Chinese Heritage Language Maintenance in the Context of Superdiversity: Perspectives from Dialect-background Heritage Learners.

This article examines Chinese heritage language (CHL) maintenance among dialect-background CHL learners within the superdiverse context of New Zealand's Chinese diaspora. Based on questionnaire data from 56 university students who speak non-Mandarin Chinese dialects, the study finds that these learners exhibit diverse linguistic repertoires and sociocultural backgrounds, including multilingualism with Chinese dialects, Mandarin, English, and other third-country languages. While dialects remain prevalent in home use, there is a generational decline in the number of Chinese varieties spoken, alongside a general shift toward English, and Mandarin proficiency among dialect-background learners remains low despite its status as the primary language taught in Chinese programs. The findings highlight the complexity of CHL maintenance in superdiverse immigrant communities and suggest that policymakers and educators should recognize the heterogeneity of CHL learners, support language use beyond the home domain, and address educational inequities in Mandarin-focused curricula.