In:Education in Languages of Lesser Power: Asia-Pacific Perspectives
Edited by Craig Alan Volker and Fred E. Anderson
[IMPACT: Studies in Language, Culture and Society 35] 2015
► pp. 49–64
Power and other issues in minority language education in China
The case of Bai in Northwestern Yunnan
Published online: 5 February 2015
https://doi.org/10.1075/impact.35.04din
https://doi.org/10.1075/impact.35.04din
Bai, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Yunnan, is generally considered a highly siniticized minority language, although some argue that it could be a Sinitic language branching off millennia ago. As a minority nationality, the Bái enjoy the privilege of autonomous administration in DàlÇ Prefecture, but education in Bai receives little attention, since Bái intellectuals have a long history of being literate in (Classical) Chinese. This chapter discusses difficulties in providing language education in Bai, pointing out that an established tradition of education in the minority language and supportive attitudes from the language community are decisive factors in promoting bilingual education in China. The struggle of the Bai case represents the general situation of minority language education in China as a whole.
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