A study of the policy of promotion of minority languages in China

Abstract

This thesis sets out to analyse the policy of promotion of standardised minority languages and scripts, alongside the universal promotion of the standard Mandarin Han language and script, among minority language speakers of southwestern China lacking a previous tradition of widespread popular literacy. Two case studies are described, evaluated and contrasted, in which the same basic policy has produced significantly different results.<br/>Firstly, under the "Relative Success Question", light is shed on why the promotion of the Nuosu script among Nuosu-speakers in the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture (Sichuan) has been significantly more successful than that of the Zhuang script among Zhuang-speakers in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, based on the perception that in Liangshan the spread of rural adult minority language literacy and bilingual education have been basically achieved and gained popular acceptance, but not in Guangxi. 8 main hypotheses explaining the differences were explored and found to be valid. These related to ethnic identity, the linguistic behaviour of minority elites, the degree of grass-roots support for the promotion of minority languages and their scripts, attitudes towards minority language medium teaching (and its role in learning Han), the degree of identification with the type of script and oral standard being promoted and to whether or not the promoted script is considered a vehicle of socioeconomic development.<br/>Secondly (under the "Implementation Question") some of the limitations of the promotion of even the Nuosu script and the large gap between the constitutionally guaranteed principle of linguistic equality and the stark reality of minimal promotion and use of minority language scripts are explored, particular attention being paid to the passive opposition of many state employees towards the promotion of minority languages.<br/>Many of Zhuang (a Tai language)'s 17 million speakers have a limited ethnic consciousness and reject the label "Zhuang", dialectal fragmentation and unintelligibility being very marked. Although popularly thought to be largely hanised, this is only true of the urbanised minority and peasants living in close proximity with Han. Most Zhuang live Michael Prosser van der Riet Summary of doctoral thesis ii in poor rural areas of western Guangxi where they form the overwhelming majority and have no or minimal contact with the Han language outside the school context.<br/>Zhuang traditionally adapted Han characters to record regional Zhuang variants. In the 1950s a romanised script was created and promoted briefly in some rural areas, chiefly through literacy campaigns. It was reformed and relaunched in 1980 via literacy campaigns and experimental bilingual classes. By the mid-1980s the promotion had met with considerable, largely covert, opposition, and initial optimism among the promoters had given way to disillusion and pessimism. Officially the project of the Zhuang script is still there but in practice it is dead.<br/>The 2 million Nuosu speakers (classified as Yi) of Liangshan have a strong ethnic consciousness. Before 1950 shamans and some nobles used a complex 8,000 character script. In the 1950s a romanised script was promoted with little success, while simultaneously a spontaneous grass-roots movement sprang up among ordinary people to informally learn the traditional script to cover their increasing literacy needs. After the Cultural Revolution a reformed 819 character syllabary based on the traditional script was created and used in adult literacy campaigns and many schools, sometimes with Nuosu as a subject and sometimes as the sole or joint medium of instruction. In core Nuosu areas (in contrast to core Zhuang areas) the new script and its popular use is much in evidence, a large part of the rural population being literate in Nuosu. However, the promotion is far from ensuring the long-term use and maintenance of Nuosu and its implementation has met with serious obstacles.

Aquesta tesi pretén analitzar la política de promocionar (o no) les llengües i les escriptures estandarditzades minoritàries no hans, al costat de la promoció de la llengua i l'escriptura hans mandarines, entre els membres de nacionalitats minoritàries del sudoest de la Xina que prèviament no posseïen una tradició literària popular estesa. Amb aquesta finalitat es descriuran, s'avaluaran i es contrastaran dos estudis de cas en els quals la implementació de la mateixa política bàsica ha produït resultats significativament diferents.<br/>Sota la qüestió de l'èxit relatiu del nuosu s'exploren vuit hipòtesis per a aclarir per què la promoció de l'escriptura nuosu (=yi de Liangshan) ha tingut significativament més acceptació, efecte i èxit entre els parlants de nuosu de la prefectura autònoma yi de Liangshan (Sichuan) que no la de l'escriptura zhuang a la regió autònoma zhuang de Guangxi. Aquestes hipòtesis estan relacionades amb la identitat ètnica, el comportament lingüístic de les elits minoritàries, el grau de suport popular, les actituds cap a l'ensenyament d'escriptures no hans (i el paper d'aquestes escriptures en l'aprenentatge de l'han), el grau d'identificació amb el tipus d'escriptura i l'estàndard oral promoguts, i amb el fet que l'escriptura promoguda es considere o no com a vehicle de desenvolupament socioeconòmic.<br/>Sota la qüestió de la implementació s'analitzen algunes de les limitacions que afecten, fins i tot, la promoció de l'escriptura nuosu. Altrament dit, s'intenta explicar per què hi ha una divergència tan gran entre el principi constitucionalment reconegut d'igualtat lingüística (segons el qual es fomentaria una situació de bilingüisme a llarg termini) i la realitat d'una promoció i un ús mínims de les escriptures de les llengües minoritàries.<br/>S'examinarà sobretot l'oposició passiva de molts funcionaris envers la promoció de llengües minoritàries.<br/>Aquestes dues situacions de llengües minoritàries (la majoria de parlants de les quals té cap o un mínim de coneixements d'han) mostren dos resultats radicalment diferents de la mateixa política lingüística bàsica. Generalment la promoció de l'escriptura nuosu a Liangshan es considera com un èxit relatiu, mentre que la de l'escriptura zhuang a Guangxi és vista com un fracàs.