Keywords
Zhuang language, bilingual education, linguistic and cultural heritage
Abstract
Though many people see China as an ethnically and culturally homogenous country, it is actually host to a wide variety of ethnicities. For example, though Mandarin is China’s official language, and Cantonese is commonly used in Hong Kong, the Zhuang language is spoken by an ethnic group of the same name whose population is equal to 90% of Guangxi Zhuangzu Autonomous Region (GZAR), one of China’s five autonomous regions (Zhou, 2000). Nanning, the capital city of GZAR, has a population of approximately 7.55 million, and the Zhuang accounts for 4.21 million citizens, equal to 55.78% of the city’s population. However, their language is not represented in schools. As a result, the younger generation is increasingly unfamiliar with their linguistic and cultural heritage, which has created integrational communication barriers in their homes and a loss of their cultural identity and heritage. To address these concerns, it is critical to create new education policies that mandate bilingual education in GZAR. The current study seeks to identify potential barriers to implementing bilingual education, develop strategies that could be used to support bilingual education, and determine the benefits of implementing Zhuang-Han education.
Primary Advisor
Zuochen Zhang
Program Reader
Cam Cobb
Degree Name
Master of Education
Department
Education
Document Type
Major Research Paper
Convocation Year
2020