Centering English in Bilingual Preschool Education: Parents’ Beliefs and Agency

This study examines how English is positioned and perceived within English-Spanish bilingual preschool education in Paraguay, a country traditionally characterised by institutional bilingualism in Spanish and Guaraní. While not an official language, English is increasingly viewed by parents as a tool for global access, academic achievement, and future professions. Using qualitative data from a questionnaire administered to 28 parents (from 31 to 40 years of age) in two bilingual preschools in Asunción, the study explores parental beliefs about English and the forms of agency they enact to support their children's English exposure. Findings reveal that parents associate English with cognitive development, intercultural competence, and social mobility. Many parents actively foster English exposure through home practices and participation in school activities, despite acknowledging limitations such as their own low proficiency in English or the absence of English use in extended family settings. English is often framed not only as a desirable language but as a form of symbolic capital that complements the official national languages. The study underscores how English is increasingly central to parental language ideologies and early bilingual educational choices, raising important questions about linguistic hierarchies and additive trilingualism.