What does immigration do to our languages and identities? What factors contribute to the maintenance or loss of immigrant languages? This book highlights theoretical and typological issues surrounding heritage language development, specifically focusing on Chinese-speaking communities in the USA. Based on a synthesis of observational, interview, reported, and audio/video data, it builds a composite, serial narrative of immigrant language and life. Through the voices of first- and second-generation immigrants, their family members and their teachers, it highlights the translingual practices and transforming interactional routines of heritage language speakers across various stages of life, and the congruencies between narrated perspectives and lived experiences. It shows that language, culture and identity are intricately interwoven, making it essential reading for students and scholars in applied linguistics and sociolinguistics. This title is part of the Flip it Open Programme and may also be available Open Access. Check our website Cambridge Core for details.

‘Based on multifaceted ethnographic research on language socialization in Chinese American families and their communities, this book offers a very insightful, nuanced, and innovative portrayal of the development and production of heritage languages and identities as well as language shift.’

Patricia A. Duff - University of British Columbia

‘Drawing on lively, multi-generational, polyphonic storied lives, Agnes He’s insightful, cutting-edge exploration of Chinese heritage language socialization and language shift details how both shape and are shaped through the complex interactions of persons, families, and societies across time and place.’

Bambi B. Schieffelin - New York University