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2021 Vol. 6, No. 5
Published: 2021-09-10

 
1 Language as a Special Kind of Intangible Cultural Heritage
Sun Hongkai
2021 Vol. 6 (5): 1-1 [Abstract] ( 10 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 87 )
5 Centenary Talk on Language Modernization (Continued)
Lu Zhuangzhang et al.
2021 Vol. 6 (5): 5-9 [Abstract] ( 11 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 91 )
10 Introduction: School of Language Life in China and World Language Life
Gao Xuesong
2021 Vol. 6 (5): 10-11 [Abstract] ( 8 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 110 )
12 National Language Capacity Evaluation Indexes and Their Applications
Zhang Tianwei
DOI: 10.19689/j.cnki.cn10-1361/h.20210501
National language capacity is an integral component and important manifestation of a country’s comprehensive national power. To evaluate the national language capacity of a country, this study proposes a three-level evaluation index system, developed with reference to objective data and a multi-index comprehensive evaluation approach. The evaluation system consists of 5 first-level abilities, 12 second-level abilities, and 26 third-level specifications, whereby the first-level indexes, including management ability, control ability, creation ability, development ability, and expansion ability, perform paramount roles. Using these indicators, the language capacities in various countries can be quantified and compared. With further data analysis and verification concerning the system, this study reveals that the language capacity of a country is closely related to its economic strength. The values of national language capacity in the individual countries over the world form a pyramid structure, with the United States, China, and the United Kingdom occupying the top. Among the five first-level indexes, the control ability, creation ability and expansion ability have greater impacts on the overall national language capacity of a country. When it comes to the national language capacity of China, this paper proposes that efforts need to be made in aspects such as language research, language education, language industry, and academic discourse in order to enhance its overall national language capacity.
2021 Vol. 6 (5): 12-24 [Abstract] ( 8 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 144 )
25 International Plain Language Movement for Optimizing Government-to-Citizen Communication
Xiong Wenxin
DOI: 10.19689/j.cnki.cn10-1361/h.20210502
Adopting plain language is a practical communication strategy in which speakers/writers adjust their language use to accommodate the literacy of the communication partners. It plays a vital part in optimizing the top-down communication between the governments and the public. In the international plain language movements, the respect for civil rights and the building of an open and transparent government are the driving forces that shape the agenda of plain language promotion. Drawing on the previous disputes over the definition and the merits and demerits of plain language, this paper reviews the background and history of the international plain language movement in public affairs and elaborates on the attributes of plain language from diverse perspectives such as dynamic processes, static texts and communication partners. With reference to the ultimate goal of the plain language movement and the changes in the means of government-citizen interaction, some suggestions are proposed in this paper, including employing plain language for the targeted audience, improving the writing standard and assessment parameters for the language, and establishing institutional systems to ensure the use of plain language in practice.
2021 Vol. 6 (5): 25-37 [Abstract] ( 23 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 86 )
38 A Decolonial Perspective on Language Life in New Zealand
Wang Danping
DOI: 10.19689/j.cnki.cn10-1361/h.20210503
In recent years, decolonisation has regained its vitality as a powerful theoretical perspective. Its emphasis lies in taking an epistemological approach to dismantling the coloniality of Western knowledge and confronting the epistemic inequality with alternative models for knowledge production. The decolonisation theoretical perspective takes a critical position on the hegemony of the English language that eliminates the diversity of world languages, which thereby causes calamitous consequences of a language learning crisis in Anglophone countries. Viewing this issue from a decolonial perspective is essential to understanding these deep-rooted problems in Western societies. Due to its successful experience in revitalising indigenous language and knowledge, Aotearoa New Zealand serves as an ideal model for many Western countries undergoing the decolonisation process. Thanks to the constant struggle between the Māori and their colonising counterparts, te reo Māori and mātauranga Māori have survived to become integral parts of New Zealand’s education system and the national identity of New Zealanders. As a result, translanguaging practices stand out as a distinctive feature of language use in New Zealand. Through reviewing the unique features of language politics in New Zealand and the recent development of Chinese language education, this paper finds that the country’s decolonial efforts have important implications for the future of the teaching and research of Chinese as an additional language, and Chinese as a heritage language for linguistic and cultural maintenance in New Zealand.
