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Lubei Zhang
Linda Tsung
Bilingual Education and Minority Language Maintenance in China
The Role of Schools in Saving the Yi Language
Multilingual Education
Volume 31
Series Editors
Andy Kirkpatrick
Department of Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia
Bob Adamson
Chair Professor of Curriculum Reform
Department of International Education & Lifelong Learning
The Education University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, Hong Kong SAR
Editorial Board
Jan Blommaert, University of Tilburg, The Netherlands
Kingsley Bolton, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Feng Anwei, The University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China
Ofelia Garcia, The Graduate Centre, City University of New York, USA
Saran Kaur Gill, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia
Mingyue (Michelle) Gu, Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Gu Yueguo, The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Hartmut Haberland, Roskilde University, Denmark
David C.S. Li, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
Li Wei, Birkbeck College, University of London, UK
Low Ee-Ling, National Institute of Education, Singapore
Tony Liddicoat, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
Ricardo Nolasco, University of the Philippines at Diliman, Manila, The Philippines
Merrill Swain, Ontario Institute of Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada
Virginia Yip Choy Yin, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong SAR
The book series Multilingual Education publishes top quality monographs and edited volumes containing empirical research on multilingual language acquisition, language contact and the respective roles of languages in contexts where the languages are not cognate and where the scripts are often different, in order to be able to better understand the processes and issues involved and to inform governments and language policy makers. The volumes in this series are aimed primarily at researchers in education, especially multilingual education and other related fields, and those who are involved in the education of (language) teachers. Others who will be interested include key stakeholders and policy makers in the field of language policy and education. The editors welcome proposals and ideas for books that fit the series. For more information on how you can submit a proposal, please contact the publishing editor, Jolanda Voogd. E-mail: jolanda.voogd@springer.com
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/8836
Lubei Zhang • Linda Tsung
Bilingual Education and Minority Language
Maintenance in China
The Role of Schools in Saving the Yi Language
Lubei Zhang
Southwest Jiaotong University
Chengdu, Sichuan, China
Linda Tsung
The University of Sydney Sydney, NSW, Australia
ISSN 2213-3208
Multilingual Education
ISSN 2213-3216 (electronic)
ISBN 978-3-030-03453-5 ISBN 978-3-030-03454-2 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03454-2
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018961720
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Foreword
This brilliant book addresses several major dilemmas. Two of them stand out. One is the challenges involved in the dichotomy between policy and implementation. The other concerns the big questions of language survival among China’s ethnic minorities and especially how the education system can help to keep ethnic languages alive.
China’s policy toward the languages of the ethnic minorities is to help them survive. However, the reality is that they are not doing well and most are already no longer used.
This book concerns the Yi people of southwest China, especially Sichuan and Yunnan. The Yi people are important among China’s ethnic minorities, because they have traditionally had very strong feelings about their own language and culture. There is even a school of Yi historiography that regards the “primitive Daoist cosmological ideas about the tiger held by the Yi” as having given rise to Chinese culture itself (Liu Yaohan, quoted in Stevan Harrell and Yongxiang Li, “The History of the History of the Yi, Part II,” Modern China, vol. 29, no. 3 (July 2003), p. 368). What this tells us is that at least a part of the Yi cultural elite are so proud of their culture that they regard it not only as worth defending for itself but as the origin of the whole of Chinese culture. This makes the Yi an exceptional minority among China’s ethnic groups.
The title of the book raises the question whether schools can save the Yi language. That brings the issue of the status and effectiveness of schools within society. It also raises questions about the strength of ethnic cultures in a context where the dominant Han culture is very powerful and getting more so in the contemporary world. Even if they are sponsored by government money, can ethnic languages cope with the realities of inadequate policy implementation?
I admire this book because it combines theory and practical experience. It shows a deep understanding both of language and ethnic theory and also takes up case studies of the Yi, showing what life is actually like in selected Yi communities. It shows how policy is implemented on the ground. I found the interview material among the Yi extremely interesting, because it shows just what Yi people think about their livelihood and identity. For example, one teacher is quoted as saying “As
a language teacher, as a school educator and manager, keeping the Yi language is essential, that is our Chinese dream: our own language cannot be allowed to disappear.” Yet the decline of Yi languages is precisely what the research in this book suggests is what is actually happening, and the possibility of eventual disappearance cannot be ruled out. Some people are very keen to keep the language strong, but there are many others who do not care much. It just is not particularly useful to keep a rather rare ethnic language alive in the modern world. It does not help much in getting good employment or in advancing one’s career or status within society. And many interviewees think that they can retain their Yi ethnic identity even without the language.
Linda Tsung is a friend and colleague of mine. I very much admire the work she has undertaken on language policy and implementation among China’s ethnic minorities up to now. Her track record is remarkable and shows no sign of decline. Lubei Zhang, Linda’s very talented co-researcher, has also done much work on China’s ethnic minorities. They have collaborated on much research on issues regarding minority education in China. I expect that this contribution on the Yi will further strengthen their already good reputation. They certainly deserve that it should.
Professor Emeritus, Griffith University Colin Mackerras, AO, FAHA Brisbane, Australia
March 2018
5.4
5.4.1
6.2.1
6.2.2
6.2.3
6.2.4
6.3
7.2.1
List of Figures
List of Pictures
Picture 6.1 The school gate of the Xichang City *** Middle school.
(Photograph- authors’ own)
Translation of the nameplate:
1. Right column: the nameplate of the school in Chinese characters: Sichuan Province, Xichang City ***Middle School
2. Left column: the nameplate of the school in Yi script: Sichuan Province, Xichang City ***Middle School ................. 114
Picture 6.2 A stone tablet in *** Primary school.
(Photograph- authors’ own)
Translation of the script engraved on the stone tablet:
1. The top line in Chinese characters: Shilin Yizu Autonomous County Guishan Town
2. The second line in Yi characters: Shilin Yizu Autonomous County Guishan Town
3. The four bold characters in center in Chinese: *** Primary School
4. The line beside them in Yi characters: *** Primary School
5. The line at the bottom in Chinese: Shilin Haoshi Industry and Commercial Company Donation, 2015, New Year .......................................................................... 115
Picture 6.3 Classroom building. (Photograph- authors’ own)
Translation:
1. The bottom line: nameplate of the building in gold Chinese characters: Classroom Building
2. Second from bottom line: nameplate of the building in red Yi script: House for learning
3. The line in the middle: school motto in red Chinese characters: Unity, Diligence, Seeking Truth and Enterprising
4. The top line: school motto in red Yi script: Unity, Diligence, be Realistic and Enterprising .................................... 116
Picture 6.4 Experiment room building. (Photograph- authors’ own)
Translation:
1. The left-hand column: nameplate of the building in large gold Chinese characters: Experiment room building
2. The right-hand column: nameplate of the building in smaller red Yi script: House for testing..................................
Picture 6.5 School mottos on the classroom building.
(Photograph- authors’ own)
Translation (from the top):
1. The first line (Yi script): Do not look at one’s fortune but one’s power
2. The second line (Chinese characters): Do not compare with others about extravagance but aspiration
3. The third line (Yi script): Do not look at one’s intelligence but diligence
4. The fourth line (Chinese characters): Do not compare with others about intelligence but diligence
5. The fifth line (Yi script): Do not look at one’s results but progress
117
6. The sixth line (Chinese characters): Do not compare with others about marks but progress 117
Picture 6.6 Statue facing the school gate.
(Photograph- authors’ own)
Translation of the Yi script: Daliazo, the name of a famous horse in Yi history 118
Picture 6.7 Wall paintings in the school.
(Photograph- authors’ own) 118
Picture 6.8 Statue outside classroom building_1.
