Language Spread Versus Language Maintenance: Policy Making and Implementation Process

Blachford, Dongyan

doi:10.1007/1-4020-8039-5_6

Cited by 19 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…In addition, officials also claim that guidelines from the state regarding minority languages are too broad to be instructive and operational, thus requiring in their view considerable efforts for their interpretation before any decision can be made (Blachford 2004;Schnack 2016;Tsung, Wang and Zhang 2012). This sense of inconvenience may also be exacerbated by the large portion of administrative positions occupied by Han officials, many of whom are not familiar with regulations regarding minority language rights (Zhou 2004) -i.e.…”

Section: Ministry Of Education and National Language Commission (2016)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Structures of feeling in language policy: the case of Tibetan in China

Zhang

Pérez‐Milans

2018

Lang Policy

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This article examines the case of minority language education in China, an area of enquiry that has received increasing attention as new studies report on how the lack of institutional recognition that minority languages receive erodes ethnic minority identities and disempowers social actors living in minority areas. Drawing on Williams' (1977) notion of "structures of feeling", as well as on Woolard's (1985) critical take on the concepts of integrated linguistic market and culture hegemony, we empirically analyse individuals' engagement with normative meanings and values linked to language policies. In particular, we focus on situated practices at a secondary school located in an ethnically diverse city in southwestern China in which Tibetans constitute the largest ethnic minority group. Our data show emergent communicative forms, or "structures of feeling", through which school actors enact, challenge and shape an institutional logic that marginalizes the Tibetan section within the school while constructing Tibetan language education as a pedagogical space with no room for Tibetan religious content. In so doing, our analysis sheds light on complex on-the-ground dynamics, with focus on shifting values on what constitutes appropriate knowledge and a "good" minority language school vis-à-vis wider socioinstitutional processes of transformation.

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Section: Ministry Of Education and National Language Commission (2016)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Structures of feeling in language policy: the case of Tibetan in China

Zhang

Pérez‐Milans

2018

Lang Policy

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“…Linguistically, Uyghurs have a strong consciousness of their heritage. Over the last half century there has been a political tussle over the form of written script to be used for the Uyghur language, involving the traditional Arabic-based script favoured by the Uyghurs and the script which is closer to the romanised hanyu pinyin alphabet preferred by the central government (Blachford 2006).…”

Section: The Uyghursmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Of the numerous official language policies introduced in Xinjiang in recent decades, those that had the most impact were the five-year plan for language reform promulgated in 1985 (cited in Blachford 2006) and a recent document by the Xinjiang government on bilingual education (Khotan County CCP Committee and Khotan People's Government 2004). Against the backdrop of the restoration of the traditional written script of Uyghur and a relatively liberal period for bilingual education after the Cultural Revolution, the 1985 document incorporates a directive that within five years, school teachers and administrators should use standard Chinese in formal domains such as classrooms and meetings, and all secondary school graduates should be competent in standard Chinese.…”

Section: The Uyghursmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparison of trilingual education policies for ethnic minorities in China

Adamson

Feng

2009

Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education

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In recent decades, the People's Republic of China (PRC) has instigated language policies in education ostensibly designed to foster trilingualism in ethnic minority groups. The policies, which, as this paper shows, vary from region to region, encompass the minority group's home language, Chinese, and English. Based on data arising from interviews, documentary analysis and secondary sources, this paper examines the tensions behind these trilingual education policies by comparing the implementation of policies for three minority groups: the Zhuang, the Uyghur and the Yi people. It identifies some of the facilitators and barriers that affect the achievement of trilingualism, and finds that ethnic minority languages are at a disadvantage compared with Chinese and English. The paper concludes by making some suggestions for enhancing the effectiveness of the trilingualism policy.

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“…Blachford (2004) surveys historically the reform of the Uyghur and Kazakh written languages and the spread of Putonghua in Xinjiang; an identical paradigm can explain the status of Nuosu in Liangshan from 1949 to the present day. Blachford (2004) surveys historically the reform of the Uyghur and Kazakh written languages and the spread of Putonghua in Xinjiang; an identical paradigm can explain the status of Nuosu in Liangshan from 1949 to the present day.…”

Section: Propagation Of Putonghua and The Survival Of Nuosumentioning

confidence: 99%

Trilingualism in Education in China: Models and Challenges

Feng

Adamson²

2015

Multilingual Education

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The book series Multilingual Education publishes top quality monographs and edited volumes containing empirical research on multilingual language acquisition, language contact and the respective roles of languages in contexts where the languages are not cognate and where the scripts are often different, in order to be able to better understand the processes and issues involved and to inform governments and language policy makers. The volumes in this series are aimed primarily at researchers in education, especially multilingual education and other related fields, and those who are involved in the education of (language) teachers. Others who will be interested include key stakeholders and policy makers in the field of language policy and education. The editors welcome proposals and ideas for books that fit the series. For more information on how you can submit a proposal, please contact the publishing editor, Jolanda Voogd.

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Language Spread Versus Language Maintenance: Policy Making and Implementation Process

Cited by 19 publications

References 2 publications

Structures of feeling in language policy: the case of Tibetan in China

Structures of feeling in language policy: the case of Tibetan in China

A comparison of trilingual education policies for ethnic minorities in China

Trilingualism in Education in China: Models and Challenges

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