ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the role of family language policies in the context of family language maintenance, multilingualism and language shift among Chinese diaspora in Australia. It discusses the theoretic framework of the family language policy, followed by a detailed analysis of two Chinese families and their members' personal experience in the local Chinese diaspora. The chapter mainly focuses on family member's personal experience in the local Chinese communities in Australia. Education in the home language is another significant factor that has influenced multilingual achievement and career success among the Chinese diaspora in Australia. Whereas some Chinese diaspora families in Australia have shifted to English, the dominant language, which holds political and economic capital, some Chinese families have maintained multilingualism and strong cultural identities. Given the strong political and economic power China has gained in recent years, multilingualism may return as a major trend of the Chinese diasporas in Australia against language shift and monolingual assimilation.
