Capital transformation and immigrant integration: Chinese independent immigrants' language and social practices in Canada

From 1997 to 2002, over 750 thousand Independent Immigrants (IIs), one of Canada's immigrant classes, have come to Canada, and the total number will increase in the coming years (Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 2003). These IIs are mainly professionals. Many reports have revealed that, despite their higher educational qualifications, the Its have suffered unemployment or underemployment in Canada. The barriers preventing utilization of their human capital reportedly exist in nullification or devaluation of foreign educational and professional credentials, the IIs' lack of Canadian work experience, their insufficient official language ability, and Canadian employers' discrimination against immigrants. It is significant to find the reasons for these barriers and to explore ways to overcome them for the purpose of facilitating the IIs' full integration into Canadian society.; My 19-month ethnographic study on 39 Chinese Independent Immigrants' (CIIs) integration experience in Toronto, Vancouver, and Regina demonstrates the power of strategic capital transformation in overcoming the barriers to immigrant integration. Using data collected through participant observation, ethnographic and in-depth interviews, and focus groups, I illustrate the roles that market selection in human capital and self-adjustment through strategic capital reinvestment and transformation play in immigrant adaptation. Then, I show the accumulation, effects and transformation of social capital in CIIs' family and social practices. Regarding Independent Immigrants' special needs, I indicate some limitations of immigrant ESL and other education programs. Particularly, I demonstrate the functional roles of language and the symbolic power of linguistic capital throughout CIIs' integration process. On the basis of these findings, I question the static perspective about immigrant human capital, arguing that human capital is mutable and that immigrant integration is a process of strategic capital transformation. Linguistic capital is the key to this whole integration process.; This research contributes to the development of immigrant integration theory by adding a transformative perspective on human capital. It also integrates the socio-economic perspective into traditional concepts of communicative competence in reference to language training for immigrants. These new perspectives will benefit all stakeholders in immigrant integration and facilitate future research to bridge the gap between II learners' needs and current immigrant educational programs in Canada.