2021 Vol. 6 (5): 38-48 [Abstract] ( 14 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 100 )
49 Foreign Language Policy and Education in Arab Countries: Effects and Problems
Liao Jing
DOI: 10.19689/j.cnki.cn10-1361/h.20210504
Globalization has led to increases in different foreign language use in Arab countries. Because of that, Arab countries have created a multilingual education policy which adopted one foreign language as the main language and multiple foreign languages as supplemental languages. In addition, foreign languages are generally used as the medium of instruction for STEM courses. This policy aims at improving the national language capacity by focusing on the instrumental functions of foreign languages and the dominant function of mother tongue. Such endeavours succeeded in one way or another but failed to achieve part of the language policy goals since there is no unified planning work program done by a specific language institute. Therefore, the paper suggests that the Chinese foreign education policy should serve the Chinese language development and call for a specific language institute to well plan the whole language issues and practice it, so as to balance the relations between mother tongue instruction and foreign language education. Also, the paper advises to stress the instrumental value of Chinese language when promote its education in the Arab world so as to actively integrate itself into the multilingual and multicultural Arab countries.
2021 Vol. 6 (5): 49-59 [Abstract] ( 12 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 100 )
60 Hebrew Education for Immigrants in Israel: Practice and Implications
Anna Gurevich and Yin Li
DOI: 10.19689/j.cnki.cn10-1361/h.20210505
The past decades have witnessed a large-scale transnational movement of people around the world and an increasing attention on language education for immigrants. This study reviews Hebrew education for immigrants in Israel. After the founding of Israel, large numbers of immigrants with different language backgrounds poured in. The Hebrew education for immigrants implemented by the Israeli government not only helped the immigrants quickly integrate into the new country and contribute to the national development, but also revived the Hebrew spoken language that has disappeared for nearly two thousand years. This review shows that in the process of making these world-renowned achievements, the government’s macro national policies and micro guidelines have played vital roles. In Israel, the Hebrew education policy has roughly evolved from the stage of “Hebrew monolingual education” to the stage of “multilingual education with Hebrew as the core” with an emphasis on practicability, flexibility and scientific teaching methods in practice. The implications of Israel’s Hebrew education for immigrants for other countries’ second language education include optimizing education planning at the national level, stressing the role of daily practical use and play in children’s early second language development, formulating research-based second language literacy education program, and cultivating metalinguistic awareness in young bilingual children.
2021 Vol. 6 (5): 60-68 [Abstract] ( 11 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 94 )
69 Interdisciplinary Talk: World Language Life
Zhao Ronghui, Wang Hui, Wang Yubo, Ingrid Piller, Andrew Moody, Zhu Hua, Li Jia and Zhang Jie
2021 Vol. 6 (5): 69-76 [Abstract] ( 13 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 90 )
77 A Study on Ambiguous Interpretations of the Pretend-Sentence in Chinese: From the Perspective of Linguistic “Polyphony”
Yuan Yulin
DOI: 10.19689/j.cnki.cn10-1361/h.20210506
This paper begins with the question as to whether the Chinese news headline “Wang Sicong pretends struggling” (Wáng Sīcōng jiǎzhuāng zài fèndòu) can deduce that “Wang Sicong is struggling” (Wáng Sīcōng zài fèndòu). To deal with this, an e-mail questionnaire is designed and interpretations of 12 researcher informants are collected and analyzed. The paper then classifies the findings obtained from the survey into three types: (1) B is true, that is, “pretend” (jiǎzhuāng) is a factive verb; (2) B is false, that is, “pretend” (jiǎzhuāng) is a counter-factive verb; (3) B may be either true or false, that is, “pretend” (jiǎzhuāng) is non-factive. To feather examine the findings, Bakhtin’s concept of “polyphony” is adopted and the four types of heteroglossia in the engagement system proposed in the appraisal theory are used as a framework for analysing the “dominant voice” that is conveyed in the headline, in addition to this, supportive and opposing voices that are quoted in the text of this news report are also derived, which demonstrates how multiple voices can co-exist in relevant dialogues and arguments. Furthermore, these multiple voices are explained from the perspective of linguistic “polyphony” along with their argumentative relations (argumentativity) and dialogic imperfectiveness (openness). This further reveals the cognitive and conceptual structure that underlies ambiguous and open interpretations of the pretend-sentence in the modern Chinese language.
2021 Vol. 6 (5): 77-90 [Abstract] ( 13 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 110 )
91 What is “Implicit Language Policy”?
Fang Xiaobing
DOI: 10.19689/j.cnki.cn10-1361/h.20210507
Implicit language policy is a language policy that has no explicit text or discourse support, but is characterized as a certain practical mechanism in language life. Through analysis of the term, we find that: (1) Language ideology cannot be regarded as an implicit policy, as any language policy must have a substantive mechanism that can be attached to; (2) A micro-language policy is in terms of the level and scale of the policy, which can be explicit in form, thus unnecessarily an implicit language policy; (3) A covert language policy can have explicit legal texts, though the policy intentions are deliberately obscured, so it is not equivalent to implicit language policy; (4) Explicitness and implicitness constitute a continuum, and many language policies are actually between the two ends.
2021 Vol. 6 (5): 91-96 [Abstract] ( 228 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 110 )
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