Language, Culture and Identity in Two Chinese Community Schools

Challenges homogenous and stereotypical constructions of Chinese language, culture, and identity

This book investigates the social, political and educational role of community language education in migratory contexts. It draws on an ethnographic study that investigates the significance of Mandarin-Chinese community schooling in Britain as an intercultural space for those involved.

Sara Ganassin is a Lecturer in Applied Linguistics and Communication at Newcastle University in the UK. She holds a PhD in Education from Durham University. Her research interests include heritage language learning and teaching, migrant and refugee communities, and internationalisation and mobility. Sara has also worked for seven years in the voluntary sector as project coordinator and researcher with migrant and refugee women and young people.

Sara Ganassin is a Lecturer in Applied Linguistics and Communication at Newcastle University in the UK. She holds a PhD in Education from Durham University. Her research interests include heritage language learning and teaching, migrant and refugee communities, and internationalisation and mobility. Sara has also worked for seven years in the voluntary sector as project coordinator and researcher with migrant and refugee women and young people.

This important book offers a fresh perspective on (Chinese) community schools as sites of intercultural engagement; and language, culture, and identity construction – of children, their parents, and teachers. Grounded in ethnographic research, the study has rich examples that will benefit educators, researchers, and others in understanding how community schools can promote intercultural education, inclusion and social justice in multi-ethnic communities.

Sara Ganassin has produced an original and highly sensitive account of the lives and experiences of children attending Chinese community schools in England. She examines how the multiplicity of meanings, identities and positionings associated with being Chinese are managed and negotiated by children, parents and teachers, and how community schools provide rich sites for intercultural encounters. Ganassin is to be congratulated on producing such a valuable and insightful study.

An insightful study showing the complex role of Mandarin Chinese as a factor of unity and of tension for diverse British residents of Chinese heritage. It illuminates the power of regional Chinese languages and cultures that demand ongoing negotiation of an intercultural identity within the frame of being Chinese. This is a valuable resource for researchers, course planners and teachers in Chinese and other world languages.