the role of socioeconomic and sociocultural factors in language minority children's...

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The Role of Socioeconomicand Sociocultural Factors inLanguage Minority Children'sDevelopment: An EcologicalResearch ViewVirginia González aa University of CincinnatiPublished online: 22 Nov 2010.

To cite this article: Virginia González (2001) The Role of Socioeconomic andSociocultural Factors in Language Minority Children's Development: An EcologicalResearch View, Bilingual Research Journal: The Journal of the National Association forBilingual Education, 25:1-2, 1-30, DOI: 10.1080/15235882.2001.10162782

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The Role of Socioeconomic and SocioculturalFactors in Language Minority Children's Development:

An Ecological Research View

VirginiaGonzalezUniversity ofCincinnati

Abstract

The purpose of this ar ticle is to critically review contemporaryliterature on externalfactors influencing language minoritychildren 'sdevelopm ent. This article merges literature from separate modules,stemming from researchers within a developmental psychologyand an ethn ic minorit y perspective. The first section present s anovcrarching multidimen sional mod el for under st and ing theimportance ofan ecological perspective to the study ofdevelopmentin language minority children . This first section present s a contextfor the second section on socioecono mic sta tus (SES) factors, andfor the third section onsociocultura lfactors influencing developmen tin language min orit y children. Th is arti cle clo ses by presentin gsome recomm endations for much-needed research for broadeningour current understanding of the int eracting effect of SES,sociocultura l. and other medi ating factors (i .e ., bio log ica l,psychological) on developmental and educ ational achieve mentlevels attained by language minority children' s development.

Purpose and Objective

The purpo se of this article is to critically review cont emp orary literatureon external or contextual factors influencing language minority children' sdevelopm ent , bringing together literature from separate modul es, stemmingfrom researchers within: (a) a developmental psychology perspective, withtraditi onal methodological paradigms that fail to repre sent the cultural andlingui stic backgrounds of langu age minority children stud ied; and (b) anethnic minority per spective, with alternative qualitati ve measu res andmethodological procedures that tap the cultural and linguistic diversity oflanguage minority students (see Gonzalez & Yawkey, 1993; Gonzalez, Brusca-

Role of Socioeconomic and Sociocultural Factors

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Vega, & Yawkey, 1997, for further discussion ofthe ethnic research perspecti ve).More specifically, this manuscript has the objective ofbringing together thesetwo separate modules of research by presenting a state-of-the-art theoreticalparadigm. This model is supported by contemporary research literature, whichendorses an ecological and multidimensional view of language minoritychildren's development.

Research evidence examines two ofthe most important overarching factorsthat have been demonstrated to significantly influence language minoritychildren's development. The socioeconomic status (SES) oflanguage minoritychildren's families arches as the first factor. In contemporary literature, SESencompasses much more than parental income, which has been traditionallyconsidered as an exclusive index. In modem literature, SES has been expandedto include the study of the educational level of parents, degree of literacy ofparents, parental occupation, and to give attention even to neighborhoodquality and community resources. Emphasis is given to critically reviewingthe literature, specifically examining the effect oflow SES on minority children 'sachievement levels and future economic productivity during adulthood.

The influence of sociocultural factors on language minority children'sdevelopment is the second significant factor analyzed. Contemporary studiesconsider the home and family structure as an omnibus variable representingnumerous sub-variables (e.g., number of siblings, birth order, child rearingpractices, value and belief systems held by parents, immigration status ofparents, family mobility, and parents' number ofyears of U.S. residence). Asthere are numerous sub-variables represented in modem literature studyingsociocultural factors, this critical review emphasizes the effect of the languageused at home by parents and siblings on language minority children'sdevelopment and achievement.

Thus, three sections are included in this article. The first section presentsan overarching multidimensional model for understanding the importance ofan ecological perspective to the study of development in language minoritychildren. This first section serves to provide a context for both the secondsection on SES factors, and for the third section on sociocultural factorsinfluencing development in language minority children. This article presentssome concluding remarks in relation to the state-of-the-art research conductedon language minority children's development from an ecological andmultidimensional framework . Some concluding recommendations are madefor much needed research for broadening our current understanding of theinteracting effect of SES, sociocultural, and other mediating factors (i.e.,biological, psychological) on language minority children 's development.

2 Bilingual Research Journal, 25:1 &2 Winter & Spring 2001

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Multidimensional Model for Understanding MinorityChildren's Development

Co nte mporary researchers endo rse developmental and eco logica l modelsthat tak e into consid eration multidimensional variables stemm ing from theinteractio n of intern al and ex te rnal factors. Th e use of thi s mult id imension alapproa ch results in more complex research methods and strategies that allowto st udy (a) high er level th inking and problem -sol ving proc esses, and (b)developmental trends with more elabo rated co ntro l for cont extual factors andindi vidual di fferen ces (through the combination of longitud inal and cro sssec tiona l strateg ies resulting in sequential studies) . For instance, Garcia Coil( 1990) proposed that the tran saction between the organi sm s or psychologicalvariables present within the chi ld and the co ntex tua l sys tem is very dynam ic .More speci fica lly, she highlighted the interaction of at-risk biological factors(e .g ., prem aturity), social at-r isk factors (i.e., low SES), and cultura l factors(e .g ., min orit y va lues and beliefs, child-re ar ing techniques, caretaker s 'beh aviors, pa rent s' perceptions and de velopmental goals).

In addition, thi s tra nsac tion amo ng biologi cal , soc ial, and cultura l fact ors(representing interacti on s between intern al and ext ernal fac tors) may createeffec tive. or ineffect ive, home en vironments for minority chi ldren to becomeresil ient or at risk of developing learning problems. Ma sten and Coatsworth( 1998), in try ing to shed light on the particular interaction s resulting in eitherresil ience or at-ris k situations for language minority students, conducted adata-based study, and co nclude d that:

Chi ldren who have goo d internal and external resources tend to ge toff to a good start in school . .. [wh ereas] Childre n who enter schoo lwith few resources, cogn itive diffi culti es, and self-regulatory problemsoften have academic probl em s, and get into trouble with teach ers, andarc at -ris k for disengaging from normative school and peer contex ts.(p.2 16)

This contemporar y vi ew of the interaction between internal ( i.c. ,representing biol ogical and psychologi cal dom ain s) and ex te rna l fac tor s (i .e.,represent ing SES and soc iocultura l domains) affecting minority children 'sde velopment is related to the developmental principles of ran ge of react ionand cana liza tion. As discussed previously by Gonza lez and Yawk ey ( 199 3),these two pr inciples arc very useful for explaining the dynamic interact ionamo ng SE S, sociocultura l, psycholog ical , and biological fact ors influen cin glanguage minority children's development. More specifically, the pr inciple ofrange of react ion proposes that there is flexib ility and plastic ity within biologicalfactors, so that the child is born with a potential to develop and learn (genotypeor gen et ic endowme nt), rather than with alrea dy acquired skills and abili ties.The complementary pr inciple ofcanalization states that the particular externalenv ironme nt in wh ich the chi ld lives (e.g., home and fam ily setting, school

Role of Socioeconomic and Sociocultural Factors 3

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culture) will provide a positive or negative degree ofstimulation for the child 'sgenetic potential. The resulting degree of actualization of this potential isintluenced by the interacting effect of inseparable internal and external factorscanalizing the child 's genetic endowment. Then, ecological or external factorsare important mediating processes canalizing or actualizing the geneticpred isposition of children into skills, abilities, and adaptive strategies whichresult in resilience. This achievement is called developmental competence.

In relation to the interacting effect ofexternal factors on internal potential,Hill and Sandford (1995) concluded, after reviewing social science researchacross disciplines, that "low family income compromises children's physicalgrowth, cognitive development and socio-ernotional functioning. Low familyincome decreases the achievement of children when they are in school andputs them at heightened risk of dropping out of school early" (p. 91) . Theresearchers developed a conceptual model of how poverty affects children'sdevelopment across the life span , finding a causal pathway linking conditionsofparental family or external events with childhood poverty to adult capabilitiesand performance (i.e., earnings, wage rate, work hours, and family income).That is, as shown by Hill and Sandford (1995), "Poverty exerts its effectsthrough a process involving a chain of causal linkages" (p. 93) .

