Home language maintenance and acculturation among second-generation Chinese children.

摘要

This qualitative study investigated home language maintenance issues among second-generation Chinese children within the context of their acculturation in the US. Specific attention was given to exploring the extent that home language has been maintained by the Chinese children who are born in first-generation immigrant families, what factors influence their language maintenance, and how children's language maintenance affect their and their families' acculturation in the US. Berry's model of acculturation outcomes and Ying's acculturation domain theory were drawn upon to examine the relationships between home language maintenance, cultural activities and social relationships that second-generation Chinese children participate in. Data for the study were collected through in-depth interviews and participant observations with 18 Chinese immigrant parents and children from two distinct Chinese communities in Philadelphia: Chinatown (Fujianese-speaking families) and University City (Mandarin-speaking families) from 2003--2004.; The results from the study indicate that while most second-generation Chinese children maintain home language proficiency to a certain extent, they prefer using English to Chinese from an early age. On the other hand, most first-generation Chinese parents use Chinese as their dominant language and they see home language maintenance in the children as critical to their family cohesion. Given the generational discrepancy in language abilities, the second-generation children with bilingual skills can become language and cultural brokers to the whole family, which facilitates their own acculturation and their parents' acculturation in the US society. The Chinese parents and co-ethnic networks, including extended family ties, children's co-ethnic peers and the co-ethnic community, are important forces that contribute to children's home language maintenance. However, the widespread and swift language shift among the second-generation Chinese children, I argue, pertains to the pressures for language assimilation and the negative societal attitudes towards minority languages that the children generally experience in the process of learning English.