Capitalising on silver tongues: A case study of self-advancement and parenting practice in north-east China

This article explores why Chinese parents are keen to urge their children to advance themselves by actively participating in elocution training, a popular form of shadow education. Drawing on 14 in-depth interviews with parents in north-east China, this study highlights that these parents hope that their children will accumulate cultural capital by exercising their oratorical skills. Many parents expect their children to articulate cultural capital in the present on the performance stage and transform it into life-long symbolic currency on the metaphorical stage of their future lives. Thus, this article argues that the purssuit of “silver tongues” is not only the articulation of parents' expectations regarding their children's personal growth, but also a critical method of constructing a utopic accessible, successful, and meaningful life for these parents, rather than their children.