Parental Involvement in Their Children's Japanese Learning: Language Course for Parents at a High School

This study explores parental engagement in second/foreign language education. While the current literature highlights the significance of parental engagement, it tends to view its impact as a unidirectional process from parents to children. This study explores the reciprocal and broader impact that parental engagement can have on children, parents and school communities. Data was collected from a Japanese language course designed for parents at a high school in Sydney. Thematic analysis was applied to pre- and post-course surveys for parents, children’s video messages to their
parents, and teachers’ participant observation. The results identified that parents’ and children’s language learning was more collaborative, and that they also came to view Japanese learning more positively, thus further strengthening their relationships by considering each other as learning partners. Parental engagement also impacted on existing parent-teacher relationships, which can be considered to support children more comprehensively through parent-teacher partnerships