Since the 1970s, the education of heritage languages has gradually caught the academic attention and many relevant findings appear. However, it also faces many challenges and has become a common problem in different social contexts. The “Heritage Language”, as an academic concept, has also influenced heritage language maintenance research in China. We suggest it should be translated to “Zuyu (祖语)” in Chinese since this term can help to establish a system of relevant concepts. Study on the types, characteristics and ecology of Zuyu has a positive significance on the theoretic construction of heritage language maintenance. Under the circumstances where the heritage language education is interrupted or the heritage language is surrounded by the more prestige languages, building the concept of heritage language and heritage language protection is critical for heritage language education. We foresee further research on the purpose of heritage language education, the forms of heritage language maintenance and education, the analysis on heritage language itself, the construction of heritage language database, the vitality of heritage language, the evaluation of heritage language abilities, etc.
The primary aim of this article is to put forward an argument that imagination plays a key role in whether and how members of transnational families individually and collectively maintain or relinquish their heritage languages and adopt other languages as part of their multilingual repertoires. Imagination is defi ned here as the vision of where and what one might be or become at some future point in time. We base our argument on linguistic ethnography over two decades with transnational families of Chinese ethnic origin in the UK.Families that seem to have kept their heritage languages and families that have given them up were invited to talk about where, what and how they would see themselves in ten years’ time, and a selection of them are subsequently interviewed and observed after the ten-year period. Their responses are analysed in terms of their constructed experiences, environments and visions of the future; their perceptions and imaginations of different places and cultures; key moments in re-evaluation, or re-imagining, that led to major behavioural changes;and self-evaluation of their imaginations. Particular attention is given to differences and tensions between the imaginations of individuals of the same families, as well as changes to the imaginations over time. Theoretical and methodological implications of studying imagination as a key factor for language maintenance and language shift, and for bilingualism research generally, are discussed.
Although much research has examined the link between ethnic identity and heritage language (HL) , and language anxiety has been extensively studied in the context of foreign language learning, these two strands have remained essentially separate. This paper presents a study of the correlation between ethnic identity and HL anxiety, with the aim of demonstrating a conceptual link between identity and anxiety in HL learning. This study also investigates ethnic group differences, fi rst between learners with Mandarin background and those with Cantonese background, and then between fi rst and second-generation HL learners. Drawing on data from 114 Chinese as HL learners, the results showed signifi cant negative correlation between the strength of ethnic identity and HL learners’ reading and writing anxiety. The study also found signifi cant differences between learners with different dialect backgrounds: learners with Cantonese background displayed a stronger sense of ethnic identity, as well as higher speaking and listening anxiety, whereas learners with Mandarin background experienced higher reading and writing anxiety. In terms of generational differences, the study found that the first and second generations had similar level of ethnic identity. However, the second generation showed a much higher desire to explore the meaning of being Chinese and to participate in ethnic cultural practices. Taking together, the paper discusses the implications to HL education and concludes with suggestions for future research.
From the statistic analysis of the 14 years’ publications of the Heritage Language Journal, this paper summarizes six key topics in this field: (1) the difference between heritage language and native language; (2) the defining criterion of heritage language speakers: language competence and cultural associations; (3) variant selection in heritage language education; (4) the influence of social factors on the attitudes to heritage languages; (5) incomplete linguistic rights as a heritage language; (6) community-based heritage language education policy. These research results are then evaluated from linguistic, pedagogical and sociological perspectives.
When bilingual education fell by the wayside in the United States, heritage language education was raised as a new fl ag for preserving the languages and cultures of minority groups. Shifting linguistic attention from bilingualism to the heritage language speakers’ multicultural context is important for the advancement of our understanding of the language ability. This paper traces the genesis of heritage language education and research, and discusses their developing course in the world. The main issues that international researchers focus on and are reviewed in this article in the area of heritage language education include: the various defi nitions about the heritage language learners, the features of heritage language acquisition, their identity inclination, and the pedagogical research. In order to further the research on overseas Chinese education and promotion, this study examines all of these concerns with an aim to draw experience from the accomplishments achieved across the world.