Cultural Competence for Asian Immigrant English Language Learners in Early Education

Cultural Competence for Asian Immigrant English Language Learners in Early Education

Mazlina Che Mustafa¹, Intan Farahana Abdul Rani², Jamilah Mohd Basir³ Nadia Shahira Amiruddin⁴

^1.2.3.4National Child Development Research Centre, Sultan Idris Education University

^1.2.3.4Faculty of Human Development Sultan Idris Education University

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2025.903SEDU0334

Received: 19 June 2025; Accepted: 23 June 2025; Published: 18 July 2025

ABSTRACT

Cultural competence is discussed as education intersects with social justice and human rights. The study investigates how Asian immigrant children’s sense of ethnic and host cultural competencies are involved in acculturation processes. Purposive sampling was employed as the sampling strategy in this study. The study took place in two early childhood education (ECE) centres in New Zealand. From the first centre, three teachers, three Asian immigrant children, and two Asian immigrant parents agreed to participate in our research project. The participants from the second centre were four teachers, three Asian immigrant children, and two Asian immigrant parents. An important criterion is the linguistic diversity of the immigrant children attending the ECE centres. The findings highlight three major themes: peer pressure, ethnic identity, and the tensions between ethnocultural and host cultures. The experiences of immigrant children in New Zealand’s ECE centres illustrate how they negotiate the desire to both belong culturally and as immigrants, while preserving their ethnic identity. Researching peer interactions is the norm for fostering assimilation strategies where children choose to value host culture competence over their ethnocultural identity. Yet he does so at the expense of ethnic identity and home language use. The study also highlights the importance of educational work in shaping cultural resilience and integration for immigrant children, emphasizing the need for respectful approaches and celebrating the diverse cultural heritages of different children. This research adds to the broader discourse of social justice and human rights in education by highlighting the nexus between education, cultural competence, and identity. It underscores the importance of “cultural competency” educational practices that allow both cultural adaptation and the maintenance of cultural heritage so that all children have equal opportunity in multiculturally enriched environments.

Keywords— Cultural competence; cultural resilience; ethnic identity.

INTRODUCTION

Cultural competence is a concept discussed in the context of acculturation development (Oppedal, 2006; Moule, 2012; Eden, Chisom & Adeniyi, 2024). The notion of acculturation development emphasizes two important issues underpinning adaptation among immigrant children: firstly, the developmental tasks the immigrant children are dealing with, and secondly, the age-specific attributes of culture competence (Oppedal, 2006; Eden, Chisom & Adeniyi, 2024). Therefore, immigrant children may not need similar competencies which adults need to have available.

Oppedal (2006) claimed that there are two culture competences that the immigrant children need to become skilled at for positive sociocultural adaptation, namely ethnic culture competence and host culture competence. The acquisition of ethnic competence is influential in the formation of in group loyalties, and affords a sense of security, feelings of continuity and self-esteem (Oppedal, 2006; Moule, 2012; Eden, Chisom & Adeniyi, 2024). On the other hand, host culture competence prepares the immigrant children to participate efficiently both within their own ethnic networks, and within the host society (Oppedal, 2006). In terms of support, ethnic culture competence is associated with social support from the family and ethnic friends, whereas host culture competence is related to social support from sources of the host culture (Oppedal, 2006; Oppedal, Røysamb, & Samet, 2004).

A Theoretical Framework

This study is grounded in Oppedal’s Acculturation Theory (2006) and Cummins’ Linguistic Interdependence Theory (1979), which together provide a comprehensive lens for analyzing the cultural and linguistic adaptation of immigrant children. Oppedal’s theory highlights the dual competencies—ethnic and host—that are essential for sociocultural adaptation. Ethnic competence fosters a sense of security and continuity, while host competence facilitates social integration and access to opportunities (Berry, 1997).

Cummins’ theory complements this by emphasizing the interdependence between linguistic and cultural competencies. According to Cummins (1979), maintaining first-language proficiency supports second-language acquisition, highlighting the importance of bilingual education in fostering cultural resilience. By explicitly connecting these theoretical models to the study’s findings, this research provides a nuanced understanding of the interplay between cultural adaptation, identity preservation, and linguistic development in ECE settings.

Berry’s (1997) Acculturation Model provides a foundational framework, outlining four acculturation strategies: integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalization.

METHODOLOGY

Design of the Study

This study employs a qualitative multiple case study design to capture the lived experiences of teachers, parents, and children in ECE settings.

Case study

The multiple case studies method enabled the researchers to retain the realistic and meaningful characteristics of early childhood teachers’ real-life experiences in supporting English acquisition among English language learners (ELLs) and to provide a rich, in-depth description of the early childhood teachers’ experiences. Th stages are described in the following Table 1:

Table 1 Stages Involved in the Conduct of Multiple Case Studies

Sampling

Purposive sampling was employed as the sampling strategy in this study. Purposive sampling is based on the assumption that the researcher wants to discover, understand, and gain insight from the participants and therefore must select a sample from which the most can be learned to illuminate the questions under study (Merriam, 2014; Patton, 2019). Selection criteria for the sites to be studied represented early childhood services and programmes which operated on similar programmes. The more demographically similar the participants are the better a researcher’s ability to understand the ‘general’ nature of the experience to be defined (Creswell, 2020).

