Maintaining燤andarin.PDFVIP

Maintaining Mandarin  as a Heritage Language Conference on Chinese Heritage Language Learners April 3-4, 2009 Arizona State University Agnes He SUNY-Stony Brook Email: Agnes.He@sunysb.edu Outline CHL and CHL learners The CHL developmental path Ten Hypotheses Young (birth-early teen) CHL learners Adolescent and college CHL learners Supporting CHL learners’ existing language and stimulating new language growth Further questions (C)HL:  a definition Valdés (2001): a home, non-English language that is spoken or at least understood an immigrant, indigenous, or ancestral language that a speaker has a personal relevance and desire to (re)connect with (Cummins 2005; Fishman, 2001; Van Deusen-Scholl, 2003; Wiley, 2005). He (2008): a language of not merely inheritance but also of transformation ‘native speakers,’ ‘quasi-native speakers,’ ‘residual speakers,’ ‘bilingual speakers,’ and ‘home-background speakers’ (Valdés, 1997); ‘false beginners’, ‘semi-natives’ (Ming Tao 2008) (C)HL learner characteristics ethnolinguistic affiliation to the heritage language with a broad range of proficiency in oral or literacy skills. Rampton (1995): varying expertise and allegiance Norton (2000): varying degrees of investment Hornberger (2004): a bicultural, bi-literacy continuum With a unique set of ambiguities and complications He (2006,2008): Engaged in the symbiotic process of HL development and cultural development CHL Learner Profiles:  a synchronic view (1) very little command of Chinese with only a few rudimentary words or phrases (2) a smattering of speaking and listening skills but with marginal reading and writing abilities (3) fluent or nearly fluent in a dialect of Chinese but having little knowl