In addition, this causal model also identifies confounding factors (oftenmeasured by social science research studies) that have an effect ondevelopmental outcomes, education , and adulthood abilities andaccomplishments. These confounding factors arc defined by Hill and Sandford(1995) as "circumstances that can confound estimates of the effects ofchildhood poverty" (p . 101). These confounding factors encompass: (a)parents ' characteristics such as low parental education, single-parent family,parental marital disruption, race, and parental unemployment; and (b) durationofpoverty (i.e., persistent versus transitory poverty). Hill and Sandford (1995)also noted the existence ofmany other confounding factors often not measuredby social sciences studies, such as (a) parental characteristics in relat ion toacademic and social skills, and (b) parenting skills in relation to health behaviorsin child caring (e.g ., whether they fix nutritious meals, and whether they seekmedical advice during early signs ofhealth problems in their child, etc.).

Thus, contemporary research studies are presenting cumulative evidencefor the importance of studying the interaction between: (a) internal child'scharacteristics across developmental domains (i .e., biological , physical,psychological-cognitive, social , emotional), and (b) external factors presentin the school and family environments (i.e., socioeconomic and socioculturalcharacteristics such as the parents' educational level and occupation, and thefamily structure such as the language used at home) .

4 Bilingual Research Journal, 25:1 & 2 Winter & Spring 2001

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Methodological Variations Across Disciplines

Aside from the need to conduct multidimensional studies, taking intoconsideration the powerful etTect of external factors on language minoritychildren 's internal potential, there is also a critical need for using valid andreliable methodological procedures for representing the social , cultural, andlinguistic characteristics ofthis population. The most common problem in thisarea is that studies stem from different disciplines and rarely present aninterdisciplinary approach. Therefore, available studies represent a very diverseset of theoretical paradigms and philosophies, and consequently also select awide variety of research methodologies. This methodological variation acrossdisciplines, and other existing problems, has been noted by several researchersbefore (e.g., see Gonzalez , in press-a; Messick, 1995; Moss, 1992). For instance,Ilill and Sandford (1995) noted the methodological problems present whencomparing research findings conducted with language minority children acrossdisciplines:

Compi ling evidence across a number ofdisciplines presents challenges.. . [since they] tend to differ not only in their theoretical paradigmsand acceptable measures but also in their analytical approaches.These differences included variation not only in statistical estimationtechniques but also in their general approach to drawing samples andemploying control variables . (p. 98)

Studies representing the ethnic research paradigm tend to include morevalid and reliable methodologies such as alternative assessments that representthe culture and language of minority children and their families. Within thisparadigm, more powerful and robust results are obtained when combiningstandardized and qualitative assessments for data collection and when usingcomplementary statistical and qualitative models for data analysis . For instance,I have used qualitative measures for the methodological control of culturaland linguistic factors (see, Gonzalez, 1994, 1995; Gonzalez, Bauerle , & FelixHolt, 1996;Gonzalez & Oviedo, 2001; Gonzalez, Oviedo, & 0'Brien de Ramirez,20 I0). However, there is still a scarcity of these alternative models whenstudying language minority children.

Most social science studies try to control for some important confoundingfactors, as listed above (e.g., parental characteristics and duration ofpoverty).However, they do not take into control biases introduced by traditionalstandardized measures (e.g. , intelligence quotient-IQ tests) that do not accountfor the effect of culture and language on language minority children'sdevelopment. Even if studies use regression analysis for controllingconfounding factors (by including them as additional predictors) ,methodological problems with standardized tests introduce biases and makeresults invalid for language minority populations, when compared withmainstream groups.


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Moreover, as noted by McLoyd (1998), studies using regression modelsfor controlling some parental demogra phic charac teristics, "overstate the trueeffect of income beca use of the mutual association that parental income andchild outcomes sha re with unmeasured parental characteristics" (p. 190). Thisprob lem is especially acute for language minority children, since parenta lcharacteristics and SES family levels are also associated with cu ltura l andlinguistic factors , which are left unmeasured in most studies .

As demonstrated by Gonzalez (Gonzalez & Oviedo, 200 I; Gonzalez , 2000),when deve lopmenta l, cultura l, and ling uistic factors are controlled for byvalid alternative measures, Hispanic, bilingual, low SES children perform athigher cognitive developmenta l leve ls than mainstream, middle-high SES ,monolingual counterparts . Moreover, when using one-way ANOVA andmultiple linear regression models, Gonzalez found SES to be a more significantpred ictor of cog nitive development than cultural or linguistic factors forHispanic, bilingual, low SES ch ildren. lt is important to note that cognitivedevelopment was measured with alternative instruments (particularly verbaland non-verbal co ncept formation, the Qualitative Use of Engl ish andSpanish Tasks, or QUEST-see Gonzalez, 199 1, 1994, 1995, for a descriptionofQUEST).

Furthermore, developmental outcomes, such as cognitive development,arc difficu lt to measure validly using standardized tests (for an extendeddiscussion ofthis topic, see Clark & Gonzalez, 1998; Gonzalez, 1996; Gonza lez& Clark, 1999;Gonzalez et al., 1997;Gonzalez & Yawkey, 1993). Biases and lackof construct and content validity are especially problematic when assessingminority and language minority, young, low SES children. Developmentalfactors compou nd the effect ofcultural, linguistic, and SES factors on languageminority children's performance in traditional standardized tests (see Gonzalez& Oviedo, 200 I; Gonzalez, et al., 200 I). As stated by Hill and Sandford (1995),"different aspects of cognitive ability appear to develop at different ratesduring childhood [and] . .. many of the standard indicators of cognitive abilityare age-specific" (p. 103). That is, when conducting longitudinal studies,researchers face the challenge of measuring development over a period oftime . This is why alternative assessments are useful tools , because they canbe adapted to become flexible and sensitive to measure developmental changesover time in language minority childre n.

Anot her problem is that most studies use only one measure of cognitiveabilities and development typically an IQ traditional, standardized test, suchas the Wechsler Sca les or the Stanford Binet test. Instead, a battery ofassessments wou ld be needed that also includes other developmental areasbesides cognition (e.g., emotional and affective processes) as well as differentinformants (e.g., parents, teachers, peers). In addition, besides measures ofIQ, studies of ecolog ical factors int1uencing cognitive development shouldfocus on the assessment of potential for learning processes, rather than onlearning outcomes measured by IQ tests (see Gonzalez, 1996, for an extended


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discussion of this topic) . Furthermore, the effect s of povert y on cognitiv edevelopmen t can also be measured by aca demic performance outco mes , suchas using qualitati ve assessments of mathematics and reading abi lities duringthe early ele me ntary gra des .

By using mea sures ofcogni tive development that represent valid cultura land lingu istic facto rs; the specific qual itat ive differences of how culture ,language , age, and low SES affect cognitive pro cesses can be uncovered (seeGonzalez & O viedo, 200 I; Go nza lez et aI. , 200 I). However, most studiessti ll usc more simp listic and surface level methodologies, showing that poorlan guage minority children sc ored lower on IQ standa rd ized tes ts whe ncomp ared with minori ty and/or majority children from middle and upper-m iddleincom e families. Instead ofactua l differences in the cogn itive deve lopmentaloutcomes of language minority, low SES ch ildren, these studies do showmeth odological problem s wi th their measures. The pre sence of uncontrolledand confounding factors in the se measures , stemming from cultural andlingui sti c domains , makes results invalid for the population of languageminority, low SES children.

Th e s it ua t io n is even worse when s tu dy in g socio-emotiona ldevelopment in minority children from low SES backgrounds due to an evenmore ac ute scarcity ofdevelopmental stud ies conducted within a wide rangeof social sc ience di sciplines. The eff ect of po verty on ch ildren 's impairedsocio-emotional development is med iated by parental behavior s impactedby economic stress in the fami ly. For instance, Elde r, Co nge r, Foster, andArde lt, found tha t "economic stress increases pa rental s tress, which in tumcauses depression in children" (cited in Hill & Sandford, 1995, p. lOS). McL oydand Wilson showed that " eco no m ic h ard ship in c re ase s mat erna lpsychological dist ress, whic h in turn interferes wi th the ir abilit ies to nurturethei r children" (cited in Hill & San dfort , 1995 , p. 105). Moreover, as noted byHill and Sa ndfort ( 1995), these studies provid e "evidence that po ver tycontributes to behavior prob lem s, dependency and feel ings of unh appine ssand anx iety" (p. 106).

