Creating ZPDs for emergent bilingual children to engage in literacy learning in a virtual Chinese heritage language classroom

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore how a language teacher helped her emergent bilingual students with literacy learning in a community-based Chinese heritage language classroom during the Covid-19 pandemic. The theoretical concept of the Zone of Proximal Development was utilized to support the exploration. Data that informed this article included field notes, video recordings of class conversations, and artifacts made by the participants. The findings show that the teacher strategically asked questions, used digital technology, and drew upon visual means to create opportunities for the children to engage in literacy learning and move toward advanced levels of literacy development. The study informs suggestions for heritage language teaching practices and advocates for sustaining emergent bilingual children’s Chinese heritage language in the post-pandemic world.