Bicultural orientation and Chinese language learning among South Asian ethnic minority students in Hong Kong

Abstract

Understanding the value of monocultural acculturation orientation to the host culture (assimilation) and bicultural acculturation orientation (integration) for language learning is critical in guiding educational policy and practices for immigrant students. This study aimed to enhance our understanding on the relationship between acculturation orientation and second language (L2) learning. It generated two conceptual models to describe how cultural identification affects language learning as hypothesized in different theories on identity and L2 learning and tested these two hypothesized models in the immigration context of Hong Kong. A survey was conducted among a group of senior high school South Asian minority students on their learning of the language of the host culture, Chinese, to provide the basis for comparison. It was found that the students mainly adopted the bicultural/integration orientation and that bicultural orientation was the optimal acculturation orientation for learning Chinese. Bicultural orientation influenced the participants' Chinese language learning outcome through impacting psychosocial well-being and engagement with the target language and community. The findings suggest that we need to take both linguistic and psychosocial adjustment factors into consideration when conceptualizing the role of identity in L2 learning. Furthermore, this study cautions us against a context-independent stance toward the utility of assimilation for language learning.

Multilingualism in Hong Kong’s Formal and Informal Settings: A Brief Historical Review of The Development from The Early 1900s To the Late 2010s

“…Yet, the paradigm might not apply to the ethnic minorities since only 6% of them had a home environment in which to use Chinese (Census and Statistics Department 2012b). Even at school, the children maintained their heritage languages with their co-ethnic peers (Lai, Gao, & Wang 2015). But despite their segregated lives, some of them were distorted (often by the press) to be the origins of street disturbance (see Jackson & Nestervoa 2017), so their heritage languages were loaded with negative connotations to some Hong Kong racists.…”

Construction of Acculturation-Oriented Teaching Pattern in College Foreign Languages Courses – From Cultural Experience Theory Perspective

“…Samples in his investigation (college students from Shanghai, China) adopt integration strategy in the process of acculturation and progress of learning a foreign language results in the breakthrough of cultural boundaries and the development of intercultural competence. Lai, C (2015) generates two conceptual models to describe how cultural identification affects language learning as hypothesized in different theories on identity and second language learning, and tests these two hypothesized models in immigration context of Hong Kong.…”

Eğitim Dili Türkçe ve İngilizce Olan Bölüm Öğrencilerinin Ana Dili İngilizce Olanlara Karşı Olan Algılanan Sosyal Uzaklıkları

“…Jia et al (2016, p. 259) found out that acculturation to the L2 culture -Canadian culturepositively contributed to the students' reading skills and L2 proficiency. Lai, Gao, and Wang (2015) also dealt with the acculturation of the immigrant South Asian minority students to the Chinese culture in their study. According to Lai et al (2019: 221), mono-cultural acculturation to the Chinese culture (i.e.…”