Chinese – Educational Sociolinguistics

Losing the heritage language

By Catherine Shieh

“If you know all the languages of the world and you do not know your mother tongue or the language of your culture, that is self-enslavement. Knowing your mother tongue and all languages is empowerment.” (1986)

These words were taken from a well-known book called “Decolonizing the mind” by Kenyan writer and academic Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o. According to Van Herk (2018), most immigrant families shift to the languages of their new country over two or four generations. This phenomenon is called Language Shift. It is a topic I am interested in because of my fear of losing my heritage language.

As I reflect on my language autobiography, I recall the comments I hear whenever I speak in Cantonese.

“Did your Cantonese get worse?”
“Your language structure seems reversed”
“That is not how we say this….”

As a result, I’ve come to realize that I might be slowly losing my first language. It is a very odd feeling because Cantonese is the language I grew up with. My parents emigrated from Hong Kong and my mom was adamant about me speaking this language at home. She firmly believed that it would help maintain my relationship with my family. Since I don’t have many opportunities to practise, it has been difficult to learn literacy and communication skills.

In fact, most children from newcomer families in Canada generally speak either French or English. Jaffer Sheyholislami, a linguistic teacher at Carleton University, says that “One of the important causes of language shift and loss in Canada is the absence of robust language policies that would advocate and actively promote and support multilingualism and multiculturalism.” Losing the first language is not only losing a way to communicate with closed ones, but it also means losing one’s identity and culture. Sheyholislami also believes that any government has an obligation to cherish language diversity, support children’s learning and promote other languages.

In my opinion, heritage languages should be approached with understanding and empathy. No one should feel ashamed for their lack of language proficiency. For many second-generation immigrants, not being completely fluent can mean letting their family down. Thus, it is necessary to promote multilingualism and encourage acceptance that no language is “wrong” or “bad”.

As language teachers, how can we help our students preserve their heritage language?

Simplified Chinese characters and Traditional Chinese characters, what is the future of the Chinese writing system?

Xavier Xia

Traditional Chinese characters and simplified Chinese characters are two types of standard Chinese character sets of contemporary written Chinese. Traditional characters had taken shape since the Reform of Writing and have largely maintained the same structure as when the regular script was introduced in the 2nd century. Since then, traditional characters were regarded as the only standard form of Chinese characters until the middle of the 20th century. Traditional Chinese characters are officially used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. Since the 1950s and 1960s, the government of China has introduced and promoted simplified Chinese characters to encourage literacy. Several decades later, they are officially used in mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore.

I want to discuss the ongoing debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters in this article. Even though with exposure and experience, people educated in one writing system can quickly become familiar with the other, it is challenging to convert an entire document written in simplified characters to traditional characters and vice versa. That is why some people argue Sinophone world should use only one type of character. Advocates of simplified characters argue that simplified characters contain fewer strokes, which means they are more accessible for people to learn the writing system and faster to write. The proponents also point out that the population of simplified characters users is much larger, and it is tough to convert all these people to another writing system. Nevertheless, the users of traditional characters claim the speed advantage of simplified Chinese has become less relevant in the internet age. They also state that the aesthetic continuity of China’s immense heritage of art, literature, and calligraphy is diminished by supplanting characters in common use for centuries.

Simplified characters inside and outside of the People’s Republic of China

Loanwords between English and Chinese

Yi Hu

Before I move on to the topic of this blog, please let me ask you one question first. When you go to the store and want to buy tofu, have you ever thought that the word ‘tofu’ is an original English word or it was borrowed from other language? Actually, this word is a loanword that originates from the Chinese word ‘dòu fu’. We can find many examples like this in our life.

Loanwords are words that are adopted from one language into another with little or no alteration. Borrowing is a consequence of cultural contact between two language communities. Borrowing of words can go in both directions between the two languages in contact, but often there is an asymmetry, such that more words go from one side to the other. The actual process of borrowing is complex and involves many usage events.

In order to study Chinese borrowed words in English vocabulary based on dictionary research, Vice Professor Zeng Tai Yuan of Dong Wu University, Taiwan, gave a close look at Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (Fifth Edition) and found out that there were at least about 300 words in English vocabulary borrowed from Chinese (Zeng, 2005). We can see some examples from this site https://www.thoughtco.com/english-words-borrowed-from-chinese-688248 Similarly as English has borrowed lots of words from Chinese, there are many words borrowed from English in Chinese vocabulary, from every aspect of social life. According to Zhang’s (2005) stratified sampling research, English-borrowed words can be divided into 14 groups. From my perspective, one of the reasons why there are loanwords between English and Chinese is due to external factors. To be more specific, they are related to geographical neighbourhood, politics, economy, culture, military, and other activities between different countries.

