Language solidarity, vitality and status: Sibe family language attitudes in North-western China

Abstract

This paper reports on a study of 148 Sibe youths and their parents from the Charbuchar Sibe Autonomous County of Xinjiang, North-western China, investigating their attitudes toward their mother tongue. Language attitude questionnaires that looked into the youths’ and their parents’ perceptions of their mother tongue’s solidarity (friendliness, beautifulness, usefulness and learnability), status (significance in the country, in economic development, in daily life and in cultural wealth) and vitality (including linguistic, extralinguistic and related factors) were used to collect data. The results show that Sibe youth were more pessimistic than their parents about the solidarity and vitality of the Sibe language, but shared their parents’ optimistic perceptions of the Sibe language’s status. Parents’ attitudes differed by education, income, profession and residence, with high-income, highly educated parents in urban centres holding more pessimistic attitudes than low-income, rural parents. Students’ attitudes also varied by gender and grade levels, with girls being more positive than boys. The findings suggest that concerted efforts in school, home, and communities, especially in urban communities, must be devoted to bridging the intergenerational gaps in language attitudes. Emphasis should also be placed on supporting youths,’ especially boys,’ ethnic identity and affirmation.

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