Multilingualism In The Chinese Community School: An Investigation Into The Learning Environment In London Mandarin School

In the recent years, multilingualism has become a very popular world phenomenon. Its positive effects on children’s development has been more and more recognized and emphasized by researchers. The pervasive belief nowadays is that children are able to acquire more than one language and that multilingual/bilingual children show a greater flexibility in linguistic usage and cognition development. Besides, they are found to have enhanced communicative sensitivity and skills than monolinguals.However, the whole scenario of multilingualism is still rarely seen in the English mainstream school. English is the dominant or the only medium of instruction used in the schools. What is the reason hidden behind this phenomenon? In order to find out more about multilingualism as a multi-dimensional phenomenon in children’s education, my study in this paper sets out to investigate (1) What is good about being a bilingual child? (2) Does bilingual schooling have a positive or detrimental effect on pupils? (3) What is a supportive learning environment for developing multilingualism? I want to identify my research questions which are relevant to my community. I will present, through an ethnographic approach to studying bilingual learning experiences in London Mandarin School, what I have found about multilingualism. Participants in my study include 4 Chinese teachers, 5 parents and their children from various classes. Data are mainly collected by participant observations and informal interviews. Children’s cultural backgrounds are considered so as to highlight my observations of how multilingualism can take place in a Chinese community school where Chinese is supposed to be the medium of instruction while this practice remains a question in English mainstream schools with increasing numbers of EAL students studying in the class.