Ano ther fac tor affecting the accuracy of insight int o the cogni tivede velopment al performance of young children is the instrument 's sens itivi tyto tap individual differenc es, and to allow the evalu ator to measure and va luecultural and linguist ic diversity. Alternative assessments can be adapted torepr esent and measur e validly and reli abl y the cultural and linguist ic factorsaff ecting language minority ch ildren 's development. For ins tance, QU ESTallows the evaluator to use the first and second language s of the minoritychild as a simultaneous methodology for administration and response. Thisprocedure results in the use of "c ode switching" (use of both Span ish andEnglish within the same sentence) and "code mixing" (use of Spanish andEnglish in consecutive independent sentences) by both the eva luator pro vidingins tructions as well as the min ority chi ld pro viding verba l responses. Th is

alterna tive language of administra tion and language of response methodology


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has demonstrated to be a significant predictor of Hispanic, low SES children,making possible the methodological control of cultural and linguisticconfounding factors (Gonzalez et aI., 1996, 200 I). Moreover, the use ofalternative instruments sensitive to individual ditTerences can also assist inaccurately assessing individual changes when using longitudinal or sequentialdesigns. The accurate measure of individual differences is particularlyimportant in language minority children because they are associated withcultural and linguistic diversity and developmental factors.

Thus, as discussed in this section, a multidimensional perspective needsto be taken into consideration when studying language minority students.The wide variation of disciplines, with their researchers attempting to studythe development of language minority students, introduces a similarly widevariety ofmethodologics. Different disciplines endorse a variety of theoreticalparadigms and philosophies while using a diverse set of measures and dataanalysis procedures. Another problem when conducting research withlanguage minority students is the presence ofconfounding factors in relationto the control and/or measure ofecological variables (e.g., SES, language, andculture). Presently, problems still exist with the validity and reliability ofstandardized tests ofcognitive, linguistic, social, and emotional development,which do not represent cultural and linguistic variables and SES factors, anddo not tap individual differences and developmental changes present in thispopulation. In the section below, we will review more closely the role ofSESfactors on language minority children's development and test performance.

The Role of Socioeconomic Status on HispanicChildren's Development

As discussed in the section above, the need for assuming an ecologicalview when studying language minority students is especially highlighted bythe fact that most of them come from a low socioeconomic status (SES)background. As defined by McLoyd (1998), "Unlike poverty status, SESsignifies an individual's, a family's, or a group's ranking on a hierarchyaccording to its access to or control over some combination of valuedcommodities such as wealth, power, and social status" (p. 188). Many parentalcharacteristics such as occupation, educational level, prestige, power. andlifestyle denote numerous mediating factors associated with SES, whichsignificantly affect children's development and academic achievement. It isimportant to note that these environmental factors interact with other mediatingindividual factors such as age, gender, race, and ethnicity. And for this reason,research findings obtained when studying majority populations cannot begeneralized to minority groups.

Recent demographic data also support the urgent need to study theeffect of low SES on language minority children's development. Therefore,studies showing poor quality and good quality cultural family factors related


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to SES will be discus sed in relation to the famil y structure and the parent-childre lat ion sh ip . Specia l emphas is wi ll be give n to the inte ract ion of thecharacteristics of the parents ' and children 's personali ties, and to the imp actoflow SES background on the children 's academic and economic produ ctivity.Closure wi ll be given to this section by discussing the need for conductingresearch on the interaction of low SES and deve lopmental variables, for thespec ific case of culturally and lingu ist ically diverse, young children.

Demographic Data Supporting the Need to Study the Effect of

S ES on Development in Language M inority Chi ldre n

The development of research studies focusing on SES factors affectinglanguage minority children's development is especially related to alarm ingdemograph ic data observed during the decade of the 90s. Smeeding ( 1992)reported that 20.4% of children under 18 years of age live below U.S. povert ylevels, versus only 9.3% in Canada, 9% in Aust ra lia, 7.4% in the UnitedKingdom, 4 .5% in France, 3.8% in Holl and , 2.8% in Germany, and 1.6% inSwe den. Based on demograph ic stat istics from the U.S. Bureau of the Census(1996), in 199422% of American children lived in famil ies with cash incomesbelow the povert y threshold. In addition, as reported by Bronfenbrenner,McClell and, Wethington, Moen, and Ceci (cited in McLoyd, 1998), the leve lof poverty has also increa sed, with 47% ofpoo r families living with incomes50% below the poverty threshold in 1993 (compared to 32% in [975). Moreover,as noted by Bronfenbrenner et al. (cited in Mc Loyd, [9 98), povert y tends toocc ur more often dur ing ear ly childhood, affecting most childre n before theyreach 6 years of age, prim arily because of the higher likelihood of havingyounge r parent s with lower wage s.

It is also the case that minority children are at a higher risk ofbeing belowpovert y level, in comparison to mainstream children (for a mor e extendedreview of educa tion sta tistica l data for language minority students, seeGonza lez, 200 I). As noted by McLoyd ( 1998), " African American and PuertoRican children are more likely than non-Latino White children to experiencepersistent poverty and, if they are poor, to live in areas of concentrated poverty"(p. 186). The rise in the number of minor ity children has also incre ased theproportion of children living below poverty level. As report ed by the U.S.Bureau of the Census ( 1994), by 1992, one in thre e American children und erthe age of5 was an ethnic minority (66% non-Lat ino Whit es , 15% Afr icanAmeric ans, 14% Latinos, 4% Asians or Pacifi c Islanders, and I% AmericanIndians). Living in high povert y communities presents major disad vantagesfor language minority children, such as quali ty ofpubl ic services, exposure tonegative or eve n life threa tening environm ental stress such as street violence,homelessness. illegal drug s, etc..

Ano the r fact or found by contemporary studies to be significa nt lyinfluencing chi ld 's development is the ana lysis of distinct aspec ts of povertycharacteristics (e.g., duration, depth , and age at onset ofpoverty). For instance,


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Garrett, Ng 'andu, and Ferron (1994) found that the proportion of the child'slife lived in poverty, and whether or not the child was born into poverty,achieved a statistical significant effect on the quality of the home environment.As concluded by Garrett et al. (1994), the effect of poverty on the quality ofchildren's home environments is complex, with an interacting pattern ofmanymediating variables (e.g. , quality of family environment, poverty, and maternaland child's characteristics). As they stated, "The greatest responsiveness inthe quality of the home environment occurred among the poorest households,those in which children experienced initial disadvantage or the greatestpersistence of poverty" (p. 342).

Thus, demographic data supports the need to study the interacting effectof low SES and developmental factors affecting language minority children.Research findings have demonstrated the particular importance ofconductingan in-depth analysis of the characteristics of poverty, including: (a) age ofpoverty impact , (b) duration ofpoverty, (c) degree ofeconomic disadvantage incomparison to the U.S. poverty level, and (d) mediating factors present in thefamily and cultural environments (i.e., quality of the parent-child relationship,family structure, cultural child rearing practices, parents' occupation andeducational levels, number ofsiblings, cultural beliefs and values , etc.) . Theselatter mediating factors will be examined in the section below.

Parental Characteristics Affecting Low SES,Language Minority Children's Development

Presently, researchers have put forth ecological and developmental modelsof the dynamic interplay of the child's experiences and the internal child 'sfactors. For instance, Bradley, Whiteside, and Mundfrom (1994) studiedpremature, low birth weight, low SES children in a three-year longitudinalstudy. Their findings showed that stress present in the external environmentincreased the risk of these children to present developmental problems,increasing their susceptibility to risk, and reducing their resiliency. The mostimportant ecological variables were shown to be the parental characteristics.Bradley and collaborators (1994) noted:

There is evidence that the impact of poverty is not consistent acrossall sociocultural groups. Other cultural, language, demographic, andpsychological factors interact with SES to help determine the patternof parenting .. . [and more importantly] the quality of the homeenvironment is not uniform across families living in poverty. (p. 347)

More specifically, Bradley et al. noted the presence of mediating factorssuch as "the caregiving context that may serve as protective mechanisms"(p. 359), which may provide low SES children with adequate sustenance,stimulation, support, and structure. They concluded by stating the need "todetermine particular relations among risk and protective mechanisms indifferent sociocultural groups living in poverty" (p. 359).