Language is the key to human communication, and despite the vast differences between world countries and their cultures, their people’s languages have always influenced one another. In my opinion, loanwords have many advantages. They usually seem fashionable and interesting, which can attract Chinese young students deeply and stir up their enthusiasm and motivation in learning English. In addition, the process of borrowing words can be regarded as the process of gaining a better and deeper understanding of each associated country’s cultures, economies, policies, etc.

So, here is the question: as language teachers, how can we help students learn languages better by using loanwords? And do you think there are still disadvantages of loanwords? If so, how could we improve them?

References:

Zeng, T. (2005). Translating Chinese Culture-Specific Words into English–from a Perspective of Shorter Oxford English Dictionary 5th edition. Journal of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, 11, 74-77.

Zhang, P. (2005). Study on English Loan Words in Chinese. Tianjin University of Finance & Economics, 10-15.

Language is shared and put discrimination away

Heng Ding

In the whole process of paying attention to the relationship between second languages, language diversity, and social justice, I think the social problems caused by dialects or accents haven’t been paid enough attention to. This blog will start with my own experience to discuss the discrimination caused by dialect or accent which often plays the role of the most direct “criterion” for judging other people.

I was born in the south of Jiangsu Province, China. In Jiangsu, there has always been some default “stigma chain” exists. Due to historical, economic, and many other factors, there are great differences between Southern and Northern Jiangsu, such as culture, living habits, and dialects. The resulting phenomenon is that people in these two parts don’t like each other and think the other is inferior. Among the many factors, dialect is one of the most important judgment bases because the dialects in southern Jiangsu and Northern Jiangsu are completely different. Therefore, the “regional identity” of a Jiangsu person can be judged by the accent alone. The consequence of this judgment is that the mutual discrimination between the north and the south is constantly emphasized and deepened. Facing such a phenomenon in my hometown, I often feel very powerless, as the concept has already been rooted in people’s minds. But I think the thing I can do, as a second language educator, is to tell everyone that, whether we use the word “dialect” or “accent” to describe the phonological and phonological characteristics of a local variety, language is at least not a tool to judge or measure a person’s strengths and weaknesses.

Actually, accent discrimination does not exist only in my hometown. Another example I know is the discrimination of African American vernacular English (AAVE). To some extent, dialects are the markers of power in society, (Winford, 1997). Over time, AAVE has been seen as an inferior dialect, and although it’s incorrect, such a concept has been accepted by many people around the world. As a result, people who speak AAVE are often judged or discriminated against by those who speak “standard English” (Grace, 2020).

All this social discrimination at home and abroad makes me think that if the accent or dialect will cause such great influence on social justice, does someone’s accent need to be corrected? If so, to sound like who? A native speaker or a group of people who belongs to a “superior” region? But what does that even mean? An accent can be a stigma, even among native speakers of the same language. These variations, determined by geography, class and race, are always identified with stereotypes. Fleeing from one means embracing another. Even though everybody has an accent, there certainly is such a thing as accent discrimination and most of us have either suffered or witnessed it at some point. Accent discrimination is, in the end, all about the place: who belongs and who doesn’t? I, for one, enjoy these ghostly presences of something strange in a familiar environment. They are a reminder of the fact that language doesn’t belong to anyone, not even to its native speakers. Language is shared. It is, in principle, a space where everyone is welcome and cooperates toward mutual comprehension, and the very fact that there are accents in the first place, the fact that we can still understand each other through all the differences is the most conclusive proof of the hospitality at the heart of every language.

References

Grace, G. (2020). DataSpace: Names, accents, and racial linguistic profiling: Linguistic and racial prejudice as mechanisms of discrimination against speakers of African American vernacular English. Princeton University. Retrieved November 14, 2021, from http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01gb19f8846.

Winford, D. (1997, January 1). On the origins of African American vernacular English – A Creolist perspective: Part I: The sociohistorical background. Diachronica. Retrieved November 14, 2021, from https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.14.2.05win.

Sexism in languages

Heng Ding

In my process of acquiring French, one of the most difficult things I find is trying to remember masculine or feminine French words. Like many other languages, French is gendered: pronouns, verbs, nouns and adjectives reflect the gender of the object or the person they refer to.

In French, there is not a word like “they” that is gender neutral. Most critically, the masculine is always given priority over the feminine. For instance, a French speaker would still use the masculine plural, ils, to refer to a group that consists of even 1 man and 10 women (although some people mentioned that it has changed a bit, still that’s how we learned in the francisation course here in Quebec). However, although in the past some words that have only masculine lexemes, such as “professeur” (teacher) and “avocat” (lawyer), are additionally preceded by “femme” if one wants to refer to a woman, now things are changed. For example, under the new rules, professions such as doctors, teachers and professors will now have female-only names in the official dictionary published by the Académie Française. For example, the term “doctor” is currently used for both men and women, while the word “doctor” will be added to the feminine suffix and become “docteur. However, the French Academy, which has an overwhelmingly male membership, has fiercely opposed the feminization of professional titles, saying it would bring “exponential complexity” and even “fatal disaster” to the French language.

