We Were So Convinced: Pre- and In-Service Teachers' Attitudes Toward Chinese Language Varieties

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 10
  In Roundtable Session: Bilingual Education Across Languages

Abstract

We explore the perceptions of international and American Chinese bilingual graduate students and in-service graduates from a language education program in a US urban university. Twenty-five participants were interviewed to probe their views regarding Chinese varieties. Themes identified included: what constitutes a language versus a dialect, bilingualism and bidialectalism, consideration of ethnic and regional identity associated with Chinese varieties or fāngyán, issues of mutual intelligibility, writing systems, socio-political and educational policy, language varieties as a resource, and concerns regarding the real and potential loss of language and associated subcultures. Findings show that with exposure to sociolinguists’ views of language, teachers can clarify terminology so that they can more effectively present language to students, design curricula, and consider policy alternatives.

Authors

• Chencen Cai, New York University

• Miriam Eisenstein Ebsworth, New York University