Abstract
In recent decades, the commodification of the English language has aroused intensive research interest in the sociolinguistics on a global scale, but studies on the commodification of the Chinese language are relatively rare. Most studies take a critical approach in relation to its adverse impacts on minority rights and social justice. This study examined the language landscape in Chiangmai, Thailand, and the linguistic beliefs of local Thai Chinese language learners. Based on their feedback, this study investigated the commodification of Chinese language education in the community of Chinese language learners in Chiangmai. We found that from a less critical perspective, the commodification of a second language provides more accessible and affordable educational opportunities for learners, especially those from low-income families, and at the same time language proficiency can broaden learners’ career choices and provide employees with additional value in industries, such as tourism, commerce, and services. This finding implies that language commodification, rather than typically being associated with linguistic imperialism and unbalanced socio-economic status, can be a contributing factor in promoting higher-education availability and social sustainability in certain circumstances. There may be some mediating factors between the commodification of language and changes in the sustainable balance of language, opening up space for future research to explore.
Highlights
Recent sociolinguistic studies of globalization highlighted how multilingualism is transformed by material conditions of the new globalized economy
In this context, learning Chinese as a foreign language outside China has been booming across many countries in recent decades in terms of the number of learners and schools offering courses [7]
This paper has examined the language commodification of Chinese as revealed in Chiangmai’s local linguistic landscape, the current linguistic belief of Chinese learners, and some of the possible impacts of commodification on social sustainability
Summary
Recent sociolinguistic studies of globalization highlighted how multilingualism is transformed by material conditions of the new globalized economy. With the increased contact and mixing of different language varieties under globalization, the nationalist ideology of “one language – one culture – one nation” has been inevitably challenged [5] and multilingualism has emerged as a central concern for post-national sociolinguistics [6] In this context, learning Chinese as a foreign language outside China has been booming across many countries in recent decades in terms of the number of learners and schools offering courses [7] (see [8] for a discussion of how Korean language, or Korean–English bilingualism, has gained its popularity in some global linguistic markets in the new economy). Little research has investigated how learners and educators construct the meaning of language learning in certain contexts, while a great deal of work has been devoted to theorizing language acquisition and teaching strategies based on the context of Chinese language education
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