Social Competence and Language Skills in Mandarin–English Bilingual Preschoolers: The Moderation Effect of Emotion Regulation

Research Findings: The main aim of this study was to examine whether language skills and emotion regulation are associated with social competence and whether the relationship between English skills and social competence is moderated by emotion regulation in Mandarin–English bilingual preschoolers. The language skills of 96 children ages 36–69 months from Australian child care centers were assessed using standardized English and Mandarin tests. Social competence was assessed using teacher reports on the Behavior Assessment System for Children–2 (BASC-2) with 4 composite scales: Externalizing, Internalizing, Behavioral Symptoms, and Adaptive Skills. Positive emotion regulation and emotion dysregulation were assessed using the disappointing gift task and teacher report on the Emotion Regulation Checklist. The results show that positive emotion regulation, emotion dysregulation, English skills, and Mandarin skills were associated with different composites of the BASC-2; the relationships between English skills and Behavioral Symptoms were moderated by positive emotion regulation; and English skills and Adaptive Skills were moderated by emotion dysregulation. Practice or Policy: Discussion of the results includes new considerations for a focus on emotion regulation as well as language to promote social competence in bilingual children. Social competence in children is defined as a set of abilities that enables flexible and appropriate responses in social interactions (Rose-Krasnor, 1997). It is a key skill in early childhood development, as children need to manage social situations by learning from past experiences and applying them to new contexts, build positive relationships with peers and adults outside the home, and feel good about themselves (K. A. Blair, Denham, Kochanoff, & Whipple, 2004; Wentzel, 1999). It is emphasized in preschool programs as a fundamental component of school readiness and has become an integral part of evaluating preschoolers’ developmental progress (C. Blair, 2002; Raver & Zigler, 1997). Children who enter kindergarten with a more positive social competence profile are more successful in early adjustment to school and have better academic achievement (Denham, 2006; Rhoades, Warren, Domitrovich, & Greenberg, 2011). Conversely, less socially competent children are more likely to experience peer difficulties, emotional maladjustment, and poor academic outcomes (Rose-Krasnor, 1997). Success in social tasks is influenced by a child’s emotional competence, which involves recognition of his or her own emotions and the ability to regulate the expression of emotions (Denham, Warren, Salisch, Chin, & Geangu, 2011). Emotion regulation is conceptualized as initiating, maintaining, or modulating one’s internal feelings and physiological states often in response to external changes (Eisenberg, Fabes, Guthrie, & Reiser, 2000, 2002). It is the interface between emotions and CONTACT Yonggang Ren [email protected] Institute of Early Childhood, Faculty of Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Balaclava Road, North Ryde, NSW, Australia, 2109. Copyright © 2015 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC EARLY EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT, 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2015.1066639 D ow nl oa de d by [ M ac qu ar ie U ni ve rs ity ] at 1 8: 02 0 3 N ov em be r 20 15 other psychological processes such as problem-solving abilities, attention, and concentration (Cole, Martin, & Dennis, 2004). There are two types of emotion regulation: positive emotion regulation and emotion dysregulation (K. A. Blair et al., 2004; Eisenberg et al., 2000, 2002). Positive emotion regulation enables children to use flexible and adaptive means to cope with emotions (Grolnick, McMenamy, & Kurowski, 1999). Children with a higher level of positive emotion regulation are more likely to be seen as sociable and popular among peers (Eisenberg, Fabes, Nyman, Bernzweig, & Pinuelas, 1994). Emotion dysregulation leads to children using nonconstructive means to regulate emotions, especially negative emotions such as fear, sadness, and disappointment (Dvorak, Pearson, & Kuvaas, 2013; Herndon, Bailey, Shewark, Denham, & Bassett, 2013). Children with a higher level of emotion dysregulation are prone to displaying externalizing behaviors (e.g., aggression and hyperactivity) or internalizing behaviors (e.g., anxiety, depression, and social withdrawal), and have been found to be low in prosocial behaviors (Eisenberg et al., 1994; Rydell, Berlin, & Bohlin, 2003). In addition to the role of emotion regulation, language skills are often regarded as an important factor associated with social competence. The language ability of American children ages 37–65 months was linked to positive social behaviors as rated by teachers, observers, and peers and predicted significant variance in prosocial behaviors (Cassidy, Werner, Rourke, Zubernis, & Balaraman, 2003). Similar results also appeared among preschoolers from low-income families in the United States (Longoria, Page, Hubbs-Tait, & Kennison, 2009). American children ages 48–61 months with lower language skills had more disruptive behaviors and negative responses, fewer initiations in communications, and a shorter duration of engagement than their peers with higher language skills in preschools (Qi, Kaiser, & Milan, 2006). Among bilingual children, host language skills have been found to be positively associated with social competence. The English proficiency of Chinese Canadian children in Grades 4–8 was positively associated with peer-rated interpersonal relationships, teacher-rated social skills, and perceived self-worth (X. Chen & Tse, 2010). Recent research conducted with Australian children in early childhood found that bilinguals who were fluent in English displayed higher levels of social competence, such as more prosocial and helping behaviors and more physical independence (Goldfeld, O’Connor, Mithen, Sayers, & Brinkman, 