Article published in:
Learning Chinese in Diasporic Communities: Many pathways to being Chinese
Edited by Xiao Lan Curdt-Christiansen and Andy Hancock
[AILA Applied Linguistics Series 12] 2014
► pp. 59–80

Chapter 3. Chinese complementary schools in Scotland and the Continua of Biliteracy

| University of Edinburgh
This chapter employs Hornberger’s Continua of Biliteracy as an analytical framework to critically engage with the Chinese complementary school phenomena in Scotland. It begins with an historical and up-to-date overview of the Chinese diaspora in Scotland. This is followed by a discussion of each of the Continua’s four spheres of influence in turn. In particular, attention is paid to how prevailing language policies shape children’s biliteracy experiences, including a shift towards learning Mandarin (Context); how texts are frequently used by teachers to guide children to an appreciation of Chinese cultural values (Content); how teachers sometimes deviate from traditional and ‘mundane’ practices in order to generate an interest in learning Chinese literacy (Media); and how children draw on their biliterate resources to support their Chinese learning (Development). Finally, the implications for Chinese complementary schools in Scotland are outlined.
Published online: 10 July 2014
https://doi.org/10.1075/aals.12.04han
References
Alexander, R.J
2006  Towards Dialogic Teaching , 3rd edn. York: Dialogos.Google Scholar
An Ran
1999 Learning in Two Languages and Cultures: The Experience of Mainland Chinese Families in Britain. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Reading.Google Scholar
Archer, L. & Francis, B
2007  Understanding Minority Ethnic Achievement: Race, Gender, Class and ‘Success’ . London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Bell, E
2011 An Anthropological Study of Ethnicity and the Reproduction of Culture among Hong Kong Chinese Families in Scotland. Ph.D. dissertation, London School of Economics.Google Scholar
2013 Heritage or cultural capital: Ideologies of language in Scottish family life. Asian Anthropology 12(1): 37–52. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Bialystok, E., McBride-Chang, C. & Luk, G
2005 Bilingualism, language proficiency, and learning to read in two writing systems. Journal of Educational Psychology 97(4): 580–590. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Bourdieu, P
1990  The Logic of Practice . Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Chen, Y
2007 Contributing to success: Chinese parents and the community school. In Multilingual Learning: Stories from Schools and Communities in Britain , J. Conteh, P. Martin & L.H. Robertson (eds), 63–86. Stoke on Trent: Trentham.Google Scholar
Cheung, H. & Ng, L.K.H
2003 Chinese reading development in some major Chinese societies: An introduction. In Reading Development in Chinese Children , C. McBride-Chang & H-C. Chen (eds), 3–19. Westport CT: Praeger.Google Scholar
Cortazzi, M. & Jin, L
2006 Changing practices in Chinese cultures of learning. Language, Culture & Curriculum 19(1): 5–20. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Creese, A., Bhatt, A., Bhojani, N. & Martin, P
2006 Multicultural heritage and learner identities in complementary schools. Language and Education 20(1): 23–43. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Creese, A., Wu C.J. & A. Blackledge
2009 Folk stories and social identification in multilingual classrooms. Linguistics and Education 20(4): 350–65. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Creese, A. & Blackledge, A
2010 Translanguaging in the bilingual classroom: A pedagogy for learning and teaching? The Modern Language Journal 94: 103–115. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Cummins, J
2000  Language, Power and Pedagogy: Bilingual Children in the Crossfire . Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Curdt-Christiansen, X.L
2006 Teaching and learning Chinese: Heritage language classroom discourse in Montreal. Language, Culture and Curriculum 29(2): 189–207. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2008 Reading the world through words: Cultural themes in heritage Chinese language textbooks. Language and Education 22(2): 95–113. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2013 潜移默化-Implicit learning and imperceptible influence: Syncretic literacy of multilingual Chinese children. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 13(3): 345–367. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Davidson, C. & Lai, Y. W. A. Y
2007. Competing identities, common issues: Teaching(in) Putonghua. Language Policy 6: 119–134. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Ding, S
2008  The Dragon’s Hidden Wings: How China Rises with its Soft Power . Lanham MD: Lexington Books.Google Scholar
Francis, B. & Archer, L
2005 British-Chinese pupils’ and parents’ constructions of the value of education. British Educational Journal 31(1): 89–107. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
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): 519–38. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
