The dilemma: a study of bilingual education policy in Yi minority schools in Liangshan

Abstract

Bilingual education has been officially implemented at minority schools in Liangshan, Sichuan, P.R. China, for over 30 years. The benefit is evident. It helps significantly reduce the number of dropouts because bilingual education ensures the monolingual Yi pupils to start learning with their mother tongue. Consequently, more Yi students can go for higher levels of education. However, since the dominant Han culture is exerting strong influence upon the Yi, the Chinese language is paid great attention in its bilingual education and the education of the Yi language is watered down. To change this, the prefecture government hopes to find a way, through appropriate policy process, for the Yi students to maintain the minority language and at the same time master the national lingua franca Chinese. But the central–local conflicting policies put the stakeholders in dilemma. The present article attempts to investigate the status quo of bilingual education and its policy process in Liangshan so as to interpret the dilemma and hopefully provide reference for policy improvement.

Keywords:

• the dilemma
• bilingual education policy
• the Yi
• Liangshan

Notes

1. ‘Ji hua’ is the Chinese Pinyin for (simplified Chinese).

2. ‘Nra xix’ is the Yi Pinyin for (modern Yi).

3. ‘Zhao gu’ is the Chinese Pinyin for (simplified Chinese).

4. ‘Bop shep’ is the Yi Pinyin for (modern Yi).

5. ‘Bu yi ding’ is the Chinese Pinyin for (simplified Chinese).

6. ‘Ssi ap dda’ is the Yi Pinyin for (modern Yi).

7. Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture is located in Jilin Province, northeastern China. It borders North Korea. It was founded in 1952. The population is around 2.2 million; 39% of them are of Korean nationality, according to the fifth national census. Both Chinese and Korean are the official languages in Yanbian. Most people in this area are bilingual.

8. Petitioning Bureau, also known as Bureau for Letters and Calls, is the administrative system at national and local levels for hearing suggestions, complaints, and grievances from individuals or groups in P.R. China. The staff channel the issues to appropriate departments and supervise the progress of settlement.