Two worlds in one city: a sociopolitical perspective on Chinese urban families’ language planning

ABSTRACT

This comparative inquiry investigated the family language planning in two distinctive socioeconomic communities in a Chinese metropolitan city. We followed a multilayered framework to probe into language beliefs, practices and management in the family domain as mediated by the interconnectivity of multiple contextual forces. We collected three types of data from governmental policy documents, field visits to two community libraries, and questionnaires from 237 residents from the two communities. Data analysis identified an early childhood language policy disfavoring English learning at the macro level, distinctive English literacy activities at the meso-community level, and similar aspirations with different management practices at the micro-family level. We argue that the observed disjuncture in English language planning between the macro and micro levels creates a space for parents as social actors to take ownership and negotiate their language planning activities at the meso level. However, although families from different socioeconomic backgrounds demonstrated similar aspirations for their children's English and Chinese development, the parents’ socioeconomic status affected their ability to invest family capital in their children's language learning, and to translate their language ideologies into consistent language planning activities. Issues related to educational equity are discussed at the end of the paper.

KEYWORDS:

• Family language policy
• language management
• Chinese-English bilingual
• home literacy environment
• community

Acknowledgements

We greatly appreicate the guest editors, Prof. Xiao Lan Curdt-Christiansen and Dr. Andy Gao, for their coordination and constructive suggestions for the manuscript. We also would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments.

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1 Zhonghuan Beitai Heshi Caineng Zhenzheng Luodi, Xin Jiangwan Fangjia yi Bijin Neihuan [When will the central circle be moved north, the housing price at Xin Jiangwan is near that of the central.] Retrieved May, 2019, from http://sh.leju.com/news/2018-10-10/09006455362289603492806.shtml

2 In 2017 there were 238 community-level libraries in City S. All residents have access to a local library within a 15-minute walk. (http://sh.sina.com.cn/news/k/2017-04-26/detail-ifyepsec1172551.shtml)

3 As one of the anonymous reviewers pointed out, we need to be cautious in our application of the situation of immigrant Chinese families to local Chinese urban families in terms of their practices. Given the difficulties inherent in ascertaining meso-level language planning activities (Hodges & Prys, 2019) and the necessity to expand the scope of analysis in meso-level institutions (Higgins, 2018), we chose to use the resources available in community libraries to partially reflect meso-level family language planning. We also acknowledge that private tutoring (e.g. Bray & Lykins, 2012) might also be an important meso-level institution with respect to family language planning.

4 The original wording is 对于提前教授汉语拼音、识字、计算、英语等小学课程内容的, 要坚决予以禁止。

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yongyan Zheng

Yongyan Zheng is Professor at Fudan University, China, where she teaches English academic writing and applied linguistics. Her research interests include second-language development, bilingual and multilingual education, and academic literacy practices. Her recent publications have appeared on Language Policy, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, System, Language Awareness, English Today, and Journal of Scholarly Publishing.

Ziwen Mei

Ziwen Mei is currently a master student studying at the School of Education, Harvard University. She gained her B.A. from Fudan University. She is interested in bilingual children's literacy development.