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It follows that the parents' SES strongly affects their behaviors and chi ldrearing practices through some mediating variables such as parental educationallevels and occ upational attainments, as well as home language use in relationto academic or literacy activities stimulated at home. For instance, Duncan ,Brooks-Gunn, and Kato (1994) studied cognit ive developm ent by com paringthe performance of infants and toddlers (0 to 3 years of age) from minority,Hispanic and African Amer ican and majority backgrounds. They found thattwo major mediating factors (i.e., psychological effects ofpoverty on parents'characteristics and the provision of educational resources to children) had anegative impact on the children's cognitive deve lopment (measured by IQtests - Weschler Presc hoo l and Primary Scale of Intelligence, or WPPS I;Wechs ler, 1967). These two mediating factors also were found to predict thepresence ofbehavioral problems (meas ured by behavioral prob lem checklists).

More specifically, Duncan et al. (1994) showed that the detrimentalpsyc hological effects of poverty on maternal characteristics are related tofemale headship of households and inability to develop coping strategies foradapting to the at-risk condit ions of poverty. Duncan and co lleag ues' (1994)study also demonstra ted that the presence of poverty could affect nega tive lythe me nta l health of parents, lead ing to some problems such as clinicaldepression. Moreover, they found that the low SES background of parentsnegatively affected their ability to provide educational resources for theirchildren (a second med iating factor). These educational resources were relatedto: (a) the learning and stimulation environment at home (i.e., the amount andquality of time parents spend with their children, the emotional health ofparents, the level of stimulation, the physical env ironment at home, and theaffective and warmth provide in the parent-chi ld relationship); (b) the lowincome neighborhoods in which low SES families lived (related to the qualityofpublic schools, community resources such as parks and recreation facilities,police protection , peer intluences such as role models , and parenta lmo nitor ing) ; and (c) the duration, degree, and timi ng of poverty (withcumulative effects of poverty).

That is, as reported by Duncan et al. ( 1994), "C hildre n in persistentlypoor families have 9.I-point lower IQ's ... [and] there were highly significantdetrimental effects of being poor both early [during eit her 12 or 24 months]and late [during either 36 or 48 months]" (p . 307). In ad dition , theneighborhood level of economic deprivation can be inte ractive with familypoverty and can have a detrimenta l effect on the chi ld's cognitivedevelopm en t (Dunca n et al.) . Thus, the Duncan et al. study exe mplifies theimportance of understanding external fami ly structure factors that mediatethe negative effect of low SES on young chi ldren's development. Moreover,the detrimental effects of poverty can endure over a length of time and caneven impair productivity during adulthood by limiting the ach ievement ofpoor mi nority ch ildren's fu ll potential and ult imately hindering the ir

educational attainment (Hi ll & Sandfort, 1995). So, several mediating

Role of Socioeconomic and Sociocul tural Factors 11

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characteristics present with in the family env ironment (e.g., the qual ity ofthe parental characteristics) interact with other factors present in thecommunity environment (e.g. , community, school , etc .) in which , poor,young, language minority children live and develop.

Cultural Factors Related to SES : Poor Quality of Family Structureand Parent-Child Relationship

In addition, the parents ' SES is also related to the number of years ofresidency in the United States , and therefore to whether they are immigrantsor first, second, third (or more) generation Americans. Then, the level ofacculturation can interact with the presence of poverty, which in tum caninfluence parental stress levels. Levels of cultural adaptation will determinewhether or not minority parents are able to access main stream resources andbecome fully-fledged participants within the mainstream socie ty. For instance,Wang (1993) studied IIispanic (first- and second-generation Caribbean families,i.e., Cuban, Puerto Rican, or Costa Rican) , Afric an American , and Anglosecond-grade children from low and middle-class SES backgrounds, living inOrlando, Florida . Wang found that cultural familia l factors related to SES werebetter predictors ofthe child' s metacognitive developmental skills rather thanthe child 's ethn icity. The cultural family factors identified by Wang ( 1993)were: (a) family structure such as family size , child 's birth order, parents 'marital status, parent al divorce and separation, and langu age spoken at home;and (b) parent -child interactions such as whether parents assisted in theirchild's homework.

More specifically, Wang found that "SES supersedes ethnicity as apredictor for a child 's metacognitive development" (p. 87). Wang definedand measured metacogniti ve de velopment as a social construction thatstimulates the de velopment of learning strategies and executive processesto monitor and guide performance in cognitive tasks dur ing earl y childhood .lIe concluded that "the same patt ern of SES effects was apparent for allthree ethni c groups. That is, children from higher SES famili es (regardless ofethn icity) had higher overall metacognitive scores than children from lowerSES families" (p . 87) . Similar findings were also reported by Walker,Greenwood, lIart, and Carta (1994) , who showed that differences foundbetween Ili span ic and African American children from low SES backgroundswere attributable to the ir SES-related factors (sociocultural contexts such asthe home, community, and school environments), rather than to their minorityor cultural background.

Even household eharacteristics related to small fam ily size can enab leparent s to develop higher quality home environments and influence morepositively their children 's development according to Blake and Zuravin (citedin Garrett et aI., 1994). This leads to the idea that household characteristicssuch as the family composition in terms of number ofsiblings and the presence


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ofmoth erIfather companion and other adult s (e.g., extended family members)can significantly impact the child 's development outcome. For instance , Garrettct al. (1994) found a very high corre lation between the adult-child ratio and thenumber of siblings. They also found all maternal characteristics (i.e., age,ethnicity. educ ational level, academic ability in terms of IQ, and self-esteem)to be significantly associated with the quality of the home environment.

Poverty can also have a negative effect on the quality of the familystructure and the parent-child relationship. According to Takeuchi , Williams,and Ada ir (c ited in Garrett et aI., 1994), poverty can indirectly affect parents 'behaviors resulting in marital confl ict , psych ological distress , cl inicaldepre ssion, loss of self-esteem and feelings of mastery, and withdrawal fromfriends and family. According to Garfinkel and McLanahan the higher incidenceofsingle mothers among minority children is also associated with a high-ri skand stress for ch ildren's development, primarily becau se ofmultiple demandsand limited time and energy result ing in overworked moth ers (cited in Garrettet aI., 1994).

Moreover, the child's characteristics can also interact with the parents 'ability to create a higher or lower quality family environment and parent-childrelat ionship . For instance , the temperament fit between the parents and thechild, or the challenge s imposed by tak ing care of a premature or low birthweight child. can significantly impact the quality ofthe parent-ch ild relationship.For instance, Garrett et al. (1994), found some of the child 's characteri stics(i.e., being male is negatively associated, and being older has a positiverelationsh ip) to ha ve a significant effect on the qu ality of the homeenvironm ents ofpoor Hispanic , African American, and White families .

Hence, the issue of the complexity of at-ri sk factors affecting poorchildren 's developmental outcomes and whether or not they are able to copewith environmental stress needs to be further studied. As discussed throughoutthis articl e, an urgent need present s itself to maintain a multidimensionalapproach to research. For instance, Masten and Coatworth (1998) emphasizedthe need to study the interacting effect of recurrent or changing children 'scharacteristics and ecological factors on resilience. Examples of recurrentchildren 's characteristics that need to be further studied are temperament andpersonality traits , unique individual needs, and self-regulation of attention,emot ion, and beha viors. Examples ofchanging children's characteristics thatneed to be studied are developm ental stages, interests, attitudes, perceptions,and values and belie f systems. Examples ofecological factors open for researchare the quality of the parent-child relationship, and the effect of mentors andother educational opportunities for success.