(Photograph- authors’ own)
Translation of the Chinese on the statue: Confucius (B.C. 551 to BC 479); Chinese ancient philosopher and educationist. Maxim: Never be content with your study, never be impatient with your teaching 119
Picture 6.9 Statue outside classroom building_2.
(Photograph- authors’ own)
Translation of the Chinese on the statue: Marx (1818–1883); the great tutor and leader of the proletariat of the whole world. Maxim: A person with knowledge can have superhuman powers.................................................................... 120
Picture 6.10 National Flag in the playground.
(Photograph- authors’ own) ....................................................... 120
Picture 6.11 Classroom billboard. (Photograph- authors’ own) ..................... 122
Picture 6.12 Curriculum of Guishan *** Primary school.
(Photograph- authors’ own) ....................................................... 123
Picture 6.13 Bulletin board in the classroom.
(Photograph- authors’ own) ....................................................... 123
Picture 6.14 Honor roll on the bulletin board.
(Photograph- authors’ own) ....................................................... 124
Picture 6.15 Slogans on classroom front wall.
(Photograph- authors’ own)
Translation: Strive for better results by crossing the river on the same boat; fight for a glorious future by uniting together ..................................................................... 124
Picture 6.16 Slogans on classroom back wall. (Photograph- authors’ own)
Translation: knowledge can change one’s fate, and ambition can brighten one’s future ...................................... 125
Picture 6.17 Idioms put on side wall of classroom_1.
(Photograph- authors’ own) Translation: Real success is conceived in serenity of mind. One can only lift his mind by first seeing through the emptiness of the material world. Thus can he find his real life goals. Moreover, one can only realize his goals by thinking deeply and quietly
Picture 6.18 Idioms put on side wall of classroom_2.
(Photograph- authors’ own)
Translation: Heaven only helps those who work hard. Heaven always favors diligent people. More work must bring more profit. This explains why opportunities and inspirations always side with diligent people
Picture 6.19 Blackboard newspaper. (Photograph- authors’ own)
Picture 6.20 Honor roll posted in the school.
(Photograph- authors’ own)
Picture 6.21 Xichang train station. (Photograph- authors’ own)
Picture 6.22 Signpost in the park. (Photograph- authors’ own)
Picture 6.23 The nameplate of a local bank. (Photograph- authors’ own)
Picture 6.24 Signboard of a government institution.
(Photograph- authors’ own) Translation: Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture People’s Procuratorate
Picture 6.25 Signboard of a hospital. (Photograph- authors’ own)
Translation: Xichang City Maternal and Child Health Hospital ..........................................................................
Picture 6.26 Lunan ethnic library. (Photograph- authors’ own) .....................
Picture 6.27 Signboard of a department store.
(Photograph- authors’ own) .......................................................
Picture 6.28 The people’s hospital of Shilin. (Photograph- authors’ own)
126
126
127
128
130
130
131
132
132
133
133
Translation: The People’s Hospital of Shilin (left top); Shilin Emergency Center (right top) Outpatient Clinic (Bottom right) ............................................................................ 134
Picture 6.29 Street nameplate. (Photograph- authors’ own) .......................... 134
Picture 6.30 Poster in a dining room. (Photograph- authors’ own) ................ 135
Picture 6.31 Slogan on a street in Xichang. (Photograph- authors’ own)
Translation: Celebrating the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has been held successfully ............. 136
Picture 6.32 Banners hanging in a street in Xichang. (Photograph- authors’ own) Translation: To create a civilized environment and build a civilized city. Propaganda Department of Xichang Transportation Bureau ......................... 136
Picture 6.33 Advertisements and nameplates on the central square of Shilin. (Photograph- authors’ own) ....................................... 137
Picture 6.34 Bus routes on the bus stop. (Photograph- authors’ own)
Translation: For your safety, please wait on the platform! The destinations of buses are all in Chinese 137
Picture 6.35 LED signs in a street in Xichang. (Photograph- authors’ own)
Translation: the information displayed on this LED sign tells people that everyone should observe the financial rules and fight against crimes related to money laundering 138
Picture 6.36 Signboards of governmental agencies 1. (Photographauthors’ own)
Translation: Shilin Yi Autonomous County People’s Court, the circuit court 138
Picture 6.37 Signboards of governmental agencies 2. (Photograph- authors’ own) Translation: Chinese Communist Party Weize Village Branch Committee 138
Picture 6.38 Wall painting in Shilin. (Photograph- authors’ own) 139
Picture 6.39 Homepage of the website of the people’s government of Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture 143
Picture 6.40 Webpage of the Liangshan public security traffic management bureau 144
Picture 6.41 Webpage of the Liangshan personnel bureau 144
List of Tables
Table
Chapter 1 Introduction
This book is an attempt to drill down on the disconnect between China’s stated policy of bilingual education for its ethnic minorities and the implementation of that policy on the ground. The results indicate that due to many situational and operational factors the policy has failed to be implemented effectively at the school level. It looks at ongoing attempts to implement policy aims in these bilingual schools and concludes that without social, political and economic support these attempts will not succeed. What actually happens in the schools is a focus for our study. The authors undertook a detailed study of schooling available to the Yi people in Yunnan and Sichuan in southwestern China and then explored the factors hindering the implementation of the stated bilingual policy. This was a follow-up of previous research (Tsung 2014a; Ding and Yu 2013) which sought to examine whether the system was delivering its stated aim to provide bilingual education to all China’s minorities.
1.1 Background
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is a multilingual country with an overall population of 1.3 billion people, 56 ethnic groups, and a highly multilingual context (National Bureau of Statistics 2011). The dominant Han nationality comprises 91.5% of the total population and speaks at least 2000 more or less distinct dialects or sub dialects (Li 2006, p. 150; Coblin 2000). The 55 ethnic minority nationalities, including Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur, Zhuang, and Yi, speak more than 400 languages (Tsung 2014b).
Old China has a long history of language policy. The first language policy was promulgated more than 2000 years ago by the first emperor of China, in the Qin Dynasty between 221–206 BC. This policy sought to unify and standardize all Chinese written languages as one written language, “Shu tong Wen”. Emperor Qin
1 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
L. Zhang, L. Tsung, Bilingual Education and Minority Language Maintenance in China, Multilingual Education 31, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03454-2_1
created a centralized government system to consolidate his new empire and manage his territorial expansion. He used a centralized administration system and introduced a standardized system of measurement. One of the consequences of centralization was script unification (wenzi tongyi), which emerged directly from Qin’s linguistic policy. Emperor Qin dictated that the use of the Qin script be mandatory throughout the empire. As a result, various local scripts that had been in use up to that time fell into disuse (Norman 1988). At this time, too, linguistic diversity was seen as unfavorable to the goal of centralization. Local language diversity and diversity in written scripts were seen as barriers which had to be overcome for Emperor Qin to enforce his laws across a large territory. After unification Qin’s power is reflected in the growth in importance of a standardized language and in the numerous modifications of individual scripts based on both Xia or non-Han in the eastern, southeastern, and northeastern parts of China (Norman 1988).
The impact of this standardized written language was felt for 2000 years until the 1950s, when a policy to simplify Chinese characters was put in place by the People’s Republic of China. Two different varieties of script now exist: traditional Chinese characters used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and simplified characters used in the People’s Republic of China and Singapore.
China’s large territory and multilingual landscape was initially created by the Mongols, the first non-Han group to conquer China. They also had other independent non-Han kingdoms under their regime, including Nan-zhao in the southwest, Tubo (Tibet) and Xiyu (Xinjiang) in the west. The Mongols controlled China from 1271 to 1368. During this period, many changes were introduced which had direct and ongoing influence on the status of language and the educational system.
