Power, Identity and Second Language Learning

This book examines and compares the identity, power and L2 Chinese teaching and learning of two ethnic minority groups in China: ethnic Koreans in Northeast China and South Asians (e.g. Indian, Pakistani, and Nepalese) in South China – Hong Kong.

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Students from language minority backgrounds in China face the challenge of predominant Chinese medium of instruction in order to reach a level of Chinese language proficiency. This can be illustrated by two particular cases: ethnic Koreans in North-eastern China and South Asians (e.g. Indian, Pakistani, and Nepalese) in Southern China – Hong Kong.

This book takes a comparative perspective to examine identity, power and L2 Chinese teaching and learning for the two ethnic groups in order to (1) examine various political, socioeconomic, cultural, and ideological factors socially/institutionally constructing Chinese language teaching and learning; (2) examine the initiation and implementation of contextually-dependent language-in-education policies; (3) explore language subject teachers’ self-identification and teaching beliefs; and (4) explore minority students’ imagined identities and individual investment in L2 Chinese learning.