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This dissertation explores the phenomenon of Reversing Language Shift (RLS) in Taiwan and discusses possible contributory factors. Based on the defining characteristics for ethnicity and nationalism outlined in Paulston's (1986 and after) framework, it is shown that the Taiwanese languages, including Southern Min, Hakka, and the aboriginal languages, are a case of geographic nationalism. Although following her framework, the linguistic outcome of nationalism is language maintenance, I use Taiwan as an example to argue that in the case of language shift, the factors favoring language maintenance can help reverse the existing shift trend. For the past century, Taiwan experienced a shift from indigenous languages to the national language. However, since the 1990s, the native tongues have extended their use to the public domain, been graphized and reintroduced into the formal education system. A close examination of the phenomenon reveals that due to economic prosperity and diffusion of education, a new breed of intellectual leaders and a solid middle class emerged. They became the backbone of the political reforms in mid 1980s. As Taiwan continued to democratize, its political sphere became even more open. Many sensitive issues such as Taiwan independence and the legitimacy of the Kuomingtong (KMT, or the Nationalist Party) government were no longer taboo. It was under such conditions—intellectual leaders, solid middle class, common enemy (the KMT), self-determination, and the perception of Taiwan as a nation—that RLS emerged. It is hoped that through this study, new insights can be obtained for those languages that are faced by an opponent that is much stronger in the world of modernity, social mobility, and globalization.
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