A Comparative Study of Multi-ethnic Bilingual Education Policies in China and the UK

Abstract

Multi-ethnic bilingual education policies are crucial for multi-ethnic nations in safeguarding ethnic minorities’ rights, maintaining stability and improving national cohesion. Both China and the UK are multi-ethnic countries that developed bilingual education policies. This study uses documentary, comparative and historical research methods to review the multi-ethnic bilingual education policies of the two countries and to compare their similarities and differences. The study finds that the two countries have similarities in terms of policy objectives, development processes and linguistic perspectives. However, due to the national and ethnic backgrounds and cultural differences between the two countries, there are differences in terms of legalisation and mainstream language functions. The study recommends that China should provide higher-quality bilingual education resources in ethnic minority areas. In addition, a variety of bilingual education teaching models should be provided to further help build ethnic confidence in ethnic minority areas. Finally, the Chinese government could regularly monitor the status of minority languages to protect endangered languages and valuable ethnic heritage promptly.