What is it about?
This paper presents the results of a large scale questionnaire research assessing language behavior of students at Jilin University, one of the top level universities in China. It shows that language acquisition, proficiency and use are directly related to place-of-origin, urbanization level, income level and profession of parents as well as interaction setting. Putonghua levels increase in relation with level of urban environment, increasing from county level to urbanized city, to provincial capital and finally metropolis. Putonghua in accordance with level of urbanization.
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Why is it important?
The study compares language behavior of students in China's Northeast with that of their counterparts in Northern China and Southeastern China, which gives a unique insight into changing patterns of language behavior and the forces that support the use of Putonghua.
Perspectives
Language use patterns of the students surveyed confirmed the strength of local dialects in rural China. It also showed the supportive role of lower level urban centers in the maintenance of dialect use. This finding was supported for all three areas presented in this study.
Dr Marinus van den BERG
IIAS
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Urbanization, education, and language behavior, Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, June 2016, John Benjamins,
DOI: 10.1075/japc.26.1.04xia.
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