to lerance of non-Taiwanese nationals. They also set up the communities and groups, having similar background, and
share life skills and exchange emotion, leading to the stable living conditions.
Therefore, they can provide children with different foreign cultural capital, which is scanty in the patriarchal
families, and educate children in a rigorous way.
KEYWORDS: Immigrant Residents ChildrenAcademic PerformanceCultural Capital
Original Article
and live on their own. In addition, surrounded by the multi-ethnic fusion culture atmosphere, people generally have higher
Received: Apr 29, 2016; Accepted: May 11, 2016; Published: May 20, 2016; Paper Id.: IJESRJUN20165
INTRODUCTION
In recent years, with the social progress of Taiwan and the economic growth, female consciousness
gradually rises and the number of unmarried women with economic independence increases, which leads to males
in Taiwan facing the problem of mating. Thus, the proportion of intermarriage is increasing year by year, and the
trend of marrying immigrant female residents has appeared (containing Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao,
Southeast Asia and other nationalities).Until January 2014, according to the Ministry of Education, the number of
immigrant residents has become 474,451, and the number of immigrant resident children enrolling in junior high
and elementary schools is 203,346, including 52,353 junior high shool students, taking up 4.9%of total junior high
students, while 157,431 elmentary school students, 11.8% .Overall, the immigrant resident children enrolling in
schools have become a new ethnic in school education. The growing impactcannot be ignored since it tests the
teachersadaptation of teaching.
Over the years, a number of studies have shown that immigrant residents have difficulty in dealing with
the education of children because of unfamiliar language, different cultures, lower economic status, lack of cultural
capital, and other disadvantageous factors. Especially in the concept of the traditional families, the role of
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48
Tseng Shih-Feng
immigrant residents mothers is usually under a lower status situation, which leads to failing to provide a good care for the
familyeducation, resulting in immigrant resident children of Taiwan facing many problems, such as language learning
disabilities, academic learning disabilities, poor interpersonal communication, lack of confidence, or even acquired
developmental delays and other difficulties.
The researcher is a junior high school teacher in Fangliao high School. The number of immigrant resident children
accounts for about 10%. Fangliao is a far-off countryside with less educational resources than urban schools. Accordong to
the long-term observation of student achievement, the researcher finds that immigrant resident children get better academic
performances instead of falling behind general students. The majority holdbetter performance, evenbecoming the class
leader or reaching school ranking top. The researcher also finds that their language skills and learning abilitiesare equal
with general students; there is no evident obstacle on adaptation, and their language skills are as well as the general
students. The findings of this study significantly differ from other studies and common impression.
To make sure if the academic performances of immigrant resident students in Fangliao high school are as the
researchers usual observation, the researcher gets students average grades in 2013 academic year with the schools
permission, conducting descriptive statistics of immigrant resident students and general students all subjects grades
through independent samples t-test, and then reviews whether there is significant difference. The results are as follows:
Table 1: Fangliao High School Students Semester Grades Comparison Chart
Subject
Chinese
English
Math
Science
History
Geography
Citizen
First
Grade
G
I
G
I
G
I
G
I
G
I
G
I
G
I
(SDStandard
Mean
61.52
72.00
62.62
73.53
46.92
59.84
61.50
75.37
66.99
73.89
60.50
71.05
79.61
88.63
SD
17.043
8.743
26.237
17.044
25.583
24.157
22.052
14.330
18.570
15.993
18.504
13.652
18.895
6.568
Deviation;
t
-4.257***
-2.432***
-2.081**
-3.680***
-1.545
-2.397***
-4.133***
GGeneral
Second
Grade
G
I
G
I
G
I
G
I
G
I
G
I
G
I
students
Mean
63.90
67.65
56.82
61.35
39.71
46.76
57.07
59.29
61.62
67.88
51.00
52.71
71.58
77.53
SD
20.341
19.789
27.948
28.572
28.281
29.899
22.483
22.460
27.629
27.226
20.470
22.847
21.145
21.442
:immigrant
t
-.733
-.642
-.987
-.393
-.901
-.329
-1.117
Third
Grade
G
I
G
I
G
I
G
I
G
I
G
I
G
I
Mean
SD
43.32
55.94
39.04
41.88
48.42
49.76
38.36
40.59
42.41
52.35
47.96
55.12
64.78
75.06
23.227
21.188
20.494
17.288
24.772
18.860
17.222
15.145
24.914
26.545
20.185
21.424
25.614
18.168
residentsstudent)
(First
t
-2.147*
-.550
-.217
-.513
-1.555
-1.383
-2.120*
Grade
49
The purpose of this study is to identify why immigrant resident students in Fangliao High Schoolreach high
achievement by analyzing the phenomenon between the academic performance and their family relationships.
