Chinese Heritage Language Schools in the United States

Abstract

Chinese heritage language (CHL) schools in the United States serve the children of Chinese immigrants whose parents wish them to retain and develop their heritage Chinese language and culture in the United States. Traditionally, the U.S. K–12 school system and education policies adopt a classic assimilation (assimilation without accommodation) education model that maintains a dominant American English (DAE) at school. K–12 schools in the United States are usually reluctant to preserve the heritage languages and cultures of immigrants from other countries. CHL schools in the United States are usually founded by communities of Chinese immigrants to support their children’s learning of Chinese heritage language and culture (also known as CHL children or CHL learners). CHL schools come in different forms: some are Chinese after-school programs that normally operate on weekday afternoons, when CHL students finish their classes in the K–12 schools; others are operated on weekends (weekend CHL schools). Depending on the origins of their founders (such as mainland China, Hong Kong, or Taiwan) as well as the needs of the Chinese community, CHL schools may teach Mandarin or Cantonese as the oral language, and simplified Chinese characters or traditional Chinese characters as the written language. CHL schools also use different course materials, and the curriculum depends on the needs and origins of the CHL learners’ families and communities as well as the origin of their founders.