2014). In contrast, those who were not proficient in English were more likely to be lower in social competence, such as displaying anxious, fretful, and aggressive behaviors and being inattentive and hyperactive. Similar results appeared among children from Asian and Latino backgrounds in the United States (Han, 2010; Han & Huang, 2010). Those who were proficient in English had higher levels of teacher-rated approach to learning, self-control, and interpersonal skills, whereas those who were not proficient in English had higher levels of externalizing and internalizing behaviors. It is now well established that bilingualism can lead to some developmental advantages, particularly inhibitory control, which is promoted by the need to suppress a competing language in order to communicate effectively. The first clear example came from Bialystok’s (1999) work, which showed that Chinese–English bilingual children ages 5–6 years performed better than monolingual counterparts at problem-solving tasks that required control of distracting information. Since then, studies have shown a range of advantages for bilingual children in cognitive domains (Bialystok & Martin, 2004; Sabbagh, Xu, Carlson, Moses, & Lee, 2006). Building on this body of work, some researchers have demonstrated advantages in social development. For example, it has been demonstrated that bilingual preschoolers are more sensitive to ambiguous referential cues than monolingual children (Yow & Markman, 2011). The authors argued that the advantage may be partly due to better inhibitory control, but more likely the advantage is attributable to the self-generated efforts of bilingual children to communicate effectively with others and avoid communicative breakdown. Bilingual children’s heritage language skills are also found to be positively associated with social competence. A study with bilingual preschoolers from Latino backgrounds in the United States found that children who were proficient in the heritage languages but limited in English were rated by teachers as having a similar level of social competence as children who spoke English fluently 2 Y. REN ET AL. D ow nl oa de d by [ M ac qu ar ie U ni ve rs ity ] at 1 8: 02 0 3 N ov em be r 20 15 (Oades-Sese, Esquivel, Kaliski, & Maniatis, 2011). Some researchers have found that proficiency in heritage languages was positively associated with self-esteem and family relationships (Portes & Hao, 2002; Tseng & Fuligni, 2000). Moreover, given that many preschoolers from immigrant families only speak the heritage language and have little exposure to English on attending child care (SolteroGonzalez, 2009), they may use the heritage language at times for social interactions in child care settings (Clarke, 2009). Therefore, it might be expected that heritage language is positively associated with social competence, though it alone may not be sufficient for the development of social competence. The studies reviewed here indicate that both abilities to regulate emotions and language skills are related to social competence. However, it is still unknown how emotion regulation interacts with host language skills in predicting bilingual children’s social competence. It is likely that the contribution of host language skills is enhanced or inhibited by abilities to regulate emotions in social situations. For example, positive emotion regulation is likely to enable a child to find alternative pathways for successful communication, reducing dependency on fluency in the host language. Emotion dysregulation is likely to exacerbate the consequences of a communication error if the child uses nonconstructive means, such as lapsing into a sullen silence or throwing a tantrum, to resolve the problem. Interactions between language skills and emotion regulation in predicting social competence were tested by Monopoli and Kingston (2012) among children ages 6–8 years. However, instead of testing moderation, they tested the mediation effect (i.e., functioning as a go-between factor) of language skills between positive emotion regulation and social competence and between emotion dysregulation and social competence Their results showed that positive emotion regulation and language skills were positively associated with social competence and that emotion dysregulation was negatively associated with social competence. Nevertheless, language skills did not have a mediation effect. Their failure to detect the mediation of language skills may have been because their assumption was incorrect (for the difference between moderation and mediation, see Baron & Kenny, 1986). Because positive emotion regulation, emotion dysregulation, and English independently predict social competence, it may be more likely that positive emotion regulation and emotion dysregulation would moderate the relationship between English and social competence. Investigating emotion regulation as a moderator among bilingual children is not just a theoretically interesting question. Large-scale global migration means that each year, children go into educational contexts ill equipped to take advantage of the curricula and potentially exposed to adverse social circumstances such as isolation from peers. Although some early childhood centers and schools may be able to support rapid gains in the new language, this may not always be the case. Teachers and other professionals working with these children may be able to support emotion regulation to promote social adjustment. By focusing on Mandarin-speaking preschoolers in Australia, the present study tested the relationships among social competence, emotion regulation, and language abilities. We hypothesized that (a) positive emotion regulation would be positively associated with social competence, whereas emotion dysregulation would be negatively associated with social competence; (b) English skills and Mandarin skills would be positively associated with social competence; and (c) positive emotion regulation and emotion dysregulation would moderate the relationship between English skills and social competence.