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The book outlines the evolution and role of minority languages locally and nationally; it investigates current educational language policies in minority areas; and it assesses the social and economic outcomes of language change for communities in contemporary China.

This book looks closely at Yi bilingual education practice in the southwest of China from an educationalist's perspective and, in doing so, provides an insight toward our understanding of minority language maintenance and bilingual education implementation in China. The book provides an overview on the Yi people since 1949, their history, society, culture, customs and languages. Adopting the theory of language ecology, data was collected among different Yi groups and case studies were focused on Yi bilingual schools. By looking into the application of the Chinese government's multilingual language and education policy over the last 30 years with its underlying language ideology and practices the book reveals the de facto language policy by analyzing the language management at school level, the linguistic landscape around the Yi community, as well as the language attitude and cultural identities held by present Yi students, teachers and parents. The book is relevant for anyone looking to more deeply understand bilingual education and language maintenance in today's global context.

China has huge ethnic minorities - over 40 different groups with a total population of over 100 million. Over time China's policies towards minority languages have varied, changing from policies which have accommodated minority languages to policies which have encouraged integration. At present integrationist policies predominate, notably in the education system, where instruction in minority languages is being edged out in favour of instruction in Mandarin Chinese. This book assesses the current state of indigenous and minority language policy in China. It considers especially language policy in the education system, including in higher education, and provides detailed case studies of how particular ethnic minorities are being affected by the integrationist, or assimilationist, approach.

China, with the world's largest population, numerous ethnic groups, and vast geographical space, is also rich in languages. Since 2006, China's State Language Commission has been publishing annual reports on \"language life\" in China. These reports cover language policy and planning, new trends in language use, and major events concerning languages in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Now these reports are available in English.

China, with the world's largest population, numerous ethnic groups, and vast geographical space, is also rich in languages. Since 2006, China's State Language Commission has been publishing annual reports on \"language life\" in China. These reports cover language policy and planning, new trends in language use, and major events concerning languages in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Now these reports are available in English.

This book traces the history of English education in the People's Republic of China from 1949 to the present day. It uses the junior secondary school curriculum as the means to examine how English curriculum developers and textbook writers have confronted

PurposeIn the context of international education and English as a global language, this paper focuses on the perceptions of English education in China from the perspective of Chinese international students to analyse further and derive valuable educational perspectives and methods for English education.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted a qualitative research methodology (Salkind, 2010) and focused on four Chinese international students as case studies. The primary research methods encompass semi-structured interviews and journal entries. The data were processed through various steps (Creswell, 2010), including organizing field notes, transcribing video recordings, translating data, conducting multiple reviews of raw data, classifying data using thematic analysis and open coding (Mojtaba and Sherrill, 2019), refining codes, constructing categories, interpreting data (Chen, 2004) and addressing the research questions.FindingsAlthough China’s English education provides students with basic English skills, its criteria for “being good at English” differ from international standards. China’s English education presents an imbalance of linguistic skills cultivation, with an overemphasis on grammatical accuracy, rigid linguistic rules and a formulaic knowledge system. Evaluation standards in China’s English education contain minimal content related to intercultural communication competence (ICC). Therefore, the obstacle to students’ intercultural communication is rooted in evaluation standards, not merely in the often-criticized exam-oriented education system. Greater attention should be directed towards revising these evaluation standards rather than focusing solely on constructing an ICC framework, as such competence is emphasized at the policy level but is largely overlooked in practical implementation.Research limitations/implicationsThis study presents implications and suggestions for the improvement of English language education in China.Originality/valueThis study offers a nuanced and student-centered perspective on English education in China by foregrounding the lived experiences and reflections of Chinese international students. Unlike previous research that often critiques exam-oriented instruction in a generalized manner, this study reveals that the core limitation lies in the evaluation standards, which neglect intercultural communication competence at the practical level. The research contributes original insights by shifting the focus from commonly discussed systemic features (e.g. rote learning, testing) to the deeper implications of how “English proficiency” is defined and measured. By employing qualitative methods and thematic analysis, this study highlights the disconnect between educational policy rhetoric and classroom realities, offering valuable implications for curriculum developers, educators and policymakers aiming to foster globally competent English learners.

A major concern of all education authorities around the world is the challenge that schools face in catering for learner diversity. That this concern is shared by authorities in East Asia, including the Education Bureau (EDB) of Hong Kong, is surprising given the high academic achievement of students from this part of the world. This book helps to meet this challenge for teachers in East Asia by focusing on specific research that helps explain the basis for diversity in the Chinese learner. Although there are many textbooks that cover the basic principles of educational psychology, few do not focus on the Chinese learner. This book makes the link between the broad field of educational psychology and how these theories contribute to our understanding of the Chinese learner. This book is unique in that it draws on recent research to illustrate the application of these theories, thereby helping teachers and students in teacher education progammes understand the variability in student achievement. Our book is based on the idea that the Chinese context is in many ways different to other cultural contexts, and that teachers can make a difference to the outcomes of student learning. We also draw on our many years of experience in educating future teachers where our students want us to focus on the Chinese classroom. Our student-teachers also want to be educated by professors who are themselves researchers. In drawing on research about the Chinese learner we also bring to our student-teachers the richness and value of educational research. We also encourage our student-teachers to think of themselves as “professional researchers” in terms of developing an understanding of the research literature and in finding solutions to their classroom problems.

English language education has been accorded much importance in the People's Republic of China in the last quarter century. This paper presents an overview of basic English language education in the Chinese education system. It is intended to serve two purposes: (1) to provide background information for situating and interpreting the findings reported by Silver and Skuja-Steele in this issue and (2) to survey progress and problems in the development of basic English language education in China. The paper is structured in three parts. The first part examines national policies on the expansion of English provision in basic education since the late 1970s. The second part focuses on policy efforts directed towards improving the quality of English instruction. The last part sketches the major progress that has been made and identifies several thorny issues in English language education that deserve serious attention from policymakers.