Language-in-education policies and sociolinguistic domains in the context of minority groups in China

In mainland China, most ethnic minority students today face the challenge of learning three languages in schools, namely, their home language (L1), Mandarin Chinese (L2) and a foreign language, usually English (L3).
This paper reports the findings of a major national research project using mainly qualitative field-based studies that identified four major models of trilingual education adopted by minority schools and the contextual factors leading to the models in various minority regions in China.
The presentation begins with an historical overview of state policies relevant to language provision for minority groups in China. It then moves to a discussion of the outcomes and models of trilingual education that were uncovered by the project. The paper argues that language policymaking for ethnic minorities should be informed by research into different sociolinguistic domains, including families, schools, regions and the state, leading to the deployment of practical models that are effective in meeting the cognitive and affective needs of students from ethnic minority backgrounds. Copyright © 2018 ADTEL.