Teachers

In the effort of obtaining rich-cases, the selection of participating teachers in this study followed two criteria. Firstly, they had to be qualified teachers. Qualified teachers have been selected for this study as they have undergone early childhood teacher education programmes in New Zealand and these programmes, while retaining roots in developmentalism, have increased their focus on sociocultural and bicultural approaches. Another criterion for the selection of early childhood teachers at ECE services is that they have had experience working with ELLs between the ages of three and four years because this age already establishes the children’s first language.

For the first centre, Jennifer and Heather were English-speaking teachers while Rosalind was a bilingual teacher who was very fluent in English and was not from an Asian background. Jennifer had been teaching in various early childhood education (ECE) settings for almost twenty years. Heather had been an ECE teacher for about four and half years. Rosalind had just been teaching in the first centre for almost two years when this present study began.

For the second centre, Angela was the only English-speaking teacher while Razan, Ming, and Akiko were bilingual teachers who had Asian backgrounds. Angela had been the Head teacher at the second centre for about four years. Razan had been teaching in the second centre for about five years while Ming and Akiko had the experience of teaching in the second centre for about three years. Apart from their experiences as bilingual teachers, they also have children who were raised in bilingual environment and attended English dominant educational settings.

Children

The three ELLs from the first centre who participated in our study were Hyun-woo, Seo-yeon, and Ji-Min. All of them shared the home language and had similar cultural background. Among the three participants, Hyun-woo was the oldest (he was four years- and six months old at the time of observation), and had been enrolled at the first centre since he was about two years old. Upon his enrolment, he attended an ECE programme for children below two years-old before moving on to the programme for children aged between three and five years-old. As he had been in the first centre since he was two years-old, Hyun-woo was familiar with the surrounding, the teachers, and had developed friendships with English speaking peers as well as other ELLs at the centre. According to the teachers, Hyun-woo gradually gained his confidence to interact with the teachers and his peers in English. Hyun-woo’s family migrated to New Zealand six years ago but his mother, who always sent, and picked Hyun-woo’s up from the centre did not speak English very well and declined to be interviewed.

Unlike Hyun-woo, Seo-yeon first enrolled at the first centre just before he reached three years-old, and attended the ECE programme for children below two years-old just for a few months before he moved on to the programme for children between three and five-year olds. When this study began, Seo-yeon was three years and three months-old, and had only attended above three years-old programmes for about a few weeks. Seo-yeon, like Hyun-woo, was the eldest child in the family and had younger siblings. While Seo-yeon was perceived by the teachers as not proficient as Hyun-woo in English due to the difference of the time length spent at the ECE centre, he demonstrated considerably good efforts in acquiring English. Seo-yeon’s mother, Subin, had her final high school in New Zealand and his father was a business man in New Zealand. She gave consent to be interviewed in this study and proficient in English.

Ji-Min was the third child participant of the first centre in our study and he was three years and two months. He shared similar time frame of enrolment and home language with Seo-yeon and therefore, always played together even before they both began the programme for children aged three to five years-old. Among the three case study children of the first centre, the teachers felt that Ji-Min was still at the initial stage of second language acquisition. Ji-Min’s father, Jeoung, was concerned about Ji-Min’s first and second language acquisition as Ji-Min had difficulty in expressing himself even in their home language compared to her older brother and sister when they were at his age. Ji-Min’s father was a postgraduate student at a university and the family migrated to New Zealand for about five years ago. I managed to interview Ji-Min’s father in this study, and he spoke English very well. The summary of the children are in Table 2

Table 2 Summary of Each Case Study Child of the First Centre

Method

Two primary methods of data gathering were employed for each case study to obtain rich and detailed information about teachers’ beliefs and practices that support English acquisition among English language learners (ELLs). One method involved field notes, which encompassed direct observations of early childhood teachers’ practices in each ECE centre, alongside our reflective notes containing insights, understanding, questions, and thoughts generated during the data-gathering process. Observations focused on classroom interactions and peer dynamics, while interviews with teachers and parents provided deeper insights into cultural and linguistic adaptation. The second method involved conducting interviews with each of the early childhood teachers.

Analysis

Thematic analysis was conducted using a systematic process of open coding, axial coding, and selective coding (Braun & Clarke, 2006). This involved breaking down the data into smaller segments and assigning descriptive labels to each segment. For instance, phrases or sentences that reflected participants’ experiences with cultural competence were coded with terms such as “identity formation” or “language barriers.” After open coding, axial coding was applied to group related codes into broader categories, such as “educational challenges” or “family support systems.” Finally, selective coding was employed to identify core themes that unified the categories, ensuring a coherent narrative emerged from the data. Throughout this process, coding frameworks were refined iteratively to accommodate emerging insights, ensuring a comprehensive analysis.

Efforts to ensure the reliability and validity of the qualitative analysis included triangulation, peer debriefing, and member checking. Triangulation was achieved by analyzing data from multiple sources, including interviews, focus groups, and field notes, to corroborate the findings. Peer debriefing involved sharing the coding framework and preliminary findings with colleagues to receive feedback and ensure consistency in interpretation. Member checking was conducted by presenting the findings to a subset of participants to confirm that their experiences were accurately represented.

These measures collectively strengthened the trustworthiness of the analysis, ensuring that the findings were credible and robust.

