Correlates between Arab American parents and bilingual programs in Dearborn, Michigan
Abstract
The increasing parental participation and involvement in education can be shown in programs such as bilingual education. Thus, the knowledge and attitudes of bilingual parents toward their district's bilingual education programs needed investigation to determine current levels of favorable or unfavorable toward this program. The purpose of this study was to investigate the Arab-American parents' attitudes toward bilingual/bicultural programs in Dearborn, Michigan. It was also to study the media impact, language impact, culture impact, socioeconomic impact and parents' involvement. The sample consisted of 95 Arab-American bilingual parents with children in the school district's bilingual program. The Dearborn area was selected because it is considered the highest percentage of Arab-Americans in Wayne County, Michigan. The sample included 45% male and 52% female. Attitude questions required parents to range their responses on a five-point Likert Scale, where one (1) was "strongly agree," and five (5) was "strongly disagree." The questionnaire was developed in Arabic and English. Consequently, the questionnaire included 40 items. The study's seven questions were tested statistically using percentages and frequency to support or refute these items. One of the most important findings was that the respondents were very supportive and satisfied with the bilingual program because they were well informed of school affairs. Also, it was found that the parents value education in general and felt that an education is of importance in getting a good job. There were also significant positive views toward language and culture maintenance among the parents and their children. Future research is needed to determine if there is a difference in attitudes between parents with elementary children and parents with secondary children.
Recommended Citation
Ahmed Maher A Elgammal,
"Correlates between Arab American parents and bilingual programs in Dearborn, Michigan"
(January 1, 1993).
ETD Collection for Wayne State University.
Paper AAI9321771.
http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/dissertations/AAI9321771
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