Not only French, but my mother language, Chinese, also contains many sexist words that discriminate women group. For example, there is a famous Chinese saying “男人四十一枝花，女人四十豆腐渣”, which means after men reach the age of 40, they will become more attractive and more appreciative while women reach the age of 40, just like tofu dregs, worthless and no nutrition, will not attract others. This is a very insulting saying and devalues women, but few people would associate it with sexism and most of them just use it without scruples.

Sexist language has been defined as “words, phrases, and expressions that unnecessarily differentiate between women and men or exclude, trivialize, or diminish either gender” (Parks & Roberton, 1998a, p. 455). Most of the sexist languages, from my understanding, are demeaning and discriminatory towards women. Although the status of women has increased dramatically, they are still in a disadvantaged position and are still a vulnerable group.

Language always changes with the social, political, cultural and other developments of the time. Sexism in language needs to be taken seriously and a more neutral approach needs to be thought of. We need to raise women’s awareness through the study of linguistic sexism so that women will not be the victims of linguistic discrimination. Hopefully, we could develop a more gender-inclusive language and encourage people to use it in the future.

Japanese Loanwords in Modern Chinese

Yidan

Since Kanji (Chinese characters) is an integral part of Japanese writing system, and a fair chunk of its vocabulary came from Chinese in ancient times, people tend to believe that Chinese language is in a dominant position in linguistic exchange between Chinese and Japanese. However, the situation has been changed since modern times. Modern Chinese has borrowed a great number of words from Japanese since the 20^thcentury. According to the work by Wang Binbin on the subject of Japanese-word borrowings into Chinese (1998), 70 percent of the modern Chinese words relating to sociology, humanities and natural science originate from Japanese. Representing new ideas, advanced thoughts and scientific knowledgefrom the west, those “Japan-made” words have been assimilated into Chinese so smoothly and naturally that most Chinese don’t really notice their Japanese origin.

In my case, I’ve had such misunderstanding about Japanese’s impact on modern Chinese language. I have visited Japan many times. When I see vocabularies written in Kanji in Japanese books, newspapers or other places, I can understand almost all of those vocabularies and in the subconscious I believe it’s because they were all from Chinese. I never thought that many of them were actually created by Japanese language and then were imported to China.

English Mania

Yiling

I’m glad to learn that the major lingua francas between Japanese expatriates and their Chinese colleagues are Mandarin and Japanese (Kubota, 2013). I’m kind of relieved to know that in a social context where people speak different languages (Mandarin and Japanese in this case), English has not taken the place and prevail as the dominant language for communication. The worldwide mania for learning English has been constantly drawing our attention.

A Discussion on Identity and English as a Global Language

Posted by Cheryl Lingjuan Yan (Post #2)

The word “Multilingualism” refers to the use of two or more languages, either by an individual speaker or by a community of speakers (Tucker, 1999). When I first came to Canada, I found people here in Montreal to be amazing. Most people are at least bilingual and almost everyone can speak three or four languages. People all come from different background, or, to be more specific, have different identities, for instance, Canadian, French, half-Spanish, full-Korean, etc. The reason why Montrealers can speak so many languages derives from the city’s history, and it also may partially be because of its colonial culture. Quebec was founded and colonized by French settlers for a long time. Therefore, French culture has a strong influence on Quebec. In addition, Canada is one of the members of the British Commonwealth. Perhaps these are the reasons people in Montreal are at least bilingual in English and French.

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‘Gayspeak’ in China: a(nother) case study

Simon Desmarais

During the last two years, I lived and worked in China, and while I was there, I noticed a very interesting phenomenon, related to sexuality and gender. Once again, this is based on my own experience; I haven’t done any legitimate research on this, and also, very importantly, I am not Chinese, I’m not an expert on the Chinese LGBTQ+ community’s linguistic practices, nor do I pretend to be; this post should only be viewed as what it is, an attempt to make sense of my experience regarding specific linguistic practices while living in China.

I think Van Herk (2012) does a very good job of summarizing work on gender and sexuality and language, but I still want to include here the notion of ‘gayspeak’, a set of linguistic features (higher pitch, elongated consonants, etc.) that indexes the speaker as gay. Drawing on work from Cameron and Kulick (2003), he argues that ‘gayspeak’ is used to perform a specific identity, in this case being gay.

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Mandy’s language biography – A Chinese girl and her Latin languages

Shengwen Xu

I was born in the Southern part of China. I speak a major dialect in China, Cantonese, with my families and of course, Mandarin, which is a mandatory subject for all Chinese students. Although Cantonese is only a regional dialect in China, its influence and exchange with other language is related to the immigration history. Most of the early Chinese immigrants in English-speaking countries like the US, Canada, the UK, etc. are from the southern provinces of China, thus bringing the language of Cantonese to the world. Now familiar English words like Dim Sum, Wonton, Wok, Chow Mien, mostly words of food, come from Cantonese instead of Mandarin.

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