ERIC Number: EJ1446942
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0143-4632
EISSN: EISSN-1747-7557
Family Language Policy in Multi-Ethnic and Multilingual Villages in Yunnan, China: A Comparative Case Study of Kena Village and Anmin Village
Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, v45 n9 p3846-3861 2024
Based on Spolsky's (2004) tripartite framework for language policy, this study explores language practices, language ideology, and language management in relation to minority languages, Putonghua, and English in ethnic minority families in Yunnan, China. Through observations of and interviews with nine interethnic marriage families in Kena Village and Anmin Village, we found that although people in both villages recognise the value of their native languages in ethnic identification and cultural inheritance, people in Anmin Village make efforts to teach the children Mosuo, while children in Kena Village usually acquire Malimasa naturally. Such differences are associated with sociolinguistic environment and child agency. Meanwhile, Putonghua is widely used in television programmes and smartphone applications and acquired by the young generation due to national policy and the spread of smartphones and television. Families in both villages demonstrated similar aspirations for their children's English learning, but low socioeconomic status affected their ability to invest in foreign language learning. The results suggest that in the special context of multi-ethnic and multilingual villages in Yunnan the agency of rural parents and grandparents is relatively weak, and family language policies are mainly influenced by meso -- (e.g. school) and macro- (e.g. socioeconomic environment, national policy) level factors.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Language Usage, Family Environment, Public Policy, Ideology, Language Minorities, Ethnic Groups, Rural Areas, Native Language, Ethnicity, Cultural Maintenance, Language Maintenance, Sociolinguistics, English (Second Language), Socioeconomic Status, Multilingualism, Parents, Mandarin Chinese, Sino Tibetan Languages
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: China
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A