Ideology, Investment, and Identity in Chinese Language Learning: Past, Present, and Future

Due to the large-scale emigration of Chinese-speaking populations to locations in Anglophone countries, Chinese has been a popular additional language for heritage learners in diasporic communities (Duff and Doherty in The Routledge handbook of Chinese applied linguistics. Routledge, 2019; Duff et al. in The Routledge handbook of heritage language education, Routledge, 2017; Francis et al. in Race Ethn Educ 13:101–117, 2010; Hancock in Lang Educ 26:1–17, 2012; Li and Zhu in Teaching and learning Chinese in global contexts: CFL worldwide. Continuum, 2011; Wang in Lang Policy 6:27–52, 2007). For many, being adept in Chinese has served as an indicator of cultural or ethnic identity, signifying belonging to an envisioned Chinese ancestral community and Chinese complementary schooling was sometimes presented as an ethnic enclave—‘a protective or remedial space from the contamination of Westernization’ (Francis et al. in Race Ethn Educ 13:108, 2010).