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In this study, I investigated the nature of communication between home and school in families who recently immigrated to Canada. I used an open-ended questionnaire in interviews of 21 Chinese immigrant families and 19 non-immigrant European-Canadian families. The immigrant parents' pattern of communication differed from that of non-immigrant parents: immigrant parents communicated less frequently, had more difficulty comprehending the communication, and were less satisfied with the communication. The immigrant parents especially emphasized the academic progress of their children and were concerned with the quality of teaching.
Home and school form the microsystems of a child's educational development. The connection between home and school is integral to a cohesive and effective learning environment (Bronfennbrenner, 1979). Central to this connection is the communication between home and school. Scholars such as Epstein (1990) and Healey (1994) have stated that teachers' communication with parents increases many forms of parental involvement in school or at home; others (Norris, 1999; Watkins, 1997) have linked children's academic achievement and motivation to home-school communication. Watkins (1997) confirmed that the amount of teacher-initiated communication that parents perceive predicts parent involvement. Bowman (1989) suggested that effective home-school communication facilitates teachers' responsibility to interpret and relay the school's agenda to the parents. Bhattacharya (2000) identified a strong link between parents and teachers as a factor protecting children from dropping out of school.
Parental involvement in education is particularly important for elementary school children whose native language is not English (Constantino, Cui, & Faltis, 1995; Swap, 1990). Unfamiliar with the English language, these children need additional educational support, which in turn requires the involvement of the home. Yet cultural and linguistic differences may prevent effective home-school communication, and hence hinder parental involvement in school activities. Parents who have grown up in a culture outside North America may hold different views of schools and children than those of their children's teachers (Theilheimer, 2001). A study of Latin American families in Canada found that, despite parents' high aspirations for their children and despite the great value they attached to education, their children's teachers showed little awareness for their concerns (Bernhard & Freire, 1999). The language barrier also deters immigrant parents' communication with and involvement in the school (Bhattacharya, 2000; Gougeon, 1993). Intimidated by the linguistic barriers they face in...