Therefore , there is still a major task ahead for researchers study inglanguage minority children's development: to discover the interact ing effectofSES factors and intern al potential that may result in resil ient or vulnerableconditions. More specifically, researchers still need to uncover the different


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transitional or recurrent risks affecting language minority children, and whichare the protective mechanisms at different ages and points in development.That is, well adapted parents, or any other committed and effective adultpresent, can function as scaffolds to provide opportunities, protectivemechanisms, and emotional support for children exposed to at-risk ecologicalfactors (such as poverty) to develop resilience. Masten and Coatworth (1998)highlighted the importance of providing at-risk children with a protectiveecological environment, especially during infancy and early childhood because" there is no such a thing as an invulnerable child" (p . 2(6). Theyacknowledged that conducting experimental research for implementing changein the dynamic developmental and ecological factors influencing adaptiveand resilient process is challenging, especially because of the complex role ofculture on language minority children's development.

In sum, poverty can be a high-risk factor for the development of languageminority children, and could have a negative impact when significant mediatingprocesses (e.g., the quality of the attachment between parents and child),facilitating successful adaptation, are damaged. The availability ofcommitted,involved, nurturing, and competent parents is crucial and provides powerfuladaptive systems that can protect the language minority child's development.

Cultural Factors Related to SES: Good Quality ofFamily Structure and Parent-Child Relationship

The presence of poverty does not mean that the cultural background ofparents and children is necessarily diminished. As discussed above, in manyinstances the low SES background docs affect the quality of the family structureand parent-child relationship. However, a number of minority parents are ableto develop successful coping strategies and mechanisms, which help them tobecome resilient and to offer a good quality and nurturing family environmentfor their children. These resilient parents instill in their children minoritycultural values and goals (which arc preserved within a bicultural identity)and maintain high educational aspirations for their children. Minority, lowSES parents can stimulate successfully the development of their children bynurturing their social and emotional development within a well structuredfamilyenvironmcnt.

Furthermore, according to Garrett and colleagues ( 1994) low SES parentshave the capability to react constructively to financial constraints and be ableto function as positive mediators for their children to become resilient toecological at-risk conditions. According to Dorris, for instance, the mother'sresourcefulness to get social services and to preserve her physical and mentalhealth will have a tremendous impact on the child's biomedical , cognitive,emotional, and social development (cited in Garrett et aI., 1994; McBarnette,1988) . That is, the mother's ability to secure prenatal care and adequatenutrition, and to avoid substance abuse or other external risks during pregnancyare key factors affecting her children's development. Similarly, the father's


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behavior will also have an important impact on the child 's overall development,especia lly in terms of the father's ability to maintain mental healt h in thepresence of stress factor s (e.g., unemployment, economic hardship). That is,the father's avoidance of social isolation can also result in the avoidance ofanabusi ve or neglectful parent-child relationship according to Elder, Caspi, andVan Nguyen (cited in Garrett et al., 1994).

In sum, research findings show that even though parents may be poorand have low levels offormal education, they can provide for their children astable and well structured environment. These resilient parents model fortheir chi ldren strong mora l values, and stimu late them to deve lop ethnic pride ,helping to promote in their children normal, advanced, or even gifteddevelopmental levels (see Clark & Gonzalez, 1998; Gonzalez & Clark, 1999).

Impact of Low SES on Language Minority Children'sAcademic and Economic Productivity

Even though some language minority children and their families can copewith the stress of poverty and become resilient, the vast majority of thembecome at-risk of academic underachievement. Chi ldhood poverty negativelyimpacts academic achievement, school performance, placement, and years ofcompleted education. According to Alwin , Thornton, Patterson, Kupersmidt,and Vaden, low family income tends to be positively related to children 's pooracademic achievement (cited in Hill & Sandfort, 1995), especially during earlychildhood and with cumulative effects spreading throughout adolescenceand adulthood (cspeeially when poverty spans a long period of time). Asreported by Corcoran, Gordon, Laren, and Solon ( 1992; cited in IJill& Sandfort,1995), " Increasing the proportion ofchi ldhood years a male spends in povertyreduces his adulthood earnings, family income, and family income/needs by50% and decreases his adulthood wages and work hours by 25-30 %" (p. 118).

Moreover, younger children are at a higher risk for stronger negativeeffects of poverty on their academic achievement, with poverty negativelyaffecting mediating factors present in their fami ly environment (e.g., parentalcharacteristics) . Some studies, such as that by Chaikind and Cannan evenshow some higher likelihood ofpoor children to be at-risk for special educationplacement (cited in IJill & Sandfort, 1995), especially when other biological atrisk conditions were also present (e.g., low birth weight). In addition, assuggested by Dune , II ill , Kennedy, lung, and Orlando evidence exists of apositive relationship between family income and years of school completionin young children (all cited in Hill & Sandfort, 1995). This positive relationsh ipremains even when studies control for other mediating or potentiallyconfounding factors (c.g. , race and parental educational levels, neighborhoodconditions).

In addition, school characteristics and teachers' behaviors also influencelow SES children's achievement. More specifically, teachers' attitudes, school

values, school and classroom climate are significant factors influencing low


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SES ch ildren 's achievement, especially when they are from minoritybackgrounds (e .g., see McLoyd, 1998 for a review ofcontemporary researchon this topic). Moreover, according to Alexander, Entwisle, and Thompson(cited in Mcl.oyd, 1998), kindergarten and first -grade teachers were found tohave low er achievem ent expectations for low SES students . Teach er s 'expectations were based on their non-cognitive negati ve perc ept ions of thelow SES children's speech and dress patterns (using these misl eading cluesas behavioral signs of lack of cognitive maturity) . Then, as reported byAlex ander et al. ( 1987), these negat ive attitudes in teachers tran slate into lesspositi ve attention, fewer learning opportunities, and less reinforcement ofinstances of good performance . These negative perceptions, expectations ,and att itudes are more like ly to be present in middle-class teach ers who aremore prone to hold racial and soc ial class biases, stemming from theirunfamili arity with poor and minority students' language and culture.

Furthermore, quali ty ofeducation is also another mediating factor presentin the extra- familial environment that can significantly aff ect achieve mentlevels in poor children. As report ed by McLoyd ( 1998), the head start programhas shown the power ofearly childhood high quality stimulation, result ing insuperior academic readiness skills dur ing preschool and prim ary grad es.However, these cognitive and academic skills may be lost by the third orfourth grade if high qual ity school programs are discontinued. Thu s, asconcluded by McLo yd ( 1998), "Although preschool intervention offers someprotection from the negative effects of poverty, over the long run , it does notbestow levels of cognitive and academic competence comparable to thoseseen among non-poor children in the general population" (p. 195).

In conclusion , there is a scarcity of studies that control for confoundingcultural and linguistic factors interacting with poverty, and which use validmeasures for minority groups. As stated by Hill and Sand fort (1995), the fewstudies using mostly traditional and single measure s show that "Childhoodpoverty is an important impediment to the phys ical growth, cogniti vedevelopment , and socio-crnotional development of children" (p. 106). It isalso important to understand what aspects of poverty processes, and theiraccompanying mediating factors affecting the family and neighborhoodcommuni ty structure, may have similar or different effects on the developmentalopportun ities that mainstream and language minority children may have. Finally,as remarked by Ilill and Sandfort (1995 ), "Low parental incom e substa ntiallyincreases the risk of dropping out ofhigh school, delaying completion of highschool, delaying college entry and completion, and overall receiving fewertotal years of completed education" (p. I 12).

In sum, there is a need to conduct studies that broaden our understandingof the interacting effects of'poverty and other mediating factors (i.e., biological,psychological , and family and community structure) on the achievement andcognitive and socio-emotional deve lopment of language minority children.Developmental processes inl1uenced by cultural and linguistic factors need


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to be stud ied further within a multidimensional and eco logical para digm byethnic researc hers (e.g ., bilingualism, knowledge acquisi tion, problem-so lvingabi lity, cultura l thinking sty le, social style of interpersonal relations, culturalvalue and belief systems, bicu ltural identity, self-esteem, and self-concept).