The first multilingual policy set up in the Yuan Dynasty reflected an individual’s political and social status. Mongol society consisted of four social classes:
1. The Mongols, who were the leading people and controlled the Imperial Court.
2. The Semu people (Huihui Muslim, Uygurs and Tibetans), who were the Mongol’s literate helpers, administrative assistants and tax collectors.
3. The Han people (which referred to the Han who lived in the north), who were local officials.
4. Nan people (southerners) (which included Chinese and non-Han people in the south) who held the lowest social status and were controlled by local native chiefs.
The use of languages reflected these social strata. The Chinese (Han) language was placed at the lower rank of the language hierarchy. The Mongolian language had the highest status in the Yuan court. The Arabic and Persian languages also received some attention for political and trade reasons. While the Han language lost its superiority it had an instrumental value. The languages of the south and southwest had no status in the education system, but they were not suppressed by the Yuan court.
China’s earliest bilingual education practice can be traced to the Yuan period. The Mongolian Imperial College, established in 1271, taught exclusively in the Mongolian language and Chinese. The college aimed to preserve the Mongolian
language, culture and education. Its students were mainly the sons of Mongolian nobles and officials. In 1315, out of every 100 students, there were 50 Mongol students, 20 Semu students and 30 Han students. This period also marked a high point in Mongolian literature, history, classics and linguistic works. Many literary works in the Han language were translated into Mongolian language (Shenamujila. 1995).
The Mongolian Hanlin Academy was established in 1271 and was in charge of translating the imperial edicts from Mongolian into the Han script. In addition, it prepared final copies for the lower level administrators, dominated by the Han, who were unfamiliar with the Mongolian language.
Another language policy was to promote Arabic and Persian languages as well as the study of Muslim culture, medicine, architecture. The National College for the Study of Muslim Culture (Huihui Guozi Xue) was established in 1289, and five Mongol officials were enrolled in the inaugural class (Shenamujila 1995). The aim of the National College for the Study of Muslim Culture was to train Mongol translators in the Arabic and Persian languages because the Persian language was used in Xiyu (Xinjiang today) and central Asia. It is regarded as the first foreign language college in China.
The Manchu were the second non-Han group to conquer China, which they did in 1644 from their base in Manchuria in the northeast. They established the Qing dynasty, which established a non-Chinese language policy in its early years. The Manchu language had the highest status and was referred to as the national language (or the Qing language). At the same time three other languages had an official status granted them by the Qing court: Han, Mongolian and Tibetan. Most Qing official documents were written in these four languages. The autobiographies of the Manchu emperors were also written in the four languages (Tian 1993: 248).
From this historical background it can be understood that multilingual policy is deeply rooted in China’s historical legacy and power struggles. Similar to the Yuan and Qing dynasty, modern China was built on solid multinational and multilingual foundations. On its establishment in 1949, the PRC government announced that China was a multi-ethnic country with 55 ethnic minority groups, acknowledging the diversity of its population while insisting on its national unity. Its diverse minorities with many different languages and cultures have much experience with the push and pull of homogenizing forces and indigenous cultures (Gao 2010). Fei (1999) put forward the notion of “duoyuan yiti”, which maintained that China is a state of ethnic diversity within national unity. The term “Zhonghua minzu” Chinese nation has been adopted to capture the complex relationships between the Han majority and the other 55 officially identified ethnic minority groups. As Fei (1999) articulated, despite their linguistic, cultural and religious differences, they are nonetheless bound to each other in the form of a supra-identity, the Zhonghua minzu. Duoyuan Yiti (ethnic diversity within national unity) has been taken as a political framework for dealing with ethnic relations in modern China and is believed to be the cornerstone of ethnic development and personal advancement (Wang 2016). Under this framework, Fei (2003) argues that diversity within unity is a combination of “gemei qimei” (to understand yourself and discover your own form of beauty) and “meirenzhimei” (to befriend others and appreciate radiance of different people).
Self-knowledge is necessary for adapting to new environments and cultures. This is in line with what Berry (2003) points out as cultural awareness. The degree of identification with one’s culture determines a minority’s acculturation strategies (Berry 2003). Within the framework of “duoyuan yiti”, the Chinese government has made an effort in the provision of education for its ethnic minorities in order to balance ethnic diversity and national unity with an assumed pluralistic nature. The rights of ethnic minorities are secured by policies on regional autonomy, compulsory education, and higher education.
Notwithstanding early stated good intentions toward the maintenance and support of minority languages, the economic growth of recent years has overridden people’s ethnic consciousness. The nationwide promotion of Putonghua (the official and the common dialect of Chinese language) as China’s national language and the provision of it as the language of learning starting from Grade 1 in minority regions have created unfavorable conditions for ethnic minority languages. Zhou (2000) commented that in the last six decades of communist rule, the government’s linguistic policy has led to perhaps the greatest language shift and loss in the world. Against this, the Chinese government has claimed that minority groups have been granted the right to preserve their own culture and language. However, to get a true picture of “the real language policy”, we should not only observe it through its stated policy documents, but also look at how it is carried out in practice in the schools, at the factors that constrain its effective implementation, such as availability and allocation of resources, familial and social context, and career prospects in a Handominated society. How does the Chinese government set and modify its minority language policies to achieve its regional objectives? How do these policies help minorities maintain their ethnic identity as well as national unity? All these questions need to be looked at further and clarified.
1.2 Language Policy for Minorities
Many scholars have investigated modern language policy for minorities in China, in which 55 minority groups comprising a population of 130 million speak more than 400 languages (Bruhn 2008; Feng 2007; Adamson and Feng 2014; Gao 2008; He 2005, 2014; Ma 1985; Ma 2006; Mackerras 2003; Naran 2014; Postiglione et al. 2007; Stites 1999; Tsung 2009, 2014a, b; Wang and Zhou 2003; Zhu 2007; Zhou 2004). Baogang He (2014) believes that throughout history China’s language policy has always followed a linguistic imperialism orientation, and this trend continues into contemporary China. As He maintains “Han script was consolidated through a series of long-lived empires and still enjoys imperial status today” (2014: 57). Although in the early days of the PRC the Chinese government demonstrated an intention to enhance language diversity and multilingualism in China, the unexpected rapid take up and spread of Putonghua prevented it from achieving any true linguistic pluralism. The past decades have witnessed “a pendulum swing between the promotion of linguistic and cultural assimilation and of bilingualism, depending
on the socio-political situation in the country” (Feng and Adamson 2015: 4). Whilst the spread of Putonghua has been fueled by the forces of modern economic development, the minority languages have been subjected to legislative neglect (Bruhn 2008). From the political point of view, little real autonomy was actually practiced in minority areas (Lundberg 2009). The Han Chinese soon gained a dominant position and an assimilation policy was then adopted (He 2014). Governments at various levels have taken strong measures to promote Putonghua, the standard Chinese, in schools and in society (Feng and Adamson 2015). Under this assimilation policy is an apparent monoglossic ideology, which reinforced the long historical tradition of the unification of language as the foundation of Great Unity. An assimilationist approach has been taken to minorities (Naran 2014). Language and culture have been homogenized for the sake of stability and efficiency. “Minority school curricula have predominantly reflected Ronghe Zhuyi (assimilationist beliefs)” (Feng 2007: 271).
Zhou (2000, 2004) summarizes language policies for minorities since the establishment of the PRC in 1949 into three stages. They are: the first pluralistic stage (support for minority languages in the early to mid-1950s); the monopolistic stage (the suppression of minority languages during the late 1950s and the Cultural Revolution); and the second pluralistic stage (tolerance of minority languages starting from the late 1970s). Zhou argues that minorities’ use of language was directly subject to governmental planning for the purpose of national identity.
