Two worlds in one city: a sociopolitical perspective on Chinese urban families’ language planning

This comparative inquiry investigated the family language planning in two distinctive socioeconomic communities in a Chinese metropolitan city. We followed a multilayered framework to probe into language beliefs, practices and management in the family domain as mediated by the interconnectivity of multiple contextual forces. We collected three types of data from governmental policy documents, field visits to two community libraries, and questionnaires from 237 residents from the two communities. Data analysis identified an early childhood language policy disfavoring English learning at the macro level, distinctive English literacy activities at the meso-community level, and similar aspirations with different management practices at the micro-family level. We argue that the observed disjuncture in English language planning between the macro and micro levels creates a space for parents as social actors to take ownership and negotiate their language planning activities at the meso level. However, although families from different socioeconomic backgrounds demonstrated similar aspirations for their children's English and Chinese development, the parents’ socioeconomic status affected their ability to invest family capital in their children's language learning, and to translate their language ideologies into consistent language planning activities. Issues related to educational equity are discussed at the end of the paper.