China's Assimilationist Language Policy: The Impact on Indigenous/Minority Literacy and Social Harmony

摘要

This book contains much hard-to-obtain information about bilingual education among China's 55 minority groups - eight per cent of the population. Recent field-work and Chinese sources underlie this detailed discussion. The broad range of topics ranges from experimental preschools through options to take the secondary or university entrance exams entirely in the Mongolian, Tibetan, Korean, Uyghur or Zhuang languages (except for a Chinese section). New universities offer four year degrees in science or engineering, taught entirely in Mongolian, Tibetan or Korean. Even so, many parents prefer Chinese-language schools. A survey of Hui students, Chinese Moslems who are historically Chinese-speaking, finds that they have higher self-esteem than their fluently bilingual Uyghur and Mongolian classmates.