The Influence Of The Mothers’ Educational Background And The Migration Experience On English Language Learning Of Migrant Workers’Offspring A Case Study In Yangpu District, Shanghai

China covers vast territory and on this territory the population and the resources (including economic, educational and social resources) have an uneven distribution. The English language education, as one part of educational resources, also has uneven distribution across regions, ethnic groups and even across different districts in the same city. Though the distribution of linguistic resources differs from region to region, the large-scale acquisition of English across China is striking. There is a huge gap in English learning conditions and outcomes across country. This paper examines the six graders in public schools in Yangpu district, Shanghai. Among them we specifically study the English language proficiency of the students from migrant workers’ family. The research aims to explore the possible factors related to the gap in English achievement between Shanghainese and Non-Shanghainese students. By employing the qualitative and quantitative approach explored the influence of the length of schooling in Shanghai, mothers’educational qualification, extra time spent on English, the students’preference to English, etc. In order to reach an in-depth analysis we interviewed the mothers (migrant working women) and teachers. The interview focused on the mothers’changing attitude to education, the amount of their emotional and cultural investment in their children’s education, as well as their social confidence in the interaction with the schools. Through the statistical analysis, we found out that the year of beginning the study in Shanghai, mothers’ educational qualification, and the students’ attitude to learning English are significantly influencing the learning outcome. The analysis of the interview data indicated that the migrant women in the study are striving to win the better educational resources for their children in the cosmopolitan city, however, the limitation of their cultural, economic, social capital and their migration experience, accompanied by their own educational experiences are hindering their advance on the road of equipping their children with better education.