FINDINGS

The study demonstrated three sub-findings related to culture competence: peer pressure, ethnic identity, and competing values of ethnic culture and home culture. Within the context of ‘peer pressure’, we discuss Masaru and Hyun-woo ’s scenario and the teachers’ view about the scenario. ‘Ethnic identity’ was considered from the perspectives of ethnic name; and the ‘competing values of ethnic culture and home culture’ are argued from the context of language and culture.

Peer pressure

As the findings of our study suggested, the challenging experiences of establishing friendship with English speaking children served as a motivating force for Masaru to use the assimilation strategy as she acquired host culture competence during her acculturation.  Masaru had been attending the ECE centre for almost two years when our data gathering began in the centre. According to Ming, the bilingual teacher and a friend of Masaru’s mother, when Masaru first enrolled in the centre, she did not have many friends due to her limited English proficiency and her shy personality. Most of the ELLs who attended the ECE centre at that time were boys. Ming described how Masaru struggled for almost a year to establish friendships with the English-speaking friends at the centre, as she was always seen playing alone and had very minimal interaction with other children at the centre. After almost a year, Ming noticed that Masaru adapted herself to the New Zealand culture by gradually communicating in English which led her to have a few good English-speaking friends. It was evident that Masaru’s English acquisition helped her to interact with her English-speaking friends and understand their culture. Therefore, when Masaru had been in the New Zealand ECE context after almost a year, she gradually absorbed and developed English and cultural understandings of this social context during acculturation (Smith, 2013).

However, it was apparent that while Masaru acquired cultural competence in the New Zealand early childhood social context, she used the assimilation strategy. Masaru was observed to resist responding in her home language during interactions with the bilingual teacher, who spoke her home language, particularly when her English-speaking friends were present. In terms of identity formation, this time, it appeared that when Masaru used the assimilation strategy, it reflected low ethnic identity but high host identity, as illuminated in the following scenario:

Masaru was cutting a piece of paper into a butterfly shape. There were a few other English-speaking children who were doing the same activity as Masaru around the table. As they were cutting, they were talking to each other about the colours they would choose to paint their butterflies later on. Ming, a bilingual teacher who spoke the same language as Masaru, sat next to her and watched her. Ming asked Masaru a few questions in their home language and pointed to some parts of the butterfly. However, Masaru did not answer Ming’s questions. She either nodded or shook her head in responding to Ming’s questions.  Masaru looked at Ming and glanced at her English-speaking friends every time Ming asked her questions. Masaru then silently continued with her activity until Ming left the table.

When Ming was to comment on the above recorded episode, she expressed her concern about Masaru, who had recently refused to use her home language at the ECE centre. Ming explained the concern was initially brought up by Masaru’s mother, Zhi.  Zhi shared her concern with Ming that Masaru appeared to be more comfortable speaking in English when she was interacting with her older brother and sister at home. Ming commented:

We [Ming and Zhi] were talking about Masaru the other day. Zhi wondered whether Masaru still speaks in her home language at the centre. I wasn’t quite sure because Masaru is a quiet girl – usually. When I sat next to her in the video, I was trying to see whether Masaru would still speak to me in Chinese, but as you could see, she wouldn’t. I wonder why, at this stage, maybe she has been here long enough to make her comfortable to speak in English all the time. Maybe she is embarrassed of [speaking] her language in front of her friends. I don’t know ourself. But she used to speak with me in Chinese, I think, when she first started here.

Ming recalled in her interview that Masaru was comfortable talking to her in Chinese when she first enrolled in the ECE centre two years ago. However, Ming recently was becoming aware that Masaru had begun to show resistance to her home language, particularly after she established good friendships with a few English-speaking friends at the ECE centre. There was an underlying issue that might be related to the use of language and identity for Masaru. Masaru was looking at her English-speaking friends every time Ming communicated with her in Chinese, as if she would like to see her friends’ reaction when there was a conversation between her and Ming in Chinese. Ming assumed that Masaru possibly felt embarrassed about speaking in her home language in front of her friends. Masaru’s assimilation strategy highlighted that her English acquisition helped to develop her culture competence through her interaction and her coping skills with peer pressure. However, Masaru’s refusal to speak her home language with Ming could also be an indication that Masaru was seeking to “fit in” because she wanted to belong; a very human desire that need not come from external pressure but be internally driven.

Another example of peer pressure was when   Hyun-woo was observed playing with Emma, a Korean girl who was fluent in both Korean and English. Unlike Masaru who attempted to conform to mainstream pressure by not responding to Ming in her home language, Emma and Hyun-woo were both capable of talking in Korean. However, they both chose to speak English as they were influenced by the dominant language spoken in the mainstream environment:

After mat time, Emma asked whether Hyun-woo would like to play at the swings. Rosalind, the bilingual teacher, was pushing another child on the swing when Hyun-woo and Emma reached the swing area. When Rosalind asked both of them whether they would like to have a turn, they nodded their heads. Rosalind, then asked Emma and Hyun-woo whether they needed her to push them at the swing but they refused. Emma told Rosalind that she wanted to teach Hyun-woo how to push himself on the swing, without any assistance from the teacher. Emma told Hyun-woo to follow her movements with an explanation of how this helped him swing more efficiently. “Push your legs out, pull them in”. Rosalind was smiling when she watched Emma and Hyun-woo, looking quite impressed at the ability of Emma teaching Hyun-woo. Rosalind then asked Emma to talk to Hyun-woo in Korean:

Rosalind: Emma, why don’t you talk to Hyun-woo in Korean?

Emma: It’s easier, he can understand English.

