Study On Heritage Language Maintenance Among The Second-Generation Of Chinese Immigrants In Spanish America

This paper conductd a questionnaire survey on the current situation of heritage language learning and using of the second-generation Chinese in Spanish America to understand their emotional attitude and cognition on Chinese language and culture.In-depth interviews were also conducted to reconstruct language maintenance experience of interviewees.Based on the overall situation of the group obtained through the questionnaire survey,the interview part is the main content of this research.In this part,language management theory was used to analyze the factors that affected heritage language acquisition and loss of the second-generation of Chinese immigrants in Spanish AmericaThe study found that most of the group had a good heritage language environment in family,and nearly half of them had a good community dialect environment.In addition,from a diachronic perspective,the family language usage model of the second generation is generally stable.During the growth of the second generation,family,formal education and identity influenced each other and acted on the heritage language maintanence of this group.Among them,the factor of family had a profound effect on the development of individual heritage language ability.Based on the above-mentioned status quo,this paper suggests that the general direction of the heritage language maintanence among the second-generation of Chinese immigrants in Spanish America can pay more attention to family and rely on the ancestral home country.Although dialect is the root,Mandarin can bring a brighter and wider future.