Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine support for the bilingual education program. Specifically, this study focused on parents whose children are in bilingual education classes in the elementary grades and sought to explore the relationship between support and several independent variables. They were: (a) socioeconomic status of the parents, (b) parental involvement with the program, and (c) parent influence in the program.
Procedure: Questionnaires were sent to 256 Chinese parents who had children in an elementary bilingual education program in Oakland. A total of 191 or 76.4 percent returned the survey. The respondents were asked to respond to questions. The questionnaire was divided into three sections consisting of questions designed to provide information about the following areas: (1) socioeconomic status; (2) parents\u27 involvement; and (3) parent influence in the program. The data were computer processed using the Statistical Package for the Social Science.
Findings: Three null hypotheses were tested. Hypothesis one stated that there is no relationship between level of support for the bilingual program and parent socioeconomic status. The study found no significant statistical difference between parent support and socioeconomic status. However, a further analysis of income indicated a negative relationship to parental support. Hypothesis two stated that there is no relationship between level of support for the bilingual education program and parent involvement. The findings reveal that parent involvement is correlated with parent support in a positive manner. Hypothesis two is rejected. Hypothesis three stated that there is no relationship between level of support for the bilingual education program and parent influence in the program. The findings reveal that parent influence is not correlated with parent support. Hypothesis is retained.
Recommendations: Additional research is recommended in four areas:
1) A study to clear up conceptually the two bilingual program terms, maintenance and transition.
2) A study of recent immigrant parents from different ethnic groups to see why or if they want bilingual education.
3) A study to compare immigrant families in order to ascertain if there is a trend for them to become less supportive of bilingual education as they become more economically successful.
4) An interview methodology to be done with a larger and more economically diverse population, which might yield greater understanding of these issues
