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FLP As prevention vs. FLP as reaction: exploring parents' perspectives and experiences of children's heritage language learning in Chinese-German families

Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Balancing children's learning of the heritage language (HL) and the school language presents a significant challenge for multilingual families. Children's formal school entry is frequently marked by a noticeable surge in the school language and a decline in the HL. This longitudinal ethnographic study, conducted with families of Chinese origin living in Germany, investigates parents' perspectives on the relationship between school entry and FLP and analyses how families with differing beliefs navigate challenges in HL learning during the school transition. The findings reveal that all parents have high expectations for their children's home language development and view school entry as a critical juncture in their children's multilingual development and their FLP. Three types of FLP development patterns are identified based on parents' beliefs and strategies before and after school entry: ‘Preventive intervention families’ that anticipate future challenges and proactively start Chinese learning early, maintaining it as a priority post school transition; ‘Post-School intervention families’ with reactive planning of formal Chinese learning in post-school period and strong external dependence on structured Chinese classes post school transition; ‘Interest-based adaptation families’ prioritise listening and speaking in pre-school while exhibiting child-centric flexibility regarding reading and writing, and postpone literacy learning after school entry.
DOI: 10.1080/01434632.2025.2480174
Author: Yin Yu
Language: English
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4408950073
FWCI: 50.65
Cites: 35
Cited by: 14
Related to: 10