| With the increased mobility of today's world, trans-border migration has become a common phenomenon. Immigrants bring their heritage languages and cultures to the host countries. The issue of heritage language maintenance becomes more and more significant. However, the issue has not received much research attention until recently and various research questions remain unanswered.;Adopting a qualitative research methodology, this study attempts to explore the role of Chinese grandparents in the Chinese development and maintenance of their preschool-aged grandchildren in Montreal, Canada.;Analysis of interviews with the Chinese grandparents and parents provided evidence that the Chinese grandparents played a significant role in the Chinese development and maintenance of their grandchildren. The grandparents helped their grandchildren acquire oral and initial literacy skills. The role of Chinese grandparents as educating agents was of great importance to their grandchildren's development and maintenance of Chinese as a heritage language.;These research findings have important implications for Chinese maintenance as a heritage language by children from immigrant backgrounds.;This study attempts to fill a research gap by investigating the influence of Chinese grandparents on the Chinese development and maintenance of their preschool-aged grandchildren during their stays in Montreal. Since it is a very common Chinese cultural tradition that grandparents take care of their grandchildren as primary caregivers both inside China and abroad, it can be assumed that Chinese grandparents have an influence on the Chinese development and maintenance of their grandchildren. However, due to the paucity of the research, factors such as what the grandparents' attitude are toward Chinese maintenance, how they are involved in the Chinese development and maintenance of their grandchildren, and what their influence on the Chinese maintenance is, are not well understood. |
