Chinese Journal of Language Policy and Planning No. 2, 2021

Chinese Journal of Language Policy and Planning

(Bimonthly)

Vol. 6  No. 2, Mar. 2021

(中文版目录及提要请戳上图访问）

CONTENTS

Foreword

The Function of Bilingualism and Bidialectalism in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area / Chen Enquan

Interdisciplinary Talk: Views on Language and Language Use from Dubbing Artists 

Broadcasting and Dubbing / Zhang Junying 

Storage and Utilization of Dubbing Actors: On the ‘Best’ State of Dubbing Work / Wang Lei 

Making Dubbing Show App More Fantastic / Qu Jingguo

To Connect the World through the ‘Love’ of Voice Art / Li Lihong 

Special Issue: Language Policy for Higher Education

Language Policy for Higher Education and Its Implementation: A Cutting-Edge Research Topic in Language Planning / Zhao Shouhui 

A Comparative Study of Eastern and Western Foreign Language Education Planning in Higher Education / Cheng Jingyan 

The Development of English as Medium of Instruction in European Higher Education Since the Beginning of the 21st Century / Lin Xiao 

A Study of the Medium of Instruction in the Textbooks and Classrooms of Legal English Course / Zhang Zhenda and Li Wenlong 

Language Policy and Planning in Japan’s English as Medium of Instruction Degree Programs in Higher Education / Qiu Yixi and Zheng Yongyan

A Translanguaging Perspective on the Medium of Instruction for International Students in China / Song Yang and Angel M. Y. Lin 

Diverse Views on Language Policy for Higher Education / Wen Qiufang, Chen Jianlin, Andy Kirkpatrick, Zhao Ronghui, Gao Xuesong and Peng Jian’e 

Studies on Language Use

A Reflection on Developing Course of Language Planning in Multilingual Malaysia / Wang Xiaomei 

Trilingualism in the Philippines: Evolution and Refl ections / Zhang Shifang and Fan Qihua 

Call for Contributions for Issue VI: Language and Health  

In Memory of Prof. Jan Blommaert / Dong Jie

 ABSTRACTS

A Comparative Study of Eastern and Western Foreign Language Education Planning in Higher Education

Cheng Jingyan

Abstract The past two decades have witnessed a rapid development of research on foreign language education planning (FLEP) in the East and the West. This study compares current practice and research of foreign language education planning in some western countries and East Asia. The comparison shows that universities in western countries are entitled to establishing their own FLEP which is not necessarily in line with macro government policies. In marked contrast, universities in highly centralized education systems of East Asia are more concerned with the implementation of top-down macro policy. Secondly, current research in some western nations mainly focuses on the stakeholders’ language practice, belief and agency. In the future, more research is supposed to be conducted on the process of FLEP formation and implementation in universities, the agency of different stakeholders and the analysis of language education from the perspective of language management, etc. Thirdly, although present FLEP studies in East Asia are still dominated by interpretation/implementation of macro policy and major language problems, micro empirical studies on agency in FLEP are gradually receiving researchers’ attention under the growing influence of postmodernism. The implications are that micro-level empirical studies and Chinese researchers’ self-positioning should be given more prominence in FLEP research in China.

Key words foreign language education planning (FLEP); language policy; macro-level policy; micro-level policy; comparison of the West and East Asia

The Development of English as Medium of Instruction in European Higher Education Since the Beginning of the 21st Century

Lin Xiao

Abstract Since the beginning of the 21st century, English as medium of instruction (EMI) programs have been burgeoning in the European higher education. At the same time, the use of EMI in the European higher education has drawn much academic attention. The present paper is concerned with the policy, realities and constraints experienced in the implementation of EMI programs in European universities. After a survey of the driving forces of European EMI development at the global, European, national, and institutional level, main features of European EMI development are discussed: an unequivocal rise in the EMI provision, great north-south divide, and uneven proportions between undergraduate and master’s level in terms of degrees and disciplines. This study further addresses some of political, administrative, and educational challenges to be considered as a consequence of this rapid EMI development in Europe. These challenges include how to strike a balance between national language(s) and English in policy design, how to enforce language planning in higher education institutes, and how to ensure the quality of English language capability of teachers and students. This study thus aims to develop our understanding of the relationship between EMI and higher education internationalization on the one hand and the multi-layered analysis involved in EMI studies from the perspective of language policy and planning on the other.

Key words English as medium of instruction (EMI); Europe; higher education institutions

A Study of the Medium of Instruction in the Textbooks and Classrooms of Legal English Course

Zhang Zhenda and Li Wenlong

Abstract The Belt and Road initiative requires the training of comprehensive foreign language talents in higher education, especially legal English talents. Compared with traditional foreign language education in China’s higher education, the Medium of Instruction (MOI) in the textbooks and classrooms is much more complicated in comprehensive foreign language courses such as legal English. There are few studies on the MOI in legal English textbooks and classrooms, from the perspective of language planning. A survey was conducted in this study on the MOI in legal English classes and textbooks published after 2013. In addition, a questionnaire survey and interviews were conducted among the college teachers, students, and relevant practitioners to assess their attitudes and evaluations on the MOI in legal English courses. The results show that major problems concerning the MOI in legal English courses are the disconnection between textbooks and teaching, and the mismatch between teaching and cultivation goals. The current situation of the MOI in legal English courses reflects the problems in foreign language planning: lack of in-depth domain planning, systematic and coherent foreign language education planning, and clear foreign language capability planning. It is hoped that this study can provide a language planning research perspective for compound foreign language discipline construction and be of some reference value for the reform of its relevant courses.

