Becoming A Global Citizen: A Daily Perspective of the Language Education in Urban Families in East China

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 3:45 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Cultivating Global Citizens: Agency and Belonging in World Education

Abstract

As a nation with considerable dialectal diversity, China has witnessed growing emphasis on English proficiency since the 1980s. Meanwhile, the prevalence of Putonghua (Standard Mandarin) has reached remarkably high levels nationwide. In this study, the researchers analyze language education for Children from the everyday life perspective. By tracing the migration histories, life experiences, and educational backgrounds of four generations within four middle class families, the study reveal that, under different socio-historical contexts, the linguistic mobility and migration motivations of China’s urban middle class vary, with language awareness and attitudes shaped by socio-political, economic, and cultural factors—exhibiting both commonalities and individual differences—thus impacting children’s language education within families.

Authors

• Yajing Hang, Zhejiang Shuren University

• Rui Zhao, Zhejiang Shuren University