The Phenomenon of Mandarin-English Bilingualism at Chinese Language Schools

Wei-li Wu武威立

Doctoral Candidate (Ed.D. degree expected in May, 2009)

Teachers College, Columbia University

1. The Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to explore the phenomenon of Mandarin-English Bilingualism at Chinese language schools in the U.S. when they face increasing Chinese-heritage non-Mandarin-speaking students in their classrooms. In particular, it focuses on the timing of using English. The research questions are: (a) How do teachers and non-Mandarin-speaking students use English in the classroom when teaching/learning Mandarin? And (b) How do teachers and non-Mandarin-speaking students think about the use of English in the classroom?

2. Theoretical Framework

This study uses Spolsky’s (2004) language policy theory as a theoretical framework, which has three parts: (a) language practices, referring to teachers’ teaching and students’ learning; (b) language beliefs, referring to teachers’ and students’ beliefs about Mandarin-English bilingualism in the classroom; and (c) language management, referring to teachers’ arrangements concerning the timing and authorization of using English in the classroom. This study looked at these three parts in a classroom setting at the Chinese language school.

3. Methodology

A Qualitative Case Study

This study was a qualitative, two-case case study of the Mandarin-English bilingualism in two classrooms of two Chinese language schools in New York City when they faced increasing Chinese-heritage non-Mandarin-speaking students in their classrooms.

Data Collection

Data were collected through the following three methods: (1) a 15-week participant observation at each school: Observations were three hours long on each Saturday or Sunday. Field notes were taken for data collection during observation. (2) Interviews: One teacher and two Chinese-heritage non-Mandarin-speaking students were interviewed at each school. All interviews were audio-taped. And (3) document collection: The researcher collected documents such as textbooks, homework, and examination sheets in order to understand teachers’ and students’ use of English (Bogdan & Biklen, 1992).

Data Analysis

Data were analyzed through: (1) data description, which described “the case and its setting” (Creswell, 1998, p. 153) in details. (2) Categorical aggregation, which looked for “a collection of instances from the data, hoping that issue-relevant meanings will emerge” (Creswell, 1998, p. 154). And (3) pattern establishment, which broke down categories into fewer patterns and search for “a correspondence between two or more categories” (Creswell, 1998, p. 154).

4. Results and Conclusion

The study found that the teachers used English as well as Mandarin to ask questions, give directions, translate, explain, and, for one teacher, ask for translations. Be contrast, the non-Mandarin-speaking students used English most of the time asking and answering questions. This Mandarin-English bilingualism phenomenon indicated that teaching Chinese through English seemed a possible method for better enhancing Chinese-heritage non-Mandarin-speaking students’ comprehension when learning the Chinese language at the Chinese language school.