The linguistic landscape, language use, attitudes, vitality and planning in Inner Mongolia / Du Jinke

Du , Jinke (2024) The linguistic landscape, language use, attitudes, vitality and planning in Inner Mongolia / Du Jinke. PhD thesis, Universiti Malaya.

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Abstract

Although there has been increasing concern over ethnic language vitality and maintenance over the years, ethnic languages have continued to be squeezed out further by majority and global languages due to modernization and globalization. Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, located in northern China, is a multiethnic and multilingual region that is the main residence for Chinese Mongols and home to several other Chinese ethnic minorities. Over the past decades, a clear language shift from ethnic languages to Mandarin (commonly referred to as Chinese) has occurred, and some ethnic languages have been gradually replaced by Chinese in many domains, although many efforts have been made to maintain and revitalize them in Inner Mongolia. English is also becoming relatively important. This study examines language use, language attitudes, language vitality, the linguistic landscape, and language planning among three ethnic languages in Inner Mongolia, namely Mongolian, Korean, and Daur. By adopting a mixed method approach and conducting eight months of fieldwork in Inner Mongolia, data consisting of 567 questionnaires, 28 interviews, and 1046 photographs of public signs, as well as relevant national, regional, and local language planning documents, was gathered and analyzed. The findings show that (1) the three ethnic languages are still used in various domains and interviewees hold positive attitudes towards ethnic languages, and that Mongolian has relatively high language vitality whereas Korean and Daur are endangered; (2) the linguistic landscape is one of abundant linguistic diversity, and has been influenced by top-down policy, bottom-up language preferences, economic development needs, and tourist demands; (3) in contrast to Korean and Daur, Mongolian enjoys higher status and more official support in Inner Mongolia, and (4) current regional language planning consolidates the existing linguistic hierarchy. The limitations include the facts that the survey respondents were not perfectly randomly sampled; there is an uneven distribution of gender, age, and education in the results; the ethnic language materials relied on in the study are somewhat limited; only five commercial streets in three major cities were selected for the linguistic landscape study; and, of its nature, this descriptive study is unable to offer deep insight into the overall linguistic landscape. The significance of the study is first, that it contributes to the empirical and conceptual knowledge of sociolinguistic research in Chinese ethnic areas and provides a base for future assessment and comparative studies; and second, that it provides empirical data for future studies intended to inform the implementation of appropriate or applicable minority language planning to revitalize ethnic languages in China and internationally.

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