Problem Statement

Dissertation Topic: A Study of the Oral Language Skills of Young Adopted Chinese Children at the
Ages of Three and Younger

Problem Statement (and evidence)

May 11, 2017

Worldwide, international adoption continues to grow, with a significant number of children being adopted from China each year (U.S. Department of State, 2015). From 1992, when adoptions began in China, until shortly after the turn of the century, healthy, infant girls were the norm of adoptions from China, with an average wait time of 7-9 months to adopt (Smith, 2012). By 2008, as China prepared to host the Olympics, their economy began to rise, and domestic adoptions skyrocketed. By that time, the wait for an American couple to adopt a healthy, infant girl had grown to 7 years, while China, at the same time, made adoption eligibility requirements more difficult. Adoption in China has changed over the past 25 years. The demographics of children being adopted today is different with nearly as many boys being adopted as girls (U.S. Department of State, 2015). Children are also being adopted at older ages, with infants rarely being placed for adoption anymore. Children with disabilities such as Clubfoot, Limb Difference, Hepatitis B, or a Heart Defect have found their forever families, while previously they may have been forgotten in China (Schoborg, 2013). These children are being abandoned because parents cannot afford to care for them (Vanderklippe, 2014).
With this new generation of adoptees from China, there is little research on how well these children are doing with language and literacy once they enter elementary school. Oral language development and overall literacy skills can be problematic reference (Gauthier & Genesee, 2011). With these youngsters spending their early years in government institutions before adoption (Scott, Roberts, & Krakow, 2008), and then quickly acquiring English (Roberts, Krakow, & Pollock, 2003), the desire is to discover whether they are reaching desired milestones, progressing at age-appropriate levels in oral and written communication, and upon entering the elementary grades, are improving in overall literacy skills. By being placed for adoption with families who use a different language, children are faced with a number of challenges--one of which is second language acquisition.
Being thrust into a new language, these children have been impacted by language acquisition well into their academic years (Gauthier & Genesee, 2011). There is very little research that has been done on this new generation of Chinese adoptees. Most research stems back to studies that involved healthy, infant girls adopted in the 1990’s and early 2000’s (Krakow, Tao, & Roberts, 2005; Scott, Roberts, & Krakow, 2008; Scott, Pollock, Roberts, & Krakow, 2013). Today’s adoptees have spent more time acquiring their first language before second language acquisition occurs due to changes in adoption circumstances in China than adoptees did a decade ago (Smith, 2012).

References:

Gauthier, K. & Genesee, F. (2011). Language development in internationally adopted children: a special case of early second language learning. Child Development, 82, 887-901.

Krakow, R., Tao, S., & Roberts, J. (2005). Adoption age effects on English language acquisition: Infants and toddlers from China. Seminars in Speech and Language, 26, 33-43

Roberts, J., Krakow, R. A., & Pollock, K. (2003). Language outcomes for preschool children adopted from China as infants and toddlers. Journal of Multilingual Communication Disorders, 1, 177-183.

Schoborg, D. (2013). Top 10 Special needs in Chinese adoption. Rainbow Kids: Adoption & Child Welfare Advocacy. Retrieved from http://www.rainbowkids.com.

Scott, K.A., Pollock, K., Roberts, J.A., & Krakow, R. (2013). Phonological processing skills of children adopted internationally. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 22, 673-683.

Scott, K.A., Roberts, J.A., & Krakow, R. (2008). Oral and written language development of children adopted from China. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 17, 150-160.

Smith, B. (2012). The changing face of adoption from China. Families with Children from China-Northern California, 2, 1-3.

U.S. Department of State (2015). Bureau of consular affairs: intercountry adoptions. Retrieved from http://www.travel.state.gov.

Vanderklippe, N. (2014). The tragic tale of China’s orphanages: 98% of abandoned children have disabilities. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from www.theglobeandmail.com.