The Role of Sociocultural Factors on

Hispanic Chi ldren's Devel opment

Sociocultural factors exert their influence with in a family structure inwhich parents mediate their children's behaviors for their adaptation to thewider social system. Exa mples of sociocultura l factors arc belief and valuesystems, att itudes, acculturation levels, socialization goals and practices formodeling beh avio rs , communication styles. lang uage use at home.interpersonal relations and experiences, and problem-solving and stress copingstra tegies. In order to adapt successfully to the U.S. public school system,language minority parents and their chi ldren have to develop socioculturalstrategies for balancing the continuities and discontinuities present betweenthe minority fami ly structure and the mainstream school cultures.

As de fined by DeVoss (1982), adaptive stra tegies arc observablebehaviors occurring within a particu lar sociocultural setting that arc appropriatewithin the patterns and perceptions of the social group . Ilarrison, Wilson ,Pine, Chan , and Buriel ( 1990) proposed an interrelation between the fami lyenvironments provided by ethnic minority parents. socia lization goals, adaptivestrategies, and chi ld behavioral outco mes . Harrrison et al. (1990) arg ued thatminorit y families would present different pattern s ofadaptive strategies, whichwould be related to their higher risk to come from a lower SES background.They presented some examples of adaptive strategies such as the presence ofan extended family, bicu ltural ism, and ancestral worldview. Moreover, assuggested by Ilarrison et aI., "These adapti ve strategies foster the chi ldrearing goals of positi ve orien tatio n to the eth nic group and soc ialization forinterde pendence, which in turn enhance the developmen tal outcomes ofcognitive f1exibility and sensi tivity to discontinuities among ethnic minoritychildren" (p. 347) .

As mentioned in the section on the SES effects on lang uage minoritychildren's development , the sign ificant effec t of soc ioc ultural factors foundby some previous studies needs to be consi dered. For instance . Walker et al.(1994) found a cumulative effect of the sociocultural contexts of home ,comm unity, and schoo l (inf1uenced by SES) to be linked to the presence ofatrisk factors in academic achievement levels in language minority children.Most sig nifica ntly, they found that Hispan ic and African American, low SESchildren's performance in reading and spelling standardized tests and verbalability tests (in receptive and spoken language measured by home observationsand standardized voca bulary tests) was lower in comparison to minority andmajority middle SES children's performance. Their four-year longitudinalstudy 's findings indicated that the quantity and quality of interactions betw een


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the ch ild and his or her parents and teachers, related to the stimulationresources available , was very important in the early language learningexperiences of minority, low SES children . As they noted, "Children fromlower SES families continued to demonstrate lower performance on languageand reading-related achievement across grades in the elementary school. Thi sperform ance was surprisingly stable, suggesting lower trajectories acrosstime" (p. 617) .

Even though the language and achievement measures used by Walker etal. seem to have been sen sitive to SES factors, especially the standardizedmeasures may have been biased against the Hispanic and African-Americanminority groups. That is, showing differences among different SES groups intheir performance in standardized measures does not reveal the underlyingeffect ofsociocultural processes on the ir cognitive and lingu istic performance.Moreover, due to lack of construct and content validity of language andacadem ic achievement standardized tests, these instruments may be tappingdifferent abilities in different minority groups. For instance, these standardizedtests may be measuring degree ofacculturation instead ofcognitive ability inlanguage minority children (see Gonzalez, 1996; Gonzalez et aI., 1997; Gonzalez& Yawkey, 1993, for further discussion of this top ic) .

Furthermore, Garcia Coli (1990) proposed that one of the most importantsou rces ofint1uence on the developmental process in minority children is theparticular set of cultural beliefs and value systems held by adult caregi vers.For instance, she mentioned the presence ofextended and dependent fam ilieswithin the Hispanic culture, which fosters ch ildren to develop interpersonaldependency in attachment and separation processes. She considered the seideologies to be related to the cultural hierarchy of the priorities held byminority parents ' goal, which lead to alternati ve developmental pathways intheir ch ildren. She found that among minority low SES parents, the topdeve lopmental priority became survival and physical health, followed byst imulating thei r children to develop behavioral capacities for economic selfmaintenance and other minority cultural values (i.e. , traditional ideologiessuch as strong "familism" and collectivism) . Garcia Coli stated, " Minoritymothers might not only have different developmental goals for their infantsbut might .. . perceive, reac t, and behave very differently to their infant s 'cues, behaviors , and demands" (p . 272) . Th us , as Garcia Co ll ( 1990)highlighted, there is need to understand the underlying processes that causeat-ri sk minority infants to display developmental problem s, as well as tounderstand the underlying or mediating facto rs creating buffering effects ofpoverty resulting in res ilient children .

As noted by Ogbu (1982), parents have cultural knowledge o f th esocialization goals for their children, in relation to what verbal and non-verbalbehaviors may work for interacting with societal institutions and systems.According to Ogbu, the family ecology ofethnic minorities suffers from ethnicstratification of relative fixed membership, which is based on an underclass or

18 Bilingua l Research Journal, 25:1 & 2 Winter & Spring 2001

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a lower ethnic stratification status . He uses the term "caste-like minorities" forthes e underclass ethnic groups such as low SES Hispanics who suffer fromoppression, discrimination , and racism as a standard for judging social posi tionand rewards. Thus, the family eco logy shows beliefs about the meaning ofbein g poor, as well as being a member of an ethnic minority group, and whatbehavior s and attitudes are appropriate for adapting to the ir challenges.

Ethnic minori ties also suffer from negative stereotypes and attributionsas well as from a controversial deficit explanation when compared with the"s tandards" ofmainstream populations. In fact , the ditTerent famil y and socialecology surround ing ethnic minority ch ildren would result in d ifferentde velopmental patterns (in compari son to ma instream children) that would inactuality be adaptive strategies for the ir different (bu t not deviant or inferior)social reality. It is in fact the presence of mediating factors within the famil yecology (e.g., qu al ity of the parent-child relat ionships, rol e model s andmentors, and mental health of parents, as discu ssed in the pre vious section)that plays the role of prot ecti ve factors against at-risk external environments.Thi s mechanism of fam ily protection may result in resilient outcomes in somelow SES ethnic-minority families and their chi ldren. As noted by McLoyd(1998):

Parenting tha t is strict and high ly directive (i .e., we ll-de fined hou serules, clear sanctions for breaking rule s, close superv ision), combinedwith higher levels of warmth, helps poor, inner-city children resistforce s in their extra-familial en vironments th an in ordinarycircumstances contribute to low levels of achi evem ent. (p . 194)

As sta ted by Harrison et al. ( 1990), similarities exi st within the culturaladapt ation mechanisms present among ethnic-minority fami lies (includingHispanics, African Americans, American Ind ian/Alaskan Nati ves, and Asian/Pacitic Americans). These similarities result from their need to deve lop adapti vestrateg ies for gaining access to benefits provided by European-America ncultural and social inst itutions (e.g., education , medical care , political andlegal services, employment, etc.). According to Harrison et al ., among II ispanicfamilies one of the most important sociocultural adaptive strategies is thepresence ofextended family members as a problem-solving and stre ss-copingsys te m in order to face daily normal and cri sis s ituations. For instance,extended fam ily members can help with tangible resources such as incom e,childcare, and household main tenance, and also with non-tangible resourcessuch as emotiona l support through interpersonal re lations of attachment andaffiliat ion (Harrison et al. , 1990).

In fact, stro ng " familism" within the Hispanic culture includes "s trongfeelings of identifi ca tion, loyalty, and solidarity with the parent s and theex tended fami ly" (p. 352 ). The Ilispanic sense of family and co mmunityincludes also non -relatives within the extended family such as "cornpadres"(godparents) and close friends, with whom frequent contact and reciprocal


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interpersonal relations of strong "familism" are cultivated throughout theyears . As reported by Sabogal, Marin, Otero-Sabogal, Marin, and Perez-Stable(19g7), preferred language used at home was associated to the level ofacculturation of Hispanic "familism," in relation specifically with their familialobligations and family referents. However, they found that their perception offamily support remained constant regardless of language used at home. Andso it can be seen that cooperation, obligation, sharing) and a social!psychological dependence are some of the socialization goals and valuesystems modeled and transmitted to llispanic children by their extended familymembers and parents. These common ethnic minority values are in sharpcontrast to the mainstream cultural values of competition , autonomy,individualism, and self-reliance.

