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How has the COVID-19 pandemic changed the home literacy environment, parental engagement, and home-school communications for children and families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds? Data on the experiences of 231 Chinese-Canadian immigrant families with K-2 children revealed that emergency remote learning affected the home literacy environment in complex ways. While some experienced a decrease in mainstream language exposure, others also witnessed a decline in home language use and literacy engagement due to the closure of heritage language schools and absence of grandparents. Parents also differed in their ability, resources, and confidence level in supporting multiliteracies development at home during the pandemic. Moreover, there existed persistent barriers to effective home-school communications despite the affordances of remote learning. The findings have important implications for both immigrant families and mainstream teachers in working collaboratively to support the children's needs in multiliteracies development.

Based on the theoretical perspectives of socio-constructivism and language socialization, this study reports two Chinese Canadian first grader's experiences of language and literacy learning in and out of school in a unique sociocultural setting where they were "the mainstream." The article examines the students' reading and writing practices in school and at home, as well as their parents' and teachers' thoughts, beliefs, resources, and concerns regarding their literacy learning. The findings suggest that there exists great linguistic and cultural discontinuity between the Chinese children's school and home language and literacy experiences. The children view school and home literacies as separate entities rather than a continuum. Such perceptions further widened the gaps between their development of "school literacy" which is mediated through English language and culture and that of "home literacy" which is mediated through Chinese language and culture. These children's learning experiences were also influenced by the conflicts between the school's cultural values and those of their families, which include dissensions on biliteracy expectations, homework, parenting, and instructional approaches (e.g., the use of drawing and free play). Living between two separate worlds of school and home, the students are often burdened with the consequences of the cultural clashes and become "sites of struggle" between teachers and parents, and hence, are placed in a dangerous position for potential failure at school. (Contains 2 figures.)

Framed within Coleman's theory of family capital, this article examines how different home variables such as family physical, human and social capital affect immigrant children's second-language acquisition in the homes of four Chinese immigrant families in Canada. Specifically, the study analyzes the relationships between family physical capital and family investment in second language learning, between parental human capital and levels of parental involvement, and between family social capital and access to familial and community resources. The analysis demonstrates that parental educational backgrounds, their occupational choices and chances, and their adaptation and integration into Canadian society had a significant impact on the families' accumulation and activation of family capital to support their children's second-language learning. (Contains 1 note.)

Although Chinese has become the third largest mother tongue in both Canada and the USA, Chinese/English biliteracy development has received little attention in educational research. This article explores three Chinese-Canadian first and second graders' biliteracy (Chinese/English reading and writing) and trilingual (Mandarin, Cantonese, and English) practices in the home milieu. Findings suggest that the home context is a crucial environment for success or failure in achieving biliteracy. All families expected their children to become biliterate and multilingual, but the three children vary in their preferences and use of different languages and literacies at home. Factors such as parents' perceptions of their minority status in the host society, their attitudes toward the role of heritage language and their own proficiencies in the dominant language, as well as several school and societal factors, such as quality of instruction in heritage language schools, language policies in the mainstream schools, and the media, played an important role in shaping the children's language choices and patterns of use at home. These multiple factors suggest that helping immigrant children become biliterate and multilingual is a challenging task that requires concerted efforts between parents, public schools, and community organizations. (Contains 2 figures and 2 notes.)

Chinese learners are often stereotyped as high achievers and overlooked in literacy research. This year-long, qualitative study in a combined Grade 4/5 classroom presents the cases of two struggling Chinese-Canadian learners. The study offers a new perspective on struggling learners by revealing a complex, multilayered understanding of these learners from different social members' viewpoints. I provide detailed descriptions of these learners' literacy experiences and dispositions of learning at school and at home, and their teachers' and parents' perspectives on their struggles with English literacy. The findings suggest that several home and school cultural discontinuities and pedagogical influences contributed to the children's difficulty with literacy. The discontinuities included (1) parents' preference for word-by-word decoding versus teachers' preference for semantic connections between pages, (2) parents' and teachers' different interpretations of what and how much homework should be given, (3) parents' and teachers' perspectives on the causes of the children's low literacy performance, and (4) lack of communication between the school and home. The pedagogical influences included (1) decontextualized literacy activities and lack of direct instruction, (2) instructional materials that were detached from the learners' cultural backgrounds, (3) insufficient recognition and utilization of students' resources in their first language, and (4) problematic assessment of these learners. The study raises critical issues in understanding the multivoicedness concerning struggling English language learners and provides educators with guidance for effective instructional planning and for building school-parent partnerships.

Describes a Chinese Canadian immigrant family that is encountering difficulties with schooling, demonstrating the complex interrelationship between home literacy, culture, and politics of schooling. Findings suggest that cultural mismatch theory alone cannot explain minority school failure. Rather, multilevel interactions, including cultural differences, modes of incorporation, and differential power relationships between school and home result in minority students' school difficulties. (Contains references.) (SM)

Studied the early literacy practices of a 3-year-old Chinese girl in her family restaurant in an underprivileged community in Canada. The literacy practices indicate that home contexts have a role in shaping emergent literacy. Discusses implications for teaching minority children. (SLD)

Examines the relationship between literacy practices and the construction of cultural identity in a Filipino immigrant family in Canada through ethnographic methods. Reports that literacy depends on family relationships imbedded in cultural identity. Explains that the research enables educators to understand immigrant families and their literacy. Includes references. (CMK)

The article discusses resource disparity in language arts instruction among Asian immigrant and refugee students in the U.S. Topics include impact of disparities in the availability of material and cultural resources affecting language and literacy learning of Asian subgroups, language policies in countries like the U.S. and Canada stressing newcomers to learn destination language, and tips for language arts teachers to ensure school curriculum affirms students’ diverse literary practices.

Chinese immigrant children in North America often experience rapid growth in their English lexicon, while their heritage language (HL) vocabulary development is characterized by early stabilization and decline. This study was designed to explore whether and how factors such as SES, gender, L1, immigration status, home language use, mainstream and HL school attendance have influenced Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking first graders' (N = 76) early HL vocabulary development in Canada. Students' HL receptive vocabulary was measured by the Chinese Peabody Vocabulary Test (C-PPVT-R) and home and school information was collected through the Alberta Language Environment Questionnaire (ALEQ). Statistical analyses revealed significant differences in the effects of L1 and gender between Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking first graders. Mandarin-speaking girls outperformed Mandarin-speaking boys and their Cantonese-speaking peers. Family SES was found to be a significant factor affecting early HL vocabulary development. While Mandarin-speaking students' performance was associated with the richness of their home language environments, Cantonese-speaking students' performance was not. Group performance was not significantly associated with home language use. Findings suggest the need to move beyond a usage-based theory to understand better home interactions across L1 and SES subgroups that shape differential performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]