Some researchers point out that in the post 1980s the constitution provides an assurance that ethnic minorities within the 148 autonomous areas of China can use their own languages (Ma 1985; Mackerras 2003). The bilingual education policy for minority groups is set for the protection of minority languages. “It aims to produce competence in both their ethnic language and Hanyu or standard Chinese” (Postiglione et al. 2007: 51). The Chinese government has gone to great lengths to accommodate minority languages (Stites 1999). But as the educational gap between minority areas and Han areas becomes more and more glaring, much attention has been given to the language policies and practices in minority areas.
Large discrepancies between the policy and practice have been found when these laws and policies are interpreted (Zhou 2004; He 2005). For example, Zhou (2004) points out that the PRC’s practice of its policy goes against its own laws in the following three areas: legal status of minority languages, opportunities for minority language use/development, and government service in minority languages in minority communities. In recent years, many researchers have found that the emphasis seems to shift away from ethnic minority languages (He 2014; Tsung 2014b; Gao 2010). In 2001, the Chinese National People’s Congress passed the revised PRC Laws on Autonomy for Minority Regions. Among the revisions made, three articles are related to language use. Although it still promotes both minority languages and Chinese, it benefits Chinese more than minority languages as a whole (Zhou 2004). Chinese instruction has since been promoted to the early years of primary education. He’s study (2014) in Tibet reveals that Tibetan, once the most commonly used language in Tibet, is now second to Putonghua in many counties. In her study on Uygurs in Xinjiang, Tsung (2014a) found that the use of Uygur in education has
declined as a result of the position that Chinese has occupied as the region’s dominant language. A similar trend has also been observed by Gao (2010) on Koreans’ bilingual education in Liaoning. While preserving Korean language and culture has been encouraged in education, the vision of modernization advocates the importance of Chinese language studies for all Korean children. With the power of the market expanding into every corner of China, Putonghua has enjoyed a dramatic spread over the whole country, while the prominence of minority languages has been slowly diluted (He 2014). There is now a tendency towards the strengthening of Putonghua. The policy discourse shifts to a “let the market decide” mentality (Ma 2006).
In 2010, the State Ethnic Affairs Commission issued State Ethnic Affairs Commission’s Suggestions for Managing Ethnic Minority Languages, putting forward the general principles for language management in minority areas in the new era. Based on the suggestions, the Chinese Ministry of Education and State Language Commission set the Outline of Reform and Development Plan for Languages and Words in Medium and Long Run (2012–2020) in 2012. The Outline states explicitly that language management in minority areas involves the following five aspects: accelerating the popularization and promotion of the national common language and script in minority areas; protecting minority languages and scripts scientifically; facilitating normalization, standardization, and digitalization of minority languages; conducting a national survey in minority languages; and keeping a scientific record of minority languages. Putonghua and the standardized Chinese characters have been set as the national common language to be promoted not only in Han areas but also in ethnic minority areas. Chinese has been selected as the lingua franca even for minority groups in China. Further accelerated by the fast development of the internet and information technology, the status of many minority languages has become endangered.
Many previous researchers have studied the language policy and the manifestation of this monolingual ideology in minority groups such as Tibetan, Uygur, and Mongolian (Postiglione et al. 2007; Naran 2014; Tsung 2014a). They all maintained that the foundation of mainstream educational thinking in contemporary China is monocultural centrism, which emphasizes “one nation, one state, one culture, and one language” (Naran 2014).
1.3 Bilingual Education Programs for Minorities in China
Since 1949
The study of bilingual education involves cross and multi-disciplinary research, bringing together language policy and planning (LPP), family language practice, educational policy, second language acquisition (SLA) and sociolinguistic dimensions. Many types of bilingual education programs have been identified (see Fishman 1967; Lambert 1977; Swain and Johnson 1997; Baker 2006; Cummins 2000; Garcia 2011). Indeed, bilingual education is a simple label for a complex
phenomenon (Cazden and Snow 1990: 9). Most research conducted into bilingual education has been focused on school programs.
Bilingual education policy has fluctuated with the political climate for 60 years. Similar to the three stages Zhou (2000, 2004) identified of language policies for minorities since the establishment of the PRC in 1949, bilingual education programs were strongly promoted during the first pluralistic stage (support for minority languages in the early to mid-1950s); these bilingual education programs were suppressed during the monopolistic stage (the suppression of minority languages during the late 1950s and the Cultural Revolution); and bilingual education programs returned to favor in the second pluralistic stage (tolerance of minority languages starting from the late 1970s).
One of the objective of bilingual education policy is to prepare minority students with bilingual proficiency in their mother tongue and Chinese, but the way it is put into practice strongly favors the Chinese language. Another objective of bilingual education policy is the protection of minority languages. “It aims to produce competence in both their ethnic language and Hanyu or standard Chinese” (Postiglione et al. 2007: 51). The Chinese government has gone to great lengths to accommodate minority languages (Stites 1999), at both legal and policy levels, but as the educational gap between minority areas and Han areas has become more and more pronounced, it has been found that large discrepancies between the policy and practice have existed when these laws and policies are interpreted (Zhou 2004; He 2005).
Policy on bilingual education when the new government was established was both a political and practical issue. The aim of the national language policy was to offer legal equality to the 55 ethnic minority peoples in order to promote national unity and social harmony. It was also a very practical solution to use the mother tongue of minorities to develop basic education since the majority of these groups did not know Chinese at that time. There are many types or models of bilingual education (Dai and Cheng’s classification 2007) including structured immersion, transition, and maintenance, corresponding to the forms of bilingual education for minority groups in Baker’s typology (2006: 194–201). Bilingual education policies vary region by region. The last 60 years have seen some strong, as well as some symbolic (and essentially ineffective), models of mother-tongue bilingual education with the term “bilingual” often being equated with the use of mother tongue or use of Putonghua to teach all subjects, except those subjects related to minority literature or literacy. (For a typology of bilingual education for Chinese minorities, see Dai and Cheng 2007).
China should be regarded as a world leader in developing methods of bilingual education for minority nationalities. Mother-tongue bilingual education models have been identified by many researchers. Those minorities with big populations occupying large territories such as Uygurs and Kazaks in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia, Tibetans in Qinghai, Sichuan and Tibetan Autonomous region and Koreans in Yanbian prefecture have successfully developed mother-tongue bilingual education schools and examination systems. The achievements of these bilingual education systems are tremendous and are reflected in the numbers of schools and the populations of students who have benefited from these programs.
One bilingual education model which uses minority languages as a bridge to Putonghua competency, advocated by Ma (2012), is becoming increasingly popular in minority schools today. In the southwest, it has been generally regarded as a transitional bilingual program from primary to secondary schools.
For the majority of Han Chinese in China their bilingual education policy refers to Chinese and English. In 2001, a policy of teaching English was issued by the Ministry of Education, which states that if resources are available schools should start teaching English from Year 3 in primary schools (MOE 2001). This program is similar to the mother-tongue bilingual education programs for minority students, as the medium of instruction is their mother tongue (apart from dialect speakers), English is taught as a second language from year 3.
The languages spoken by the different minority groups are widely diverse. Most minority groups have at least one spoken language, except the Hui and Manchu, who have adopted Mandarin Chinese as their mother tongue (Zhou 1999). Putonghua, the common dialect of Chinese language, has thus become the common interethnic language among different groups. Based on their writing system and access to bilingual education, Yang (2005: 554) categorized China’s minorities
“Shaoshu Minzu” into the following three types:
• Type 1 Minority groups who had functional writing systems which were broadly used before the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, and who have had regular bilingual education since then. These groups include the Koreans, Kazaks, Mongolians, Tibetans and Uygurs, who have a combined population of about 24 million.
