Abstract
By tracing the evolution of linguistic models for state education in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) of China, this chapter shows that bilingual education policies in the TAR oscillated between Chinese-led and Tibetan-led models since the 1950s. By presenting the rise and fall of specific linguistic models under a social and historical light, the study demonstrates that Tibetan students’ underperformance in subjects like English and Maths today is historically given and economically driven. In other words, the educational landscape as we see in Tibet today is socially constructed and represents competing interests of different groups. With English added to the mix, the complexity of language education policies in the TAR has increased. Upon interviewing students of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds from across the TAR and looking into their past and present schooling experiences, the authors argue that the dynamics between linguistic models and linguistic capital in the TAR articulate ethnic sentiments, leadership preferences, and the myriad ways in which Tibetans responded to the authority exercised by the leadership.
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Notes
- 1.
High schools throughout China usually divide their classes into Arts and Science tracks, within which Key and Ordinary classes are categorised according to their students’ attainment in their studies.
- 2.
While the data reported in this chapter accurately communicate the spirit of our work as researchers, all names and identifying information in the study, except for those of the authors, have been altered.
- 3.
In this study, all interviewees, 16 in total, started learning Mandarin Chinese at Grade One and English at either Grade One (Karma), Grade Two (Diki), Grade Three (Champo), or Grade Four (Cetan, Zenji) of primary school.
- 4.
In framing the situation in Tibet, we try not to problematise the issue in question. But ZhiMin’s experience in the TAR enabled us to write it that way. For instance, when he took a photo of a school there, somebody immediately came out and questioned him about his intention. This was not a problem at all when he visited other schools in inland provinces of Hunan and Guangdong.
- 5.
From 1985 to 2006, over 30,000 Tibetan students studied in inland schools (Ma 2011, pp. 13–14).
- 6.
The primary purpose of the fieldwork was to investigate the level and nature of students’ engagement with the Internet and mobile phones. In School Basum, ZhiMin first requested four classes of Grade Two students (including students from both Arts and Science, Key and Ordinary classes) to fill in a survey. Based upon the survey responses, such as answers to parental education level, home access to computer, and personal ownership of mobile phones, he was able to select students from varied socioeconomic backgrounds for the interviews. In addition, ZhiMin interviewed students from both urban and rural/nomadic areas, where Tibetan and Mandarin Chinese were spoken to varying degrees. As such, he was confident of adhering appropriately to the variety principle. For a detailed description and reflection of the methods employed in the study, see Xiao (2013, Chap. 5, Sect. 6).
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Xiao, Z., Higgins, S. (2015). When English Meets Chinese in Tibetan Schools: Towards an Understanding of Multilingual Education in Tibet. In: Feng, A., Adamson, B. (eds) Trilingualism in Education in China: Models and Challenges. Multilingual Education, vol 12. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9352-0_6
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