Rosalind:  Hyun-woo, would you like Emma to speak to you in Korean. You both can speak Korean.

Hyun-woo: No Korean here (while looking at Emma).

Emma and Hyun-woo were able to speak Korean yet they chose to speak in English. Moreover, unlike Masaru’s situation, there were no English-speaking friends around them at that time, except Rosalind. It was worth noting that Hyun-woo’s Korean accent and tone were still evident when he used English. Although Emma could speak Korean, English was the dominant language used by the majority of her peers at the centre. Therefore, it was evident that Hyun-woo chose to speak English to develop the host cultural competence within the centre and, thus, he used the assimilation strategy during acculturation. We were interested to find out about Rosalind’s perception about the episode as she commented:

I found them talking to each other in English was interesting, too. English is not our first language. But if I can get an opportunity to speak in our own language with someone who can understand the language, I will be thrilled.

Rosalind highlighted that, in an English dominant environment, it was a privilege to be able to speak in her native language with someone who understood her language. Rosalind implied that it was important for the ELLs to feel that speaking their home language, as part of their cultural values, was still acceptable as they adapted themselves at the ECE centre. Rosalind valued diverse identity in the process of sociocultural adaptation.

Rosalind’s advocacy for the importance of identity during the sociocultural adaptation process for the ELLs was shared by Heather, an English-speaking teacher at the second centre, when she commented:

I think it’s great. You know, it’s your language, it’s your culture, it’s your home – absolutely. Absolutely I would never want to stop a child from speaking their own language. Um, often when they’re talking, I’ll say, “Oh, what does that mean?” And I’ll say it, and they’ll laugh at me because I’ve probably pronounced it terribly. But you know, you want to know and you want to be able to help them. When Hyun-woo first started – I mean now he’s a very confident boy – but when he first started, he was very very shy and very scared – no English – absolutely none. Mum and Dad are Koreans, and so he speaks Korean. But absolutely no English. They’d just moved over here – nothing – and he was very frightened. So, I got him to show me what he wants, and then it’s like, ‘Oh so you would like help with your lunchbox.’ And so then, ‘this is a lunchbox’. And then maybe, ‘what is it in Korean?’

 In her interview, Heather emphasised that there was no question that the majority of immigrants want to learn English, but it was not sensible to give up their home language. Heather referred to the situation as “more harm than good”. When asked to elaborate on her statement, Heather argued that the ELLs were more likely to be successful if, instead, they were encouraged to embrace their own culture as they learned English. In other words, Heather emphasised that the ELLs should be encouraged to use the integration strategy during their acculturation; adding to their existing language and culture, rather than to replace their own with the new one.

The ‘peer pressure’ finding was discussed based on Masaru and Hyun-woo’s scenarios and sought Ming and Rosalind’s views, respectively, on both scenarios. Both Masaru and Hyun-woo were using the assimilation strategy. The assimilation strategy was reflected when they did not want to use their home language as part of their culture identity when dealing with situations where they wanted to acquire host culture competence. Host culture competence seemed to be important for Masaru and Hyun-woo to participate efficiently, with Masaru’s English-speaking friends and with Hyun-woo’s friend of the same ethnicity, respectively. In contrast, Ming and Rosalind emphasised the importance of maintaining Masaru’s and Hyun-woo’s home language and culture as they acculturated in the host culture. In the teachers’ perspectives, maintaining their home language while they acquired English at the centre was important due their ethnic identity.

Ethnic identity

A further aspect of culture competence concerns ethnic identity. Ethnic identity and its role in sociocultural adaptation can best be understood in terms of an interaction between the attitudes and characteristics of the immigrants and the responses of the host society (Phinney, Horenczyk, Liebkind, and Vedder, 2001). Liebkind (2006) emphasised that ethnic identity is a dynamic construct that evolves and changes in response to contextual factors. Therefore, ethnic identity is likely to be strong when the immigrants have a strong desire to retain their identity and when diversity is encouraged and accepted in the host society (Liebkin, 2006).

In our interviews with the teachers, the majority of them claimed that it was very important for the ELLs to accommodate themselves during acculturation. Nevertheless, in practice, there may be subtle issues related to sociocultural adaptation that some teachers might overlook, possibly due to not having personal experience dealing with cultural adaptation. We particularly noticed that this was more apparent with English speaking teachers.  The example below illustrated how Jennifer, the English-speaking teacher, could have missed a significant aspect of cultural adaptation:

Emma, a Korean girl was playing alphabets with Hyun-woo. As both of them were approaching five years old, they recognised the English letters and were trying to spell their names. Emma asked Hyun-woo how to spell his name. Hyun-woo spelt out his name by arranging letters. Emma then rearranged the letters to spell her name. Hyun-woo then spelt his father’s name which was a Korean name. Emma commented that “it was a long name” and it was not an English name. She said her father’s name was easier because it was an English name, Adam. Hyun-woo looked a bit puzzled and he mumbled quietly to himself, “English name?”  Right after that Jennifer, who happened to be nearby came and joined Hyun-woo and Emma at the table. She was praising Hyun-woo that he was able to spell both his name and his father’s name correctly.

