Chingheng Chang
Are you proud of your languages, identities, and cultures? How would you think of the crystallization of wisdom and brilliant civilization from your ancestors? I believe most of you are so proud of yourselves because the invaluable assets passed from generation to generation have made what you are today. However, negative attitude toward local Taiwanese dialect and self-identity can be obviously reflected through the social contexts, and I think many of my compatriots are not even aware of it from what they say and think.
People in Taiwan once experienced a forced visible language planning, which is a plan by Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist government) that all local Taiwanese people were forced to learn Mandarin and abandon Taiwanese dialect. The reason for the state to implement such “cultural purification” is to “de-Japanize1” and “make the once colonized Taiwanese people great citizens with Chinese culture2” (Hsiau, 1997, p.305).
Continue reading “Weird language and culture attitude from the social context in Taiwan”