Peer-reviewed article
Bilingualism in the family and child well-being: A scoping review
Lisa‐Maria Müller, Katie Howard, Elspeth Wilson, Jenny L. Gibson, Napoleon Katsos ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This scoping review looks at whether bilingualism in the family is linked to children's subjective well-being. The authors searched five databases in 2018 and included 17 of 1433 articles. They identified two themes: how language proficiency affects family relationships, and how parents and children acculturate through language. The studies suggest that keeping the minority language and being bilingual are positively linked to child well-being, but it is not clear which way the relationship runs.
Key points
- 17 of 1433 articles were included after screening.
- Two main themes were identified: the effect of language proficiency on family relationships, and the acculturation of parents and children as mediated by language.
- Studies defined concepts differently and used a wide range of well-being measures.
- Studies suggest a positive link between minority language maintenance and child well-being.
- Studies suggest bilingualism is more positive than knowing only the home or the majority language; the direction of these relationships needs further research.
Limitations
As a scoping review of mostly associational studies, it cannot show that bilingualism causes better well-being, and the varied definitions and measures make the studies hard to compare. The abstract does not say which countries the included studies were from, so the GB hint cannot be confirmed as the focus.
Abstract
Aims and objectives: The aim of this scoping review is to investigate the association between bilingualism in the family and child subjective well-being, by reviewing the literature to identify key themes to date and remaining questions for future research. Methodology: Scopus, Web of Knowledge, ERIC, Psych Articles and PsychInfo were searched systematically between September and October 2018, and after title, abstract and full-text screening, 17 of the initial 1433 articles were included in this review. Data and analysis: Each study was coded for the discipline from which it emerged, the language combination studied, the measures of well-being and language proficiency it used, the geographical location of the study and the number of participants. Data on the link between bilingualism and well-being was extracted from each study. Findings and conclusion: Two main themes were identified: ‘The effect of language proficiency on family relationships’ and ‘The acculturation of parents and children as mediated by language’. Across studies, there was significant heterogeneity in definition of concepts and a diverse range of measures employed. In addition, the studies identified suggest a positive link between minority language maintenance and child well-being, and a positive influence of bilingualism, rather than knowledge of only the home or the majority language. However, the directionality of these relationships will need to be investigated in future research. Originality: This is the first scoping review conducted systematically to explore the link between bilingualism in the family and child well-being internationally. It builds on previous work such as a narrative review which examined this association in the European context.