The above scenario illustrated the social identity issue in acculturation where one’s name is a symbolic representation of one’s social identity (Liao, 2011).  An individual could announce his or her identity through their names respectively. For example, in Asian cultures, a person’s name often establishes gender, ethnic identity, and may indicate family status and religious affiliation (Liao, 2011). Emma commented that Hyun-woo’s father’s name was not an English name compared to her father’s name which had been anglicised to ‘Adam’. Liao (2011) claimed that change of name is a symbolic representation of the bearer’s identity change, which might involve the change of personal name, family name, or acquisition of a whole new name. Although Hyun-woo and Emma both have Korean backgrounds, Emma’s and her father’s names are not Korean names. The significance of Hyun-woo’s name being an ethnic name indicated maintenance of home cultural identities and values. On the other hand, the changing of an ethnic name for an English one, Emma, seemed to suggest a change in cultural identities and values.

It was also important to note that Hyun-woo’s ethnic identity was negotiated through the use of language. When Emma was commenting on the name of Hyun-woo’s father as not being an ‘English name’, Hyun-woo was confused as he quietly asked himself what Emma meant by an ‘English name’. Apparently, the concept of ‘English name’ was new to Hyun-woo. Hyun-woo discovered that an ethnic name could represent an ethnic identity concept as he interacted with Emma during the spelling activity.

Jennifer’s response to the situation between Emma and Hyun-woo highlighted new information for Hyun-woo as she praised Hyun-woo for being able to spell both his name and his father’s name correctly without discussing that those names were not English names. Smith (2013) suggested that children’s engagement in discourse encompasses broad practice with checking their own internal representation against that of others. Smith (2013) argued that the child can listen to additional description of a concept and integrate it into his or her meanings. At this stage, Smith (2013) claimed that children can be aware of the dissimilarities between their own and someone else’s understanding which leads them to realise that it is possible to have two views of the same situation. Therefore, Hyun-woo was possibly aware of the differences in Emma’s and Jennifer’s views about the concept of the ethnic name.

When the video footage was shared with Jennifer, she highlighted the number of letters in Hyun-woo’s name:

We are so proud of our names, aren’t we? He was so proud of his name; especially when Emma said “it’s too long for a name”. I said, “Well, it was a very long name, it has got lots of letters in it. One thing we probably could have done is counted the letters in his name, you know? How many letters do you have in your name, so that he would know.

However, when we further probed Jennifer about the importance of name and how it affected Hyun-woo’s identity as a Korean child, she further responded:

That is why it is important to have the children come in the morning and they see their name and put their name on the board. That’s about having a place, this is me; something personal, like belonging. If they are doing paintings and things like that, acknowledging them “let’s write your name on it”, talking about letters in the name, expressing themselves and being an individual. Probably learning about talking to the parents and asking them, you know, what is important to them. As I said, learning some words and phrases to help the child feel comfortable. And, you know, we used to have a multicultural day, so that everyone would dress up in their national costume.

Jennifer emphasised the importance of names and their link to culture. Indirectly, Jennifer was indicating that names are a part of culture as they might signify one’s origin and sense of belonging. What we found missing, though, was the fact that Hyun-woo spelled his name using the Roman alphabet and his name was not anglicised like Emma’s. His name could also be spelled using Korean characters, and it would have been more meaningful to Hyun-woo’s identity if it was written in Korean script. In this scenario, Hyun-woo was noticed to have adapted to the host culture by accepting that his name should be spelled according to English although there are Korean characters to spell his name

Our study demonstrated that ethnic identity can be seen as an aspect of acculturation reflecting the individual’s attitudes, feelings, values, and behaviours surrounding his or her ethnicity and culture (Liao, 2011). In the context of Emma and Hyun-woo’s name episode, the ethnic name changes or maintenance, as an indicator of change or maintenance in ethnic self-identification, could be associated with the changes of the individual in cultural values, attitudes, identities, and behaviours during acculturation (Liao, 2011). Due to the conformity of mainstream pressure, Emma was seen to be speaking English with Hyun-woo even though both were able to speak Korean. However, ethnic name maintenance or change was not identified from the teacher’s perspective when Jennifer, the teacher, did not highlight this aspect of acculturation. It was apparent that as Hyun-woo interacted with the issue of ethnic identity, Jennifer’s response, representing the host society, did not highlight the importance of an ethnic name as an aspect of ethnic identity.

Competing values of identity

Most of the teachers interviewed, including the bilingual teachers, argued that culture and language are inseparable for the ELLs and their families. When I showed a video which recorded Seo-yeon and Ji-min speaking Korean to each other, Heather, the teacher at the second centre, claimed that making the ELLs feel comfortable in their own language and culture would help them to adapt better than when they were under pressure to conform to the mainstream culture. Heather expressed her view about the importance of culture and language to the cultural adaptation for the ELLs in the following:

I think it’s great that they have someone that they can engage with so easily. It would be difficult if for the whole day you were constantly trying to understand what other people were saying. And I think it’s part of the way they’ve settled, that they can have someone that they can speak to in their own language as well. Ji-min found it really hard transitioning from the under 2 [2 years old and below section] to us, and Seo-yeon was here a little bit before him – maybe two weeks or so earlier than Ji-min. And it was almost like Seo-yeon was Ji-min’s security blanket at first. Like when dad would drop him off in the morning, he would take him to Seo-yeon almost all the time. So, I think it’s great that they can use their own language together and make each other feel happy and confident and ‘at home’ within almost probably what seems to them often quite a foreign setting, really.

