Multi-model approaches in multilingual education for minorities in China

Abstract

This chapter explores various multi-model approaches in multilingual education in China. It explores the disconnect between China’s stated policy of multilingual education for its ethnic minorities and the implementation of that policy. Unofficial information indicates that people from more than 50 minorities who came from rural and remote areas helped build the massive new developments in Beijing and Shanghai. The importance and benefit of multilingualism in a country has been a key theme discussed by many scholars. Multilingual education was promoted in many minority areas including Yunnan, Guangxi, Qinghai, Xinjiang, and Inner Mongolia. A mother-tongue based instruction model for minority students has been the norm since 1949. In recent years, some scholars have been concerned that mother tongue education may impair minority students’ ability to learn Chinese, which is harmful to their future development and national unity of the country.