The researcher attempts to use qualitative measure ment to explain the findings, and apply the results to other external
environments. It will provide other immigrant resident students and their family education with substantial assistance and
reference.
THE METHODS
To preliminarily understand Fangliao immigrant resident students' family socio-economic status and parental
discipline style, the researcher first conducted the formal and slightly modified questionnaire from the study of "immigrant
resident parents' attitudes to discipline style and the adaptation to learn" (Li Peiling, 2013).
The questionnaire used rigorous expert validity, item analysis, exploratory factor analysis and reliability analysis,
and the result expectantly has good reliability and validity. After the population (N = 82) status survey ,the results are as
follows:
Mother Nationality Indonesian accounted for 51.9%,Vietnam, 14.8%the Philippines 14.8% China
18.5%from Southeast Asia accounted for 81.5% of the total.
Father's
Education
level14.8%elementary44.4%
junior
high18.5%
high
school22.2%
Highernouniversity.
Parents' age gap1-5 years 29.6%6 to 10 years old48.1%11 to 15 years 14.8% 7.4% over 16 years.
Mother's main LanguageMandarin 29.6%, 66.7% Taiwanese, other 3.7%, none are not fluent in the language
of communication.
The researcher conducted the Likert scale evaluation list in terms of parental discipline style. The higher the score
Do the immigrant resident mothers families in Fangliao and occupational structure orientationhelp children to
learn?
When and where did the Fangliao immigrant resident mothers learn Chinese or Taiwanese?
The divorce rate of Fangliao immigrant resident mothers is very low. What factors contribute to high stability of
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Tseng Shih-Feng
In Fangliaoimmigrant residentmothersfamilies, is there any special relationship in parental normal discipline and
domination?
Why would most of their academic achievement be higher than that of the general students despite the stable
family environment?
The researcher conducts the qualitative research with in-depth interviews and excerpts from the recording and
transcript of Fangliao high School students. The academic performances are ranked out of 26 immigrant resident families
of students, from their academic achievements divided into A, B, C, and D groups. The internal group numbers represent
immigrant resident mothers, sorted in descending order by the their children's achievements ranging from 1 to 8 . The field
observation has been implemented for nine months, trying to find answers to the questions.
RESEARCH RESULTS
First of all, the researcher explains the background differences of immigrant residents in Fangliao, and then looks
into this particular phenomenon of how it affects the irstatus in family and the ability to discipline children, and finally
discussesifitis help fuland beneficial to students' academic achievements.
The Background Analysis of Fangliao Immigrant Resident Mothers Native Regions
The percentage of Fangliaoimmigrant residents coming from Southeast Asia about 81.5, much larger than the 18.5
ofmainland China, which shows great difference from national statistics. According to the household Division statistics, the
proportion of immigrant resident mothers from mainland China is 67%, only 33% in Southeast Asia and other nationals.
This study in female population, appears only two mainland China nationality; the statistics in recent four years from the
Department of Justice statistics are as follows in Table 2. Most Southeast Asian immigrant residents are from Vietnam,
accounting for 60.1%; while Indonesian is about 13.1%. The data for each year are also very close. From Fangliao
regional perspectives, there are 51.9% of Indonesian, Vietnamese 14.8%, and other nationalities have not reached more
than 15%, which shows that the native country is highly concentrated in Indonesia, rather than the largest number,
Vietnamese.
Table 2: Taiwan Immigrant Resident Mothers from Southeast Asia
Indonesia Malaysia Singapore Philippine
2011
713
295
91
299
%
14.6%
6.0%
1.9%
6.1%
2012
754
353
113
309
%
15.8%
7.3%
2.4%
6.4%
2013
620
332
125
314
%
13.0%
6.9%
2.5%
6.5%
2014
462
259
93
242
%
13.1%
7.2%
2.6%
6.9%
(from Department of Household Registration ,2014)
Thailand
351
7.1%
407
8.5%
349
7.2%
219
6.2%
Myanmar
136
2.7%
133
2.7%
109
2.2%
75
2.1%
Vietnam
2935
60.1%
2640
55.2%
2910
60.3%
2111
60.1%
Cambodia
63
1.2%
73
1.5%
61
1.2%
51
1.4%
Total
4883
4782
4820
3512
The researcher offers the detailed analysis of Fangliao immigrant resident mothers original locations from
Indonesian; as shown in Figure 1. , they are from three major cities. In the 26 cases, the number from Indonesia is 18, the
capital, Jakarta, 6;Medan city, 10,and Bangka, 2.These three cities are all prosperous fishing ports in Sumatra and Java
Island, none of which are form the rest of the island. It's very different from the past studies telling they are often scattered
Impact Factor (JCC): 4.3912
51
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Tseng Shih-Feng
in Indonesia. Most China's coastal early generation of immigrants from Guangdong and Fujian provinces peak Taiwanese
(Hokkien) and Hakka, so they bring the languages to Southeast Asia. Gradually, local Chinese offspring also hadthe
communication skills of Chinese.
