Analysing language education policy for China's minority groups in its entirety

Anwei Feng, Mamtimyn Sunuodula

Research output: Journal PublicationArticlepeer-review

38 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Two main bodies of literature are identifiable in minority education policy studies in China. Many adopt a descriptive approach to examining policy documents and general outcomes in their historical contexts while others focus on evaluating preferential policies made to address inequality issues in minority education. In most discussions, educators and scholars analyse or speculate about rationale behind minority education policies promulgated by governments at various levels in different periods. Rare attempts are made to develop a conceptual framework to make it possible to analyse the policy process in its entirety. Scholars and educators have seldom defined the relevant actors of a policy, to relate the policy to issues concerning these actors in the matrix of the social hierarchy, and to evaluate how policy outcomes feed back into the policy making and implementation cycle. This paper proposes an analytical framework that addresses these issues on the basis of a comparative analysis of recent literature on bi/trilingual education policies, official policy documents for minority groups and their implementation. The comparative overview is complemented by three case studies in three regions where empirical data were collected.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)685-704
Number of pages20
JournalInternational Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism
Volume12
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2009
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Bi/trilingualism
  • Case studies
  • China
  • Language policy
  • Minority education
  • Policy studies model

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Language and Linguistics
  • Education
  • Linguistics and Language

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