A Comparative Study of Family Social Capital and Literacy Practices in Singapore

Autor/inn/en	Ren, Li; Hu, Guangwei
Titel	A Comparative Study of Family Social Capital and Literacy Practices in Singapore
Quelle	In: Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 13 (2013) 1, S.98-130 (33 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1468-7984
DOI	10.1177/1468798411429934
Schlagwörter	Immigrants; Literacy; Foreign Countries; Comparative Analysis; Educational Development; Human Capital; Social Capital; Family Environment; Interviews; Asians; Observation; Educational Attitudes; Bilingualism; Mandarin Chinese; English (Second Language); Second Language Learning; Middle Class; Singapore + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Immigrant; Immigrantin; Immigranten; Alphabetisierung; Schreib- und Lesefähigkeit; Ausland; Bildungsentwicklung; Humankapital; Sozialkapital; Familienmilieu; Interviewing; Interviewtechnik; Asian; Asiat; Asiatin; Asiaten; Asiate; Beobachtung; Educational attitude; Bildungsverhalten; Erziehungseinstellung; Bilingualismus; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Mittelschicht; Singapur
Abstract	Social capital--the social relations between people--is an important component of the family environment and is crucial for the creation of human capital for the next generation. Drawing on James S. Coleman's theory of family capital, this study focuses on parents' utilization of social capital to support children's literacy acquisition in four Singaporean and immigrant middle-class Chinese families in Singapore. Comparative analyses of observation and interview data reveal that these families differed not only in the volume of social capital they possessed but also in the activation of this capital for their children's biliteracy and educational development. They also reveal that the parents' application of social capital is motivated by such factors as the status of the family (immigrant or native), parental occupation, parents' educational views and the family's acculturation to the host society (in the case of immigrant families). Furthermore, a family's skilful use of its social capital could compensate for a relative shortage of human capital. These findings, taken as a whole, contribute to Coleman's theory by disentangling potential from actualized social capital. (Contains 1 table.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10