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| Wolfaardt debunks thinking that Filipina maids adversely affect English language learning of young kids |
A survey conducted by an English Language Learning doctoral student
at Polytechnic University of Hong Kong shows Filipina domestic helpers have a
positive impact on the language acquisition of Hong Kong primary school
children.
The researcher said the Filipinas mostly speak “very good
English” and they are better educated than most helpers coming from other
countries.
Francois Wolfaardt, who presented on Monday, Nov 4, at Hong
Kong Baptist University the abstract of a survey he conducted recently for his doctoral
dissertation, said this key role played by Filipino maids is overlooked or not
appreciated by the children’s parents.
This attitude is said to stem from the popular belief that maids have a bad influence on Level 2 or kindergarten children’s English, as past opinion polls conducted inHong Kong
showed.
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This attitude is said to stem from the popular belief that maids have a bad influence on Level 2 or kindergarten children’s English, as past opinion polls conducted in
But Wolfaardt said the detailed published opinion on the
Filipina maids’ level of English, however, “do not go into specifics and,
generally, proponents think they would have a negative impact because of their
pronunciation, because they speak substandard English.”
So earlier his year, Wolfaardt, whose parents are South
African, obtained permission from his professor at Poly U to conduct a survey
on the influence of Filipino maids on the L2 English language acquisition of
their primary school wards as his thesis for his doctoral degree.
His findings debunked the myth that Filipino maids adversely
affect the English learning of young kids.
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| Kids learn English better with a Filipina caregiver around, says study |
1) Do
Hong Kong primary school children from homes
with Filipina helpers have superior English listening comprehension?
2) Do
Filipina helpers have a positive impact on Hong Kong
primary school chidlren’s Level 2 Englsih receptive vocabulary without a
trade-off effect on Level one Cantonese receptive vocabulary?
3) Do
Hong Kong primary school children have
superior reading fluency without tradeoff
effect on accuracy?
4) Are
children from homes with Filipina helpers inferior in recognizing Cantonese
words in written form?
Wolfaardt’s hypotheses are: Filipina helpers have a positive
impact on Hong Kong primary school L2 English
comprehension; on their receptive vocabulary without a trade-off on their L1
Cantonese learning skills; on their English reading skills without a trade-off on
accuracy; and do not have a negative impact on the children’s L1 Cantonese word
reading.
He coordinated the survey with various types of participating
schools in Hong Kong such as international;
those with English medium of instruction or EMI, and those with Chinese medium
of instruction, or CMI.
The schools administered the English and Cantonese receptive
vocabulary as well as Cantonese word reading tests on survey participants with
the consent of their parents. The survey focused on the EMI schools.
To attract participants to the pilot study, Wolfaardt, a
chess player who has played in international tournaments, offered 10 free chess
lessons to an EMI in exchange for participating in the research.
After collating the results, he found out that Filipina
helpers indeed have a positive impact on Hong Kong primary students’ L2 English
listening and reading comprehension, as well as receptive vocabulary without a
trade-off in their L1 Cantonese vocabulary and word reading.
He concluded that for this vital role that they play, the
Filipina helpers deserve more credit than they typically get.
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