In this study, the majority of Fangliao immigrant mothers are introduced by Chinese friends and almost come
from Medan and Jakarta, so they have sufficient language skills to communicate directly with Fangliao local people.
The similarity of language reaches80~90%.Their appearances areal most the same as Tawainese because of overseas
Chinese background, so it is difficult to distinguish the immigrant residents from local people, which helps them to adapt to
the environment a lot. It leads to less frustration of family lives, less discrimination from outside, and less communication
barriers between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. The most important thing is that after the children were born,
immigrant resident mothers and other members of the families can be together to discipline their children. While the
concepts of discipline are inconsistent, they can be synchronized to reduce family disputes through communication.
As A1 described:
I have always been used towatching children doing their homework every night. They learned Chinese
characters from kindergarten to junior high.Because my husbandis busy working, I am in charge of most disciplines and
childrens behaviors.
D2said:
"When I first came here, I could notspeakChinese; instead, I use body language.When my child was born, I can
only speak a little Chinese.I cannot teach, so the other familymembers teach him Chinese. However, theyare too busy, and
they don't have time doing the teaching."
It apparently indicates that the "immediate" language skills are very important for immigrant resident mothersafter
coming to Taiwan, because most of themmust adapt to the environment after coming to Taiwan, and they will be under
pressure while becoming pregnant and having children at the same time.If they don't have enough communication skills, it
will increase immigrant resident mothers' frustration and also lower their position in the family. Moreover, after the birth
of a child, they are unable to teach, causing the child to be independent while his father is too busy andhis mother fails to
communicate with others. It willleadto bad influence onfuture academic performance.
The Environmental Friendliness Analysis of Immigrant Residents in Fangliao
Fangliao is evident at the ethnic-mixed region, and the academic district of Fangliao high schoolis as wide as 50
square kilometers, which is the top most in Pingtung County. We cansee many different faces from varous ethics living in
harmony in Fangliao. The environmentis far from tourism attractions and big cities, so the speed of socialization isvery
slow, with less external contamination. Half of the residents here are traditional farmers, following the patterns of working
from sunriseto sunset. It is common to see students working with their families on the farm. This special environment and
living atmospheregive rise to the high tolerance to multi-ethnicityand peaceful coexistence atmosphere.
The environmental friendliness of immigrant residents in Fangliao are as follows:
53
thepolicy of National Immigration Agency.Generally speaking, all of them got ID cards within four years. According to the
identity card application rule of immigrant residents, foreign spouses must have lived in Taiwan for more than 183days a
year for consecutive three years. It shows that the efficiency of immigant resident mothers in Fangliao getting ID cards is
better than expected. In accordance with the Immigration Department's information, the immigrantresident
mothersoftenencounteredthe application problems to prove their economic capacity, since most families have doubts about
their purpose of coming to Taiwan. Their families fear that onceshehas the opportunity to work outside and gets
independent ability to communicate with the outside world,they will abandon the family and flee. However, Fangliao
immigrant resident mothers generally have ID cards, and most of them are assisted by their husband. Moreover, the family
or workplace bosses provided economic proof, which shows thehigh level of trust.
The Immigrant Resident Mothers in Fangliao Generally Embrace the Taiwanese Belief and Customs,
Declining The Disputes
Indonesian is Islam-based, accounting for 83 % of the total, but Fangliao immigrant resident mothers had faith in
Buddhism and Daoism mainly in Indonesian because of being overseas Chinese. They also have the custom of ancestor
worship, and therefore get accustomed to the family life easier than pure Indonesian people. In the past case studies, the
immigrant residents from the Philippines (mainly Christian and Islam) and Indonesia (Islam)usually accumulate more and
more conflict with their family because of ancestor worship and the Islamic customs (such as fast, prayer and a restricted
diet, etc). The immigrant resident mothers in Fangliao do not have this problem, and even native Indonesian mothers
abandon their original Islamic faith after getting married in Taiwan because of the reality considerations. They quickly
follow Taiwanese customs, which decreases potential conflict and provides family stability development and harmonious
atmosphere for their children.