Moreover, the use of older siblings as "surrogate parents" is also quitecommon among the sociocultural adaptive strategies of Hispanic families inorder to allow low SES mothers to work outside the home at least part-time.Another adaptive sociocultural strategy is the presence of alternative familyarrangements so that adults can share the bread winner role. Thus , manytimes Hispanic families go through a "physical or material transition" (ascoined by Harrison et al., 1990) in order to acquire the mainstream languageand adapt to the educational and occupational demands of the mainstreamsociety (resulting in loss of the minority language).

In sum , "cultural transition" (as coined by Harrison et aI., 1990) is themost difficult sociocultural process ofadaptation faced by Hispanic families .Most commonly, the traditional values will still remain mostly intact within theprivate family interaction patterns, but a duality of bicultural adaptation willhave to be developed for acculturating successfully to the mainstream society.Thus , instead ofcomplete assimilation, it seems that Hispanic families valuethe integration ofbicultural experiences.

The Role of Home Language on Hispanic Children's Development

Several authors (see Delgado Gaitan, 1994; Ogbu, 1982; Suarez-Orozco,1989) have presented continuity and discontinuity theories as an explanationfor the degree ofcultural adaptation oflanguage minority parents and childrento the U.S. public school system, which in turn impact the children'sdevelopmental level attained. In fact, the degree ofacculturation oflanguageminority families and their children is reflected in their home language use,their daily cultural practices, and the particular values socially communicatedverbally and non-verbally by parents to their children. That is, the particularlanguage used at home helps parents to socialize their children, helping as amajor tool to transmit implicitly cultural values to children . In fact, Shatz (1991)asserted that "language is a powerful tool of parenting. . . . Not only doparents use language to tell their children directly what is acceptable socialbehavior, but their language also includes indirect information about socialvalues" (p. 139). Shatz also considered that language reflects practices of


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social interactions among individual s as well as in relation to social institutions.Thus, the way in which language is used at home also reflects different culturalways of socializing children, which are called by Shatz "communicative modes"or styles, related to cultural content transmitted such as social values . Moreover,Ochs and Schieff elin ( 1984) concluded that how adults used language carriesimpl icit information about how to function within a parti cular social sys tem.

The differ ences in degrees of acculturation betwe en different generationsof Hispanic famil ies are also present in the different pattern s ofhome languageuse. In the case of Hispanic immi grant parents, the prim ary use of English bychildren for communicating with siblings at home has an impact on familystructure and quality of communication with parent s. Children of Hispanicimmi grant parent s tend to be raised speaking Spanish to their parents athome, but prefer to use English when communicating with peers. In contrast,first-generation lli spanic parents participating in Delgado Gaitan's (1994) studyspoke English as their primary language, and Spanish was spoken only withrelatives who were monolingual Span ish (typically of a previous imm igrantgeneration such as grandparents). As Delgado Gaitan obser ves "not onlyhad English become the first language in one generat ion but Spanish languageloss was significant in most cases" (p. 79).

Interestingly, even though language loss occurs only after one generation ,the traditional Hispan ic value s survive across intergenerational socializationpractices even when using English , but only in relat ion to the context ofinterpe rsonal family relat ions. As a result , some similarities and differen cesbetween first-generation and immigrant parents occur, especially in relation tothe dual cultural identity model presented by first-generation Hispan ic parentswho also model cultural values for succeeding in the mainstream school culture.Thus, Ili span ic children can be exposed to a mono lingual English environmentat home, but still develop a bicultural identity that allows them to adapt tosocial environments with diverse value systems.

As mentioned above, the langu age used at home by parent s may alsocommunicate cultural values and belief systems in relation to educationalgoals and developmental expectations for their children. For instance, DelgadoGaitan ( 1994) conducted some ethnographic interviews to Hispanic immigrantparent s with low educational levels and discovered some "cultural myths"held in relat ion to langu age development in infants. She stated , "Parentsagreed that although ch ildren rece ived facil e attention as infant s, verbalcommunication with bab ies was "si lly" becau se they believed that childrencould not unders tand them until later-after they began to talk" (p. 75). Despitethis finding, she also pinpointed that "The more educated ... immigrantparent s . .. verbally engage d their children very ear ly. They said that theyhad learned that talking with children in early years was important to developlangu age skills " (p. 75).

Delgado Gaitan ( 1994) also provided immigrant and first-generat ionHispanic parents the opportunity to participate in a parent/communityorgan ization. Even before their participation in the parent program , the first-


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generation Hispanic parents engaged infants in conversations and gavepreschoolers verbal instructions or explanations of activities. These firstgenerat ion Hispanic parents also provided their children with some stimulationfor critical thinking skills in relation to academic activities only, but not forsocial interpersonal relations in which conflict with traditional Hispanic valuesmay occur. For example, a child's willingness to express hislher opinionsand ideas would not be penalized but would be encouraged by first-generationHispanic parents within the context of an academic activity. That is, a parenthelping his /her child with homework would extend the child's questions andwould probe his/her observations about academic related content. In contrast,a child's willingness to participate in an adult conversation with family memberswould not be seen as an example of assertiveness valued from a mainstreamcultural perspective. This socially unacceptable behavior from the Hispaniccultural perspective of family interactions would result in a parent's requestfor the child to show "respect" toward his/her elders and not to "interrupt"the conversation.

So, cultural exposure to the mainstream American society has resulted inSpanish language loss; however, the maintenance of cultural values is stillpresent in first-generation Hispanic parents and their second-generationchildren. With two different criteria in relation to the mainstream academiccontext and the more traditional sociocultural view of interactions still presentwithin the minority family, it is interesting to note that there is, however, aduality for the retention of values. Hence, even though language loss occursmore rapidly, cultural values tend to survive in the duality of the biculturalexperiences that the mainstream school culture and minority family contextsoffer to monolingual English Hispanic children. Thus, Hispanic children mayhave retained cultural values and beliefs of the minority culture but might beproficient monolingual, as well as bicultural, English speakers. As DelgadoGaitan (1994) explains, "Possibly the parents' own acculturation experienceshave made them incorporate a sense of reality and the need to accommodateboth values in a way that allows them to fit both worlds: family and society"(p. 81).

Thus, in every culture, and at every SES level, every parent tends to havethe ultimate goal of socializing their children to adapt to the cultural valuespresent in their social reality. Then, for a minority child to be successful in theschool mainstream culture, he or she needs to internalize assertiveness andindependence as a thinker, and develop inquiry and critical thinking skills.The dissonance of these mainstream values with the minority Hispanic culturewould be accommodated by parents in their socialization efforts, becausethey had to develop social knowledge about the cultural discont inuitiesbetween the mainstream school and minority family contexts. That is, parentswould present to their children the need to adapt their behaviors and implicitvalue systems in order to meet the different social realities of the contrastingcontexts in which they live. As a result, Ilispanic children were socialized to


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become bicultural in order to be successful in meeting the needs ofculturallydiscontinuous social environments in which they were expected to besuccessful, As stated by Delgado Gaitan (1994), "The taci t expectation on thepart of the parents is that both can and shou ld coexist and do not necessari lydetract from one another" (p, 82) .

As reported by Delgado Gaitan (1994) , in comparison, before participatingin the parent program, immigrant Hispanic pare nts with low educational levelsjust allowed their chi ldren to observe daily activities wi th no verbalcommunication invo lved (e.g., eating, preparing meals, etc.). The lower levelofeducation ofthese immigrant parents , especially ofthe mothers, was reportedby Delgado Gaitan (1994) to have an impact on how language was modeledand taught at home to the chi ldren. Immigrant parents fear the cha nge offamily values and felt a tension on the degree of acc ulturation experienced bytheir children as they get older, and the displacement oftheir Hispanic traditionalvalues. This fear and tension, as mentioned above, was not present within thefirst-generation Hispanic parents, who had resolved this tension by developingin themselves and in their children a bicultura l identity. As concluded byDelgado Gai tan ( 1994), the most important diffe rence between first-generationand immigrant parents was the prese nce, or absence corresponding ly, of socialand cultural knowledge of the mainstream school system. Only the first generation parents were able to guide their children into a successfulmainstream school culture adaptation as mentor or mediators to bridge thei rminor ity and ma instream experiences into a meaningful bicultura l iden tity.

