32.223, Review: Applied Linguistics: Ganassin (2020)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-32-223. Thu Jan 14 2021. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 32.223, Review: Applied Linguistics: Ganassin (2020)

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Date: Thu, 14 Jan 2021 21:54:40
From: Teresa Ong [ongtesa at gmail.com]
Subject: Language, Culture and Identity in Two Chinese Community Schools

 
Discuss this message:
http://linguistlist.org/pubs/reviews/get-review.cfm?subid=36628437


Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/31/31-1500.html

AUTHOR: Sara  Ganassin
TITLE: Language, Culture and Identity in Two Chinese Community Schools
SUBTITLE: More than One Way of Being Chinese?
SERIES TITLE: Languages for Intercultural Communication and Education
PUBLISHER: Multilingual Matters
YEAR: 2020

REVIEWER: Teresa Wai See Ong, Griffith University

SUMMARY

In a migratory context, migrant and minority communities always demonstrate
strong efforts in maintaining their languages and cultures through the setting
up of community language schools. This situation is similar for the migrant
and minority communities in the UK where community language schools are
responsible for providing learning opportunities to the children and promoting
a sense of identity. Narrowing down to the Chinese ethnic community, it is
estimated that there are 630,000 living in the UK, which is considered the
largest within the European region (Latham & Wu, 2013). As there is a growing
international interest in Chinese language education and culture, this book,
Language, Culture and Identity in Two Chinese Community Schools, written by
Sara Ganassin, a lecturer at Newcastle University in the UK, presents “the
social, political, and educational role of community language education” based
on a study of two Chinese community schools in two different areas of England
(Ganassin, 2020, p. 1). The book consists of eight chapters alongside a
preface and four appendices.   

Conceptualising the study within the field of intercultural studies, this book
focuses on investigating the importance of Chinese community schools in
England through pupils’, teachers’ and parents’ lived experiences.
Interculturality is defined as the way/approach of people exhibiting their
cultural identities in their daily interactions with other people’s cultural
identity (Zhu, 2014, 2016). In this study, Ganassin uses the lens of
‘interculturality’ to interpret the various positions concerning language,
culture, and identity in the context of Chinese community schools. She
develops two arguments, which she presents in the introductory chapter. First,
she argues that by presenting the lived experiences of pupils, teachers, and
parents of community schooling, the schools can demonstrate how they become
linguistic and cultural spaces for the pupils, teachers, and parents to
construct their own identity. Second, she challenges the traditional view of
community schools as ‘ethnic enclaves’ (c.f. Francis et al., 2009); in this
study, she demonstrates that community schools are valuable learning spaces
for pupils, teachers, and parents to gather for intercultural awareness and
development. 

Ganassin continues her study in Chapter 2 by reviewing the literature
concerning Chinese language and Chinese community schools. The term ‘Chinese’
refers to Chinese ethnicity, Chinese language, Chinese culture, or Chinese
identity (Huang, 2015; Li, 2014). Nevertheless, Ganassin clarifies that this
study adopts a view based on the construction of Chinese culture and identity
that is not affiliated with a political entity, but rather refers to the
complexity of the Chinese world in its various dimensions. Hence, the
representation of ‘Chineseness’ is diverse and coexists at both the macro and
micro levels. She also discusses the term ‘Chinese language’ as an umbrella
term to refer to the seven (He, 2008) or eight (Zhu & Li, 2014) mutually
unintelligible varieties of language spoken by the Chinese community. However,
in this study, she uses the term ‘Mandarin’ to refer to the variety that is
taught at the community schools. For the three other southern varieties
(Cantonese, Hakka, and Hokkien) that play an important role in the study, she
calls them according to their respective names. In the last section of the
chapter, Ganassin discusses the term ‘Chinese community schools’, which refers
to voluntary organisations that employ a curriculum to teach Chinese language
(either Mandarin or Cantonese) and transmit traditional and contemporary
Chinese culture (Wang, 2017). Traditionally, Chinese community schools outside
of Greater China have always taught Cantonese because Cantonese is the lingua
franca for Chinese migrant communities but today, many shifted to teach
Mandarin due to the increasing social and economic values Mandarin offers.   

