Class Habitus: Middle‐Class Chinese Immigrant Parents' Investment in Their Newcomer Adolescents' L2 Acquisition and Social Integration

Abstract

This ethnographic case study explores how two middle‐class Chinese immigrant parents in a southeastern U.S. city facilitate their newcomer adolescents' second language acquisition and social integration. Data show that parents' inadequate English proficiency may not be a fixed constraining factor; their class habitus and cultural capital may enable them to work as change agents in their adolescents' integration process. This study highlights the positive impact of parents' active social integration on that of their adolescents. [middle‐class Chinese immigrant parents, class habitus, newcomer adolescents, L2 acquisition, social integration]