Chinese Heritage Language Learners Research Articles

HERITAGE LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY IN RELATION TO EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT, MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MALAYSIAN CHINESE (MAHUA)

Emotional attachment (EA) to the community's language reshapes speakers' identities and aids in maintaining that language in most immigrant societies. Language also serves the social purpose of identifying identity characteristics and significantly impacts social identity development. However, more research is still needed on how Chinese Heritage Language Learners (CHLLs) form their identities, particularly when examining the relationship between this identity construction and language learning (Zhou, 2016). Therefore, this study uses a quantitative approach to explore the correlations between EA and CHLL's motivation and attitudes and the Malaysian CHLL's Chinese language proficiency (CLP) in relation to EA, motivations and attitudes. It also draws on the Chinese Identity Theory (Wang, 1985) and Gardner and Lambert's (1972) psychosocial model. The study found that participants in Malaysian public and private secondary schools showed high CLP in listening, speaking, and reading (over 80%), relatively low scores in writing (around 77%) and positive attitudes toward learning Chinese, high integrative motivation, and low CHL classroom anxiety, according to the study; the distinction is that, while Chinese cultural identity and attitudes toward Malaysian Chinese are thought to be the best predictors of CLP for the public school group, traditional Chinese dress, eating, housing, and transportation are considered to be the best predictors of CLP for the private school group.

The development of reading comprehension ability of Chinese Heritage Language (CHL) learners in Indonesia

This study investigates the evolution of reading comprehension abilities in Indonesian learners of the Chinese Heritage Language (CHL), by comparing their scores on the Chinese Proficiency Test, a test specifically designed for CHL learners. A total of 275 candidates, divided into early adolescent (Mage = 13.56), late adolescent (Mage = 15.78), and adult (Mage = 22.83) groups, were evaluated on four dimensions of reading comprehension: orthographic knowledge, vocabulary knowledge, syntactic awareness, and discourse comprehension. A detailed cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis of these four dimensions was conducted across the three groups. The results indicate that horizontally, the order of the four dimensions is orthographic knowledge > vocabulary knowledge > syntactic awareness > discourse comprehension, with significant differences observed in all dimensions. During adolescence, orthographic knowledge is significantly higher than vocabulary knowledge, while in adulthood, vocabulary knowledge is significantly higher than syntactic awareness, and syntactic awareness is significantly higher than discourse comprehension. Longitudinally, reading comprehension abilities appear to stall across adolescence in three dimensions (vocabulary knowledge, syntactic awareness, and discourse comprehension), with a decline in one dimension (orthographic knowledge) occurring in late adolescence. However, the adult group shows improvement in all four dimensions compared to the late adolescence group. Considering both longitudinal and cross-sectional results, the developmental order of reading skills in Indonesian CHL learners is orthographic knowledge, vocabulary knowledge, syntactic awareness, and discourse comprehension. The main developmental peak for orthographic knowledge to vocabulary knowledge occurs in adolescence, while the major developmental peak for vocabulary knowledge to syntactic awareness and for syntactic awareness to discourse comprehension occurs in adulthood. The results suggest that reading comprehension improves significantly upon reaching adulthood in Indonesian. By understanding the trajectory of reading comprehension abilities in Indonesian CHL learners, this study can provide effective suggestions for Indonesian CHL learners and educators, and may also serve as a reference for other heritage languages.

The Interplay of Identity Construction and Motivational Development in Chinese Heritage Language Learning: Confrontation between Individual Agency and Hegemonic Social Discourse

The Interplay of Identity Construction and Motivational Development in Chinese Heritage Language Learning: Confrontation between Individual Agency and Hegemonic Social Discourse

Chinese heritage children learning to read characters: The effects of group reading and frequency of character exposure

