A systematic review of Chinese heritage language learning in Europe: Trends, challenges and potentials

This article systematically reviews 20 years of publications related to Chinese as a Heritage Language (HL) learning in European contexts. Adhering to guidance for research synthesis, this study runs a systematic review in English (i.e. Web of Science and Scopus) and Chinese (i.e. CNKI) databases based on this paper’s research scope. To explore the reported experiences of Chinese HL stakeholders (e.g. learners, teachers, and parents) in Europe, an in-depth analysis of 17 journal articles describes the research trends, encompassing research domains, focal countries, methods, and significant findings. This study identifies three key observations: (1) Pull and push factors in HL maintenance; (2) Multilingual and multimodal language practices in various settings; (3) Dynamics in identity negotiation and reconstruction, from the focal publications. It discusses the major issues encountered by the HL stakeholders, such as the mismatch of linguistic repertoires between teachers and learners in multilingual environments, the shortfall of collaboration amongst families, Chinese language schools and public (mainstream) educational authorities, and the dynamic and evolving outlook of HL identity-making. Reflecting on the research procedures, findings and discussions, we suggest specific potential directions for further research on HL learning in Europe, which is endowed with multilingualism, and beyond.