Abstract
This paper explores sustainable multilingual education policy for minority languages in one of the higher education institutions (HEI) in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) in China. Following Spolsky’s theory of language policy ecology, this study conducted a survey of 276 students, examining the language education policy implemented inside and outside the classroom in their campus lives. The data were analyzed from the perspective of policy orientation, management issues and actual linguistic practice. The results showed that Chinese, Tibetan and English were all valued and respected in the current policy; however, the academic function of language was mainly undertaken by Chinese, while the social function was equally shouldered by Chinese and Tibetan. The findings gave us an insight into the present status of language education in this specific HEI in Tibet, and further offered valuable information for the design of sustainable multilingual policies for minority education at the higher education level in China.
Highlights
Tibet, located in the southwest of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is one of the five ethnic autonomous regions in Mainland China
Most participants from the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) started learning Tibetan literacy when they started primary education, but participants from outside the TAR started learning Tibetan much later; most of them had only started learning after they entered the higher education institutions (HEI)
Following Spolsky’s [6] theory of the ecology of language policy, the present study analyzed the sustainability of the Language education policy (LEP) in a typical HEI located in Tibet
Summary
Tibet, located in the southwest of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is one of the five ethnic autonomous regions in Mainland China. As a main place of habitation for Tibetans historically, more than 90% of its population are Tibetans [1] It is an important gateway for China to South Asia, bordering Burma, India, Bhutan, Nepal and Kashmir. When we look deeper into the matter from the perspective of language, we may see that local Tibetans’ demand for language has been affected by the changing context of their expanding communication circles involving people of different native languages and cultures While their universities and colleges, positioned as a link between the global and the local, are enjoying easier access to the outer world, as well as a greater potential to influence changes in the local society, they undertake the responsibility for a change to equip their students with multilingual abilities to adapt to this new environment [2]
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