Educating Chinese–Heritage Students in the Global–Local Nexus : Identities, Challenges, and Opportunities

Weaving together a richly diverse range of student voices, perspectives, and insights, this collection of studies from around the world offers the educational community a better understanding of K-12 and adult Chinese–heritage students’ languages, cultures, identities, motivations, achievements, and challenges in various cross-cultural settings outside North America. Specifically, it addresses these overarching questions:

• What are Chinese–heritage students’ experiences in language and education in and outside schools? How do they make sense of their multiple ethnic and sociocultural identities?
• What unique educational challenges and difficulties do they encounter as they acculturate, socialize, and integrate in their host country? What are their common struggles and coping strategies?
• What are the instructional practices that work for these learners in their specific contexts? What educational implications can be drawn to inform their teachers, fellow students, parents, and their educational communities in a global context?

Individual chapters employ different theoretical frameworks and methodological instruments to wrestle with these questions and critical issues faced by Chinese–heritage learners.