Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

5-1997

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Major

Curriculum and Instruction

Major Professor

Patricia Davis-Wiley

Committee Members

Bethany Dumas, Ruth Sandefur, Lester Knight, William Woodrick

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine certain aspects of the process through which internationally-adopted children learn English. The study sought to determine differences in English language acquisition attributable to gender, age on arrival, and region of origin.

The sample for the study consisted of 108 children who were adopted by U.S. citizens from the Philippines and Latin America. Parents provided the data by means of a questionnaire entitled "Language Acquisition of Internationally-Adopted Children." The questionnaire, which included four open-ended and 46 closed-ended questions, was an adaptation of a questionnaire used in a similar study conducted in Belgium. The children in this study were grouped according to their gender, age on arrival (Group I birth to - 17 months, Group II 18 months to four years, Group III five years and up), and region of origin (Philippines and Latin America).

The findings of this study were as follows: (1) children from the Philippines tended to suffer from malnutrition, ear infections, and other diseases more than children from Latin America. Children who were 18 months to four years old (Group II) at the time of their adoption tended to suffer from ear infections, and Filipino children who were younger than 18 months (Group I) at the time of their adoption tended to be malnourished. Filipino children in Group I also tended to receive more services from school personnel in addition to the classroom teacher; (2) children adopted prior to 18 months of age did not have difficulty in the process of acquiring English as their native language; (3) no statistically significant differences were found in the second language acquisition of the children based on region of origin or gender; (4) over one-half of the children in Group II (18 months to four years at the time of their arrival) were as proficient as native speakers at the time of this study, but one-fourth of the children in this group had noticeable difficulties; and (5) about one-third of the children in Group III (five years and older at the time of their arrival) were as proficient as native speakers while over 20% of them continued to have noticeable difficulties.

The major conclusions were as follows: (1) early malnutrition and chronic ear infections had an influence on language acquisition and later academic performance in school; (2) children who were adopted prior to 18 months of age learned English as their native language; (3) children from different language backgrounds learned English as a second language at the same rate and with the same success; (4) children who were adopted often did not go through a silent period that is characteristic of other second language learners; (5) The time required before non-family members understood the adopted child varied from one to six months. Some children mixed English and their first language for up to six months, and others did not; (6) the age on arrival was an important factor in second language acquisition; (7) older children (five years and up) received services from ESL teachers more often than younger children. Internationally adopted children often received services from speech therapists and resource teachers; and (8) they were highly motivated to learn English. With time, most achieved proficiency in spoken English comparable to that of native speakers, yet many had difficulties in the process of second language acquisition that were long lasting.

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