Moving to Chapter 3, Ganassin talks about her study design. She chooses two
Chinese community schools that were located in two different areas of England.
When the data was collected, Apple Valley School had 65 students while Deer
River School had 90 students. Both schools adopted the same textbooks,
Zhongwen series, which were compiled by the College of Chinese Language and
Culture of Jinan University. A total of 23 pupils, eight parents, two head
teachers, and eight teachers participated in the study. Data consisted of
interviews with the participants (one-to-one and focus group), researcher’s
observation in twelve classrooms, fieldnotes, and visual methods. In total, 14
months were spent in the field. The data were subsequently analysed under four
broad categories: community education, Chinese language, culture, and
identity. 

Chapters 4 to 7 report the findings. In Chapter 4, Ganassin explores the
reasons why pupils attended Chinese community schools and parents’ and
teachers’ understandings of Chinese community education. She found that pupils
consider the learning of Mandarin as an asset for their future while parents
suggest that there is a connection between language learning and affiliation
towards Chinese culture and identity development. In addition, the schools
have created a social and interactive space for all pupils, teachers, and
parents. In Chapter 5, Ganassin looks at how the schools constructed a space
for the three groups of participants to understand the value of Chinese
language education. The analysis demonstrates that to many pupils, Mandarin
does not have a significant family/emotional value; instead they construct a
complex vision that encompasses Mandarin and heritage languages they speak at
home. There are also conflicting values found in parents and teachers who
place strong emphasis on the standard variety of Mandarin taught to the
pupils. In Chapter 6, Ganassin investigates how Chinese culture is constructed
within the three groups of participants in the context of the community
schools. The findings show that all three groups differ in their expectation
of the teaching and learning of Chinese culture. The pupils hope to learn
about culture in real life situations while the teachers are more concerned
about teaching traditional Chinese values and beliefs. On the other hand, the
parents are keen about their children learning Chinese culture at schools
because schools are considered as a supportive community space for learning.
In Chapter 7, Ganassin examines the pupils’ construction of identities with a
particular focus on language and culture. Her examination shows that their
identities are “not constructed and negotiated exclusively” around the factors
of language, culture, and relationships (Ganassin, 2020, p. 144). Rather, they
gain self-awareness and develop intercultural learning through both community
and mainstream schools. 

The last chapter in this book is Chapter 8. It provides a summary of the
findings and draws the conclusion. To reiterate, the aim of this study was to
examine the role of Chinese community schools as an intercultural educational
space. Thus, by focusing on pupils’, teachers’, and parents’ experiences at
two community schools, the findings have offered new insights into
understanding the “complexity of concepts of ‘language’, ‘culture, and
‘identity’ in the context of community education and, more broadly in
migratory contexts” (Ganassin, 2020, p. 148). The book ends by proposing a
framework for conducting ethnographic research in the context of language
community schools, which can also be applied to other multilingual research
contexts.   

EVALUATION

In this modernised and globalised era, many ethnic communities, whether
minority or majority, are often seen migrating across the globe. A majority
group may become a minority group when settling in its host country and
vice-versa. When the group’s position changes, their identity changes too. In
addition, the group is usually seen seeking efforts to maintain and transmit
their culture and language to the younger generation because they are linked
to the group’s family/ancestral history and roots. In other words, the
relationship between language, culture, and identity are inseparable; they are
important assets for any ethnic communities in the world, whether minority or
majority. 

In the case of the Chinese community in the UK, even though some of its
members are Overseas Chinese who have migrated for the second or third time,
they are all still keen about maintaining their Chinese culture, language, and
identity, which is demonstrated in Ganassin’s study. Situating her study
within the theory of interculturality, Ganassin began investigating the role
of community language education through lived accounts of three groups of
participants from two Chinese community language schools that are located in
two different areas in England. The three groups of participants were pupils,
teachers, and parents. Her findings, as reported above, have successfully
shown that the relationship between culture, language, and identity is complex
yet closely connected, and community language schools are considered as safe
social spaces for promoting and instilling Chinese values and traditions in
the pupils. 

