CHAPTER 1INTRODUCTION/1
1.1Background/1
1.1.1Chinese culture and traditional parenting/5
1.1.2Policies about parental involvement and ELLs/6
1.2Problem Statement/8
1.3Purpose of the Study/9
1.4Significance of the Study/10
1.5Research Questions/11
1.6Limitations/11
1.7Definitions of Terms/12
1.8Assumptions/14
CHAPTER 2LITERATURE REVIEW/15
2.1Theoretical Framework/15
2.1.1Ecological systems theory/16
2.1.2Vygotskys sociocultural theory/17
2.1.3Parental involvement model/19
2.2Parental Beliefs/22
2.2.1The nature and origin of beliefs/22
2.2.2Current approaches on beliefs research/25
2.2.3The development of belief studies/28
2.2.4Parental beliefs and childrens development/29
2.3Parental Involvement/34
2.3.1Definitions of parental involvement/34
2.3.2Types of parental involvement/36
2.3.3Historical evolution of parental involvement/38
2.3.4Parental involvement and childrens learning/41
2.4Parental Involvement in the Early Years in China/44
2.5English Language Learning in China/46
2.6English Language Learning in the U.S./50
CHAPTER 3METHODOLOGY/55
3.1Research Design/56
3.2Role of the Researcher/58
3.2.1Statement of beliefs /58
3.2.2Research interests/59
3.3Setting and Participants/61
3.4Means of Data Collection/61
3.5Data Analysis and Coding/63
3.6Trustworthiness/64
3.6.1Peer review/64
3.6.2Sound recording/64
3.6.3Member check/65
3.6.4Triangulation/65
CHAPTER 4FINDINGS/66
4.1Participant Profiles/67
4.1.1Participant Victoria/68
4.1.2Participant Zhai/69
4.1.3Participant Si/69
4.1.4Participant Jie/69
4.1.5Participant Yin/70
4.1.6Participant Zhou/70
4.1.7Participant Fang/71
4.1.8Participant Rita/72
4.2Emergent Themes/72
4.3Parental Beliefs/73
4.3.1Importance of English learning/73
4.3.2English starting age/76
4.3.3Expectations for English learning/79
4.3.4English language skills (Q6)/82
4.4Parental Involvement/84
4.4.1Time of involvement/84
4.4.2Strategies of involvement (Homebased)/84
4.4.3Teacherparent communication /91
4.4.4Parents role/95
4.5Challenges and Barriers for Parent Involvement/99
4.5.1Time constraints/99
4.5.2Language proficiency/101
4.5.3Financial pressure/102
4.5.4Other barriers /103
4.5.5Suggestions regarding parental involvement/103
CHAPTER 5DISCUSSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS/106
5.1Summary of Discussion/106
5.2Chinese Parents Beliefs in English Learning/107
5.3Chinese Parental Involvement/110
5.3.1Chinese parents homebased strategies/110
5.3.2Chinese parental involvement in schools/113
5.4Diverse Parenting Roles/114
5.5Barriers to Effective Parental Involvement/115
5.6Implications/118
5.6.1Implications for schools and teachers/118
5.6.2Implications for Chinese parents/120
CHAPTER 6CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS/122
REFERENCES/126
APPENDICES/146
Appendix A: Interview Questions/146
Appendix B: Background Information about the Parent and
Their Children/148
INDEX/150
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 21The HooverDempsy & Sandler model of parental involvement/19
Figure 41Time spent each day in childrens English learning/84
LIST OF TABLES
Table 41Overview of the participants/68
Table 42Age of starting English learning/76
Table 43Most important English skills/82
Table 44Strategies parents adopted at home/85
Table 45Major forms of teacherparent communication/92
Table 46Parents role in childrens English learning/95