• Type 2 Minority groups who had functional writing systems that were in limited use before 1949, and who only have had occasional bilingual education since then. This type includes eight groups, the Dai, Jingpo, Lisu, Lahu, Miao, Naxi, Wa and Yi, who have a combined population of around 22 million.
• Type 3 Minority groups who had no fully functional writing systems before 1949 and who have had limited or no bilingual education since then. They take Chinese as their primary or only language of instruction. It includes the remaining 42 minority groups, and they have a total population of about 60 million.
In the last 30 years China has undergone impressive economic development. However, many minority languages in China have become endangered due to the promotion of the national common language Chinese (Putonghua as spoken and Chinese literacy) and English as an international language. Some researchers believe the promotion of Chinese is the major factor behind minority language endangerment (Tsung 2014a; Zhou 2012 etc); Some researchers blame the school system’s failure to provide language support to minority languages. (Yang 2015; Ma 2009).
1.4 Ecological Framework of Language Policy
Language is a typically human means of communication, and consists of the use of words in a structured and conventional way. It is language that enables us to express complex ideas and thoughts across time and space, without which much of our experience and knowledge would simply die with us. Human society could never have developed to what it is today without language. However, as a system of communication used by a particular community or country, languages cannot be understood separately from the broader socio-cultural and politico-economic milieus in which they are embedded (Bourdieu 1991). From the anthropological perspective, language ensures social cohesion within certain communities and constitutes part of the ethnic boundary (Kamusella 2009). “It is language, which constitutes the correct border of the nation” (Ernst Moritz Arndt as cited in Kamusella 2009). And in a deeper sense, it is also language that works as a means of excluding people politically, economically or even historically (Millar 2005).
In an ecological approach, language policy and planning is seen as a process which is a part of, and is closely interrelated with, a large range of natural and cultural ecological factors. It focuses on the question of maintaining a maximum diversity of languages through seeking to identify those ecological factors which sustain linguistic diversity (Mühlhausler 2003). Pennycook (2006) argues that power does not only rest with the state, or within a policy text, but is enacted by educational practitioners through discursive practices that operate in relation to some authoritative criteria. In his work, Pennycook also suggests a method that takes the focus off of “the state as an intentional actor that seeks to impose its will on the people and instead draws our attention to much more localized and often contradictory operations of power” (Pennycook 2006: 65).
The present study follows the paradigm of language ecology, which placed language planning at the heart of an eco-system with various forces at work, linguistic as well as non-linguistic, macro as well as micro (Ricento 2000). Efforts have been made to connect the “patterns of language use in defined contexts and the effects of macro-sociopolitical forces on the status and use of language at the societal level” (Ricento 2006: 209). Language policy is not only interpreted through the declared and official documents, but also looked at through the different mechanisms that are used overtly as well as covertly to create the real language policies that are in practice. “It is via these different mechanisms that ideology is meant to affect practice… it is also through these mechanisms that practice can affect ideology and that different language policies can be resisted, …” (Shohamy 2006, p. 57). Spolsky (2004) emphasized in his work that language practices, language beliefs, and language management are three components that interact with each other in complex, wider contexts under the influence of all types of different conditions to form the language policy of a speech community. It is based on the ecological framework of language policy proposed by Spolsky (2004) that language used in schools, language used the public spaces, and the language attitudes of the Yi people are analyzed to explain how the present day language policy for Yi people is constructed and how the underlying language ideologies are transmitted into practice.
1.5 Language Management: Case Study of Yi-Han Bilingual Schools
To realize “educational equality and social justice”, it is believed that multicultural education should be introduced into the school curriculum. (Banks 2010). Banks (2009) defines multicultural education as “an approach to school reform designed to actualize educational equality for students from diverse racial, ethnic, cultural, social class, and linguistic groups” (p. 13). It can assure all the students have equal opportunities to learn. However, social inequality has always been found in the school curriculum, textbooks, teacher attitudes, student-teacher interactions, languages uses and dialect spoken and sanctioned in the schools, and school cultures (Banks 2009). The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD 2007) has defined equity in education from two dimensions: one is fairness in education, which basically means “making sure that personal and social circumstances – for example gender, socio-economic status or ethnic origin – should not be an obstacle to achieving educational potential”(2007, 10); the other is inclusion in education, which refers to the educational system must ensure everyone has equal rights to access education. After extensive studies on how different countries have handled equity in education, it identified three key areas essential to the delivery of equity in education: the design of education systems, classroom practices, and resourcing. Guided by this theoretical concept, the authors explore the implementation of bilingual policy for minorities in Yi-Han bilingual schools in the promotion of educational equity. The design of the school bilingual programs, classroom interactions and learning resources for students are observed and analyzed to explore the equity issues regarding the minority education in China. We hoped to identify methods being implemented in schools which have the capacity to support and grow one of the most important linguistic resources in southwest China, the Yi language.
The focus on bilingual education policy and practice for the Yi was prompted by two considerations. Firstly, our previous work allowed a historical perspective on the development of the issues and secondly, the Yi are a minority group of significant size and geographical spread in southwest China whose experience provides a significant window into what is happening to most minorities in this part of China. As Feng and Adamson (2015) once commented that ethnic minority groups in China have much in common for the simple reason that they have been ruled by the same regime for more than six decades.
The Yi, with a population of over 6 million, are one the 55 Minzu. They are indigenous to the southwest of China, living in Yunnan, Sichuan, Guangxi and Guizhou. The Yi are a complex ethnic group with six major dialect sub-groups.
The classification of the Yi language has changed in recent years. Initially regarded as Type 2 by Yang (2005: 554) it was upgraded to Level 1 in the hierarchy of minority languages by Huang when he was a state official representative. This hierarchy of three levels of more than 120 minority languages was based on the social functions of each as perceived by the government and went as follows.
“Level 1 consists of seven languages, including Mongolian, Tibetan, Uygur, Kazak, Korean, Yi and Dai, all having their own traditional writing systems. These languages, with a total population of 31 million, are used throughout whole regions of minority nationalities, for all areas of life.”
Another 12 languages, such as Zhuang, are considered Level 2 languages. These languages, which have a total population of 35 million speakers, are used for limited areas of life.
Level 3 consists of more than 100 languages spoken by 17 million speakers from 33 minority nationalities. None of the Level 3 languages have writing systems or, if there are writing systems, they are seldom used in formal settings.
Huang’s classification of languages is crucial for minority education implementation as it indicates the degree to which the state recognizes its obligations under the bilingual education policy.
The Chinese government’s language planning efforts take place on the basis of the above classifications. Guiding principles, strategies and measures for language vitality are different at each level.
The seven Level 1 languages have been provided mother-tongue (L1) bilingual education since 1949 as the bilingual education programs for ethnic minority students were part of a government-led educational campaign at the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 to provide education opportunities for ethnic minority groups. The typical examples are the Korean, Mongolian, Uygur and Tibetan bilingual programs which were very successfully implemented. These programs aimed to develop ethnic minority students’ bilingual competence in the national standard Chinese language (i.e., in its spoken form as Putonghua and in its written form as Standard Written Chinese) and their own ethnic languages. By doing so, it was hoped that these ethnic minority students could be integrated into mainstream Chinese society and at the same time maintain their own cultural and linguistic integrity. In spite of all the policy discourses, recent research has pointed out that bilingual education programs for ethnic minority students underscore an effort to assimilate these minority groups into the mainstream Chinese society (Johnson and Chhetri 2002; EPRS 2014; Yang 2015). While analyzing problems encountered by schools for ethnic minority students in implementing bilingual education programs, Lin (1997) identified that inequalities in political and economic development of different ethnic groups had led to the de facto marginalization of minority languages in education even though minority languages were granted equal status with the Chinese language by law. She reasoned that the Chinese language was privileged as the official language commonly used in government, education and many other public domains. The Chinese language was also associated with opportunities and social acceptance, whereas minority languages were limited in use and relegated to low social status. The lack of social rewards for using minority languages, in turn, led to the deprecation of these languages by parents and local government officials. Any discussions of bilingual education for minority students in China need to address these contextual conditions before they come up with different responses.