Heather’s view could be interpreted as an advocacy for cultural maintenance for Seo-yeon and Ji-min. Heather expressed her view about Seo-yeon’s and Ji-min’s process of socialisation into, and maintenance of, the norms of Seo-yeon and Ji-min’s home culture, which included the language and culture. From an ethnic cultural competence context, Heather’s view reflected that Seo-yeon and Ji-min’s home language provided a sense of security and feelings of continuity when they both transitioned from a lower aged child care group to a higher aged group.

Rosalind, the bilingual teacher, argued that culture, language, and identity were interrelated. According to her, it was complicated to separate one from another as they always emerge together for immigrant children. Smith (2013) claimed that in order to preserve the cultural heritage and the acquisition of cultural identity, language cannot be separated from culture as it allows anecdotes, ritual and customs to be conveyed from generation to generation. Therefore, language has become a mediating tool for the children to learn about their cultural practices in collaborative contexts. She commented:

That really makes me really happy to see that these children are already taking pride at such a young age in who they are, valuing what their parents are instilling inside of them, and maybe us using in partnership with those children, to respect them and to build that bridge of respect with other cultures. It just takes them away, it makes them… I mean you don’t want to lose that. I mean because it’s so valuable, you know as a parent – you know how much you need that. At each different centre it has got its own culture as well. And because of the culture of the centre, each child has a different way of enacting their own culture as well you know. So, depending on how multicultural your centre is and how adaptive and how accommodative centres are of different cultures, that is going to put the child – I’ll say “Guess what, I’m Korean, I can talk Korean,” You’re going to have that pride from the child, but if they’re like saying, “Kiwi’s the best”, you know, we don’t acknowledge that. Then it’s a whole different situation that you’re moulding yourself into. So, then you have those children that are more like, you know, they’re feeling they’re lesser valued, they’re feeling inferior to their so-called better children and so on.

Rosalind’s comments about the aspects of culture, language, and identity highlighted two important issues: the values of the ELLs in relation to cultural and ethnic identity, and the role of the ECE centres in supporting these values. Rosalind emphasised that if the ECE centres support the ELLs to use their language and culture, then they would be proud of their cultural heritage. Otherwise, they would feel that their language and culture were “lesser valued” compared to the dominant culture. Rosalind emphasised that when the ELLs were exposed to a new culture at the ECE centre, they were influenced to adapt to the culture of the ECE centre. Therefore, Rosalind highlighted that it was very important for the ECE centre to be adaptive and accommodating to other cultures.

While Rosalind and Heather expressed their views about the importance of home language, Angela, the English-speaking teacher at the second centre, shared her perspectives regarding learning English within the ECE context. Angela, who emigrated from an English-speaking county and grew up in New Zealand, shared her opinion on the issue of being adaptable to ‘Kiwi’ culture. According to Angela, while being secure in their home culture and language, it was also important to be comfortable in New Zealand culture:

We want to get insights on the children’s culture and how we can support that, so the questions are: we want to know the languages that the children speak at home, what cultural practices and celebrations are important to your family? What would you like to see us do to recognise and celebrate your family’s culture in preschool, so we can incorporate those, because I’m sure that families from other cultures have perhaps unique games or songs that are culturally handed down. More importantly, it is also about them being secure in their cultural identity, but also being comfortable in the Kiwi culture as well. We don’t want children to feel they don’t quite belong.

In her interview, Angela promoted the idea that both cultures, the ELLs’ and centre’s culture could be integrated into the practices of the ECE teachers as they work with the ELLs. According to Angela, if the ELLs felt “secure in their cultural identity” and “comfortable in the Kiwi culture as well”, they would adapt themselves better, culturally and linguistically. From this perspective, Angela highlighted the importance of integration during acculturation for the ELLs.

As a head teacher, Angela was working on the review about the ECE centre programme. In her interview, she shared the questionnaires that the ECE centre distributed to the parents. She was interested in exploring the multicultural aspects of the ECE centre. As more than half of the teachers at the ECE centre have Asian backgrounds, Angela felt that it was important to understand the manner in which the teachers with Asian background sorted out and interpreted their cultural identity:

So, you can read where we are coming from with our thoughts, so that the reason for the review is that we are multi-cultural as a team, but does that then translate to our practice? We have realied that there are things about our practice we can actually improve upon. It’s really useful having teachers who speak Japanese and Mandarin. We find that we would perhaps only use the Mandarin-speaking teachers as a fallback if there was a particular issue and the child was particularly distressed and we needed to know more. So, under everyday teaching situations, we wouldn’t need to refer to a teacher who spoke Mandarin because with those little interactions, children are quite content and relaxed, and the engagements are rewarding.

Although Angela emphasised that the roles of teachers with an Asian background were mainly in assisting with certain teaching situations involving the ELLs, she found that the Asian parents relied on the Asian teachers to look after their child’s wellbeing at the ECE centre.

In our interview, we asked the Asian or bilingual teachers about their own sociocultural adaptation In the course of becoming professional early childhood teachers, two of the immigrant teachers, Ming and Razan from the second centre, stated they had adopted the New Zealand ECE central beliefs but at the same time must take into account the Asian cultural values in child rearing. When asked the reason for this, Ming stated:

I have to. I don’t want to be criticised by either the English-speaking teachers or the parents. For example, the water play – the centre encouraged the children to explore about water play, but some Asian parents did not like their children’s sleeves wet. So sometimes, I had to make sure that they [the ELLs] really pulled their sleeves or I would quickly ask them to change before they go back. Even like the sand play, sometimes there was sand on the head, some parents [Asian parents] do not like it. I still let them [the ELLs] play but I always make sure there’s no sand on their head, or sometimes I don’t let them play with the sand when their parents are coming to pick them up.