Learning to read Chinese has been the main focus of Chinese heritage language education. The frequency of exposure to orthography–phonology and orthography–semantics correspondences and radical awareness play a significant role in character learning. However, limited exposure to characters in Chinese textbooks and the lack of explicit instruction on phonetic radicals have been proposed as limitations of conventional instruction methods used with Chinese heritage language learners. The current study assessed the efficacy of providing frequent character exposure in group reading activities for Chinese heritage children in their early learning to read Mandarin Chinese through a teaching method called Progressive Character Reading. The effectiveness of the teaching method on Chinese character acquisition and Chinese reading comprehension was examined through a quasi-experimental framework that compared a group of children undergoing the new teaching method (experimental group, n = 20) with a group of learners experiencing the traditional textbook-based instruction (control group, n = 20). Significant differences in gains between these two groups were found in measures of Chinese character reading, character–picture matching and Chinese sentence comprehension. These results suggest that group reading activities with frequent character exposure can increase learning for Chinese heritage language learners over that associated with conventional textbook-based instruction.

What Really Matters in Early Bilingual and Biliteracy Acquisition?

Home language and literacy input (HLLI) is critical for linguistic and literacy development in bilingual children. This exploratory study investigated home oral, and print input for Chinese heritage language learners between four and six years old in the United States and aimed to identify salient types of input associated with speaking and reading abilities in the heritage language (Chinese) and the societal language (English). Fifty-three parents completed a HLLI questionnaire and rated the speaking and reading competencies in Chinese and English of their children. The relationships between HLLI and bilingual abilities were examined via principal component analysis and regression. There were two major findings: first, Chinese speaking ability mainly depended on oral language exchange between parents and their children, as well as print exposure to Chinese; Chinese reading ability was associated with oral language exchange between parents and their children, as well as pinyin/bopomofo practice at home. Second, both speaking and reading abilities in English were significantly and positively related to children’s interest in reading English only. Evidence-based recommendations are provided regarding home language and literacy practices for young Chinese heritage language learners in the United States.

Language variation in teacher speech in a dual immersion preschool

This study investigates the language input provided for English-Mandarin emergent bilingual children in a California English-Mandarin dual immersion preschool. As illustrated in previous studies, teacher speech in foreign language classrooms often serves as the native standard of the target language, thus necessarily limiting students’ exposure to stylistic variation. The current research focused on the language input for emergent bilingual preschoolers who were Chinese heritage language learners and the use of sociolinguistic variables, including Mandarin lexical tones and word-initial sibilants, by their teachers. Results show that although the teachers perceived their classroom roles differently, they tried to provide clear and rich Mandarin input with tonal and sibilant variables that were used in consistent patterns. Except for the constraints of the linguistic environment, standard variables were preferred in classroom discourse. This implies that the particular needs of the English-dominant children to acquire Mandarin have been acknowledged and addressed by teachers. This type of modification in language input may affect children’s development of phonetic categories and their sociolinguistic competence.

Different Trajectories of Heritage Language Identity Development through Short-Term Study Abroad Programs: The Case of Chinese Heritage Learners

Learners of heritage languages (HLs) comprise a heterogeneous population. Because of their diverse backgrounds, the ways in which their HL identity develops in a study abroad (SA) context may vary. This paper presents a case study of Chinese heritage language learners (CHLLs) from a university in Australia who participated in a short-term SA program in China. To achieve a holistic understanding of the learners’ identity development, this study adopted a three-dimensional framework of HL identity development, applied a narrative approach and focused on individual differences. Data were collected from 34 post-program journal reflections from CHLLs. The learners’ narratives indicated that they assigned different degrees of importance and distinct meanings to the SA experience with respect to their HL identity development. While some actively explored their HL identities, others took a more outsider stance and did not develop much in terms of HL identity. We identified several possible statuses of CHLLs’ identification, which were conceptualised as focused explorer, balanced explorer, partial explorer, meanderer and outsider. Future intervention could provide personalised feedback, comments and guidance on students’ post-program reflective journals, either in a more specific or holistic manner, and acknowledge each HL learner’s advantages and limitations in their reflections.

