Abstract
This qualitative study explored the perspectives of Chinese parents who have completed at least one year of studies abroad in an English-speaking country, have returned to China and are currently raising or plan to raise their children bilingually with Mandarin and English in China. Drawing from the framework of Family Language Policy (FLP), the study mainly focused on parental language beliefs. Nine returnee Chinese individuals who were either raising or wanting to raise children bilingually in Mandarin and English participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews where they were asked questions related to their experiences abroad, their beliefs and attitudes on raising children bilingually in Mandarin and English in China, the strategies they were following or wanted to follow and the obstacles they had experienced or thought they would experience while trying to accomplish their bilingual parenting goals. The interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. The analysis revealed that these Chinese returnee parents not only viewed bilingual parenting as a tool for children’s proficient English acquisition in natural communication contexts from an early age, but also as an experience that they could provide as part of a holistic education to nourish children’s abilities and growth. One main way in which these parents were hoping to achieve their goals was by providing children with an English immersion environment at home and/or by seeking out English resources out of the home. However, while motivated and committed to their goals, these parents were also faced with obstacles such as limited time and resources, challenges related to children’s individual circumstances and traits, as well as tensions among the different family members who participated in childrearing. These findings contribute to our understanding of the different factors that affect the goals and practices of returnee Chinese parents, and more generally, of the different factors affecting bilingual parenting for parents who want to raise their children bilingually in their own country.