Razan argued about the values of child upbringing for Western and Asian culture. She admitted that sometimes she had to adapt herself according to the individual parenting values:

What they value is sometimes – this is something I noticed in Western culture – self-help skills are very vital for them, whereas for Asians, it’s very important that they have their children well-fed.

In such scenarios, Razan and Ming from the second centre argued that they, at times, had to present themselves differently to their colleagues than to the immigrant parents. Ming commented that if she too completely adopts the position of her non-immigrant fellow teachers, she risked being seen as separated from her culture of origin. If Ming too completely adopts the position of the immigrant teachers, she risks being seen as non-adaptable to the ECE centre’s culture. In a cultural competence context, it was evident that the bilingual teachers were in a dilemma as to whether to acquire ethnic cultural competence or host cultural competence.

Akiko, one of the bilingual teachers from the second centre, reported that when asked to translate conversations between parents and other English-speaking teachers, as they often were asked to, they had to edit what had to be conveyed to avoid exacerbating tensions. Akiko commented:

Sometimes I could not reveal exactly what both parties told me. Otherwise, things will become worst. For example, of course you would expect cultural clashes between the two parties, the Asian parents and the teachers. But you need to play a role so that the message conveyed is perceived in a good way. I think, we are here [in the ECE centres] to facilitate with the communication.

Akiko, Razan, and Ming identified themselves as being mediators to ensure smooth communication between the Asian parents and teachers. In the interviews, the immigrant teachers discussed both the role they played as cultural and language translators and mediators, and the challenges they encountered in situations where they felt pressured to speak as either the representative of the ECE centre or the voice of their community.

Similar to Angela’s view that supported the maintenance of the ELLs’ home culture, most of the immigrant parents seemed to value teachers who speak their language and understand their culture. Suzu, Shin’s mother, noted in her interview that she viewed the bilingual teachers who could speak her home language as advocates for her child. Our study demonstrated that Suzu was hoping that Shin would be able to identify himself with someone in a superior position [such as a teacher] and able to speak in their home language. Suzu claimed that having someone in that position in the ECE centre might have prevented Shin from being taken advantage of by other children.  Suzu, Shin’s mother commented:

It’s good to have a teacher who can speak Japanese with Shin here. In his previous school, there was not a Japanese speaking teacher. At the beginning, Shin had problems in adjusting himself. All of his friends spoke English very well and he didn’t. When Shin brought noodles for lunch, they said it was not lunch, so Shin did not want to eat. I told Shin that he’s Japanese not English. But when Shin started here [at the ECE centre], I felt relief because we have a Japanese speaking teacher. At least, if Shin was in trouble, we knew that there’ll be someone to defend him and support him. Other children would know that there are teachers who can understand the Asian children.

When Suzu was asked whether it was important to have a bilingual teacher who could speak her language in order to preserve the home language, Suzu explained that a bilingual teacher was necessary not so much for home language preservation as for support and advocacy for their children. However, Suzu indicated that it was mainly her responsibility to ensure that Shin’s home language was preserved and not the teachers’ responsibility.

On the other hand, Jeoung, Ji-Min’s father, argued that their children needed to balance between becoming an ‘Asian Kiwi’ and preserve their home cultural values:

I wanted our children to preserve our Korean home values. But at the same time, I hope they can become a participant citizen in New Zealand. I know it’s going to be challenging for our children but I want them to learn about New Zealand culture as long as the New Zealand culture does not contradict our home culture.

The competing values were discussed in the context of cultural competence. While some of the Asian parents expressed their opinions about the role of teachers as advocates for their children, some of the parents highlighted identity in terms of being ‘Asian’ and ‘Kiwi’. The parents in their interview told me that they wanted their children to become ‘Kiwi’, but also to maintain ties to their cultural roots.

SUMMARY

In summary, there are examples of ethnic culture and host culture competence. Masaru and Hyun-woo’s preference for language choice was linked to their motivation to adapt to the mainstream culture and environment, within the ECE centres where English was dominant over their home language. Masaru and Hyun-woo’s preference for using English rather than their home language was likely influenced by peer pressure and mainstream cultural conformity.  Therefore, Masaru and Hyun-woo were observed to employ the assimilation strategy when using English in the context of interacting with their peers, as they sought to develop host culture competence. Nevertheless, Suzu found it challenging for her and her family to adapt to mainstream culture while retaining their cultural heritage. Rosalind, Heather, Ming, Akiko, and Razan expressed their views on the importance of cultural identity as well as being comfortable in the New Zealand ECE culture, although this practice was not evident in our observations.

LIMITATIONS

While this study makes significant contributions to understanding cultural competence in early childhood education (ECE) settings, the following limitations must be acknowledged:

Geographical and Contextual Constraints

The study was conducted in two ECE centers in New Zealand, which limits the generalizability of the findings to other regions. Cultural competence is highly context-dependent, and the experiences of immigrant children in New Zealand may differ significantly from those in countries with varying cultural, linguistic, and policy environments. For instance, countries with more rigid language policies or less cultural diversity may present different challenges and opportunities for immigrant children.

