Author(s)

Zhiling Yang ¹, Ronaldo A. Juanatus ², Anjh B. Harris ³

Affiliation(s)

¹ School of Foreign Studies, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325035, China
² College of Industrial Education, Technological University of the Philippines, Manila, Republic of the Philippines
³ College of Liberal Arts, Technological University of the Philippines, Manila, Republic of the Philippines

Corresponding Author

Zhiling Yang

ABSTRACT

394 learners of Chinese languages were examined through a questionnaire survey as part of a comparative study of heritage language identity of descendants of Chinese diaspora in the European nations of France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, Romania and Hungary. Surprisingly, great differences have been noted in their experiences associated with staying in China, nationality and Chinese language identity in these seven different countries. Chinese offspring in Romania show the highest heritage language identity while in the Netherlands it is the lowest. Similar differences are exemplified in correlation analysis of the four variables: age, experience of staying in China, nationality and Chinese language identity. Based on the results, reasons are analyzed and some suggestions are put forward. These suggestions may well be advisable if the maintenance of the heritage language identity of other ethnic migrants is desired.

KEYWORDS

Chinese Offspring in Europe, Heritage Language Identity, Comparative Study, Regression Analysis

CITE THIS PAPER

Zhiling Yang, Ronaldo A. Juanatus, Anjh B. Harris. A Comparative Study on Heritage Language Identity of Overseas Chinese Descendants in European Countries. Journal of Sociology and Ethnology (2021) 3: 136-144. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/jsoce.2021.030424.

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