The Influence of Dialect Ability on Migrant Children’s Mental Health
Dialect is an important capital and skill of an individual. Its learning and mastery is a process of knowledge accumulation, which requires considerable time and energy. Data from the CEPS2015 show that, overall, the average score of dialect proficiency of school-age migrant children is 3.38, which is between “speak only a little” and “basically speak but not proficiently”. Specifically, in this group, when asked “Do you know the local dialect?”, 12.20% of them chose the option “Totally not”, 20.72% of them chose “Understand only”, 15.95% of them chose “Speak only a little”, 19.08% of them chose “Basically speak but not proficiently”, and 32.06% of them chose “Speak fluently”. Therefore, the vast majority of school-age migrant children are more or less aware of the local dialect.
Migrant children span different counties (districts), and they may face challenges in life, learning and physical and mental development in the areas of immigration due to dialect differences. Table 2 reveals the mental health level of migrant children with different dialect abilities. On the whole, the average score of migrant children's mental health was 69.48, which was above the average level. Specifically, in this group, the average scores of those who chose “Totally not”, “Understand only”, “Speak only a little”, “Basically speak but not proficiently”, and “Speak fluently” were 65.29, 69.32, 68.03, 70.53, and 71.29, respectively. It can be seen that the mental health of migrant children is consistent with their proficiency in local dialects, generally showing an optimistic state of steady increase with fluency. This finding preliminarily verifies the promotion effect of dialect ability on mental health.
Table 2 Dialects and migrant children’s mental health
Mental health
Dialect proficiency
|
Mean
|
SD
|
Totally not
|
65.29
|
22.35
|
Understand only
|
69.32
|
20.75
|
Speak only a little
|
68.03
|
23.11
|
Basically speak but not proficiently
|
70.53
|
20.87
|
Speak fluently
|
71.29
|
22.50
|
Difference test
|
F(4, 1274)=2.49, p<0.05
|
To accurately reflect the impact of dialect ability on migrant children’s mental health, we adopt the method of gradually incorporating control variables to estimate the model to obtain a robust regression result. Table 3 shows that the regression coefficient of dialect ability in model 1.1 is 1.192, which passes the test at the significance level of 0.01. This shows that the better migrant children’s dialect ability is, the higher their mental health level. In model 1.2, the following control variables are added on the basis of model 1, such as student characteristics, family characteristics and school characteristics. Although the regression coefficient of dialect proficiency decreases, it is still positive (1.140) and passes the test at the significance level of 0.01. The findings confirm the positive correlation between dialect ability and migrant children’s mental health.
Table 3 Influence of dialect ability on migrant children’s mental health
Variables
|
Model 1.1
|
Model 1.2
|
Independent variable
|
|
|
Dialect proficiency
|
1.192**(0.431)
|
1.140**(0.430)
|
Control variables
|
|
|
Household registration type
(Taking Agricultural household registration as reference)
|
|
-2.196(1.396)
|
The only child or not
(Taking Yes as reference)
|
|
1.931(1.316)
|
Often get ill or not
(Taking Never as reference)
|
|
|
Rarely
|
|
-5.111**(1.714)
|
Often
|
|
-13.506***( 2.758)
|
Self-efficacy
|
|
0.494*(0.223)
|
Confidence in the future
(Taking Not very confident as reference)
|
|
|
Quite confident
|
|
9.725***(1.604)
|
Very confident
|
|
13.126***(1.820)
|
Family structure
(Taking Migrant parents as reference)
|
|
|
Migrant father only
|
|
4.671(3.989)
|
Migrant mother only
|
|
-0.764( 2.432)
|
Others
|
|
-2.074(3.239)
|
Family economy(Taking Poor as reference)
|
|
|
Average
|
|
3.425+(1.907)
|
Rich
|
|
6.613*(2.649)
|
Family relationship
(Taking Parents often quarrel as reference)
|
|
6.795***(1.959)
|
School type
(Taking Private school as reference)
|
|
3.595+( 2.106)
|
School location
(Taking City as reference)
|
|
|
Rural-urban continuum
|
|
1.221(1.579)
|
Village and town
|
|
1.690(1.508)
|
Health education offered or not
(Taking No as reference)
|
|
-1.742(2.451)
|
F
|
7.66**
|
10.01***
|
ΔR2
|
0.005
|
0.113
|
Note: (1) the values in brackets are standard errors,(2)+p<0.1;*p<0.05;**p<0.01;***p<0.001.
