Bilingual Education in China: Practices, Policies and Concepts (Bilingual Education and Bilingualism)

This work compares and contrasts two strands of bilingualism in China, one for minority nationality groups, the other for majority. It examines the history, policy, philosophy, politics, provision and practice in bilingual, trilingual or multilingual education involving Mandarin Chinese, English, and minority languages. This volume brings a mixed group of researchers together to discuss issues in bilingual or trilingual education for the majority and minority nationality groups in China and to explore the relationship between the two. Articles range from reports of bilingual or trilingual education projects in remote minority regions to discussions about Chinese-English bilingual education in major economic centres. The complexity and diversity of the linguistic situations, practices, policies and theories of bilingual education is widely acknowledged in a country with a population of 1.3 billion people consisting of 56 officially recognised indigenous nationalities speaking more than 80 languages. This book addresses this complexity and diversity with a comprehensive examination of issues in bilingual education for both minority and majority nationalities in China and explores the links between the two major forms of bilingual education. It includes voices that are ‘emic'or ‘etic', local or international, and voices that come from those who work at the forefront of bilingual education or in the development of theory. All these voices are needed as different and divergent perspectives represent a reality Compares and contrasts two strands of bilingualism in China, one for minority nationality groups, the other for majority. This volume examines the history, policy, philosophy, politics, provision and practice in bilingual, trilingual or multilingual education involving Mandarin Chinese, English, and minority languages