Bilingual Education in China: MBilingual Education in China: Minority Ethnic Groupsinority Ethnic Groups

Kaijun LinSLS 380

Research Question?

• How does five autonomous regions bilingual education differ from other provinces?– Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region– Tibet Autonomous Region– Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region– Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region– Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region

Reason

• know about other prvinces bilingual education

• minority ethnic groups students' bilingual school

• additive and subtractive contexts• transitional bilingual education

Tibetans of Qinghai Province

• ‘Han Chinese look down on us’• ‘do not know or care about minorities,

their language and culture’• ‘Han immigrants take the best job’• Hindered

– Teachers have left to search for better-paid jobs

– Live in Remote areas

Chinese Constitution

• ‘All of the nationalities of China are equal’• ‘Every ethnic minority is use and develop their language’• In Article 37, ‘In schools where the majority of students

belong to an ethnic minority, the language of textbooks and instruction should be the language of that minority, if conditions permit. The Chinese language should be taught in the last two years of primary school and in middle school order to promote the national language.’

• Article 49 states, ‘The administration of autonomous regions should encourage the study of ethnic languages. Chinese cadres should learn the local language of the ethnic group, and the cadres of ethnic minorities, while studying their own language, shall also learn to speak and write the standard national language.’

• Bilingual patterns differs from place to place – population distribution– living environment– cultural development

Bilingual Practice in Ethnic-Minority Areas

• The majority use the ethnic language– only a minority are bilin

gual– with a number of adult

s being bilingual

ethnic language

minority are bilingual

adults being bilingual

Bilingual Practice in Ethnic-Minority Areas

• In most parts of the region people use their own ethnic language, but a small part of the population of the region is bilingual, also speaking Chinese or another ethnic language

• Ethnic people are bilingual, speaking their own language and Chinese or another ethnic language

ethnic language

Chinese+

another ethnic language

Bilingual Practice in Ethnic-Minority Areas

• adopted the Chinese language ethnic groups

Chinese

Bilingual Programs

Primary School High SchoolEthnic Language

Bilingual Programs

• from the 2nd or 3rd grade of primary school to the end of middle school

Chinese Language

Law

Math

science

literature

Bilingual Programs

• 1st and 2nd grade students use ethnic language textbooks only

Bilingual Programs

Rural Areas Urban Areas

Ethnic Language Ethnic Language+

Chinese

Bilingual Programs

• In the first year of primary school– two periods of spoken Chinese

Chinese

ethnic language

Chinese

Biligual Program

• In preschool

ethnic language6 months or 1 year

Chinese

primary school