Making the invisible visible: Young Chinese heritage language learners’ reading process through retrospective miscue analysis

This study intends to examine the reading process in Chinese of two young heritage language learners through the use of retrospective miscue analysis (RMA). Retrospective miscue analysis involves both the author and the reader in reflectively discussing the reader’s oral reading miscues—responses that differ from the actual text. This study confirms the notion that reading is an active sense-making process where the graphophonic, syntactic, and semantic cues as well as translanguaging skills function interdependently to assist heritage language readers with meaning construction. Strategies of sampling, predicting, substituting, and correcting are also evident in their reading. These active but “invisible” reading behaviors are not available through asking comprehension questions. Instead, they are obtained from the reflective conversations between the researcher and the students. Retrospective miscue analysis helps readers gain a deeper understanding of the reading process and enhances their metacognitive skills. This study also includes language and reading behaviors that are unique to Chinese heritage language learners as well as implications for parents and teachers.

Theorising the dynamics of heritage language identity development: a narrative inquiry of the life histories of three Chinese heritage speakers

This article examines the dynamics of heritage language (HL) identity development by analysing the life history accounts of three Chinese heritage language (CHL) learners growing up in the UK. Drawing on narrative data, the study contributes to the growing body of HL identity research by capturing the individual trajectories of CHL learners engaging with different interlocutors, at multiple sites, and across the lifespan. We report the various ways our participants are positioned by the essentialist discourses of Chineseness and how they learn to (re)position themselves as competent HL learners and legitimate members of the diasporic community. The findings highlight the need to understand HL learners’ identity and agency as emergent from varied social interactions embedded within one’s personal history. In light of the findings, we propose an original model to theorise the dynamics of HL identity development from a historical, spatial, and relational lens, and conclude with practical suggestions to encourage HL learning and maintenance.

Identities Development of Adult Chinese Heritage Language Learners from Southeast Asian American Families

Although linguistic and cultural varieties exist among Chinese Heritage Language Learners (CHLLs), little attention has been given to how adult CHLLs with non-Mandarin backgrounds attempt to negotiate their identities when they learned Chinese. Grounded in He’s (2008, 2016) theory of Chinese heritage language (CHL) development, this study explored the construction of identities of Chinese adults with non-Mandarin backgrounds in the process of Chinese heritage language learning. Three adult CHLLs in the United States participated in a multiple case study that lasted for six months. Data collection included interviews, journals, observations, and informal communications. Findings suggest that CHLLs of non-Mandarin backgrounds had a deeper understanding of their identity during adulthood and tend to construct an identity that was opposite to the group with which they are interacting. Highlighting the heterogeneity and fluidity of the identities among participants, this study concludes with implications.

‘Thousands in gold in a family count far less than a skill one possesses’: socializing cultural competence in Chinese heritage language learning

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the ways in which authentic conversation provides a sociocultural resource for developing the cultural competence of learners of Chinese as a heritage language in Australia. It draws upon language socialization as a theoretical framework to study the interconnected processes of linguistic and cultural learning in interactional discourse practices through an intergenerational interaction model. In this model, local community resources were effectively utilized when older speakers of Chinese as their first language and English Chinese heritage learners were paired and conducted naturalistic conversations. Building on discourse analysis of the linguistic exchange between three pairs of interactants, we illustrate how the older speakers, that is, expert users, socialize the novice learners of Chinese into acquiring Chinese cultural knowledge through the related lexical items. Our analysis shows that this interaction model proves beneficial for developing socially and culturally competent members within minority communities.

Chinese as a Cultural Capital: The Case Study of Chinese Heritage Language Learners

Chinese language education in Indonesia is closely related to the social, political, and cultural dimensions of the country. The change of power in the country in 1998 affected the development of Chinese language. Since the ban imposed on Chinese language and culture since 1965 was lifted, there have been an increasing number of Chinese language schools. Under the theoretical frameworks of Gardner’s motivational orientations and Bourdieu’s cultural capital, this study explored varied motivations of Chinese Indonesians to learn Chinese, and how their perception of China influenced their efforts in learning the language. Data were obtained through focus group discussions and interviews. The findings showed that integrative and instrumental orientations were found among participants, but due to the learners’ social milieu, instrumentality of Chinese dominated their orientations. The instrumentality of Chinese and the positive perception of China worked together to make Chinese language as a cultural capital for these CHL learners.

