中国家庭语言政策研究综述: A scope review

Language ecologies have become more complex in recent decades. Until the disruption of COVID-19, the population flows of globalisation brought frequent and widespread language contact. This put families under greater pressure when making plans for their language use. Family Language Policy (FLP) refers to the planning or policy of a family and among family members concerning their language and literacy practices. The concept encompasses language beliefs, language practice and language management (Curdt-Christiansen, 2009; Spolsky, 2004). In China, two developments are of particular interest: nation-wide promotion of Pǔtōnghuà since 1956, and massive migration of labour from less to more developed areas since the Reform and Opening-up Movement. The national language initiative and internal migration have led to a language ecology whereby Pǔtōnghuà, hometown fāngyán (or ethnic languages) and the fāngyán used by people in the areas that receive migrants have become intermingled in peoples social lives. Further, learning English has become a routine aspect of language learning, given internationalisation of education and development of the economy in a world in which English serves as a lingua franca. In such a complex language ecology, FLP may cause individuals to encounter many difficulties or conundrums. Yet, there is surprisingly little research evidence to guide families and interested others. The present study seeks to make a contribution in this regard.
The study searched journal papers from databases such as CNKI and Education Sources for studies published both in Chinese and English. A ‘scoping review’ method is used to provide a descriptive analysis of the state of evidence about FLP in China. Results show that the earliest FLP studies can be traced back to the 1990s; the quantity of FLP research in China has increased steadily; and the methodologies adopted in the studies have greatly improved and expanded since then. Although many investigations did not use FLP as a keyword or topic, it is concluded by reading the full texts that many studies focused none the less on aspects of the empirical problem of FLP. The following topics have been examined by researchers: language awareness of family members, the discovery of parent agency and child agency in the process of language management, and the functioning of language as a capital and accumulation of that capital. However, research still needs to clarify whether or not or how FLP theories and methodologies from other countries can be used directly in the Chinese context. Further, there is need to continue to improve and enrich research methodology and the quality of research reports. This paper analyses the extant evidence base, paves the way for further FLP studies, and provides suggestions for future examination.