Multilingual China (Routledge Multilingual Asia Series)

Multilingual China explores the dynamics of multilingualism in one of the most multilingual countries in the world. This edited collection comprises frontline empirical research into a range of important issues that arise from the presence of 55 official ethnic minority groups, plus China’s search to modernize and strengthen the nation’s place in the world order.

Topics focus on the dynamics of national, ethnic minority and foreign languages in use, policy making and education, inside China and beyond. Micro-studies of language contact and variation are included, as are chapters dealing with multilingual media and linguistic landscapes. The book highlights tensions such as threats to the sustainability of weak languages and dialects, the role and status of foreign languages (especially English) and how Chinese can be presented as a viable regional or international language.

Multilingual China will appeal to academics and researchers working in multilingualism and multilingual education, as well as sinologists keen to examine the interplay of languages in this complex multilingual context.

Bob Adamson is Visiting Professor at the School of Education and English, University of Nottingham Ningbo China. He formerly held the UNESCO Chair at The Education University of Hong Kong. His research covers multilingual education, comparative education, and curriculum reform. His books include Trilingualism in education in China: Models and challenges (with Anwei Feng, Springer, 2015) and China’s English: A history of English in Chinese education (Hong Kong University Press, 2004).

Anwei Feng is Professor of Education at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China. He has had extensive teaching and researching experiences in many countries and territories in the world, including Hong Kong, Qatar, Singapore, the UK as well as China. He teaches, supervises, researches and publishes in areas including multilingualism and multilingual education and intercultural studies in education.