Epistemic stance in Chinese heritage language writing – A developmental view

AbstractDrawing on data from a learner corpus of blogs, this study explores epistemic expressions used in Chinese heritage language (CHL) writing from a developmental perspective, and aims to provide a better understanding of pragmatic development in heritage language learning context. A total of 6,511 blog entries written by 266 heritage learners from four different proficiency levels were analyzed cross-sectionally. The findings revealed three notable developmental patterns in CHL learners’ use of epistemic markers (EMs): 1) a rapid increase in the frequency and diversity of EMs at the beginning of CHL curriculum, 2) a period of stability from the second quarter onward, and 3) a divergence of frequency and diversity at the advanced level, whereby the diversity of EMs increased again, but the overall frequency of EMs remained unchanged. Significant developmental variability was also found between grammatical sub-groups of epistemic markers. Overall, the study shed light on the development of CHL learners’ pragmatic competence, and demonstrated the effectiveness of learner corpora as a research tool for studies of pragmatics learning.

The Roles of Phonological Awareness and Oral Vocabulary Knowledge in English-Chinese Biliteracy Acquisition among Chinese Heritage Language Learners

In this study, we examined how reading development varies between two typologically distant languages within biliteracy learners. Specifically, we compared the relative contributions of two oral variables, oral vocabulary knowledge and phonological awareness, to word reading development in school-age Chinese heritage language (CHL) speakers who were learning to read Chinese and English concurrently. The results showed that oral vocabulary knowledge accounted for a significant portion of the variance in Chinese character reading, but it contributed to English and Pinyin word decoding only indirectly through phonological awareness within each language. Phonological awareness was significant in explaining performance differences in English and Pinyin word reading across languages as well. These findings suggest that phonological awareness and oral vocabulary knowledge play distinct roles in learning to read in typologically diverse languages; more importantly, that each oral sub-skill contributes differently to word reading development when shared across typologically diverse languages.

‘Sorry, but they don’t want Chinese Americans to participate’: a case study of tracking in an Ivy League Chinese language programme

ABSTRACTThis study examines a Chinese language programme in an Ivy League institution through the lens of Tracking to re-conceptualise the achievement gap between Chinese heritage language learners (CHLLs) and non-heritage language learners. Like most prestigious universities in the U.S., Chinese language learners in this case study are put on one of two tracks: Chinese heritage or non-heritage. This study reveals that CHLLs obtain a lower level of Chinese language proficiency despite their cultural background and language advantages. Scholars have tended to analyse CHLLs’ academic performance through linguistic or cultural perspectives. Drawing on research studies of tracking systems, this study compares the dual-track system in a Chinese language programme with the tracking system in place at American K-12 schools. This comparison allows for a deeper understanding of how CHLLs’ status as a minority in American language classrooms makes it more difficult for CHLLs to learn Chinese. This study examines the cultural processes and structural forces that shape the learning environment of CHLLs. It focuses on factors that contribute to CHLLs’ academic struggles, including school culture, institutional structures, and individual’s agency, to offer foreign language teachers and scholars new ways of thinking about improving the language proficiencies of heritage language learners.

Coming into an inheritance: family support and Chinese Heritage Language learning

The critical role that family plays in Chinese Heritage Language learning (CHLL) has gained increasing attention from psychological, political and sociological scholarships. Guided by Bourdieu's notion of ‘habitus’, our mixed methods sociological study firstly addresses the need for quantitative evidence on the relationship between family support and Chinese Heritage Language (CHL) proficiency through a survey of 230 young Chinese Australians; and then explores the dynamics of family support of CHLL through multiple interviews with five participants. The interview data demonstrate ongoing intergenerational reproduction of CHL through various forms of family inculcation. Learners' transition from resistance to commitment is a focus of the analysis. Extant research struggles to theorise the reasons behind this transition. We offer a Bourdieusian explanation that construes the transition as ‘habitus realisation’. Our study has implications for CHL researchers, Chinese immigrant parents and Chinese teachers.

