A Case Study On Language Situation, Identity And Construction Of Migrant Workers’ Children In Urban Villages Of Beijing

The rapid development of economy, the advancement of urbanization as well as the urban-rural dual structure system which has been executed for almost 60 years give birth to a huge crowd of a special group, namely, the migrant workers. As their working form changes from working-out singly into with all family members, the group of migrant workers’children (abbreviated for MWC) comes into being inevitably. In the process of entering city with their migrant parents, MWC are experiencing not only a change of physical living space, but also the collision and integration between the urban and the rural culture. How to respond to and adapt to differences between the urban and the rural language is a critical problem which MWC have to face in their urban lives as language working as a direct carrier of culture. And the result of MWC’s language resocialization, which aims at adaptability development, determines whether they can adapt themselves to urban lives quickly and smoothly.Generally, previous researches on MWC tend to treat them as a homogeneous whole, and discussion and analysis in these researches focus on aspects of the education, mental health and so on. While differences inside the MPC group are ignored, not to mention discrepancies in their language situation, language resocialization process, identity and construction as those discrepancies are mainly caused by intragroup differences. On the basis of results and limitations of previous studies, this study takes MWC in the urban villages of Beijing as participants, and collects and analyzes data of their basic language situation to summarize intragroup features, consistencies and discrepancies. Meanwhile, influential factors are analyzed deeply and comprehensively. Moreover, questions on the language resocialization, identity and construction of MWC in their process of urbanization are deeply analyzed. This study defines the MWC group as a spiritual community with features of openness, instantaneity and continuity. Members of this speech community can be divided into two subgroups on the basis of different growth stage which MWC were in when they came to Beijing. Members in those two subgroups are of different features in language proficiency (mainly referring to native dialect proficiency), language attitude, language use (mainly referring to language use in the family context), resocialization process as well as identity and construction. It is found that the resocialization process of MWC is a dynamic developing process. And in different stages of this process, different communication addressees present different influences. Generally, MWC’s resocialization is mainly completed in the assimilation process in the peer group. While parents and family have little influence. The identity and construction of MWC in their process of integrating into the city is a dynamic process which is mainly completed through language choices in their language practice. In this dynamic process, features of diversity, openness and flexibility present in MWC’s recognition and construction of identity. And those features play crucial roles in MWC’s process of integrating into the city.Through the description and analysis of MWC’s language conditions, language resocialization process, identity and construction, this study aims at knowing the language developing process, features and problems of MWC during their process of integrating into a city comprehensively, and at providing the public a way of understanding the special MWC group and a reference for further related studies as well as measures aiming at improving MWC’s living condition and helping them integrating into a city smoothly.