The following are similar.
The Influence of School Integration on Migrant Children’s Mental Health
How does dialect ability affect migrant children’s mental health? In migrant families, adults are mainly concerned about how to integrate into the labor market of the destination, while children's activities mainly focus on the school in the destination. At present, the school is still the center of the interaction between migrant children and the local society, as well as the main communication space of the local dialect[37]. Therefore, this paper focuses on this important life scene to reveal that dialect ability can promote psychological development by improving the school situation. Specifically, this part takes migrant children's mental health as the dependent variable, adopts a nested model and gradually adds mediator variables (school communication, school identity and peer acceptance) on the basis of model 1.2 to test how school integration affects the mental health of migrant children with different dialect proficiency.
Model 2.1 includes the dimension of school communication on the basis of model 1.2. The regression coefficient of school communication is 1.037, which passes the test at the significance level of 0.01, showing that school communication can promote migrant children’s mental health. When other control variables remain unchanged, the mental health level of migrant children increases by 1.037 units for each unit improvement in school communication. School communication is conducive to migrant children’s mental health and represents an objective support system. This is because migrant children's extensive communication with teachers or classmates in the school to which they move can enhance their communication, help them form a certain interpersonal circle, and help expand their relationship network. Given the social function of the relationship network, such a network can reduce the pressure individuals face and help them obtain social support and cultivate scientific habits, reduce the likelihood of "collapse" (such as physical, psychological or other functional damage), and improve the possibility of positive outcomes such as immunity, health and happiness.
Model 2.2 includes the dimension of school identity on the basis of model 1.2. The regression coefficient of school identity is 1.213, which passes the test at the significance level of 0.001, thus showing that school identity also has a positive impact on migrant children's mental health. When other control variables remain unchanged, each additional improvement in the school identity of migrant children increases their mental health level by 1.213 units. Similar to school communication, school identity contributes to migrant children’s mental health, which is embedded in their own subjective psychological resources. This is because the essence of identity is the psychological sense of belonging and the emotional and value significance it brings. According to identity theory, if people identify with the group to which they belong, they often experience positive psychological states, such as health, self-esteem and happiness. In contrast, if they do not agree with or find it difficult to integrate into the group, they experience negative psychological states, such as anxiety and depression. Migrant children's high sense of identity with the school reduces hostility, increases their sense of belonging, and helps them maintain a healthy mental state.
Model 2.3 includes the dimension of peer acceptance on the basis of model 1.2. It can be found that the regression coefficient of peer acceptance is 2.137, which passes the test at the significance level of 0.05, showing that peer acceptance is also conducive to migrant children's mental health. When other control variables remain unchanged, the mental health level of migrant children increases by 2.137 units for each additional increase in peer acceptance. Peer acceptance is an important part of peer relationships. Peer relationships are a horizontal relationship with the nature of equality and reciprocity, and they play an important role in the process of children's socialization. For migrant children, a high degree of peer acceptance means that they have good peer relationships in the areas of immigration, enjoy harmonious interpersonal interactions with their peers, obtain material and spiritual support from these interactions, smoothly adapt to the strange environment, and then maintain the mental health status of happiness, satisfaction, peace of mind, happiness, hope, confidence, etc.
Model 2.4 includes all of the variables. On the basis of model 1.2, three dimensions of school integration are included. It can be found that the impact of school integration is very robust. In addition to peer acceptance, school interaction and school identity dimensions are consistent with the previous model results, indicating that they have a positive effect on migrant children's mental health.
Table 4 Influence of school integration on migrant children’s mental health
Variables
|
Model 2.1
|
Model 2.2
|
Model 2.3
|
Model 2.4
|
Controlvariables
|
Controlled
|
Controlled
|
Controlled
|
Controlled
|
Independentvariable
|
|
|
|
|
Dialect proficiency
|
1.086*(0.429)
|
0.958*(0.430)
|
1.135**(0.429)
|
0.943*(0.429)
|
Moderator variables
|
|
|
|
|
School interaction
|
1.037**(0.364)
|
|
|
0.790*(0.371)
|
School identity
|
|
1.213***(0.323)
|
|
1.027**(0.334)
|
Peer acceptance
|
|
|
2.137*(1.076)
|
0.934(1.112)
|
F
|
9.97***
|
10.33***
|
9.72***
|
9.65***
|
ΔR2
|
0.118
|
0.122
|
0.115
|
0.125
|
Note: the control variables are the same as those in model 1.2.