Exploring Heritage Language Anxiety: A Study of Chinese Heritage Language Learners

The rapidly increasing population of heritage students within the recent expansion of Chinese language education leads us to explore anxiety levels specific to Chinese heritage language (CHL) learners. This study examines the anxiety profiles of 87 CHL learners, enrolled in separated heritage‐track courses at two U. S. universities, from a larger sample of 192 Chinese language students. The results indicate that of the four language skill‐based activities, writing provokes the most anxiety in CHL learners, and students' avoidance behavior was found to be strongest in the three subcomponents of writing anxiety. At the same time, correlations with the other three skill‐based anxieties were the weakest, revealing the complex construct of CHL writing anxiety. Factor analysis and regression procedures indicate that a large portion of CHL writing anxiety is explained not only by factors of the second language writing process but also by factors associated with the learners' heritage identity. Finally, suggestions for a Heritage Language Anxiety Scale and pedagogical implications for CHL writing instruction are provided.

Learning Chinese as a heritage language in Australia and beyond: the role of capital

The benefits of learning and retaining heritage languages are well documented in the literature. Chinese heritage language learners’ commitment to their heritage language learning has gained significant research ground in social psychological and post-structural schools, with empirical evidence predominantly emerging from the North American contexts. There is scant sociological examination of similar problems conducted outside North America. The current study aims to make a contribution in this regard. The use of Bourdieu's sociological notion of capital in the Australian context complements the social psychological and post-structural work predominantly produced in the North American contexts. The initial quantitative sub-study analyses the impacts of various resources on the Chinese heritage language proficiency of 230 snowball-sampled Chinese Australian respondents to an online survey. The subsequent qualitative sub-study explores the profits of learning Chinese heritage language through interviews with a subset of the survey sample. Findings indicate that cultural, social, and symbolic capital significantly positively contributes to Chinese Australians’ Chinese heritage language proficiency, which, in return, produces profits in different forms of capital. The study suggests a reciprocal relationship between ‘capital’ and Chinese heritage language proficiency.

College Chinese Heritage Language Learners’ Implicit Knowledge of Compound Sentences

This preliminary study investigates beginning college Chinese heritage language learners (CHLLs)’ implicit knowledge of compound sentences with pairs of correlatives. Drawing on Valdés’s (2005) categorization of HLLs as L1 speakers and HLLs as L1/L2 users, the study examines CHLLs’ ability to comprehend compound sentences with pairs of correlatives, as well as their comprehension level as compared to native Chinese language speakers and Chinese foreign language learners (CFLLs). The study also examines the characteristics of CHLLs’ implicit knowledge of compound sentences. The data was collected using an acceptability judgment task. The CHL subjects’ overall performance was somewhere between that of native speakers and CFLLs who had studied Chinese for two years. Their performance shows that their comprehension of compound sentences acquired before the onset of learning English at the age of 4 or 5 was retained and even somewhat developed. This is because CHL subjects still received some amount of input from home and community Chinese schools even though they favored English over Chinese. The findings on CHLLs’ linguistic habitus can inform and frame CHLLappropriate pedagogies that exploit their implicit knowledge and systematically build on it.

Identifying Chinese heritage learners' motivations, learning needs and learning goals: A case study of a cohort of heritage learners in an Australian university

There is increasing enrolment of Chinese heritage language learners in tertiary Chinese language classrooms across Australia. Educated in English, Chinese heritage learners are of diverse national origins and the Chinese language varieties to which they have been exposed through family or community are also diverse. Recent research in this field has called for greater attention to pedagogical questions in heritage language study, entailing a better understanding of learners and their learning motivation. This study was driven by pedagogical concern as to the perceived underachievement of the learner group and low retention rate at the beginner level. Through an analysis of quantitative survey data and qualitative interview data, the study closely examines the particular motivational orientations, learning needs, and goals of a group of Chinese heritage language learners in one Australian university setting. Motivation from heritage and cultural identity is balanced by the drive towards employment prospects, or perceived economic capital of learning Chinese. The students' goal of communicative competence is at odds with the apparent traditional Chinese teaching goals, which have stressed complex written literacy construction. This study fills a significant gap in the field by identifying research-based pedagogic implications and strategies for teaching Chinese heritage learners in the Australian context.