1.6 Language Belief: Ethnic Identity and Language Choice
The ways in which people think about their language and languages in general may greatly affect their linguistic practice and attitudes. One of the common language ideology in the dominant societies around the world is that of the standard language ideology, which believes that language homogeneity is beneficial to society and seeks to impose uniformity and invariance in language with particular economic and political goals (Milroy 2001). The notion of ‘correct’ or ‘proper’ language skills has thus been used to justify social difference and inequalities. Standard varieties, associating with speakers in power, usually enjoy more social prestige, while other varieties are made ‘illegitimate’. Under such a monoglossic culture, it requires that certain valued discursive practice is maintained, systematically excluding some while privileging others, which may extend as far as discrimination against those whose accent differs from the norm, particularly those whose accents were associated with racial, ethnic or cultural minorities (Lippi-Green 1994). Differences have always been seen as problematic and need to be erased or ignored. However, nowadays in a democratic society, a heteroglossic ideology becomes more and more popular, which views the languages in a multilingual society as interactive, complimentary, and dependent upon each other, with the different languages having different functions. According to Bakhtin (1981), all speech utterances are heteroglot as they partake of “different-languages” and resonate with “many-voices”. Woolard (2004) maintained that utterances can best be understood as inherently heteroglossic, that is, what underlies variability is the multiplicity of voices (stances, perspectives, social lives) which emerge in any given stretch of social performance. The choice of different languages or varieties is believed to be influenced by different motivational factors, conflicting norms and values prevailing in that society. Those norms and values, overtly or covertly, can be enforced by the dominant culture of the society or by the pressure exerted through beliefs common to a community. Language users make conscious linguistic choices based on their orientation toward (or away from) specific social groups. In a multi-lingual, multi-ethnic setting, individuals can frequently draw from a range of language varieties to achieve interactional ends. Using a particular language in a certain context, speakers signal his understanding of the current situation and his relevant role within the context. While using more than one language, speakers may initiate negotiation over relevant social roles (Myers-Scotton 1983). Language alternation may provide a means for speakers to signal how utterances are to be interpreted and provide information beyond referential content (Nilep 2006). “Identities are constructed and validated through linguistic practices available (or at times, unavailable) to individuals at a particular point in time and space” (Blackledge and Creese 2010). In general, language plays a major role in the development of social identity (Eastman 1985), and particularly ethnic identity (Giles and Johnson 1981).
Schiffman (1996) reminded us that unless people’s attitudes, beliefs, and stereotypes towards a language are changed, no authority nor language policy will succeed in bringing about any change in the fate of a language. Language attitudes of
teachers, parents and pupils are thus essential to guarantee the success of a new language, particularly an ethnic or minority language, after it being introduced into the school system (Baker 2006, p. 215). Their language attitudes manifest the current beliefs, preferences and desires within their community. If the community as a whole does not favor their native language education, the implementation of such a language policy is unlikely to succeed. The same is also true with the imposition of a common national language. A harmonious concurrence should be reached between the top–down policy and the language attitudes at the grass roots levels of the community on the worth of the policy and the importance of working together to bring it about.
To help impose national identities government may lay language policies that decide which languages are to be employed – and thus, legitimized – in the public school system (Blackledge and Creese 2010). The goal is often integration into a single linguistic community. Heller and Martin-Jones (2001), drawing on their research, made the following observation:
Educational choices in such [multilingual] settings, whether regarding structures, programs, practices, or materials, are clearly much more than choices about how to achieve linguistic proficiency. They are choices about how to distribute linguistic resources and about what value to attribute to linguistic forms and practices. They are choices that are embedded in the economic, political and social interests of groups and that have consequences for the life chances of individuals as well as for the construction of social categories and relations of power. (Heller and Martin-Jones 2001, p. 419).
The central role of language in socially constructed ethnic identity places language at the centre of perceived differences between different groups. Language is not only a means of communication, but also an expression of family’s cultural and ethnic identity, and thus plays a critical role in judgments about whether one is an “insider” or “outsider” (Tsung and Clarke 2010). In some cases, parents may actively oppose bilingual education policy in schools on the grounds that such policies stand in the way of their children’s career and economic success. This opposition may be crucial in that they may abandon the mother tongue at home or send their children to a dominant language instruction school. In other situations parents may exert a great influence in support of bilingual education policy in schools and maintain the mother tongue at home in order to protect their cultural identity and family values. It is generally believed that the language spoken by the dominant group always plays a role of promoting one’s societal advancement, whereas the use of minority language attaches a priority to ethnic culture maintenance (Sktunabb 2000).
De Houwer’s (1999) model of the relationship between beliefs, practices and outcomes in childhood bilingualism identifies three types of parental attitude affecting linguistic practices in bilingual families. First, parents have a clear idea about which languages should be used for what purposes with their children. This can be illustrated by the example of Quechua parents in the Peruvian Andes. Despite government efforts to provide Quechua-Spanish bilingual education in public schools, parents perceived school as a Spanish-only domain for formal learning and thus resisted Quechua-medium schooling. Second, parents’ attitudes towards
Another random document with no related content on Scribd:
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p369 Je 10 ’20 90w
The Times [London] Lit Sup p432 Jl 8 ’20 1150w
BURGESS, WARREN RANDOLPH. Trends
of school costs. (Education monographs) il $1 Russell Sage foundation 379
20–17519
“The study is based upon data included in the reports of the United States Commissioner of education, and covers the period from 1870 to 1918. By means of the ‘line of trends’ the writer presents a striking picture of the drift of annual expenditures for public education in the United States during the period noted, comparing this with a similar representation of the growth in pupil attendance. Noting the fact that teachers’ salaries and new buildings absorb four-fifths of all school expenditures for the year 1917–18, an analysis is made of the trends of teachers’ salaries since 1840, the salaries of rural and city teachers, both men and women, being considered separately. Interesting comparisons of these with the lines representing the trends of the cost of living and of the salaries of other workers are presented. Likewise, the tendencies with reference to costs of buildings are similarly shown. A special set of tables and graphs indicates the trends of such costs during the period from 1915–20. From the data presented the writer concludes that ‘to buy the same amount of educational service in 1920 as in 1915 it will be necessary to double the school budget.’ The closing chapter deals with the sources of income for school support.” School R
“Aside from the content, the method employed in the study will be of interest to students of education.”
+
El School J 21:235 N ’20 250w
N Y P L Munic Ref Lib Notes 7:39 O 20 ’20 70w
School R 28:710 N ’20 680w BURKE, KATHLEEN.
Little
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Twelve stories of deeds of heroism performed by French children during the war. The author was engaged in relief work and some of the children she knew personally. “Others she knew because all France loved and honored them. One of the stories, that of the Denisot children, was found in the diary of a German soldier.” (Introd.) Contents: André Lange and his wheelbarrow; Madeleine and André Daniau; Denise Cartier; Robert Felix; Louise Haumont; Louis and Marcelle Denisot; Baby Pierre; Gustave Daret; René Chautier; Etienne Chevrille; Emile Depres; Henriette Maubert. The book is illustrated by Paul Verrees and has an introduction by Alfred Holman.
“Heroic, really true and full of action these will prove stirring tales and bring home the horrors of war to all boys and most girls.”
