Publications

Publication details [#63588]

Chen, Huan, Liling Zhou and Shufang Han. 2017. Protest and protect. Chinese urban mothers’ perception of smartphone (tablet) in their everyday lives’ communication and interaction with young children. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication 27 (1) : 99–120.
Publication type
Article in journal
Publication language
English
Place, Publisher
John Benjamins
Journal DOI
10.1075/japc

Annotation

A phenomenological study reveals Chinese mothers’ perception and interpretation of smartphone (tablet) in their everyday communications and interactions with their young children. In total, 23 in-depth interviews were used to collect data. Data of the current study indicated that Chinese mothers’ perception of smartphone (tablet) in their everyday lives’ communication and interaction with young children is both grounded and reflective of their parenting philosophy and family communication style. Data of the current study indicated that today’s Chinese mothers have a mixed feeling toward the role of smartphone and tablet plays in their parenting practices. According to those participants, the smartphone and tablet both help and hurt their communications and interactions with their children. There are both direct and indirect benefits of using smartphone for parenting. Similarly, the smartphone (tablet) also hurts Chinese mothers’ communications and interactions with their children directly and indirectly.