García, O
2009  Bilingual Education in the 21st Century: A Global Perspective . Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Gillborn, D
2010 The colour of numbers: Surveys, statistics and deficit‐thinking about race and class. Journal of Education Policy 25(2): 253–276. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Goh, Y.S
2007 English language use in Chinese language teaching. In Language, Capital and Culture: Critical Studies of Language and Education in Singapore , V. Vaish, S. Gopinathan & Y.B. Liu, (eds), 119–31. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.Google Scholar
Gregory, E., Long, S. & Volk, D
. (eds) 2004  Many Pathways to Literacy. Young Children Learning with Siblings, Grandparents, Peers and Communities . London: Routledge Falmer.Google Scholar
Gregory, E
2008  Learning to Read in a New Language. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Gunning, D. & Raffe, D
2011 14–19 Education across Great Britain. Convergence or divergence? London Review of Education 9(2): 245–257. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Hancock, A
2006 Attitudes and approaches to literacy in Scottish Chinese families. Language and Education 20(5): 355–73. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2009. Synergy or two solitudes? Chinese children's experiences of biliteracy learning in Scotland. Multilingual Europe Seminar: Multiple Spaces, Multiple Languages, Multiple Literacies. University of Strasbourg, 28 March.Google Scholar
2010 Chinese Children’s Experiences of Biliteracy Learning in Scotland. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Edinburgh.Google Scholar
2012 Unpacking mundane practices: Children’s experiences of learning literacy at a Chinese Complementary School in Scotland. Language and Education 26(1): 1–17. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Hornberger, N
. (ed.) . 2003  Continua of Biliteracy. An Ecological Framework for Educational Policy, Research, and Practice in Multilingual Settings . Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Hornberger, N. & Skilton-Sylvester, E
2003 Revisiting the continua of biliteracy: International and critical perspectives. In Continua of Biliteracy. A Ecological Framework for Educational Policy, Research and Practice in Multilingual Settings , N. Hornberger (ed.), 35–67. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Hu, G
2002 Potential cultural resistance to pedagogical imports: The case of communicative language teaching in China. Language, Culture and Curriculum 15(2): 93–105. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Hui, L
2005 Chinese cultural schema of education: Implications for communication between Chinese students and Australian educators. Issues in Educational Research 15(1): 17–36.Google Scholar
Ingulsrud, J.E. & Allen, K
1999  Learning to Read in China: Sociolinguistic Perspectives on the Acquisition of Literacy . Lampeter: Edwin Mellen Press.Google Scholar
Kenner, C
2004  Becoming Biliterate: Young Children Learning Different Writing Systems . Stoke on Trent: Trentham Books.Google Scholar
Kenner, C. & Ruby, M
2012  Interconnecting Worlds: Teacher Partnerships for Bilingual Learning . Stoke on Trent: Trentham Books.Google Scholar
Lau, K.-L
2007 Chinese language teachers’ orientation to reading instruction and their instructional practices. Journal of Research in Reading 30(4): 414–28. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Leung, C., Harris, R. & Rampton, B
1997 The idealised native speaker, reified ethnicities, and classroom realities. TESOL Quarterly 31(3): 543–560. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Li Wei
1994  Three Generations, Two Languages, One Family: Language Choice and Language Shift in a Chinese Community in Britain . Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
2000 Extending schools: bilingual development of Chinese children in Britain. In Bilinguality and Literacy: Principles and Practice , M. Datta (ed.), 176–189. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
2006 Complementary schools: Past, present and future. Language and Education 20(1): 76–83. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2011 Multilinguality, multimodality, and multicompetence: Code-and modeswitching by minority ethnic children in complementary schools. The Modern Language Journal 95(3): 370–384. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Li Wei & Wu, C.-J
2009 Polite Chinese children revisited: creativity and the use of code switching in the Chinese complementary school classroom. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 12(2): 193–211. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2010 Literacy and socialization teaching in Chinese complementary schools. In Sites of Multilingualism. Complementary Schoolsin Britain Today , V. Lytra & P. Martin (eds), 33–44. Stoke on Trent: Trentham Books.Google Scholar
Louie, B.Y. & Louie, D.H