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“It is an incredibly stirring, beautiful little book, and it is one that every generous child will love. It is not alone for children, however.”
Hildegarde Hawthorne
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Springf’d Republican p6 D 4 ’20 50w
BURKE, THOMAS.[2] Song book of Quong Lee of Limehouse. *$1.25 Holt 811
20–22856
A book of poems in free verse viewing life through the oriental eyes of Quong Lee, shopkeeper in Limehouse, London’s Chinatown. Humor and philosophy mingle in the poems. Titles are: Of buying and selling; A nightpiece; Of a national cash register; Under a shining window; A song of little girls; At the feast of lanterns; Of worship and conduct.
“Occasionally a banality, but light and poignant sentiment in abundance, with here and there a poem that sets vibrating the cords of sensibility.”
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“These vers libre pieces of ‘ song ’ present the personality of Chinatown, the quaint phrase and the cool temper with a reality which grows more and more vivid as one reads them through.”
The Times [London] Lit Sup p782 N 25 ’20 60w
BURROUGHS, EDGAR RICE. Tarzan the
untamed. il *$1.90 McClurg
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“It runs on for some four hundred pages with no visible trace of style, little or no atmosphere or local color, and about as slim a foundation plot as has graced a novel for many a day.”
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“The story shows the same qualities that have marked the previous Tarzan stories ingenuity and fertility of invention, combined with those crude and garish features that make the success of a popular moving picture play.”
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“Will doubtless thrill the crowd which loves the cinematograph, and cares nothing for common-sense, or coherence, compared with violent sensation and frequent killing.”
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BURROUGHS, JOHN. Accepting
the universe. il *$2 (2c) Houghton 210
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“A series of sallies, excursions, into the world of semiphilosophical speculation,” the author calls this collection of essays, whose burden is “that this is the best possible world, and these people in it are the best possible people,” that “the universe is good,”
“The philosophizings will please many not too radical thinkers. Most people will prefer his bits on nature.”
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“Spirited and eloquent pages. ” H. W. Boynton
+ and “the heart of nature is sound.” Among the longer essays are: Shall we accept the universe? The universal beneficence; The faith of a naturalist; The price of development; The problem of evil. Then follow two groups of short pieces under the headings: Horizon lines; and Soundings. The poet of the cosmos, in the last essay, is Walt Whitman.
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line with so-called orthodoxy, but none the less he has coined into words the unspoken expressions of many hearts.” H: L. West
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“His philosophy is a mass of contradictions. Mr Burroughs in accepting the universe drops out from it its most important phenomena.”
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Review 3:392 O 27 ’20 470w
20–15343
When Sheila Arundel’s artist father dies and leaves her penniless, she counts herself fortunate to be befriended by Sylvester Hudson, who has come into her life thru a painting of her father’s he has just bought to decorate his western hotel. He takes her back with him to
Millings, but the reception his family give her makes her eager to be independent and in gratitude to Hudson she consents to become a bar maid in his saloon. The only member of his family who treats her with respect is Dickie, the despised half-drunken son, in whom she discovers a soul akin to her own poetic nature. Her success in the saloon brings her popularity of a kind, but one particularly trying day, culminating in a brutal insult from her employer, determines her to get away and she seeks refuge with Miss Blake, a recluse living on Hidden Creek alone with her dogs and her peculiarities. From the horror that this experience brings, Cosme Hilliard, a hot-blooded young half-Spaniard, rescues her, and for a time it seems that he is to be her hero, but Dickie, whose character has been developing along with hers, altho in a different way, at length comes into his own.
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A unique feature of this mystery story is that its principal characters, including both hero and villain, are women. Men play secondary parts. Three housekeepers have fled from the Pines when Janice Gale accepts the position. Her first intimation of something wrong comes with the signs of terror exhibited by her mistress’s young son at sight of her red hair. Then there are indications that the house is haunted. The child Robbie is frightened into convulsions and dies with a strand of red hair in his fingers. Janice next comes face to face with the ghost and finds her the counterpart of herself. Convinced that this is a real woman she sets herself to trace the mystery, braves great dangers, all but loses her life, escapes and wins the love of the young detective who has been regarding her as a criminal.
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have in Mrs Burt one of the well worth while writers of real mystery stories of the immediate future.”
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BURT, MAXWELL STRUTHERS. Songs and portraits.
*$1.50 Scribner 811
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“A nature modestly reflective as well as emotionally alert is revealed in ‘Songs and portraits’ by Maxwell Struthers Burt. The poems reminiscent of the dead, in form and spirit not unlike those of Rupert Brooke, express the belief that ‘the dead know all.’ In ‘Fishing’ and ‘Marchen’ this Princeton poet paints gay and naive little small-boy pictures. He reasons rather bitterly against frantic fanatics and pudgy-fingered plutocrats.”—Springf’d Republican
Booklist 17:60 N ’20
“Mr Burt’s ear and his learning are much indebted to Rupert Brooke—but it is a sorrowful thing to see anyone assume so easily all the palpable qualities of another. There are the same studied irrelevancies, the same feminine endings, the same delight in names. Mr Burt has imitated most of the many things we would like to forget in Rupert Brooke, including his glorification of war and death.” G. T.
Freeman 1:526 Ag 11 ’20 250w
“When at last he shall speak thoughts all his own, it is hoped that he will not have lost his really very lovely gift of expression, his round, elegant, springtime pregnancy and shapeliness of phrase.”
Mark Van Doren
Nation 111:sup414 O 13 ’20 100w
“Although many of the poems seem unfinished, as if their maker had had the right poetic impulse but scant leisure, nevertheless there is a warmth and naturalness of utterance In all of them that will rejoice the hearts of those who are weary of strident or vapid artificialities.” Margaret Wilkinson
N Y Times p18 Ag 8 ’20 370w
“Mr Burt’s ‘Songs and portraits’ has real delicacies of a kind neither very usual nor very extraordinary. There are phrases of drooping grace; there are straying, sinuous rhythms; there is a desultory and hovering tenderness. Mr Burt’s very picturesqueness is rather mellow than picturesque.” O. W. Firkins
Review 3:171 Ag 25 ’20 100w
20–16872
In the introduction the author calls attention to the present-day tendency in the art of oratory which distinguishes it from the oratory of the past. “This is the cultivation of simplicity in form as opposed to that ornateness of phraseology which has been so characteristic of the most esteemed public utterances in former times.” The chapters following the Introduction are: Breathing; Pronunciation; The voice; Accessories of the voice; Direct training; Preparing a speech; The deeper training; Beecher’s Liverpool address; Lincoln’s oratory; A southern orator; The American system; Conclusion.
BURTON, THEODORE ELIJAH.
Modern political tendencies and the effect of the war thereon. (Stafford Little lectures for 1919) *$1.25 Princeton univ. press 320.1
19–25948
“The president of the Merchants national bank of New York, former United States senator from Ohio, sees four dominant phases in the changing ideas of peoples and governments: the relation of governments to the governed; the relation of the governed each to the other; the relation of the central government to its constituent parts; and international relations.”—Booklist
Booklist 16:112 Ja ’20 Boston Transcript p6 F 11 ’20 650w
“‘Modern political tendencies’ by Theodore E. Burton possibly sets the Stafford Little lectures at a higher level of open-mindedness than was reached by such earlier contributors as Grover Cleveland and Elihu Root; in fact it is marked by that tone of restrained liberalism which is coming to be a mark of our more important bank presidents, to the great amazement and confusion, no doubt, of their editorial satellites.”
