Effects of Language Context on Ratings of Shy and Unsociable Behaviors in English Language Learning Children

Purpose—The primary goal of this study was to explore the effect of the language context on the socially withdrawn behaviors of school aged-children who are English Language Learners (ELLs) from middle to high SES backgrounds. This is one of the first studies to address the frequently confused concepts of shyness and unsociability as independent constructs within the ELL population. This study also investigated the feasibility of an experimental parent and child questionnaire that examines shyness and unsociability across native and English speaking contexts. Method—Children and parents (34 ELL and 37 native English speaking) were administered an experimental questionnaire examining shy and unsociable behavior in native language and English-speaking contexts. Results—Parents and children from the ELL group reported significantly higher ratings of shy behavior in English versus native language contexts, whereas unsociable ratings did not differ across language contexts. Conclusions—Shyness and unsociability are distinguishable behaviors in ELL children and these constructs should be considered when examining withdrawal. Additionally, examining ELL children’s behavior across language contexts provides a valuable method for investigating language influenced behavioral problems. This study demonstrates the need for service providers to evaluate behavior across subtype and language context before pathologizing withdrawal in ELL children. An estimated 5.3 million children between kindergarten and 12th grade received English Language Learner (ELL) services in 2008–2009 (National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition, 2011). As a group, the social interactions of ELL children in the United States have been understudied. Little is known about the types of social behavior NIH Public Access Author Manuscript Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2015 January 01. Published in final edited form as: Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch. 2014 January ; 45(1): 52–66. doi:10.1044/2013_LSHSS-13-0020. N IH -P A A uhor M anscript N IH -P A A uhor M anscript N IH -P A A uhor M anscript demonstrated by ELL children during interactions with peers who speak the same native language or during interactions with peers who speak English. The few studies that have investigated the social behavior of ELL children in English-speaking contexts reported increased rates of withdrawal relative to monolingual children (Rice, Sell, & Hadley, 1991; Spomer & Cowen, 2001). Children who are ELLs also manifested behaviors during interactions with their peers that are similar to those of withdrawn children, such as lower rates of conversational initiation and social assertiveness, as well as increased anxiety during play (Brice & Montgomery, 1996; Rice et al., 1991). Increased withdrawn behavior has been documented in children who are ELL with mental health referral profiles (Spomer & Cowen, 2001), on-line coding of children’s peer interactions (Rice et al., 1991), and teacher ratings of adolescent speech acts (Brice & Montgomery, 1996). Although reports of withdrawn behavior in children who are ELLs have shed some light on the social functioning of children within this group, many questions remain. To date, withdrawal in ELL children has been examined as a single construct rather than as a complex behavior with multiple subtypes (Spomer & Cowen, 2001). We thus investigated ELL children’s shyness and unsociability, which are considered the two major subtypes of withdrawn behavior (Asendorpf, 1993; Coplan, Girardi, Findlay, & Frohlick, 2007; Coplan, Prakash, O'Neill, & Armer, 2004; Coplan, Rubin, Fox, Calkins, & Stewart, 1994; Rubin & Coplan, 2004). We examined the language contexts in which shy and unsociable withdrawn behaviors occur by comparing ELL children’s withdrawn behavior across native language and English-speaking contexts with experimental measures that tap subtypes of withdrawn behavior (Coplan et al., 2007; Coplan et al., 2004; Hart & Robinson, 1996; Rubin & Coplan, 2004). The experimental measures included ratings of children’s shy and unsociable behavior that were completed by the children and their parents.