ERIC Number: EJ1143581
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017-May
Pages: 25
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0008-4506
EISSN: N/A
Chinese Students in Canadian Higher Education: A Case for Reining in Our Use of the Term "Generation 1.5"
Marshall, Steve; Lee, Ena
Canadian Modern Language Review, v73 n2 p133-157 May 2017
Roberge defines the 1.5 Generation as "those who immigrate as young children and have life experiences that span two or more countries, cultures and languages" (2009, p. 4). In US and Canadian higher education, the term has gained considerable recognition, with the scope of the term broadening among some educators to include bi/multilingual students in general. In this article, we present selected data on students of Chinese ethnicity (322 survey respondents and three interviewees) from a broader two-year study of the languages, literacies, and identities of multilingual undergraduate students in Vancouver, where, in the 2011 census, one in five of the people living in the city reported being of Chinese ethnicity (Statistics Canada, 2011). Our aim was to analyze how key social, cultural, and linguistic defining features of the term Generation 1.5 that we found in the literature were represented in participants' survey and interview responses to open questions about their languages and identities. Five themes emerged: (a) being foreign-born and finishing secondary school in Canada, (b) being an international student, (c) being somewhere in between here and there, (d) (in)competence and language use, and (e) perceiving deficit in cultural knowledge. Participants' responses illustrated complex, transnational interweavings of languages, identities, and literacies around these five themes, leading us to question our institutional use of the homogeneous term Generation 1.5 to describe a heterogeneous group of multilingual, transnational students of Chinese ethnicity.
Descriptors: Asians, Immigrants, Ethnic Groups, Surveys, Interviews, Self Concept, Undergraduate Students, Multilingualism, Cultural Influences, Social Influences, Language Usage, Secondary Education, Educational Attainment, Foreign Students, Cultural Awareness, Literacy, Chinese, Native Language, Student Attitudes, Labeling (of Persons), Foreign Countries
University of Toronto Press. 5201 Dufferin Street, Toronto, ON M3H 5T8, Canada. Tel: 416-667-7810; Fax: 800-221-9985; Fax: 416-667-7881; e-mail: journals@utpress.utoronco.ca; Web site: http://www.utpjournals.com/cmlr/cmlr.html
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A