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Darnell Montejo

Professor Batty

English 28

13 December 2018

Speak Your Native Language at Home for your Children

There are many cases in which immigrant parents are put in a situation where they should

speak the language of the adopted country or they should continue speaking their native language

at home with their children. It is unfortunate when parents force their children to assimilate and

speak another language other than their native language at home. When immigrant parents speak

their native language at home, it usually comes with a very positive outcome for their children.

Not only will it improve their educational journey but by doing so it will expand their language

abilities. Knowing their native language and eventually being bilingual will be great for them

and give them more experiences and opportunities in the future. Some parents who are

immigrants would rather assimilate and speak the adopted language in their household, but I

believe that it is a better option if you speak your native language at home with their children.

I grew up with my parents and my godparents who are immigrants and the four of them

only spoke their native language, Spanish, in their household. It was an amazing experience

because being in my parents or godparents house I would speak Spanish and at school I would

speak English or occasionally some Spanish with fellow students and teachers as well. I also got

to communicate with other family members who only spoke Spanish. It also helped me have a

better connection with my parents and godparents because we could communicate. Being

bilingual has helped me translate many things that were in English for them into Spanish. It
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helped my families a lot that my siblings and I were bilingual and spoke the native language at

home.

I believe immigrant parents should speak their native language, rather than the language

from the adopted country, at home because it benefits the children and the parents positively.

The children will usually learn the adopted country language at a school or some type of learning

facility outside of the household, so they will most likely grow up to be bilingual. They will have

many experiences in education and career opportunities in the future. Being bilingual and

speaking the native language at home will help the child’s identity and they will learn to love,

accept and celebrate their native language and culture. Feng Liang from the University of

Cincinnati discusses in the article “Parental Perceptions toward and Practices of Heritage

Language Maintenance: Focusing on the United States and Canada.” that “…the maintenance of

HL [heritage language] is thought to be significant in shaping identities and socializing children

into the heritage culture. (Fishman 2001)” (Liang 2) and also explains that “..., the

discouragement of children's mother tongue could harm their cultural identity development”

(Liang 2). So, if children are discouraged to use their native language at home it can affect them

deeply in negative ways than you think. Being bilingual and speaking the native language at

home is a big part of someone’s life especially to a child of an immigrant parent, and as Gloria

Anzaldua said on “How to tame a wild tongue” a chapter from her book Borderlands, “Ethnic

identity is twin skin to linguistic identity--I am my language”(“How to Tame a Wild Tongue”).

Language makes up a person and language is a big part of a person's identity, especially for a

child who is learning and growing.

If immigrant parents speak the language of the adopted country at home with their

children, it may benefit them in positive ways as well but not speaking the adopted language
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wouldn’t. Speaking the adopted language will not be convenient for immigrant parents who only

speak the native language as it will be very difficult to communicate with their children, unless

they learn the adopted language as well but if they don’t it will be very difficult on both ends.

Speaking the adopted language at home could be better for the children because they will be able

to speak and communicate more fluently in public and outside of the household. Assimilation

has a lot to do with why parents would want to speak the language from the adopted country

rather than their native language with their children at home. As April Linton wrote in the article

“A critical mass model of bilingualism among U.S.-born Hispanics”, discusses that “Popular

ideals of immigrant assimilation have often placed as much importance on immigrants losing the

characteristics of their homeland as on adopting the ways of the U.S. Immigrants are expected to

stop using their native tongue and not to pass it on to their children.”(Linton 2004). Another

problem that can happen with assimilation and speaking the language of the adopted county at

home is that the children and the parent will start to slowly forget their native language along the

way.

The native language of the immigrant parents should be spoken at home because their

children will have more benefits and opportunities in life and as they grow up in the future.

Liang states that immigrant parents encourage their children to speak their native language

because it is believed that “…knowing more languages leads to gaining more economic benefits

and becoming more capable in the job market.” (Liang 7). By being bilingual they can get more

jobs and educational opportunities more than a person who only spoke one language could which

is often the language of the adopted country.

Some immigrant parents would like to assimilate and speak the language of the adopted

country, that would sound easier for them, so they can fit in and not stick out, but it wouldn't be
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the best option for their children. This is when immigrant parents should take action and speak

their native language at home. Assimilating and speaking the language of the adopted country at

home with your children might sound like a good option, but you may want to rethink that option

and speak the native language at home.

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Works Cited

Anzaldúa, Gloria. Borderlands/La Frontera, the New Mestize. San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books, 1987.

Liang, Feng. “Parental Perceptions toward and Practices of Heritage Language Maintenance: Focusing

on the United States and Canada.” Online Submission, vol. 12, Apr. 2018, pp. 65–86.

EBSCOhost,

library.lavc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=E

D581470&site=eds-live.

Linton, April. "A critical mass model of bilingualism among U.S.-born Hispanics *." Social Forces, vol.

83, no. 1, 2004, p. 279+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

http://library.lavc.edu:2102/apps/doc/A124075861/OVIC?u=lavc_main&sid=OVIC&xid=49167

95b. Accessed 17 Oct. 2018.