A Review of Research on Language and Identity in China
Zhou Qingsheng
Chinese Journal of Language Policy and Planning ›› 2016, Vol. 1 ›› Issue (1) : 72-79.
A Review of Research on Language and Identity in China
How does language reflect and affect identity? How does language construct and maintain identity? And to what extent does language construct and maintain identity? These have been important issues in the field of language identity for a long time.In the past decades,Chinese scholars tried to answer these questions by focusing on the following six aspects:(1)the connotations of language identity,(2) social language and identity,(3) educational language and identity,(4)language and identity of migrant workers,(5)minority language andidentity,(6)overseas Chinese language andidentity.This article is a literature review that provides acomprehensive review of the relevant research on domestic and overseas Chinese,including the research progress and trends,major achievements and fields,the main methods and contributions.In the foreseeable future,the study of these six areas will remain very popular;however,the research in these areas calls for new methods,new paradigms,new approaches,and ethnography emerges as a promising alternative for the analysis of language and identity,which are conducive to examing “mindsets” of language users.A lot remains to be done in this field.
language and identity / society / education / migrant workers / ethnic minorities / overseas Chinese
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