‘Glad that my digital skills are useful’: The use of apps in heritage language literacy by biracial Chinese adolescents

This study explores how biracial half-Chinese adolescents from intermarriage families actively and regularly engage in Chinese heritage language-learning activities through digital literacy in home domains. Involving five adolescents (ages 10–18), the study draws on ethnographic data that includes home observations, semi-structured interviews, field notes, artifacts, and recorded videos. The findings suggest that when acting upon their agency in the context of family language policy, adolescents can transform the home domain into a dynamic space where heritage language learning and development take place in active and engaging ways. The results indicate that heritage learners can create different pathways and opportunities for heritage language development by activating their multimodal digital skills and tapping into different linguistic and non-linguistic resources to develop their heritage literacy. Their self-motivation, promoted by digital practices, is a driving force, encouraging children to enhance language management strategies, which, in turn, reinforces the adolescents as agents of heritage language learning.