Parental Involvement in Language Education in Multilingual and Multicultural Contexts

Introduction

Human languages continue to alter in the age of globalisation. As a result, many nations are, today, multilingual; they consist of several ethnic groups that use diverse languages for different purposes. Multilingualism, which results from multilingual citizens, can be defined as the ability to speak multiple languages. Hidalgo (1998) describes it as linguistic diversities. This infers that it is about linguistic differences that exist within the nations. Multilingualism in education can, therefore, encompass appreciation of different languages and cultures in schools. Assortment of scholars such as Auer and Wei (2007), as well as Aronin and Singleton (2012) describes it as the linguistic multiplicity within a multicultural context. Multicultural contexts can also be defined as differences in cultures, races and ethnicities (Robinson, 2015 & Lafayette, 2008). This informs that multiculturalism exists in a society with a different total way of life. As globalisation took its peak, multilingual and multicultural contexts resulted to both opportunities and challenges to language education resulting from various factors. Among such factors, exists parental involvement. Shawn et al. (2003) report that parents, who also act as the first and the most immediate teachers to their children, seemingly impose a direct influence in the language education of their children. This can result to challenges and opportunities to learners learning and using language in multilingual and multicultural contexts, which makes it essential to understand the existing challenges and opportunities for better language education and language use in these contexts. Kalayci and Oz (2018) further maintain that parental involvement is a significant factor towards learners’ education development. This ideology is further suggestive of parental influence in the language education of their children which adds that it is crucial to understand the extent to which parents are influential in language education and language use in multilingual and multicultural contexts as well as how to overcome such challenges and improve on any opportunity that exists. This becomes important as language is a tool for learning. That is, without language, learning may stop. Robinson (2015) and Lafayette (2008) emphasise that language situations in a multilingual and multicultural contexts seem to impose both challenges and opportunities in language education which emphasises the need for a comprehensive understanding of the role parents can play for an improved language education and language use in multilingual and multicultural contexts or schools as globalisation continues to take its ultimate course.

According to Mayer (2015), curricula in schools is likely to neglect the minority cultural groups. This may lead to unnecessary competition between and among different cultural groups all vying for recognition in language education and language use in multilingual and multicultural contexts. Further, the dominance of some cultural groups may also translate into lack of cooperation within multilingual and multicultural societies and schools. The dominance and negligence may originate from home or communities formed and dominated by parents. It may, therefore, be reasonable to assume that parents have a direct influence on their children’s language education and language use in multilingual and multicultural contexts in Lesotho, hence, a need for their critical scrutiny.