Dial 67:498 N 29 ’19 60w
BURY, GEORGE WYMAN. Pan-Islam. *$2.25
Macmillan 297
20–5812
“‘“Pan-Islam” is an elementary handbook,’ explains the author, ‘not a text-book, still less an exhaustive treatise.’ It is a study of the Pan-Islamic problem on the political, social, religious, and many other sides, by one who served in the Hedjaz and Arabia during the war, but has also had a quarter of a century’s experience of Mohammedan countries and peoples. As a rule he abstains from political criticism.” Ath
“His remarks on aggressive missionary enterprise are sensible and illustrated by plenty of facts.”
Ath p61 Ja 9 ’20 80w
“The book is well written and full of interesting and valuable information. The long experience of the author and his manifest fairness make his opinions of more than ordinary importance.”
Bib World 54:429 Jl ’20 230w
Booklist 17:48 N ’20
“The Carnegie peace commission should send the last chapter, A plea for tolerance, to every missionary organization.”
Dial 68:668 My ’20 60w
Spec 124:18 Ja 3 ’20 1250w
“He writes in a progressive spirit and very sympathetically toward the Moslem world. It is far better that his sentiments were expressed by an Englishman than by an American. The last chapter, a plea for toleration, is really a most admirable piece of writing.” I. C. Hannah
Survey 44:310 My 29 ’20 280w
The Times [London] Lit Sup p770 D 18 ’19 60w
“Mr Bury presents a fairly impartial view of Christian missions in the Near East, with their effect on Islam. It is a problem which he has studied at first hand, and he is studiously careful to express his views courteously. He is best when he is away from religious discussion, describing the Arab and the Turk as he knows them. Altogether Mr Bury’s book contains much that is entertaining; and although he has chosen too resonant a title for what might more reasonably be called essays, his expressed opinions are sensible and his matter readable.”
The Times [London] Lit Sup p776 D 25 ’19 1000w
BURY, JOHN BAGNELL. Idea of progress.
*$5.50 Macmillan 901
20–9233
“Prof. J. B. Bury’s new work is ‘The idea of progress: an inquiry into its origin and growth.’ The theme is developed under such chapter headings as: Some interpretations of universal history: Bodin and Leroy; Utility the end of knowledge: Bacon; The progress of knowledge: Fontenelle; The general progress of man: Abbe de Saint-Pierre; New conceptions of history: Montesquieu, Voltaire, Turgot; The French revolution: Condorcet; The theory of progress in England; German speculation on progress; The search for a law of progress: Saint-Simon and Comte; and Progress in the light of evolution.” Springf’d Republican
“This is just the chief merit of Professor Bury’s book, that it discriminates with fine precision between what is essential to the modern conception of progress and what only superficially resembles it. His exposition of the significance of the idea of progress in the history of European civilization is so lucid that it leaves nothing to be desired.” Carl Becker
“It is hardly necessary to say that the author carries out the historical inquiry with great width of learning and with a scrupulous desire to make a reasonable case even for those writers whose
presentation has its weak or even its ridiculous points. His remarks are eminently judicious wherever they can be tested.” P. V. M. Benecke
+ |Eng Hist R 35:581 O ’20 1650w
“An exceedingly clear and interesting account of the origin and growth of the idea of progress. ” S. B. Fay
+ |Review 3:478 N 17 ’20 520w
“Professor Bury’s work in clarity, accuracy, and fairness attains the high standard set by his previous historical volumes.”
Spec 124:795 Je 12 ’20 950w
Springf’d Republican p8 Ap 17 ’20 90w
“It is a work of profound scholarship, sedate in tone and rational in spirit. It is unfortunate that Professor Bury did not carry his study beyond his self-imposed limitation which ended it with the time when progress became a current creed.” A. J. Todd
Survey 45:322 N 27 ’20 730w
“A sound piece of pioneer work, with its merits and limitations. Only his knowledge of the subject and its intrinsic interest have saved his book from falling into the class of those which are less often read than consulted. Professor Bury has condensed the results of his work with remarkable ease and brevity and always with fairness.”
BUSH, COLEMAN HALL. Applied business law.
*$1.28 Holt 347.7
20–5200
As the ordinary empirical methods of acquiring the essentials of business law and practice are “entirely too slow ... the purpose of this book is to eliminate the long term of apprenticeship, to give a wide range of experience to all who seek it, by presenting material, both law and facts, for application in constructive work.” (Statement of purpose) The book is in two parts: 1, Fundamental principles: Essentials of contracts; Agency; Service; Deposits, loans, and hiring of things; Carriage; Sales of goods; Partnership; Insurance; Negotiable paper; Real property; Business corporations. 2, How to write business papers: Simple contracts; Articles of agreement; Negotiable contracts; Contracts concerning land; Miscellaneous forms; Index.
(Eng ed 20–6151)
This book of reminiscences begins delightfully, when the author was a girl of thirteen, with pebbles tossed against a bedroom window and an invitation to walk to the top of Box Hill to see the sun rise. It continues in the same vein of intimate, personal reminiscence to the day of Meredith’s death. There are pleasant glimpses of Shakespeare readings, of picnics, of Meredith’s family life, and of his friendships with young people, with quotations from letters and conversations.
“Her reminiscences have a girlish naïveté which is far from unattractive. Her anecdotes and some of the letters he wrote to her and his whimsical and witty talk help to fill out pleasantly our mental portrait of Meredith.”
Ath p1354 D 12 ’19 100w
“She is to be congratulated on her heroic self-restraint. We enjoy here, we are made to feel, the cream of several volumes.” J. J. Daly
Bookm 51:351 My ’20 820w
“Many details of Meredith’s family life are given by Lady Butcher in a wholly informal and fragmentary manner. Her style is frequently cloudy and repetitious, and she often spoils a good story by her clumsy way of telling it.” E. F. E.
Boston Transcript p6 Ja 17 ’20 1250w
Cleveland p51 My ’20 80w
“After reading Lady Butcher one needs to draw back a little with half-closed eyes to fit the various fragments together; but in a moment or two it will be seen that they merge quite rightly into the figure of the great man. ”
The
Times [London] Lit Sup p765 D 18 ’19 900w
BUTLER, ELLIS PARKER. How it feels to be fifty. *75c (18c) Houghton 814
20–8224
A genial essay reprinted from the American Magazine of December, 1919. Its substance is summed up in the concluding paragraph: “At twenty my life was a feverish adventure, at thirty it was a problem, at forty it was a labor, at fifty it is a joyful journey well begun.”
Boston Transcript p6 Jl 17 ’20 480w
BUTLER, ELLIS PARKER. Swatty; a story of
real boys. il *$1.90 (2c) Houghton
20–5587
Mr Butler goes back to his own boyhood for these stories. They are stories of boy life on the banks of the Mississippi and the book opens with a tale of the mighty river on one of its spring rampages. Swatty, Bony and George are “real boys” of the Huck Finn and Plupy Shute type. Altho the episodes are loosely woven together to make a continuous narrative, many of them are in effect short stories and some have been published as such in the American Magazine. Among the titles are: The big river; Mamie’s father; Scratch-cat; The haunted house; The red avengers; The ice goes out.
“Better if read in parts, a few adventures at a time.”
Booklist 16:311 Je ’20
“Were it not for a lamentable lapse into sentimentality out of keeping with the rest of the book, ‘Swatty’ would be a worthy successor [to Huck Finn]. A boy like George would never in this wide world possess a grandmother addressed as ‘Ladylove,’ and if he did, he would be cut into small pieces before he would use so soft an appellation.”
G. M. Purcell
Bookm 51:473 Je ’20
470w
“Although the situations are somewhat hackneyed, the author has the knack of seeing things from a boy’s point of view and expressing them in a boy’s language.”
Cleveland p50 My ’20
60w
“The humor of the book is broad and obvious rather than whimsical, but Mr Butler’s admirers will probably enjoy it.”