Theoretical Frameworks
This study is informed by the theoretical perspective of family language policy (FLP), defined as "explicit and overt planning in relation to language use within the home among family members" (King et al., 2008, p. 907). FLP has been found to have a determining effect on immigrant children's bi/multi-lingual development (Author, 2021; King & Fogle, 2013; Wilson, 2020). Particularly, FLP affects young children's bi/multilingual development through three major aspects of child-caretaker interactions, including parental language beliefs or ideologies (i.e., what parents think about language), language practices (i.e., what parents do to align their support with their beliefs and ideologies), and language management (i.e., what parents try to do to modify or influence those practices) (Spolsky, 2004).
Methods
This a mixed-methods study followed an explanatory sequential design which included two phases. In Phase I, descriptive analyses were conducted to understand the patterns of the Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking Chinese immigrant first graders' (N=84) HL receptive vocabulary attainment. One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)was also conducted to determine whether there were any statistical differences between the means of the two L1 groups. In Phase II, interviews of the Cantonese (n=29) participants' parents were analysed using thematic analysis to understand possible home-related factors that contributed to the divergent achievements in the two languages.
The Chinese Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-R (Form M) (C-PPVT-R, Lu & Liu, 2005) was administered in this study to assess the students' oral receptive vocabulary proficiency in their HL Cantonese and Mandarin. A Chinese version of the Alberta Language Environment Questionnaire (ALEQ) (Paradis et al., 2010) was used to measure each participating children's length and level of exposure to their heritage languages as well as English.Parental beliefs and practices and home biliteracy engagement information were elicited through semi-structured interviews. Parent interview transcripts were imported into NVivo 11 for thematic analysis by following Saldaña's (2016) two rounds of coding methods.
Findings and Implications
The analyses revealed that indeed there were within-group differences in receptive HL vocabulary knowledge between Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking first graders. Overall, Mandarin first graders outperformed their Cantonese peers. The results revealed the significant role of home language environments in shaping early vocabulary development in their HLs. Analysis of parent questionnaire and interview transcripts of the Cantonese children revealed several home factors that may have shaped their profiles of discrepancy. While parents all believed in the importance of bilingualism or multilingualism in Mandarin, Cantonese, and English (and/or French), their language ideologies affected their home language practices and investments in their HLs. Many parents emphasized the importance of Mandarin over Cantonese (after English and/or French) and believed that Mandarin would bring advantages to their children's future development. In line with their language attitudes, data analyses also revealed qualitative differences in their Mandarin home literacy activities and investment at home and (e.g., buying/reading more Mandarin books, watching more Mandarin TVs or movies). Many also sent their children to Mandarin (instead of Cantonese) classes in weekend language schools.
