Chingheng Chang
As an international student with a Chinese cultural background, I have always been attentive to Chinese immigrant children’s education in Quebec or other places in North America. Since my main field of interest is language education, the language use of immigrant families is an issue that has always been one of my greatest concerns. According to an ethnographic study involving ten Chinese immigrant families in Quebec, Curdt-Christiansen (2009) discovered that society, economy, parents’ experiences, and cultural beliefs are factors that have heavily influenced the language use of a family (the invisible language planning) and expectations of their children. After reading Curdt-Christiansen’s study, I have a bad feeling for the Chinese immigrant children: Some of them are probably going to sacrifice most of their childhood time learning at least three languages (Chinese, English, and French) and cramming for many other extracurricular subjects.
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