Benefits of mother vs. father involvement in children’s
language development
During only the past three decades social
scientists and educators have begun to pay attention on understanding men’s
experience with children and the role of fathers in child language development.
Little research has been conducted whether mothers and fathers are differently
involved in development of children's literacy. Some studies show that both mothers
and fathers communicate with their children in similar ways. However, there is growing
number of research that indicate where in families with two working parents,
fathers may have more impact on a child’s language development than mothers
(Cabrera & Tamis-LeMonda, 2013).
In support of these discussions, Pancsofar and
Vernon-Feagans (2006) conducted a research on parent involvement in children’s
language development. Family is a small society, which plays a pivotal role in a
child development. The authors state that fathers are not only important in children’s
language development; they also matter more than mothers. The authors
also indicate that both parents interact differently with their children. For
example, fathers tend to spend more time playing with their children and use
more words, a broader vocabulary during this activity. It allows children have
more advanced language skills a year later. On contrary, mothers tend to
spend more time talking and giving directions. And they more likely to choose
words the kids are familiar with.
It is also equally
important to mention about the role of grandparents, who were the main bearers of traditions, customs and popular wisdom, and had a great impact on children development and upbringing. That is why a mother in
Kazakh families had to give her child to her husband’s parents. The first-born child in a family traditionally grow up with his/her
grandparents.
From the viewpoint of the authors, one can reveal that
in the past mothers were the only people who were responsible for children’s language
development which was quite similar phenomenon in Kazakhstan as well. And fathers were responsible for the economic well-being of
family,
maintaining households and providing financial support. In our society man
always played a significant role in the family: they were breadwinners, they
maintained family. However, today with more women in the workforce and the
changing role of men in families, children have greater interactions with their
fathers, too.
Reference
Cabrera,
N. J., & Tamis-LeMonda, C. S. (Eds.). (2013). Handbook of father
involvement:
Multidisciplinary perspectives. Routledge.
Pancsofar, N., & Vernon-Feagans, L. (2006). Mother
and father language input to young
children: Contributions to later language
development. Journal of Applied
Developmental Psychology, 27(6),
571-587.
This is a fascinating topic for discussion. I agree on the fact that both parents interact differently with their children. This is true that father's approach toward child rearing is more straightforward and sometimes more efficient. However, I don't think that fathers matter more than mothers. In the context of Kazakhstan, mothers still play more important role in raising the children as they simply spend more time with them, unlike in Europe and West. This is probably because of our mentality or stereotypes that mothers are responsible for raising children and household work, while men are in charge of supporting his family financially. Nevertheless, it is doubtless that both parents play a pivotal role in their child’s upbringing.
ReplyDeleteHaving been "officially" raised by both of my parents and a grandmother, I must admit my mom spent most of the time with me. I still support the opinion expressed in your post that all family members should contribute to the process of child's upbringing and development. Having healthy interactions within a family strongly affects child's emotional and physical wellbeing. An interesting question of changing roles raised in this post might cause some disagreements, though. Being the main breadwinner does not necessarily free someone from responsibilities of being a parent.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that children acquire language through the people around them. I have read an interesting example in Ibuka's book "After three is late" where a child was broght up by his grandparents in a village till one and a half years old. Then the parents took the child to Japan and when he started speaking he spoke Japanese with an accent of his grandparents. So from the example we can conclude that parents should transfer as much linguistic input to thier children to have successive acquisition of language from the early years.
ReplyDelete