Senyao Shen will be presenting her PhD proposal on Monday, January 8th, 2024 from 9:00AM to 10:30AM in PCN 1306A, with the option to attend online via Zoom.
Supervisor: Dr. Guofang Li
Committee Members: Drs. Patsy Duff and Iris Berger
Dissertation Title: Navigating among Home Language Varieties: An Ethnographic Case Study of Chinese-Canadian Children with Chinese Dialect Backgrounds
Abstract:
In Chinese diaspora contexts like Canada and the U.S., research on family language practices and ideologies has focused mainly on Mandarin as a heritage language, despite the fact that many families also speak a “fangyan” or Chinese dialect such as Cantonese and Shanghainese. As a result, Chinese dialect speakers’ language learning trajectories and challenges are often unexplored, and little is known about how children are socialized by family members to maintain their dialects in addition to Mandarin. Drawing on theoretical constructs in language socialization, family language policy, standard language ideology, and language and identity, my proposed Ph.D. dissertation research will examine how Chinese-Canadian families with heritage Chinese dialect backgrounds living in Metro Vancouver socialize their children to navigate among different home language varieties (e.g., Mandarin, English, Chinese dialect, and/ or other languages) and diverse identities; and how family language policy, especially parental language ideologies, plays a role in the process. Through employing ethnographic case study design and analyzing interview, observation, and audio/video-recording data, my proposed study intends to not only dismiss the misconception of heritage Chinese learners as a homogenous Mandarin-speaking group, but also draw scholars’ and educators’ attention to heritage Chinese children’s diverse profiles as well as their multilingual and multicultural abilities and identities.