and young children’s well-being, thus contributing to harmonious bilingual development.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The term “parent(s)” here refers to any adult responsible for children's day-to-day education and socialization.

  2. 2.

    With few exceptions, the literature reviewed here is limited to publications in English, French and German, with an emphasis on those in English. Many points made in these publications were previously raised by authors writing in other languages. Particularly important European studies from outside the EU are included where relevant.

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Acknowledgments

I thank Jeroen Darquennes for his feedback on an earlier version of the Introduction and Wolf Wölck for comments throughout and help in gaining access to relevant literature. I thank the volume editors and the section editor for their valuable feedback.

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  1. University of Erfurt, Mitarbeitergebäude 1, 6th Floor, Nordhäuser Str. 63, 99089, Erfurt, Germany

    Annick De Houwer

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  1. Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA

    Natasha J. Cabrera

  2. Fakultät für Psychologie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany

    Birgit Leyendecker

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De Houwer, A. (2017). Minority Language Parenting in Europe and Children’s Well-Being. In: Cabrera, N., Leyendecker, B. (eds) Handbook on Positive Development of Minority Children and Youth. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43645-6_14

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