Bilingual education and biliteracy in the Brazilian community: An attitudinal study

This study investigated parents' attitudes and expectations regarding Portuguese-English bilingual education, biliteracy, and language use at home in the Brazilian community in South Florida, specifically in the tri-county area of Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. Sixty-seven Brazilian parents participated in an online/print questionnaire study. The results show that parents strongly support bilingual education and the development of bilingualism. An overwhelming majority of parents strongly encourage the use of Portuguese in the Brazilian homes. However, a discrepancy was found between parents' expectations and actual practices for their children's biliterate development. The majority of parents encourage the development of their children's speaking skills in Portuguese, but only few parents have strategies to develop their children's literacy in Portuguese. The lack of print-media in the heritage language in the home shows that parents look to formal education to fulfill their expectations in their children's biliteracy.