Bilingual young adults’ perceived influence of parents,grandparents,siblings,and friends on their Spanish and English proficiency: A qualitative analysis

Abstract

Aims and objectives/purpose:

Qualitative studies on bilingual individuals’ perspectives can inform research by identifying community understanding of lived phenomena and aiding in theory building. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceived role of external factors in the family, school, and community on the Spanish and English proficiency of a group of Latine Spanish–English bilingual university students.

Methodology:

A qualitative content analysis was used to compare participants’ perspectives and establish the commonality of their experiences. Researcher triangulation was used to ensure rigor. A consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research was used to ensure that the design, collection, and analysis were consistent with accepted qualitative research standards (Tong et al., 2007).

Data and analysis:

Twenty-three bilingual university students in Houston, United States, rated their proficiency in Spanish and English using the Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q; Marian et al., 2007) and participated in a structured in-person interview regarding their perceptions of the influence of various external factors on their English and Spanish proficiency.

Findings:

Factors reported to contribute most to adults’ Spanish proficiency included home interactions with parents, family language policies that encouraged Spanish language use, and the need to communicate with grandparents. The most important factors for English proficiency were friends, siblings, and the school environment. These findings aligned with the self-reported ratings.

Originality:

This study is one of the few to qualitatively examine bilingual adults’ experiences and report on relevant factors during childhood to early adulthood.

Significance:

Bilingual experiences in the Houston context are documented here. Findings from this and future studies may be useful to estimate the impact of external factors on proficiency in adulthood, which has implications for conceptual frameworks for bilingual acquisition research.