"Are you Chinese enough?": Reflections on identity and Chinese language learning among mixed-heritage adults in the U.S.

Abstract

While much heritage language (HL) research has examined factors that help promote HL learning and maintenance among children of immigrants in the U.S., few studies to date have examined HL learning among mixed-heritage language learners, or those who have an English-speaking American parent and an HL-speaking immigrant parent. By examining the experiences of individuals who do not fit the traditional profile of heritage language learners, this study examines some of the unique challenges and considerations that individuals in mixed families face when learning a heritage language. Through in-depth, semi-structured autobiographical interviews and a Chinese proficiency survey, this study explores the background characteristics and experiences of 11 mixed-heritage adult Chinese as a heritage language (CHL) learners in terms of levels of HL proficiency, language attitudes, and motivation to learn. The interviews explored how self- and other-perceived, contested and negotiated identities (e.g., racialized, gendered) of mixed-heritage individuals relate to their HL learning and maintenance. The findings suggest that HL proficiencies and self- and other-perceived identities are varied and occasionally unpredictable. Many intersectional and contextual circumstances affected HL proficiency and HL experience, including, but not limited to: parental and familial support, HL use in the household, Chinese ethnic identity orientation, individual attitudes towards the HL, and motivation to learn the HL. The findings from this study contribute to the fields of heritage language learning, and specifically family language policy. Findings also highlight the need for more research on HL development and identity among CHL learners from mixed-heritage families.