Key words comprehensive foreign language talents; foreign language planning; Medium of Instruction (MOI); legal English

Language Policy and Planning in Japan’s English as Medium of Instruction Degree Programs in Higher Education 

Qiu Yixi and Zheng Yongyan 

Abstract Concomitant to the internationalization of higher education, Japan’s Ministry of Education announced a large-investment initiative of “Top Global University Project” in 2014. The “Top Global University Project” encourages developing English-medium instruction degree programs in Japanese universities with aims to attract overseas students and to cultivate a domestic pool of global talents. This paper addresses how the macro-level understanding of the aims and objectives of the language policy and planning of the “Top Global University Project” is translated into meso-level interpretation and implementation at Japanese universities. Drawing on Spolsky’s (2004) language policy framework, this study collects publicly available documents regarding language policy and planning from all 37 universities participating in the program and delineates the language requirements (in Japanese, English, and other languages) for enrollment in English-medium instruction degree programs at these universities as well as the language courses and services provided in these programs. Findings reveal contradictions between the intended English-medium instruction policy and its actual implementation at Japanese universities. The findings are further discussed from the perspective of language ideology on the implementation of English-medium policies in non-Anglophone countries, problematizing the implementation of English-medium policies as English-only-medium policies. 

Key words Top Global University Project; language policy in education; English-medium instruction degree program; Japan; oversea students

A Translanguaging Perspective on the Medium of Instruction for International Students in China

Song Yang and Angel M. Y. Lin

Abstract In line with the agenda of internationalization and the educational language planning informed by the Belt and Road Initiative, an increasing number of universities in China launched international Master’s degree programs that adopt English and/or Chinese as the medium of instruction. These programs are aimed at attracting international students to pursue postgraduate degrees in China. Whether students can learn the academic Chinese language and discipline-specific content knowledge well is critical for both the quality of the international Chinese-medium-instruction programs and the strategic agenda of promoting the Chinese language as a lingua franca as well as enhancing the status of Chinese-mediated scholarly works in the global academic arena. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of research on the teaching-and-learning status quo of courses in those Chinese-medium-instruction programs. Drawing on translanguaging as the theoretical lens, this article reports a multi-case study on how international students in Chinese-medium-instruction Master’s degree programs translanguage when learning the discipline-specific Chinese for academic purposes and disciplinary knowledge in four departments of a Shanghai university. Our study found that the curriculum design needs to provide adequate support for learning academic Chinese and critically reflect on the global inequality in knowledge production. Meanwhile, translanguaging helps international students with a diversity of life trajectories co-construct an ecosystem of learning that embraces internationalization as facilitated by a multilingual and critical epistemic vision in Chinese universities. Language policy and pedagogy implications are also discussed at the end of the article.

Key words translanguaging; internationalization of higher education; medium of instruction; international students; multilingualism

A Reflection on Developing Course of Language Planning in Multilingual Malaysia

Wang Xiaomei

Abstract Drawing upon theories of language resource and linguistic value, this paper attempts to examine the rich language resources and their intrinsic and extrinsic values in Malaysia and review the process of language planning after the independence. The paper further analyses the various forms of linguistic values manifested in language planning by applying Ruiz’s theory of linguistic values. The findings show that whereas the intrinsic values are manifested in the areas of ethnic identity, cultural transmission and religious application, the extrinsic values lie in diplomatic operation, commercial activities and interethnic harmony. Based on these findings, this paper argues that it is the neglect of the intrinsic values of ethnic languages in Malaysia that led to the failure of the Teaching Mathematics and Science in English policy. Malaysian experience demonstrates that the perspectives of language-as-resources and linguistic values can play a role in language policy making and implementation. As conclusion, four suggestions driven by theories of language resources and linguistic value are proposed on language planning. The implications of Malaysia’s language planning are that theories concerning language-as-resources and linguistic value orientations not only can impact on the formulation and implementation of language policy, the full consideration of which also can bring economic benefits and promote national unity and stability.

Key words language resource; intrinsic value; extrinsic value; language planning; Malaysia

Trilingualism in the Philippines: Evolution and Reflections

Zhang Shifang and Fan Qihua

Abstract The Philippines is a multi-ethnic and multilingual island country. After independence in 1946, the government of the Philippines enforced a series of language and language-education policies to manage the complex relationships among English (the colonial language), the Philippine Tagalog (the national language) and regional languages (mother tongues or dialects). These planning and policy endeavors were motivated by pragmatic ends of decolonialization, nation-building, and economic development. To improve learning outcomes and promote ‘Education For All’ (EFA), the Philippine government began to implement Mother Tongue-based Multilingual Education (MTB MLE) programmes in 2009, when the government provided constant support for dialectal mother tongue education from policy formulation to implementation. This top-down approach becomes a typical case of language education policy making among Asian countries, and helps to shape the unique linguistic ecology of trilingualism in the Philippines. Most previous research on the language situation and language policy in the Philippines was conducted from the perspectives of language policy implementation, language comparison, language identity, and Chinese language education. This paper focuses on the trilingual formation and development in the Philippines, exploring the political, economic, and cultural factors underlying the changes in the Philippine language policies. The findings may be a reference for the post-colonial countries in Asia in their formulation of language and language education policies. This paper also arouses the reflection that a rational division of language functions is conducive to the formation of a multilingual and harmonious language ecology. And the countries should attach full importance to the economic value of language and language education and respect for citizens’ right to education in their mother tongue, and protect and promote the diversity of languages and cultures.

Key words Philippines; language policy; trilingual relationship; evolution; reference

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