2002 Children’s literature in the People’s Republic of China: Its purposes and genres. In Chinese Children’s Reading Acquisition: Theoretical and Pedagogical Issues , W. Li., J.S. Gaffney & J.L. Packard (eds), 175–193. London: Kluwer. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Maguire, M.H., & X.L. Curdt-Christiansen
2007 Multiple schools, languages, experiences and affiliations: Ideological becomings and positionings. The Heritage Language Journal 5(1): 50–78.Google Scholar
Marsh, J
. (ed) 2005  Popular Culture, New Media and Digital Literacy .Oxon: Routledge/Falmer. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Martin-Jones, M., Blackledge, A. & Creese, A
2012 Introduction: A sociolinguistics of multilingualism for our times. In The Routledge Handbook of Multilingualism , M. Martin-Jones, A. Blackledge & A. Creese (eds), 1–26. Oxen: Routledge.Google Scholar
Mau, A. Francis, B. & Archer, L
2009 Mapping politics and pedagogy: Understanding the population and practices of Chinese complementary schools in England. Ethnography in Education 4(1): 17–36. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
McBride-Chang, C
2004  Children’s Literacy Development . London: Arnold.Google Scholar
McPake, J
2004  Mapping the Languages of Edinburgh . Stirling: Scottish CILT.Google Scholar
2006  Provision for Community Language Learning in Scotland . Edinburgh: SEED/Stirling: SCILT.Google Scholar
Pantazi, E
2010 Teachers’ developing theories and practices in Greek community schools. In Multilingual Learning: Stories from Schools and Communities in Britain , J. Conteh, P. Martin & L.H. Robertson (eds). 111–112. Stoke on Trent: Trentham.Google Scholar
Priestley, M
2010 Curriculum for Excellence: Transformational change or business as usual? Scottish Educational Review 42(1): 23–36.Google Scholar
Rogerson, R., Boyle, M. & Mason, C
2006  Progess Report on the Fresh Talent Initiative . Edinburgh: Scottish Executive.Google Scholar
Scottish Executive
2006  Scotland’s Strategy for Stronger Engagement with China . Edinburgh: Scottish Executive.Google Scholar
Scottish Government
2012  Language Learning in Scotland: A 1 + 2 Approach. The Scottish Government’s Response to the Report of the Languages Working Group . Edinburgh: Scottish Government.Google Scholar
Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA)
2011  Scottish Qualification Authority Annual Statistical Report . http://​www​.sqa​.org​.uk​/sqa​/47250​.html(16 October 2012)Google Scholar
Strand, S
2007 Surveying the views of pupils attending supplementary schools in England. Educational Research 49(1): 1–19. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
The National Centre for Languages (CILT)
2008  A Toolkit for Partnership: Our Languages Project . Reading: CILT.Google Scholar
Tsow, M
1984  Mother Tongue Maintenance: A Survey of Part-Time Chinese Language Classes . London: Commission for Racial Equality.Google Scholar
Vertovec, S
2007 Super-diversity and its implications. Ethnic and Racial Studies 30(6): 1024–1054. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Wong, L.Y.-F
1992  Education of Chinese Children in Britain and USA . Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Wu, C.-J
2006 Look who’s talking: Language choices and culture of learning in UK Chinese classroom. Language and Education 20(1): 62–75. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 10 other publications

No author info given
2019.  In Heritage Languages [Studies in Bilingualism, 58], Crossref logo
Ganassin, Sara
2019. Teaching and learning about Chinese culture: pupils’ and teachers’ experiences of Chinese community schooling in the UK. Language and Intercultural Communication 19:2 ► pp. 167 ff. Crossref logo
Hancock, Andy
2016. Creating a dialogic space for research: a reading conference in a Chinese complementary school. Language and Education 30:2 ► pp. 126 ff. Crossref logo
Hancock, Andy & Jonathan Hancock
2021. On the outside, looking in: learning community languages and Scotland’s 1 + 2 Language Strategy. Current Issues in Language Planning 22:3 ► pp. 328 ff. Crossref logo
Hornberger, Nancy H.
2016.  In Research Methods in Language and Education, ► pp. 1 ff. Crossref logo
Hornberger, Nancy H.
2017.  In Research Methods in Language and Education, ► pp. 125 ff. Crossref logo
Szczepek Reed, Beatrice, Fatma Said, Ian Davies & Geraldine Bengsch
2020. Arabic complementary schools in England: language and Fundamental British Values. Language, Culture and Curriculum 33:1 ► pp. 50 ff. Crossref logo
Tigert, Johanna M.
2020. Vanilla sauce and songs: literacies in a heritage language school. Language, Culture and Curriculum 33:1 ► pp. 100 ff. Crossref logo
Yang, Yilu
2021. Reflexive language attitudes and language practices among school-aged Chinese Australian immigrant bilinguals. Asia Pacific Education Review 22:3 ► pp. 401 ff. Crossref logo
Zheng, Bingjie
2021. Translanguaging in a Chinese immersion classroom: an ecological examination of instructional discourses. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 24:9 ► pp. 1324 ff. Crossref logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 30 march 2022. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.