Heritage languages as transnational capital and habitus: Case studies of Chinese immigrants’ economic integration in Australia

Aims and objectives: This study explores how three first-generation Chinese immigrants manipulated Chinese as a heritage language (CHL) as part of their transnational habitus and capital to defuse the impact of structural constrains on their economic wellbeing in Australia. Methodology: The paper is part of a larger research project which uses ethnographic case study within Bourdieu’s theory of practice to examine how transnational habitus and capital shaped the participants’ economic life trajectories. Data and analysis: Data were collected through semi-structured interviews to document the participants’ reflective discourses about their occupational trajectories. We use thematic analysis as the key method to analyze the audio-recorded and transcribed data. Findings and conclusions: The findings demonstrate the participants’ diverse adaptation trajectories as they manipulated CHL as transnational habitus in distinct but flexible ways to negotiate gainful work for socioeconomic mobility. Based on these stories, we make a case for viewing heritage languages (HLs) as mediating resources for immigrants’ transnational habitus and capital in response to the demand for social integration. We argue that HLs deserve more attention as part of the resources for first-generation immigrants’ economic integration. Also, we suggest a shift from a deep-seated monolingual habitus toward a multilingual habitus that engenders multidimensional local spaces where linguistic minority communities are encouraged to maintain their HLs and exert agency to use glocalized HL habitus and capital to pursue their economic futures. Originality: Deploying a qualitative approach, the study makes both theoretical and empirical contribution to existing scholarship by validating the economic significance of CHL in Australia. Significance/implications: This article introduces a fresh perspective to investigate language and migration studies. The findings provide insights for educators, students, and their parents to revamp the rationale for maintaining HLs and evidence for policymakers for viewing bilingualism as resource for migrants and the migrant society.