Beyond Semantics: The Role of Parental Home Language in the Socio-Cognitive Development of Left-Behind Children in Rural China

Abstract

China's rapid urbanization has presented society with an unprecedented demographic issue known as the "left-behind children" (LBC). Regarding the 60 million minors left in rural areas while their parents moved away to find employment, current research only studies economic remittances or general forms of psychological pathology. However, there has been little research conducted regarding how language specifically serves as a developmental tool. This review of literature examines how a migrant parental home language (PHL)—which encompasses a unique set of language varieties, communication styles, and degrees of communicative quality—affects LBC from four different perspectives—linguistic basis, cognitive capability, emotional attachment, and social integration. The analysis indicates that PHL serves as an important support structure for developing early vocabulary and also acts as a "safety net" for managing feelings. For example, children whose parents interact with them using PHL often have a higher degree of cognitive flexibility and social identity development than those children who are not given such interaction. Where children receive little or no exposure to PHL, they may experience linguistic decline and emotional detachment. It is the position of this paper that maintaining the PHL is vital to addressing the developmental gap for the LBC, and that a "Dual-Language Strategy" can assist families in managing their language.