Exploring family language policy and planning among ethnic minority families in Hong Kong: through a socio-historical and processed lens

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study investigates the process of family language policy and planning among a group of immigrant mothers with south Asian backgrounds in Hong Kong, and explores the underlying cultural, socio-political and ideological reasons. Moving beyond a discrete analysis of family language policy within the home context to incorporate elements of historical time and space, the data analysis shows that family language policy is shaped by individuals’ cultural affiliations, future imaginations and their experiences across the contexts of school, community, workplace, host society and home country. Furthermore, broader social and ideological realities also impact individuals, and thereby influence family language policy. The findings suggest that South Asian families may face difficulty in maintaining their children's heritage language literacy, and that the immigrant mothers’ lack of local educational experiences and limited knowledge of the Chinese language may disadvantage their children in terms of educational opportunities. Providing an in-depth understanding of bottom-up language practices, language planning and implementation in immigrant home contexts, this study has implications for policy makers in terms of language education and provision.

KEYWORDS:

• Family language policy
• South Asian mothers
• symbolic value
• a socio-historical perspective

Acknowledgements

This study is supported by a SCOLAR project of Hong Kong Education Bureau with the reference number of EDB(LE)/P&R/EL/175/9. The second author would like to acknowledge the funding supported by the Philosophy and Social Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province with the grant number 18YYB007.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Philosophy and Social Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, China: [Grant Number 18YYB007]; SCOLAR project grant of Hong Kong Education Bureau: [Grant Number EDB(LE)/P&R/EL/175/9].

Notes on contributors

Mingyue Michelle Gu

Mingyue Michelle Gu is Associate Professor in Department of Engliush Language Education, Education University of Hong Kong. The research interests of Michelle Gu include: language and identity, linguistic ideology, multilingualism and mobility, and teacher professional development. She has published widely in the above fields, with articles appearing in journals such as Applied Linguistics, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, System, Journal of Pragmatics, Multilingua, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, Language and Education, Language Teaching Research, and Computer Assisted Language Learning. She received Research Excellence Award in 2017 and Young Researcher Award in 2015 at Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is on the editorial board of Multilingual Education book series, Springer.

Yawen Han

Yawen Han is an associate professor at Southeast University. Yawen's primary area of research is language-in-education policy, minority education, and internationalization in higher education. Much of his current work focuses on educational policy and practice for minority students and international students studying in universities of China.