Changing discourses of Chinese language maintenance in Australia: unpacking language ideologies of first-generation Chinese immigrant parents from People’s Republic of China

Yining Wang · Jia Li

14 citations0/0 files storedFrontiers in Psychology

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Multilingual Education and Policy Linguistic and Sociocultural Studies Language and Culture

Abstract

Parental agency of their children's language learning is often determined by their perceptions of the significance of the language in both family and society levels. Based on a larger ethnography conducted in Sydney from 2017 to 2020, this study investigates the language ideologies of Chinese immigrant parents from the People's Republic of China in the recent decades, regarding the maintenance of their children's Chinese heritage language(s). Drawing on the concept of language as pride and profit shifting between communities across time and space, this study reveals that Chinese parents primarily emphasize the economic benefits associated with Chinese languages when it comes to preserving their heritage language(s). While the significance of cultural pride and identity remains evident, there is a notable shift where the concept of pride is merging with that of profit concerning the importance of Chinese heritage language. However, the commodification of Chinese and identity, privileging "national" mandarin while marginalizing "regional" others, impedes the transmission of diverse Chinese heritage languages other than Mandarin. Simultaneously, the value-laden calculation of language prioritizes the "most" prestigious English, often at the expense of "heritage" Mandarin, regardless of its acknowledged economic potential. The findings illustrate how language ideologies and practices within the Chinese diaspora are shaped by power conflicts between English and Mandarin Chinese, hierarchical distinctions between Mandarin and non-Mandarin Chinese, and subtle stratification within regional Chinese languages. The research underscores the challenges faced by minority communities in preserving their heritage languages, particularly those with limited economic capital or political influence.

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References

2010The Commodification of Language 2003Globalization, the new economy, and the commodification of language and identity 2012Language in Late Capitalism 2009Understanding the nature and outcomes of early bilingualism: Romance languages as heritage languages 2002The Australian people: an encyclopedia of the nation, its people and their origins 2018The Oxford Handbook of Language Policy and Planning 2016Conflicting language ideologies and contradictory language practices in Singaporean multilingual families 2010Ethnographic Fieldwork

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2025Heritage language performance and identity manifestation of 1.5 generation Chinese Australians: age of migration perspective 2025Language shift patterns amongst first-generation migrant communities in Australia: 2011–2021

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