A study investigated how balanced and pseudo-bilingual students, all second-generation Chinese-Americans, develop and maintain their native language while learning English. Subjects were 12 fifth-graders attending a Saturday Chinese language school, six of whom (3 boys, 3 girls) were balanced bilinguals and six of whom (3 boys, 3 girls) were non-balanced ("pseudo-") bilinguals. The children and their parents were surveyed, and a week later participated in follow-up interviews. Analysis of the results suggests the parents of the two groups of children have very strong differences in their reasons for wanting to educate their children in two languages. Parents of balanced bilinguals tended to provide many more varieties of language input, and at some point to immerse their children in Chinese-speaking countries. There was less difference found in the children's attitudes, but balanced bilingual children tended to believe in putting more effort into learning two languages, and felt pleasure in being bilingual. Implications for development of bilingualism in children are discussed briefly. Contains 66 references. (MSE)