Course -taking patterns of Chinese students native and non -native speakers of English at community college. - Page 56 |
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33
Daniels, 1988). Had Chinese not met with such difficulties in the past, the results
of their assimilation process would have taken a completely different trajectory.
As for the new immigrants, although parents may never become full participants,
it is their expectation and ‘free will’ that their children become citizens with
access to economic, political, and social opportunities. Nevertheless,
acculturation has worked most rapidly for the young, for those who have learned
the language and had an opportunity to go through the American school system
and for those with the expectation of participating in the mainstream (Tse, 1997).
Language assimilation is contained in cultural assimilation. Cultural
assimilation into American society comes in a great degree through learning the
English language. Since language is an expression of identity (Apte, 1979;
Castells, 1997; Edwards, 1985; Kroskrity, 1993; Tse, 2000), a lack of the heritage
language (e.g., Chinese) is considered a barrier to asserting ethnic identity (Frank,
2000), while a lack of the dominant language (English) is a barrier to the
assimilation process.
Chinese assimilation into American society has been expressed by a
positive attitude towards learning English well. A study of American Asians by
Tse (1997) revealed that some informants expressed a lack of interest in the
‘Chinese language’, while others recounted active rejection and placed more or
full emphasis on acquiring and perfecting proficiency in the dominant language -
English. In another study, Lee (1979) indicated that in addition to getting a
certain status not available to those with little or imperfect fluency, speaking
English was a very important determinant in being accepted by American
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
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| Title | Course -taking patterns of Chinese students native and non -native speakers of English at community college. - Page 56 |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 33 Daniels, 1988). Had Chinese not met with such difficulties in the past, the results of their assimilation process would have taken a completely different trajectory. As for the new immigrants, although parents may never become full participants, it is their expectation and ‘free will’ that their children become citizens with access to economic, political, and social opportunities. Nevertheless, acculturation has worked most rapidly for the young, for those who have learned the language and had an opportunity to go through the American school system and for those with the expectation of participating in the mainstream (Tse, 1997). Language assimilation is contained in cultural assimilation. Cultural assimilation into American society comes in a great degree through learning the English language. Since language is an expression of identity (Apte, 1979; Castells, 1997; Edwards, 1985; Kroskrity, 1993; Tse, 2000), a lack of the heritage language (e.g., Chinese) is considered a barrier to asserting ethnic identity (Frank, 2000), while a lack of the dominant language (English) is a barrier to the assimilation process. Chinese assimilation into American society has been expressed by a positive attitude towards learning English well. A study of American Asians by Tse (1997) revealed that some informants expressed a lack of interest in the ‘Chinese language’, while others recounted active rejection and placed more or full emphasis on acquiring and perfecting proficiency in the dominant language - English. In another study, Lee (1979) indicated that in addition to getting a certain status not available to those with little or imperfect fluency, speaking English was a very important determinant in being accepted by American Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. |
