LANGUAGE USE, PARENTING STYLES, AND STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Abstract

The performance of students at all levels is influenced by a variety of factors, including parenting. This study examines how good parenting and students’ academic performance can be shaped through language use. Drawing on secondary data and observation, and employing a qualitative method supported by content analysis, the study demonstrates that language use is central to parenting, just as it is fundamental to all human activities. Consequently, the way parents use language in the course of parenting either enhances or undermines their children’s academic performance. It also influences their parenting style and determines whether their parenting practices are considered effective or ineffective. Baumrind’s theory of parental styles identifies authoritative parenting as the most effective style, one that makes positive and constructive use of language and is associated with good parenting and high academic achievement among children. The study concludes that the positive use of language in parenting supports authoritative parenting practices, enhances parenting quality, and fosters high or excellent academic performance in students. It recommends that parents consistently employ positive and effective language and adopt the authoritative parenting style in order to significantly support their children’s attainment of optimal academic outcomes.