Challenges and opportunities in communicating the Chinese language
to heritage versus non-heritage learners:
A mixed methods investigation
In recent years, the Chinese community in the United States has been undergoing
a population shift. Up to a decade ago, heritage families with two Chinese parents made
up the bulk of the community, while non-heritage families (mixed and adoptive families)
remained a small minority. With the increase in inter-ethnic marriages and adoptions of
children from China, non-heritage families have started to become a critical mass in the
Chinese population. In addition to this shift in population, there is increased interest in
learning Chinese from the general public because of the rise of China as a potential
economic and political power. As a result, schools providing Chinese language
instruction in the United States have had to adjust to serve a broader community of
learners (Chao, 1997).
At the same time, while a lot of effort has been placed in trying to meet the needs
of non-heritage families, there is a real need to evaluate the needs of heritage families.
How do they feel about the changes in Chinese language instruction brought about by the
demographic shift? What do they want their children to learn in school? For example, one
major parting of ways between heritage and non-heritage families is the focus on learning
conversational Chinese as opposed to reading and writing the language. Non-heritage
families place a premium on conversation over reading and writing, while heritage
families seem to prefer the latter as the focus of instruction.
The Chinese School of Delaware is not immune to these changes. When it opened
its doors in 1970, it served primarily heritage families. Beginning in SY 2002-2003,
incoming students started comprising a significant number of new students (32 out of
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Convention