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Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHINESE LANGUAGE MAINTENANCE: A CASE STUDY OF A WEEKEND SCHOOL by Xixiang Jiang submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of The American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology Signatures of Committee: Chair: ^ , y m O l A S'. Z&^Luv— ^ ■ ..../mg—— Dean of the College Date 1994 The American University Washington, D.C. 20016 1 5 V SEE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. c COPYRIGHT by XIXIANG JIANG 1994 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHINESE LANGUAGE MAINTENANCE: A CASE STUDY OF A WEEKEND SCHOOL BY Xixiang Jiang ABSTRACT This is a case study of a community-based language school, which aims to maintain the Chinese language and culture by way of a variety of formal and semi-formal instructional activities. In this study, I have two general research questions, one is "what are the language maintenance efforts by this weekend school?" and the other is "how are the outcomes of these efforts?" To answer these questions, I have completed two tasks. One is an ethnographic description of the school, its growth through time, its instructional activities and the social and cultural context in which the school operates. The other task I have completed is the determination of the relationship between various social and instructional factors and the language proficiency that the target population has demonstrated. I finished the first task by providing detailed descriptions and narrations using qualitative data that I collected from my participant observation, which involved ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. weekly trips to the field of research, interviews with and surveys from students, teachers and parents. I finished the second task by producing quantitative examinations and analyses of the data that I collected from a standardized language test and an examinee background information form. Among my major findings are, first, students' interest and motivation in attending language classes are low, so is their language proficiency, especially in reading comprehension and structure, as compared to available national norms. I argue that this is largely due to the traditional nature of the instructional methodologies and classroom activities. Second, I found the school is in need of more support and recognition from the community and society as a whole. Therefore, based on my findings, I concluded my dissertation with proposals to enhance the instructional design through a proficiency-based teaching approach, and to rally public support for the community effort through a credentializing system in which the weekend school students could receive appropriate regular high school credits. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A dissertation is the fruit of joint effort. I am indebted to many people who have supported me all along the way. First of all, I would like to thank my mentor, Dr. William Leap, who guided me through the twisting path in many of his classes and discussion sessions. I would also like to thank my dissertation committee members Dr. Noami Baron and Dr. Mary Gallagher for their patient advice and for always being accessible. I owe much to the teachers, students and parents of the Potomac Chinese School for accepting me as a member of their community. My gratitude also goes to my other professors in my MA linguistics program, my Ph.D anthropology program at the American University and my colleagues and friends at the Center for Applied Linguistics, who have supported me through different stages of my study. Lastly and most affectionately, I would like to thank both my wife and my daughter. Linda has always been the first and immediate recipient and sharer of the joys and woes throughout this enterprise. Cecilia is the motivating force behind me all along the way. The thought that she will grow up one day and read her Daddy's dissertation written in a time when she needed most parental care and attention has driven me so far. iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................................... iv CHAPTER ONE STATEMENT OF THE P R O B L E M ................. 1 I. Background ..................................... 1 II. Research Questions ............................. 3 III. Theoretical Context ........................... 5 111.1. Language Maintenance And Language Shift . 5 111.2. Chinese Language Maintenance and Chinese Weekend Schools ............... 11 111.3. Chinese Language and Chinese Language Teaching In the U S A ................ 18 IV. An Overview Of The S t u d y ...................... 35 IV. 1. The Nature And Significance......... 35 IV.2. The Organization Of The Dissertation . 40 CHAPTER TWO METHODOLOGY................................. 42 I. Background Of The Field W o r k .................. 42 1.1. Site and Site Selection............. 43 1.2. Areas of Attention and Subjects of Study 49 1.3. Procedures and a Typical D a y ....... 52 II. Data Collection: Procedures And Instruments . 57 11.1. Participant Observation ................ 59 11.2. Classroom Observation .................. 61 II. 3. Interviews .......................... 64 II. 4. Questionnaires...................... 66 II.5. Preliminary Chinese Proficiency Test . 70 III. DATA ANALYSIS................................... 72 111.1. Qualitative Analysis .................. 72 111.2. Quantitative Analysis .................. 74 CHAPTER THREE THE SCHOOL: ITS STRUCTURE AND ITS COMMUNITY........................................... 78 I. History Of The Potomac Chinese School .......... 78 1.1. The Birth of the S c h o o l ............. 78 1.2. The Growth of the S c h o o l ........... 82 1.3. The Changes of the S c h o o l ........... 86 II. THE SCHOOL T O D A Y ............................... 88 11.1. Organization and Administration .... 88 11.2. Teaching Philosophy and Teachers . 92 v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. II.3. Students and Classes ...................... 98 III. The School And Its Community.............. 100 111.1. Demographic Environment ................ 102 111.2. Institutional Affiliations ............ 105 CHAPTER FOUR LANGUAGE AND CULTURAL INSTRUCTIONS . 109 I. The Instructional D e s i g n ......................... 110 1.1. School Calendar....................... 110 1.2. Student Placement and Goals of Instruction 111 1.3. Text Books ........................... 113 1.4. A Practical Approach..................... 115 II. Language Instruction .......................... 120 II. 1. A Scene from a C l a s s .................121 II.2. Teacher-student Interaction ............ 123 III. Cultural Instruction .......................... 13 0 IV. Extra-curricular Activities....................... 134 V. Insiders' V i e w ................................... 137 CHAPTER FIVE LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY AND ITS DETERMINANTS 144 I. Background of Examinees........................... 145 II. Language Background and Language Proficiency . 146 III. Verification