Perceptions of invisible Zhuang minority language in Linguistic Landscapes of the People’s Republic of China and implications for language policy

Abstract

The article presents data from a 2013–2019 ethnography of Zhuang language policy to support an analysis of implications for language policy research and scholarship of findings about the (in)visibility of publicly displayed Zhuang. The analysis challenges core assumptions of language policy-making, advocacy and scholarship and explicates the general implications of this challenge beyond China, particularly for minority languages. The most important assumption that this article interrogates is that a written language on display will be recognised as that language by its speakers. Further, it argues that literacy, script, and other language policies impact on display policies and must work together; they do not in the Zhuang case. In making a case for language policy informed by ethnographic research, this article reviews the foundations of socially-situated analyses of Linguistic Landscapes. To galvanise further such research and articulate it to policy-makers, the article employs the term ‘lived landscape approach’.

construction of China-ASEAN Zhuang and Thai language culture converged community in the context of the belt and road initiative

“…Although the state encourages bilingual teaching, it is hard to resist the impact of the spread of Mandarin on the number of native speakers. On the other hand, Thai, because of the complexity of the ethnic composition in Thailand, all ethnic groups have their own language, and there are clear class differences in the use of language, including royal language, monastic language and secular language, the use of people covering the entire country, and therefore the language is more complex and diverse (Grey, 2021).…”