The Correlation Between Ethnic Identity And Chinese Heritage Language Learning

With global population movement and immigration,heritage language has become a lingual phenomenon.In the past 20 years,the demands of language skills have continually increased through the world.Acquisition of heritage language,which is different from first and second languages,has caught the attention of scholars and developed into a new language subject.One of the most notable features of the lineage is that there are certain historical associations between the personal identity background of language speakers/learners and the language.The study of learners’ exploration and recognition of their ethnic identity,as well as the relationship between the maintenance,use and learning of language,have always been the core topics in the study of the learning of inheriting Language.This paper introduces a newly formed theory regarding the structure of heritage language and a view of "identity language" particularly in regards to Chinese language learning in the United States.In addition,recent research viewpoints and results pertaining to heritage language and ethnic identity and attempts to establish a theoretical relationship between Chinese heritage learning and ethnic identity are presented and discussed.It uses quantitative analysis and interviews to examine 66 Chinese heritage language learners in San Francisco/Bay Area who are 9 to 17 years old,and study the correlation between the ethnic identity and the learning effectiveness of Chinese heritage language.By analyzing the differences of the identity background characteristics among learners’ groups,the study explores how these differences influence the process of Chinese language learning and ethnic identity,then shows the association pattern between ethnic identity and heritage language,and further builds a learning model of Chinese heritage language from the findings.The results show that there is a high,positive correlation between the Chinese ethnic identity and the learning effect of the Chinese heritage language(r=0.806).Some characteristics of a learner’s personal background not only reflect the learning effect of the Chinese language,but also influence their recognition and identification of their ethnic identity as well.The older the learner’s age is and the longer the time of their study,the better in both of the level of language learning and the ethnic identity of Chinese.Multiple Chinese dialects are used in learners’ families,which have more obvious Chinese learning effect and stronger ethnic identity than only using single Dialects.The more opportunities for learners to access to and participate in Chinese cultural traditions and community activities,they will not only enhance their ethnic identity,but also improve their Chinese language proficiency.In addition,females have shown better language skills and a stronger sense of ethnicity than males.The final research results show language proficiency is closely related to the identity stages,from exploration to commitment,among which ethnic identity and Chinese writing are highly correlated specifically;listening,reading and speaking are relatively weaker.Based on a review of research,analysis and discussion,this paper further presents a learner-centered learning model of Chinese language transmission:"Involve-Learn-Practice-Achieve".The vital point of this learning pattern is that the learning of heritage language and the construction of ethnic identity can be combined and developed simultaneously.As the most effective learning environment,heritage language schools play the key role in this learning model.They can help language learners to understand,explore and form an individual ethnic identity while teaching heritage language.The ideal goal of this learning model is that the heritage language learner can achieve the goal of linguistic study,and also successfully complete the construction of ethnic identity,and eventually,become a cross-cultural and multilingual person who identifies with their ethnic identity.The research results of this paper fill the gap in the study of correlation between Chinese language learning and the ethnic identity of the American 9 to 17 year old second-generation Chinese,and enriches the theoretical research of Chinese traditional learning.The in-depth exploration of the learning concept and model of Chinese heritage language provides a meaningful reference and foundation for further research on the relevance of Chinese learning and ethnic identity.In particular,the study of the learners’ gender,age,language,culture,the participation of Chinese groups and visiting relatives in China,offers a helpful guideline to the language teaching,curriculum design,textbook compiling and teacher training of the Chinese heritage language.Learning Chinese as a heritage language has become a global language learning phenomenon,and ethnic identity identification is a core issue for language transmission.The research object of this thesis is mainly aimed at the Chinese learners in the United States.The results of the study would be common for other geographies but there will be some different points too.Therefore,having more analysis and discussion of the relationship between identity and language in different countries and regions,especially the longitudinal and case study,will be helpful to further implement,enrich and perfect the theory construction of Chinese language learning,and promote the Chinese throughout the world.