Presentation given at the workshop on Minority Languages of the Chinese Tibetosphere at Uppsala University, Nov 3-4 2014.

1. EXPERIENCES OF NON-TIBETAN SPEAKERS
IN CHINA’S TIBETAN SCHOOLS:
LANGUAGE AND EDUCATION
CAIXIANGDUOJIE

2. 2
INTRODUCTION
• China’s Tibet is multicultural
• Tibetan, Han Chinese, Mongolian, Monguor,
Hui, Salar, Naxi and other ethnic groups.

3. 3
IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
• Mandarin Chinese and
Tibetan Languages
• are taught and
• used as the main media of
instruction at schools,
including universities.
• Other ethnic languages and
dialects, and their speakers
are generally ignored.

4. 4
RESEARCH GOAL AND METHODS
• Goal
• Identify challenges faced by non-Tibetan
speakers at schools in Tibetan areas of
China,
• propose some solutions to these problems
• Methods
• Interviews (first hand data + secondary data)
• Family, surrounding communities,
experiences at schools, derogatory names
and punishments
• Snowball sampling

5. 5
LOCATIONS
• Qinghai
• Gansu
• Sichuan
• Yunnan
• TAR
QH, 20, 67%
YN, 3, 10%
GS, 4, 13%
TAR, 1, 3%
SC, 2, 7%

6. LANGUAGES AND/OR DIALECTS
Local Chinese, 18, 60%
Mongolian, 1, 3%
Doskad, 2, 7%
Mangghuer, 2, 7%
Salar, 4, 14%
Qiang, 1, 3%
Naxi, 1, 3%
Lhopa
, 1,
3%

7. 7
FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS
“Only
speak to
grandpa in
our
mother-tongues!”
We need more
people to
preserve ethnic
languages and
dialects in Tibetan
areas!
Grandparents
60%
Parents
30%
Elder Siblings
7%
Younger
Siblings
2%
Others
1%
Grandparents
60%
Parents
30%
Elder
Siblings
7%
Younger
Siblings
2%
Others
1%

8. Yes, teacher
speaks my
language
8
“My teachers
don’t speak my
language …and I
can’t speak my
language in
class!”
Need more
teachers
speaking local
students’
languages and
dialects!
5%
No, teacher
doesn't speak
my language
95%

9. “I was afraid of speaking
my language in
class…because others
would laugh at me!”
Encourages equality
and let majorities to
respect minorities!
Always spoke my
mother tongue in
class
0%
Some times spoke
my mother tongue
in class
13%
Rarely spoke my
mother tongue in
class
34%
Never spoke my
mother tongue in
class
53%

10. 10
“I was bullied by being called derogatory
names…I felt embarrassed and stupid!”
• La ha (hybrid sheep)
• Lce do (clumsy person)
• Hor nag (black crow)
• Zazhong (mixture)
Learn students’
real names and
don’t humiliate
them!
Bullied (derogatory
names)
98%
Not Bullied
2%

11. “I want to learn
more about my
language but there
are no teachers or
textbooks!”
Need more qualified
local teachers and
good local study
materials!
Interested in
improving my
mother language
70%
Not interested in
learning my
mother tongues
10%
Not sure
20%

12. “I was beaten many times
because I couldn’t recite
texts in Tibetan and Chinese
correctly!”
Give them more time &
space to express their
own thoughts in their
non-native languages!
Coporal
Punishment
90%
No Coporal
Punishment
10%

13. “I feel didn’t learn much… textbooks were only in
Tibetan and Chinese… teachers were reading the
textbooks most of the time!”
Use languages and teaching methods that
help students to LEARN!

14. “We are here…
far from
home… miss
home and
food”
Boarding schools
need PARENTS &
TEACHERS!

15. 15
CONCLUSION
Lack of
policy support
schools and programs
qualified local teachers
teaching resources
parents’ involvement
responsibilities
motivation in teaching & learning (students’
culture)

16. 16
• Policy developers & implementers
• Autonomy, language
• School reform, textbook development, etc.
• Researchers
• Non-Tibetan speakers’ language, culture,
education, family life, etc.
• Educators
• Teach so that students
• learn most
• are proud of their:
• Language
• Culture
• Identity

17. Consider…
Needs of non-Tibetan speaking communities:
• families, schools, teachers, students’
challenges, abilities

18. BE RESPONSIBLE!
WORK TOGETHER!

19. 19
Thank you!
谢谢
ཐུགས་རྗེ་ཆྗེ།
CAIXIANGDUOJIE
qinghaicaihang@gmail.com

20. 20
Quzong (b. 1982)
• Personal Background
• Born in Longzi ལྷུན་རྗེ་རྫོང་།, Shannan, TAR
• Teacher at Rikaze No.1 Primary School
• 5 family members
• Bon (grandfather) and Buddhism (others)
• Mother-tongue
• Lhopa

21. 21
Duojia (b. 1992)
• Personal Background
• Aba County, Sichuan
• Student at QNU
• 7 family members
• Buddhism
• Mother-tongue
• Qiang

22. 22
Zhenxiu (b. 1994)
• Personal Background
• Xianggelila County, Yunnan
• Student at QNU
• 6 family members
• Mother-tongue
• Naxi (Qihuami)

23. 23
Macuo (b. 1994)
• Personal Background
• Deibu County, Gannan, Gansu
• Student at QNU
• 5 family members
• Buddhism
• Mother-tongue
• Mongolian