Parental Perceptions on Maintaining Heritage Languages of CLD Students (Culturally and Linguistically Diverse‪)‬

ABSTRACT This purpose of this study was to find out what the parents of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students thought about heritage language use in bilingual education and what they perceived quality schools to be. A qualitative approach was used with a survey as the research instrument. Data were gathered from four language schools at the sites: Arabic-, Chinese-, Hebrew-, and Spanish-language schools in three Midwestern cities. The survey data showed the following results: (a) The oral heritage language was used by the majority of CLD students' parents at home except by the parents from the Hebrew language group, (b) the CLD students' parents held positive attitudes toward heritage language learning, and (c) the CLD students' parents believed that ideal quality schools for their children were bilingual schools or those that provided instruction with extra heritage language teaching. The interview data showed that the main reasons for CLD students' parents to maintain their children's heritage language learning were as follows: (1) To maintain cultural and religious heritage; (2) to strengthen family ties and moral values; (3) to keep connections to their own cultural and language communities; and (4) to promote bilingual skills for better job opportunities. This qualitative inquiry into the perceptions of CLD students' parents provides important resources for schools to develop an improved school educational model to meet the diverse needs of CLD students.