An exploratory study of mainland Chinese parents' ideologies about bilingualism and bilingual education

The current study investigates mainland Chinese parents' ideologies on bilingualism and biliteracy, specifically for those who chose Mandarin-English bilingual education for their children. We explored children's language and literacy usage at home as they attend school with Mandarin and English as the instructional languages. Three hundred and eight survey responses were collected from parents in Shanghai, China. Results from an exploratory factor analysis showed that parents generally held positive attitudes toward both bilingualism and bidialectalism. Additionally, multiple correspondence analyses demonstrated that parents who reported more multilingual usage in daily conversation at home with their children generally aspired for their children to develop an identity of being a global citizen, whereas parents who reported more Mandarin literacy activities engagement typically expected their children to (a) have a flexible mind for learning regardless of the instructional language, (b) become internationally competitive, and (c) be communicative within diverse social groups. It is suggested that parental perceptions of the importance of bilingualism and bidialectalism should be taken into consideration in curriculum planning and language policy making. Understanding parents' perception of bilingualism may facilitate schools to partner with parents and devise responsive language education goals in schools.