Chinese American Parents’ Expectations for and Involvement in Children’s Literacy Learning and Achievement: Impacts of Cultural Values and Acculturation

Abstract

This study adopts a systematic review of past research to address variations within Chinese American parents’ early literacy expectations and involvement as well as parental influences on children’s early literacy skills. Based on 18 articles reviewed, we identified three pathways for early English literacy practices among first-generation Chinese American parents, which extend the segmented assimilation theory given it addresses adaptive pathways for second-generation immigrants. The first pathway is integration into White middle class: middle- or upper-SES Chinese parents implemented the middle-SES White majority’s English literacy practices, which benefit their children’s early literacy development. The second pathway is economic downward mobility: low-SES Chinese parents fail to effectively foster children’s early English literacy skills due to limited literacy-related resources and knowledge. The third pathway is economic upward mobility with preservation of the heritage culture: middle-SES Chinese parents can successfully foster children’s early English literacy through either adopting traditional Chinese educational practices and values or integrating traditional approaches with American mainstream practices. Implications for promoting Chinese American children’s early literacy development are discussed.