Download Full PDF

Xinsheng Cao

University College Dublin, Ireland

 

Abstract

This study examines how Chinese language teachers in Dublin interpret students’ home language practices and how these judgments shape classroom moves. Using a sequential mixed-methods design, the study surveyed and interviewed teachers (n = 12) and families (n = 37). Alignment was operationalized with a Bias Index (BI = teacher oral proficiency rating - Home Input Index, both 1–5), based on a parent questionnaire on home Chinese use (frequency and domains) and a teacher 1–5 oral proficiency rating. Descriptive comparisons and thematic coding linked BI patterns to reported decisions on task difficulty and scaffolding. Results show limited alignment: teachers slightly overestimated home input for heritage families and underestimated it for mixedheritage families. Three classroom heuristics shaped these judgments: in-class oral fluency, handwriting quality, and participation. Overestimation was associated with premature removal of supports; underestimation led to prolonged simplification that narrowed practice opportunities. Teacher background mattered: locally raised heritage teachers were more accepting of hybrid practices than native-speaker teachers, producing different task progressions. Teacher perception therefore functions as an active mediator in the ideology–management–practice chain. The Bias Index provides a practical way to make this mechanism visible. The study suggests light-touch intake data, reversible checkpoints for scaffolding, and brief, practice-oriented parent communication to reduce systematic misclassification.

 

Keywords

Home language policy, teacher perception, teacher bias, Chinese language education, mixedheritage learners