Even though some differences were found by Delgado Gaitan (1994)when comparing first-generation and immigrant Hispanic parents, she alsofound continuity in the set of traditional cultural values still used to socializetheir chi ldren. Most importantly, all the parents wanted for their children wasto beco me successful in their aca demic activities in the mainstream schoo lculture and were willing to make accommodations in thei r degree ofacculturation in order to socialize their children to adapt to their biculturalexperience. What she found to be critical was to present to parents theopportunity to make their ow n personal decisions about the degree ofaccu lturation they were willing to acq uire. Only then were parents able tonegotiate the discontinuities allowed to still maintain their ethnic minorityidentity and pride, which led them into feeling powerful and legitimized (insteadofalienated and isolated from access to the mainstream society).

It is interesting to note that language per se is not used solely by parents tosocialize their children (i.e., their bilingual or minority language abi lity), butrather that the cultural styles or modes of communication and appropriate orvalued non-verbal behaviors are the tools that transcend into biculturalism. Forinstance , Schatz (1991) found that specific pragmatic patterns ofsocia l languageused by Korean, German, and American parents were more important thangeneral linguistic similarities between their languages for affecting the specific

patterns of language acquisition in their chi ldren. More specifically, she found


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that parental language style reflected cultural values transmitted to toddlerssuch as the specific selection of model verb system transmitting values. As anexample, the selection ofverbs such as "must" connotes a semantic and pragmaticmeaning of obligation, versus "may" connotes possibility. German mothersused more verbs connoting obligation and necessity than did American mothers,and this pattern of frequency use was already reflected in the vocabularies oftheir toddlers, conveying implic itly to these German and American childrendifferent underlying social values. She concluded by stating, "Even socie tiesthat share a common language can use it in ways that may result in differentoutcomes for child development (p. 151)."

Thus, as pointed out by Schatz (1991):

Differences in cultural values can be carried not only by differencesin the specific forms of two languages, but also by parental lexicalchoices and by the relative frequency of the forms and meaningexpressed ... [within] societies [that] differ in cultural beliefs aboutsocialization. (p. 149)

In sum, the more traditional view of considering language the only toolfor the transmission of cultural values to children (e .g., Ochs & SchietTelin,1984) is too simplistic. There is need to consider that even monolingual Englishfirst-generation parents can transmit the duality of traditional Hispanic valuesas well as mainstream cultural values, even though they are using only Englishas a communication and socialization tool. Then, we can think of minority ordiverse ways of using English, such as tinting the mainstream language withminority communication styles and minority non-verbal modes ofcommunication. For instance, the use ofcode mixing and code switching andculturally appropriate Hispanic non-verbal behaviors may tint with a "coat ofcultural values" the English language used at home by parents. In reality,mainstream English and culture is not modeled by parents within the familyenvironment. Instead, a new minority bicultural identity is created in whichchildren learn how to appropriately behave within a minority family with aspecific degree of acculturation.

In conclusion, in contrast to the discontinuity and disadvantaged view,there is the advantage position that Hispanic families trying to integrate twocultural systems also stimulate in their children a greater cognitive and socialflexibility, Their bicultural children can, as a result, adapt to the discontinuitiesof home and school cultures, since they can successfully accomplishsituational problem-solving processes. Finally, as discussed in this section,to the extent that ethnicity and sociocultural adaptive strategies areindependent from SES variables, the effect of poverty on language minoritychildren's development and achievement should be studied within the contextof the mediating factors present in the family and school environments.


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Conclusions

After critically examining contemporary literature on the effect ofSES andsociocultural factors on the development and achievement oflanguage minoritychildren, some concluding remarks can be posed. First, contemporary researchendorses an ecological and multidimensional framework that encompasses aninteraction ofinternal mediating factors (i.e., biological, psychological-cognitive,social , emotional) and external mediating factors (i.e., SES and socioculturalvariables such as family, cultural , and school environments).

Second, this state-of-the-art theoretical and philosophical framework canserve as a context for opening new lines of research with the purpose of: (a)broadening our present understanding, and (b) uncovering new developmentalpatterns, and unique culturally and linguistically diverse eharacteristics ofthe effect of SES and sociocultural faetors on language minority children'sachievement and development.

Third, these new lines of research need to be directed to the particularways in whieh sociocultural factors act as mediators ofthe effect oflow SESon the developmental and achievement levels attained by young languageminority children. In addition, there is also need for attention towardunderstanding the cumulative interacting patterns among mediating factorsand how poverty can be scaffoldcd by the presence of a good quality familyor school environment, resulting in language-minority children developingresilience for at-risk conditions. For instance, there is need to further studythe interaction between the parents and the child's personality characteristics,its effect on the quality of the parent-child relationship, and ultimately on thelanguage minority children's developmental and achievement levels.

Moreover, there is need to study the distinct aspects of povertycharacteristics, such as initial disadvantage and depth of poverty. As notedin this article, income has been demonstrated to be just the tip of the icebergof the complexity of the SES omnibus variable. The particular quality of thefamily and school environment encompasses multiple cultural characteristics.Among the most important significant variables uncovered by contemporaryresearch arc : (a) degree offamily cultural adaptation such as value and beliefsystems, attitudes, socialization goals, patterns ofcultural adaptive strategies,and home language use; (b) family structure characteristics such as numberof siblings; (c) parents ' characteristics such as degree of literacy andeducation, occup ation , degree ofacculturation, and physical and mental health;and (d) quality of neighborhood and community resources such as availabilityof mentors (e.g., teachers, extended family members, peers, siblings, etc.),social services available such as federal or state programs for provision ofhealth care and nutritious food, etc .

Fourth , there is need to develop ecological and multidimensional researchstudies on recurrent or changing child's developmental characteristics affectingresilience to at-risk conditions for developmental or achievement problems.


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Researchers still need to uncover the different transitional or recurrent risksaffecting language minority children and the characteristics and effects ofprotective mechanisms at different ages and points in development. We stillneed to uncover what are the specific protective mechanisms that function asscaffolds or mediators for at-risk children to become resilient. The challenge isincreased by scarcity of studies that control for confounding cultural andlinguistic factors on these protective mechanisms. Need is emerging forconducting studies that broaden our understanding of the interacting effectsofpoverty with other mediating factors (i.e., biological, psychological, family,and community structure) on cognitive and socio-emotional developmentalprocesses in language minority children. For instance, ethnic research willhopefully be conducted on problem-solving processes, giftedness, creativity,bilingualism, biculturalism, ethnic identity, self-esteem, self-concept, socialand cultural interpersonal and communication styles, thinking styles,knowledge acquisition, and so forth.

Fifth, it seems important to conduct studies in this new line ofresearch fordeveloping new methodologies and procedures. The creation of these newresearch tools will generate valid and reliable instruments for exploring thesociocultural factors (including linguistic diversity) acting as mediating variablesin the effect of poverty on the development and achievement of languageminority children. Thus, these alternative measures need to represent accuratelythe social, cultural, and linguistic diverse characteristics of this population,while at the same time being sensitive to tap individual differences anddevelopmental changes present in young language minority children. However,presently we face in contemporary literature the presence of two contradictoryparadigms: (a) the traditional methodological paradigm, practiced primarily bydevelopmental psychologists; and (b) an ethnic-minority perspective thatendorses alternative qualitative measures and procedures that tap the culturaland linguistic diversity of minority children. Thus , given the multidisciplinarybackgrounds of researchers attempting to study language minority children,the application ofmultiple theoretical paradigms and philosophies has resultedin a diverse set of measures and data analysis procedures.

In sum, the critical literature review conducted attests for some degree ofprogress achieved by contemporary ethnic researchers . We have been able touncover the presence of some mediating factors when studying the effect oflow SES on the development and educational achievement oflanguage minoritychildren. However, new lines of research still need to be opened in order tounderstand how these mediating factors, stemming from sociocultural variables,interact with at-risk external factors and internal characteristics oflanguageminority children. Finally, new methodologies need to be generated formeasuring the effect of poverty and cultural and linguistic diversity ondevelopmental processes and achievement levels attained by languageminority children. With the new millennium, a bright and broad future opensup for ethnic researchers who will pursue these challenging tasks .


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