DIGEST EDO-FL-03-13 • DECEMBER 2003

Cultural Diversity and Language Socialization

in the Early Years
EUNJIN PARK, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY & KENDALL KING, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
Children become linguistically and culturally competent Caregiver speech. Adults interact with children differently
members of their community through interactions with care- across cultures and communities. In some communities, for
givers and other more competent members of their community example, caregivers use simplified, child-directed speech: baby-
(Ochs & Schieffelin, 1984; Schieffelin & Ochs, 1986). Through talk. In others, adults make no or few adjustments when they
this language socialization, children learn the behaviors that speak to young children. They do not view young children as
are culturally appropriate in their community (Schieffelin & appropriate or competent conversational partners (Kulick, 1992;
Ochs, 1986). Ochs & Schieffelin, 1984; Schieffelin & Ochs, 1986). Caregivers
As a culturally and linguistically diverse student population also interpret and clarify children’s babbling or unintelligible
is, or will soon be, the norm in most U.S. schools, developing an speech according to their community’s beliefs. These and other
understanding of the ways that children are socialized at home differences in interaction patterns have been categorized into
is increasingly important. Many children bring to school not two general styles of child-raising: child-centered and situa-
only a new language, but also cultural ways of using language tion-centered.
that differ from those of mainstream school culture (Heath, In child-centered contexts, mothers and other caretakers
1983; Zentella, 1997). These differences can lead teachers to view children as potential conversational partners and engage
underestimate or misinterpret the competence of students. In them in conversations in routines such as greetings and ques-
order for all students to have equal opportunities for educational tion-answer from birth. Adults adjust their speech to children
success, teachers must be aware not only of what children need by using two strategies: self-lowering through baby-talk and
to learn, but also of the knowledge and skills that they bring child-raising by interpreting unintelligible utterances (Heath,
from their linguistic and cultural backgrounds (Cummins, 1986; 1983; Ochs & Schieffelin, 1984). In these contexts, children
Fillmore & Snow, 2002; Genesee, 1994; Moll, Amanti, Neff, & are socialized through simplified language and are gradually
Gonzalez, 1992). introduced to the language of adults.
This digest summarizes research on language socialization; In situation-centered contexts, adults tend not to simplify
outlines some of the ways that children are socialized into their their speech for young children. Children are expected to learn
home culture, such as caregiver speech and concepts of the self, to understand and produce adult-like language by observing it.
illustrated with social practices in East Asian cultures; and sug- Children are responsible for their own language acquisition, and
gests educational implications of this research. they must learn on their own to make themselves understood
and to interpret others’ responses to them. The interpretation
Language Socialization Research skills that children acquire are considered essential to being
Language socialization research provides important insight competent language users in families and communities (Heath,
into young children’s linguistic and cultural development and 1983).
helps us understand the relationships between the cultural con- Although most adults generally engage in both types of
text and the use of language with and around children (Schief- practices—child-centered and situation-centered—the impor-
felin & Ochs, 1986). Cultural context includes what community tant point is that family and community members tend to hold
members believe about language and its use—values and ideas different sets of beliefs about children’s language acquisition
concerning language and its speakers, as well as ideas about and development. These beliefs influence their speech with
language teaching and learning. Language socialization stud- and around children and contribute to the ways that children
ies focus on naturally occurring interactions with and around develop their concept of self.
children and analyze the ways that the community’s norms Concept of self. Through social interactions with others, chil-
are expressed. dren gradually construct their ideas of who they are (Schief-
Language socialization research sheds light not only on what felin & Ochs, 1986). Thus, their concept of self is interwoven
children learn in their communities, but also on how they learn: with the society and culture to which they belong. In some
in particular, how children acquire ways of learning in their communities, children are socialized to construct a relational,
communities before they enter school. Historically, when lin- interpersonal, or collective self, whereas in others they are so-
guistic minority children have behaved at school according to cialized to construct an individualistic and autonomous self
their own cultural values and norms, they have been regarded (Brown, 1996, p. 39). The former notion of the self has often
as deficient rather than as different by educators (Ochs, 1997; been attributed to Asian cultures, and the latter has been found
Zentella, 1997). A Korean-American child, for example, who be- more commonly in North America. These contrasting patterns
haves politely according to Korean standards might be regarded of the self are revealed linguistically. There are clear relation-
as dependent and insecure. Teachers may perceive ethnic and ships between the relational self and linguistic forms in Asian
linguistic minority children as having difficulties in learning, languages such as Javanese, Japanese, and Korean. For instance,
when in fact the children are learning in ways that are cultur- relationships such as kinship, status, age, gender, and degree
ally appropriate in their own communities (see, e.g., Fillmore & of intimacy are marked linguistically in these languages. Thus,
Snow, 2002; Ochs & Schieffelin, 1984; Philips, 1983). information about the relationship between speakers and oth-
Language Socialization at Home ers is critical not only when speaking to someone, but when
speaking about someone or something. In Korean, the relative
How is it that even very young students come to school
sociocultural status of the speaker, the person being spoken to,
with well-established communication patterns, such as ways
and the person being talked about is marked with honorifics.
of expressing politeness? Studies of children’s interaction with
Korean has six levels of honorifics—words or word parts that
their caregivers suggest how these interactions foster behaviors
encode relationship—each with its own distinct verb endings. In
that contribute to their emerging identities.
many everyday utterances, Korean speakers express their social

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identity and position in relation to others. Indicating relative References
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This digest was prepared with funding from the U.S. Dept. of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, National Library of Education, under contract no. ED-99-CO-0008. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the positions or policies of ED, OERI, or NLE.

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