On September 23, 2020, the School of Foreign Languages of Southeast University and the Asia-Pacific Language Policy Research Center organized an online conference on language policy with the theme of Family Language Policy in the Context of Globalization: Problems and Practices. Prof. Chen Meihua, dean of School of Foreign Languages, Southeast University, gave the opening speech. The conference has attracted many researchers at home and abroad.
The conference invited Professor XiaoLan, Curdt-Christiansen from the Department of Education, University of Bath, UK, Professor Guofang Li from the Department of Language and Literacy Education University of British Columbia Canada, and Dr. Gu Mingyue in Faculty of Humanities at the Education University of Hong Kong, as keynote speakers to conduct in-depth discussions on FLP problems and practices in the context of globalization.
In the lecture, Professor Guofang Li introduced a study titled Family Language Policy in an Age of Transnationalism: Chinese Immigrant Families’ Investment Strategies in Canada. The research results showed that immigrant families face unique challenges and opportunities. Parents play a vital role in children’s language acquisition. On this basis, she proposed a continuous development model of Canadian-Chinese family language policy. Dr. Gu’s research focused on South Asian immigrant families living in Hong Kong, and she conducted an in-depth analysis of family language policies from the socio-historical and processed perspective. Finally, she mentioned some unresolved problems in this field and gave her suggestions and prospects. Later, Professor Zhang Xiaolan focused on the influencing factors of family language policy, sharing from both external and internal aspects, emphasizing the impact of family language policy on the language development of multilingual children.
The conference ended successfully with the wonderful sharing of lecturers and the active participation of participants. This conference has built a platform for family language policy research, and strongly promoted the development of this research field.
Reported by Han Yawen