Short-Term Focus

The study’s cross-sectional design provides a snapshot of cultural competence development at a specific point in time. However, the process of acculturation and identity formation is dynamic and evolves over time. A longitudinal approach would offer deeper insights into how cultural competence and bilingualism develop and interact with identity formation across different stages of childhood.

Limited Exploration of Intersectional Factors

The study does not fully explore how intersectional factors, such as gender, socioeconomic status, or parental education levels, influence the cultural competence of immigrant children. These factors may significantly shape children’s experiences and should be examined in future research to provide a more comprehensive understanding.

IMPLICATION

Enhancing Teacher Training Programs

One of the key implications of this study is the need to enhance teacher training programs to better equip educators with the skills required to foster cultural competence in diverse classrooms (Eden, Chisom & Adeniyi, 2024). Teachers play a central role in shaping the experiences of immigrant children, and their ability to create inclusive learning environments is critical. Training programs should focus on developing cultural awareness, sensitivity, and strategies for supporting bilingualism and identity formation among students. Research highlights the importance of culturally responsive pedagogy in promoting positive educational outcomes for immigrant children (Gay, 2018). By integrating these principles into teacher education, schools can address the unique challenges faced by immigrant students and create an environment where cultural diversity is celebrated (Rowan et al., 2020).

Policy Development for Inclusive Education

Another significant implication is the need for policy development aimed at fostering inclusive education systems. Policymakers must prioritize the inclusion of cultural competence and bilingual education in national curricula to ensure that immigrant children are supported in their academic and social development (Eden, Chisom & Adeniyi, 2024). Studies have shown that inclusive policies can mitigate the negative effects of cultural alienation and promote a sense of belonging among immigrant students (Banks, 2015). Additionally, policies should provide resources for schools to implement programs that support both students and their families, such as language acquisition classes and community engagement initiatives (Abimbola, 2023). These measures can bridge the gap between home and school cultures, enabling immigrant children to thrive academically and socially.

CONCLUSIONS

This study discussed strategies and challenges of sociocultural adaptation of the ELLs, the Asian parents, and the Asian immigrant teachers. During the acculturation process, the Asian parents and their children tended to adapt themselves by using both integration and assimilation strategies. The integration strategy was often the preference of Asian parents because the reasons for migration were a key factor in their decision to seek full-time employment or engage with the New Zealand community. This was highlighted during the interviews with the Asian parents, as all of them were in full-time employment in New Zealand. The findings are explicitly connected to existing models of acculturation and cultural competence. Berry’s (1997) Acculturation Model provides a foundational framework, outlining four acculturation strategies: integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalization. The findings align most strongly with the integration strategy, where immigrant children adopt aspects of the host culture while maintaining their cultural heritage. For instance, participants who demonstrated bilingual proficiency and cultural adaptability reflected successful integration, as they navigated both cultural domains effectively. This supports Berry’s assertion that integration often leads to the most favorable psychological and social outcomes.

Therefore, they emphasised the importance of preserving their cultural heritage while simultaneously acquiring cultural knowledge of New Zealand society. The assimilation strategy was only evident when two of the Asian immigrant ELLs were conforming to the mainstream culture. Other strategies in acculturation, such as marginalisation and rejection, were not apparent in our data, perhaps because the length of our data gathering was within a time frame that did not allow me to observe these strategies.

As sociocultural adaptation is a two-way process, teachers were also involved in the sociocultural adaptation process. Unlike the Asian parents and the ELLs, there was no clear evidence that the teachers focused on preserving the ELLs’ cultural heritage. However, it was apparent that, in the process of sociocultural adaptation, some teachers acquired Asian cultural knowledge, while others were not aware of the need to acquire this knowledge.

While the teachers stated that they believe it is important to meet the needs of ELLs and their families in the ECE setting, they seemed to overlook how these groups are affected during the adaptation process in terms of English acquisition. During the acculturation process, the ELLs and their families had to adopt the basic values of the New Zealand ECE social environment. However, it was challenging for the ELLs to adapt to the new social environment, which had different language, cultural rules, and expectations. Sociocultural adaptation is a two-way process, involving an interaction between the immigrant and the host society (Monzo & Rueda, 2006). From this perspective, ELLs, their families, and teachers needed to understand how their interactions during the adaptation process could facilitate English acquisition. At the same time the New Zealand ECE teachers must be prepared to adapt New Zealand ECE to better meet the needs of the ELLs and their families.

However, the ELLs did not have the freedom to choose how they wanted to engage in interactions during their acculturation process. From the perspective of a dominant group, acculturation strategies can only be freely chosen and successfully pursued by non-dominant groups when the dominant society is open and inclusive in its orientation towards cultural diversity (Berry, 2006). Berry (2006) claimed that integration strategies can only be pursued in societies that are explicitly multicultural, in which certain psychological preconditions are established. These pre-conditions include, “the widespread acceptance of the value to a society of cultural diversity”, “a relatively low level of prejudice”, “positive mutual attitudes among ethno cultural groups” and “a sense of attachment to, or identification with, the wider society by all individuals and groups” (p. 36). These preconditions are apparent in the New Zealand ECE curriculum as it advocates for cultural diversity. Therefore, in theory, the teachers, as a dominant group in the acculturation process, should support the ELLs to engage in interactions with the teachers and with their English-speaking friends so that they will be able to acquire English. Our study found a mismatch between the ideals of the curriculum and the reality of the practices in New Zealand ECE centres.

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