Zhuo Sun will be defending her dissertation research proposal on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2018 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM in PCOH Room 3128 (6445 University Boulevard).
All are welcome to attend.
Supervisory Committee:
Dr. Guofang Li (Supervisor),
Dr. Jim Anderson (Committee Member),
Dr. Qian Wang (Committee Member)
Title: “Transnational Migration, Literacy Practices, and Teaching Literacy to Chinese as a Heritage Language (CHL) Learners: A Study of Transmigrant Teachers in a Community-Based Chinese Language School”
Abstract:
Heritage language (HL) is highly valued among Chinese immigrant communities as a critical resource for cultural and ethnic identity formation among the younger generation (Tse, 2000). However, community-based HL education has been failing to produce successful learning outcomes for its students. The majority of educational researchers have chosen to assume a problem-oriented research agenda towards these schools by identifying issues rather than searching for possible solutions (e.g., Chiu, 2011; Curd-Christiansen, 2008; Hu, 2006; Li & Wen, 2015).
Capitalizing on teachers’ transnational experience and knowledge could be a possible way to develop alternative pedagogical practices that maximize HL students’ learning potentials. Evidence from research on mainstream educational community indicates that teachers who are rich in transnational life experience are likely to recognize and value students’ transitional knowledge and literacy as educational assets (Brittain, 2009; Bruna, 2007; Jiménez et al., 2009; Rubinstein-Avila, 2007). Yet little existing research on HL has investigated transmigrant teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and classroom practices in teaching reading and writing to young HL learners in the age of transnational migration.
My dissertation research aims to address these gaps by investigating the funds of knowledge within a Chinese transnational community and examining how the CHL teachers from this community leverage their life, vocational, and educational experiences into designing and implementing classroom activities and fulfilling their pedagogical goals. This study will potentially inform overseas Chinese language teacher education.