Dialect Ability, School Integration and Migrant Children’s Mental Health
School integration has a positive impact on migrant children’s mental health. Table 4 shows that the regression coefficient of dialect ability to migrant children’s mental health decreases when the three dimensions of school integration are gradually included. After the dimension of school communication is added, the regression coefficient of dialect ability decreases from 1.140 in model 1.2 to 1.086 (p<0.05). After the school identity dimension is added, the regression coefficient of dialect ability decreases from 1.140 in model 1.2 to 0.958 (p<0.05). After the peer acceptance dimension is added, the regression coefficient of dialect ability decreases from 1.140 in model 1.2 to 1.135 (p<0.05). Moreover, after the dimensions of school communication, school identity and peer acceptance are added, the regression coefficient of dialect ability reaches the minimum (0.943) and passes the test at the significance level of 0.05. This shows that school integration to a large extent explains the mental health differences among migrant children with different dialect abilities and may constitute an important intermediary between migrant children’s dialect ability and mental health.
Table 5 further examines the mediating effect of school integration on dialect ability and migrant children’s mental health and specifically examines the role of three dimensions of school integration. The results show that the total effect coefficient of dialect ability is 1.140, and it passes the statistical test at the significance level of 0.01, indicating that dialect ability constitutes an effective protective force for migrant children’s mental health, and its effect is 1.140, which is the same as the conclusion of model 1.2. Among them, the direct effect coefficient of dialect ability passes the statistical test at the significance level of 0.05, which shows that dialect ability can still positively affect the mental health of migrant children after the mediator variable of school integration is added, and its effect is 0.944, accounting for 82.80% of the total effect. The indirect total effect coefficient of dialect ability passes the statistical test at the significance level of 0.01, which shows that school integration has a positive mediating effect between dialect ability and migrant children’s mental health, and its effect is 0.196, accounting for 17.20% of the total effect. Among them, the indirect effects of school interaction, school identity and peer acceptance are 0.041, 0.153 and 0.002, accounting for 3.59%, 13.46% and 0.15% of the total effect, respectively.
Then, how can we understand the relationship chain between local dialect ability, school integration and mental health? The most essential function of language is communication, which is not only the expression of language but also the collision of identity. People establish their relationship with society in the process of discourse communication. The social identity of the participants, such as birthplace, has an impact on the use of language. Social identity and language restrict each other; that is, social identity determines the way of language operation, and the way of language operation reacts to the identification of others with social identity[40]. Migrant children have certain life experiences and insights into the area of immigration. They care not only about their personal identity but also about their social identity. Therefore, when they communicate with others, they often choose the discourse types corresponding to different situations, relationships and personal factors to enhance their image and obtain recognition. When migrant children enter school in the area of immigration, the language environment is relatively complex. In addition to Mandarin, the local dialect is dominant. Therefore, in their daily study and life, teachers or students are more likely to adopt their familiar and intimate local language for communication. Migrant children’s efforts to speak the local dialect not only conveys the friendly signal of actively integrating into the local society (such as local peers) but can also reduce the exclusion and discrimination of the local society, win trust and favor, broaden the children’s study and life circle, and strongly support the maintenance or improvement in their mental health level.
Table 5 Analysis of the mediating role of school integration
Total effect, direct effect and indirect effect of dialect proficiency
|
Type
|
Coefficient
|
Standard error
|
P-value
|
Effects proportion(%)
|
Total effects
|
1.140
|
0.427
|
0.008
|
——
|
Direct effects
|
0.944
|
0.429
|
0.028
|
82.80
|
Indirect total effects
|
0.196
|
0.074
|
0.008
|
17.20
|
Indirect specific effects
|
|
School interaction
|
0.041
|
0.032
|
——
|
3.59
|
School identity
|
0.153
|
0.063
|
——
|
13.46
|
Peer acceptance
|
0.002
|
0.010
|
——
|
0.15
|