Special Selection Mechanism Leads To Trust, And Visiting Right to Go Back To Their Homeland
The immigrant resident mothers in Famgliao are introduced by interpersonal networks and business relations, but
not by the agent. Therefore, before marriage, most of them have some time to build a basis of trust. Husbands of all cases
know their wives relatives and repeatedly visited the residential area. They also have a certain degree of understanding for
individual woman and their family before marriage. After returning to Taiwan, they also have more time and flexibility to
negotiate with their families. The whole procedure forms a certain degree of selection mechanism.
After immigrant resident mothers got married to the men in Fangliao, the men's families generally welcome them
for the sake of the similarities in life and initially good coordination by husbands. They are respected and welcomed,
reducing the life conflicts. Amazingly, all these cases at least go back to their original countries each year. Some cases
even do this four times a year on business. Their families in Taiwan are not worried about the possibility of flee.
C2's Description:
I take my children back to Indonesia every year. My husband also goes with us. I live in Medan city. It is very
prosperous, and kids also like to go shoppingthere. I hope they do not run too far, since they do not understandthe
Indonesian signs. They might get lost.
D4 s Description:
My sister and I grew up and study in Indonesia. When I was a child, I just wondered why my father did not
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Tseng Shih-Feng
want us to live in Taiwan with him. After years, I've known that he was worried about fishing for more than six months
without caring chidren. Therefore, he let Mother bring us to Indonesia. I understand Indonesian, but I can not speakit.
When my sister went to junior high school, my mother was afraid we could not keep up with school schedule in Taiwan,
sticking to bring us back to Taiwan. She went to work after coming back to Taiwan. Our English is poor, because English
in Indonesiais used to spell Indonesia tones, I can'ttell from them both.
The following is the most surprising example:
A1 Child Says:
My dad passed away ten years ago. When I was a child, my mother supported the family and took over the shop.
We sell beef noodles. She didnt think it lucrative to sell noodles in Fangliao. She said that overseas Chinese Indonesians
like to eat beef noodles, but the noodles there do not taste good. Therefore, when I was a sixth grader in elementary
school, my mother went to Indonesia to sell Taiwanese beef noodles. In the beginning, we all felt that she would not come
back to Taiwan anymore; unexpectedly, she actually comes back to Taiwan once a year, bringing the money she makes in
Indonesia. We use the money to pay the school tuition. Everytime staying in Taiwan, my mother stays with us for one
month and then goes back to Indonesia. It has been four years.
There are three cases whose father have been dead. Their mother stake care of the family and the elderly
independently.Their common thought is that they have been living in Taiwan for a while and have the economic foundation
with children in Taiwan. Although its really tough to work here, the earnings are still much better here than in Indonesia.
Even if their husband already died, they still think the marriage relationship exists, having obligations for families in
Fangliao.Such family valueis generated fromthe cumulative sense of community, the friendliness, and the trust by Fangliao
family relatives for a long time.
the cultural background, the students' learning attitudes and academic achievements. It is even beyond the general students
with betterbackground. The factors are summarized here:
Immigrant Residents Emphasize Childrens Academic Performance
Up to 58% of Fangliao high school students' families live on agriculture, 25% fisheries, the rest retail vendors and
night market stalls, and less than 2% are public servants .
The area developed agriculture, and the main crops are mangoes and wax apples. The mango harvest especially
accounts for 80 % profits. The famous "Irwin mango" is from Fangliao. Mango harvest is stable, known far and wide,
getting significantlymuch profit of 99%.
A high feedback on investment in agriculture directly affectslocal peoples academic requirement for their
children. Most of them believe that the purpose of the students education in school is: "Do not be led bad" instead of doing
their best. Students in agricultural households head for farm after school, doing agriculture until the sunset. They are also
busy in the garden fertilization and soil preparation, clearing leaves on the weekend, and most parents provide some pocket
money to encourage children, increasing their willingness to work on farms. They do not think children should go to high
school but inherit the family occupation. The concept of hereditary occupation is very common. After all, its not easy to
Impact Factor (JCC): 4.3912
55
give up some hectares of agricultural grounds and high profits. As for fishing, the appliance and vessel cost a lot, and
heavy work must be done by adults. Children in fishermens families are handling fishing goods in fish market next to the
port almost every weekend. Over time, fishing has become students "professional" skill. The rest of local students with
lower-income always make money in the traditional markets and night markets. They can not do their best on homework.
