Case Study 2
Language Choice of Chinese/English Speakers

In the last two decades, slightly over one million ethnic Chinese have settled in Canada. Most immigrants learn English and/or French in order to help them integrate into Canadian society. Even though there is a desire to integrate, the Chinese-Canadian community also wants to retain its culture and language.

Researchers examined the language choice and language switching patterns of a subgroup of the Chinese-Canadian community: Cantonese-speaking Chinese who arrived from Hong Kong in the 1980s. This research increases society's understanding of the relationship between language choice and language switching patterns, as well as the wider social norms of the community to which the speakers belong.

Data were collected using participant observation of 60 speakers from 11 families. An audiotape was used to record 25 hours of spontaneous conversation in the families' homes. Data were analyzed in terms of the language choice patterns at the generational level, and language switching at the intergenerational level.

Families were recruited through the local Chinese community association. The study's principal investigator was an active member of a Chinese community association for a number of years prior to the commencement of the study. During this time, she developed extensive contacts within the local Chinese community. Such involvement within the community made the researcher acceptable as an observer of family communication and less likely to affect the data collected.