ABSTRACT

Drawing upon Darvin and Norton’s framework of investment, this article explores the multiple factors underlying parents’ commitment to bilingual education. I use open-ended responses on a survey to report on the motivations and experiences of parents who have enrolled their child in a French-English dual language immersion program. Findings indicate how parents’ investment played out in issues surrounding identity, capital and ideology. Parents deemed it a success when their imagined identity for their child coincided with the child’s experience in the program, whereas challenges occurred when this identity conflicted with the child’s attitude. French linguistic capital was a salient issue, since opportunities to practice French outside of school remained limited, including for children from French-speaking households. Indeed, the major structural barrier was the hegemony of English. This discussion raises questions about the extent to which parents’ investment influences children’s experiences with bilingual education.

摘要

借鉴达尔文和诺顿的投资框架，本文探讨了父母对双语教育承诺背后的多重因素。我在一项调查中使用开放式回答来报告让孩子参加法语-英语双语浸入式课程的父母的动机和经历。调查结果表明父母的投资如何在围绕身份、资本和意识形态的问题上发挥作用。当他们对孩子的想象身份与孩子在计划中的经历相吻合时，父母认为这是成功的，而当这种身份与孩子的态度发生冲突时，就会出现挑战。法语语言资本是一个突出问题，因为在校外练习法语的机会仍然有限，包括来自法语家庭的儿童。的确，主要的结构性障碍是英语的霸权。这个讨论提出了关于父母的投资在多大程度上影响孩子的双语教育体验的问题。