Bridging the Familial and the Global: An Ethnography of Family Language Policy in Beijing, China

• In Event: 47.095 - MTCC Roundtable Session 19
  In Roundtable Session: 47.095-3 - The Intersection of Family, Community, and Language

Abstract

This ethnographic study examines the family language policy (FLP) of five middle-class families in the urban context of Beijing, China. The purpose is to: 1) investigate the daily language practices in the home among the five middle-class families; 2) illuminate these parents’ beliefs or ideologies about the status and role of their mother language and English; and 3) explore how FLP influences children’s academic development in the context of the national language education policy. Given rare access to intimate family domain, data were collected through participant observation, in-depth phenomenological interviews, and artifact collection. Preliminary findings indicate that parents’ FLP profoundly influence children’s academic development and the maintenance of their heritage language and culture inside and outside the home.

Author

• Lu Liu, University of California - Los Angeles