Ganassin’s findings have also demonstrated that despite the Chinese community
being one of the largest communities in the world, those who participated in
her study did not forget about their roots when they moved to the UK. Instead,
they continued to pass their heritage onto their children. In the community
language schools, they were seen constructing their identity through
interactions and encounters with other Chinese from different geographical
backgrounds. As a result, they formed a ‘new’ identity that derives under a
broad umbrella term of ‘Chineseness’. This ‘new’ identity is fluid and
changeable, but new approaches have been used for engagement and social
inclusion of all ethnic Chinese. Thus, they acted as an exemplary model for
other minority and migrant communities, especially when political tensions
between countries are increasing and causing uncertainties for ‘new’
communities in host countries. 

In the final chapter, Ganassin proposed a framework for researching
interculturality in community language schools. The framework consists of
three domains (Ganassin, 2020, p. 150): (1) an interdisciplinary ‘bricolage’
theoretical approach, (2) researcher reflexivity and analysis for the praxis
of researching multilingually, and (3) the role of the researcher’s ethnical
stance and ideological orientation. I find the framework useful for future
research, not only in the field of community language schools but
multilingualism or for adaptation to other similar frameworks. Ganassin’s
addition of the researcher’s own ethnical stance and ideological orientation
to the framework is a vital aspect for ethnographic research. When a
researcher goes to the field, he/she sometimes forgets their position as an
insider or outsider. This situation may cause confusion resulting in the
researcher facing ethical issues in the field and during data interpretation
and analysis. Therefore, the inclusion of the researcher’s role in the
framework will constantly be a significant reminder for researchers conducting
their fieldwork.    

Overall, the book achieved its aim and brought further insightful
understanding to the interrelationship between culture, language, and identity
in the Chinese community in the UK. Although the findings do not directly
point to aspects of language maintenance and language revitalisation, they
show signs of strong perseverance and determination from the participants, in
particular the pupils and their construction of identity. Hence, the book will
bring awareness to those reading, especially to the minority/migrant
communities who face increasing challenges to integrate and assimilate in
their host countries. 

REFERENCES

Francis, B., Archer, L., & Mau, A. (2009). Language as capital, or language as
identity? Chinese complementary school pupils’ perspectives on the purposes
and benefits of complementary schools. British Educational Research Journal,
35(4), 519-538.

Ganassin, S. (2020). Language, culture and identity in two Chinese community
schools: More than one way of being Chinese? Multilingual Matters. 

He, A. W. (2008). Chinese as a heritage language: An introduction. In A. W. He
& Y. Xiao (Eds.), Chinese as a heritage language: Fostering rooted world
citizenry (pp. 1-12). University of Hawaii Press. 

Huang, S. C. (2015). National identity (re)construction and negotiation and
cosmopolitanism in the intercultural study-abroad context: Student sojourners
from Taiwan in the UK (Unpublished doctoral thesis). Durham University. 

Latham, K., & Wu, B. (2013). Chinese immigration into the EU: New trends,
dynamics and implications. Europe China Research and Advice Network. 

Li, W. (2014). Negotiating funds of knowledge and symbolic competence in the
complementary school classrooms. Language and Education, 28(2), 161-180. 

Wang, D. (2017). Developing intercultural competence through cultural
activities in London Chinese complementary schools. In T. Jin & F. Dervin
(Eds.), Interculturality in Chinese language education (pp. 131-150). Palgrave
Macmillan. 

Zhu, H. (2014). Exploring intercultural communication: Language in action.
Routledge. 

Zhu, H. (2016). ‘Where are you from?’ Interculturality and interactional
practices. In A. Komisarof, & H. Zhu (Eds.), Crossing boundaries and weaving
intercultural work, life, and scholarship in globalising universities (pp.
147-159). Routledge. 

Zhu, H., & Li, W. (2014). Geopolitics and the changing hierarchies of the
Chinese language: Implications for policy and practice of Chinese language
teaching in Britain. The Modern Language Journal, 98(1), 326-339.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Teresa Wai See Ong holds a PhD in sociolinguistics from Griffith University in
Australia. Since graduation, she has been actively publishing on issues
related to Chinese community language maintenance, language planning and
policy, and linguistic landscapes in Malaysia and Singapore. She is currently
co-writing about family language policy in Malaysia and South Africa.





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