To Speak or Not to Speak: Language Maintenance and Language-Identity Entanglements in Chinese American Families

Chinese American families must confront the assimilation pressures that arise in an English-majority and white-dominant society. As they balance their heritage with life in the United States, they develop a complex understanding of the interconnections of language and identity. My research addresses the ways in which cultural self-conceptions affect language proficiencies and aspirations amongst Chinese Americans. Much of the existing scholarly research on Chinese language maintenance and language loss focuses on interfamilial tension: parental insistence and children's resistance to speak Chinese. Although this dynamic does exist, it is not applicable to all Chinese American families, nor is it always enduring. Thus, while my research does examine such tensions, it also explores individual and familial efforts to resolve them. For the past six months, I have conducted participant observation in a Chinese as a Second Language classroom, as well as conversational interviews with families enrolled in the class, college-aged heritage speakers, and Chinese language teachers. Based on my findings, I argue that there is no clear, single-faceted linkage between an individual's language skills and the extent to which they resonate with their Chinese identity. However, the factors that tend to have the greatest impact on the connection between Chinese language and cultural identity are the language proficiencies of the individual's parents, the strength of their cultural pride amidst assimilation pressure, and whether they like the methods in which they learn the language.