Early literacy of young children in new immigrant and native families in Taiwan: Educational and socio-political implications

Because of shifting demographics, the Taiwanese government opened the country to immigrants from Southeast Asia. Foreign-born brides of Taiwanese men have contributed significantly to this trend of new immigration, inspiring fears that their children, inadequately prepared for the literacy requirements of early education, might negatively impact the educational system and society. To better understand the socio-political implications of this cultural shift, data from one hundred-twenty immigrant and native families with first graders in six major cities in Taiwan were gathered.;Purposes of this research are to: (a) investigate to what extent, if any parenting style is impacted by differences in immigration status between native Taiwanese and Southeast Asian immigrant mothers, (b) examine to what extent, if any maternal parenting styles relate to children's early literacy, and (c) determine to what extent, if any maternal parenting styles along with the children's and familial characteristics associate with children's early literacy.;The study found that (a) immigrant mothers are statistically lower on authoritative and higher on permissive parenting style than native mothers; (b) immigrant mothers' participation in integration programs does not relate to maternal parenting styles or children's literacy performances; (c) children from immigrant families are significantly lower than their peers from native families on receptive vocabulary and phonological awareness; (d) children from higher income families perform better on receptive vocabulary than their lower income peers; (e) children whose mothers are senior high school graduates achieve significantly better on literacy skills than others. Furthermore, children of mothers with higher education perform better on receptive vocabulary than those whose mothers have lower education levels; (f) there was little relationship between children's literacy development and the three maternal parenting styles; (g) age and gender are the most significant predictors of children's literacy development.;The limited influence of parenting styles on childhood literacy may be attributed to cultural differences. Parenting styles theory and instrumentation emerged from Western research and parenting expectations. Translations, both linguistic and cultural, may be imperfect once grafted onto Taiwanese society. Further complications potentially arise when foreign-born women carry their own varied cultural expectations and start families in an unfamiliar society. This research would suggest that government-sponsored programs could address the demographic inequalities which characterize this segment of Taiwanese society.