Because most of the immigrant resident mothers are overseas Chinese in Indonesia, they still have tradition
Confucian concepts in mind. Though there is difference in the quality of life of their childhood and family economic
background, they are receiving the same strict education from their parents, looking forward to maintaining the high
Chinese influence in Indonesian society due to the higher academic ability. After they are married in Fangliao, they kept
the same teaching style to educate their children on schoolwork. When their children grew up with independent-minded
thinking, the family has cultivated a sense of trust and consensus for their immigrant resident mothers, which let them find
jobs to support families. It is OK to communicate, so children were strictly educated, affectingtheir positive attitude after
growing up.
The Immigrant Resident Mothers Compose a Group to Help Each Other
Fangliao immigrant resident mothers themselves compose a small group and get together in some fixed shop or
family and exchange ideas or messages with each other to provide life support. To these immigrant resident mothers, they
have close kinship with each other and the same original country and some bodyto rely on. Therefore, when they have
setbacks and family disputes in Taiwan, there is some access for them to sharing emotions and empathy to get consolation.
One more important factor is the comparison pressure of childrens academic performance from the groups. They feel the
pressure of circumstances, sothey place emphasis on children slearning at home, willing to let their children go to cram
schools to strengthen academic performance. If they have doubt with school life, they will come to school and
communicate with teachers or administrators, which forms a healthy competition.
Overseas Chinese mothersinthe groupteach those who can not speakChinese or Taiwanese, accelerating them to
adapt to life in Taiwan. Unfortunately, in the golden period of childrens learning, immigrant resident mothers who are not
fluent in the local language cannot teach children homework timely and proper language. Moreover, they also have dispute
in their daily lives with families due to poor language, which leads to worse influence on themselves, and transmitted to
their children. Besides, their husband is extremely busy in day time, so they just want to rest at night after going home, not
caring about childrens homework, which makes their chidren learns lowlier compared with the children in the overseas
Chinese mothers families with strict regulations.
D3 Student Said:
I do not like studying. My family did not force meany way. Its OK as long as I go to school regularly. I could
not understand what my mother said and others couldnt, either, which makes it easy for my mother to quarrel with my
grandparents.She was tired enough to argue with us,soshe did not force me to study. My mother could notunderstand my
homework.Later, when she is able to speak Taiwanese, I know that the most annoying thing before was actually the
cooking.She cooked too spicy and salty, which makes us fail to endure.
The group composed of immigrant resident mothers also supports them to stabilize their willingness to remain in
Fangliao. Their friends are in this area, and Fangliao is far from big cities. If they want to work outside Fangliao, they will
face pressure and they rely on nobody. Furthermore, they are engaged in a specific jobs and hav been used in local
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Tseng Shih-Feng
environment (especially in agriculture).Most of the jobs are regional, so they can not continue to work if leaving here,
which also reduces their desire to abandon their families.
CONCLUSIONS
From the above research results mentioned above, we can know the identity of the immigrant resident mothers in
Fangliao and the background under special cultural environment interactions. There is no hindrance speaking of childrens
learning, and the enthusiasm and discipline of education exists. It coincided with the local men who generally only pay
attention to their childrens moral development, and the ability to inherit the economy, which forms a complementary
function. These effects are mainly from the selection system based on specific relationship. Men choose immigrant resident
women with the ability of communication and they are similar in appearance without attracting discrimination outside their
familydue to overseas Chinese background, forming a higher cultural capital. They get a sense of trust with familiesand
the kindness of the environment, combining with consolation and competitive pressure in immigrant resident mothers
group. The traditional female stereotype and de-skilling did not emerge, which complements the lack of fathers
disciplines in a family, forming a positive attitude toward children and eventually affect the academic achievement in turn.
The results are shown as Figure 2
Figure 2: The Relationship between the Parental Attitudes and Academic Performance
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Driscoll, A. K., Russell, S. T.,Crockett, L.J. (2008). Parenting styles and youth well-being across immigrant generations.
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Gnaulati, E., & Heine, B. J.2001. Separation-individualization in late 162 adolescenceAn investigation of gender and
ethnic differences. The Journal of Psychology, 135(1), 59-70.
3.
Li Peiling, (2013).The study of New-Inhabitant Students Relationship between Mothers Parenting Attitude and Learning
Adaptation.National Pingtung University
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Taiwan Department of Household Registration, (2014). Taiwan immigrant resident Mothers from Southeast Asia. Taipei