While mainland China is perceived as the ‘home to over 290 languages and 2,000 dialects’, it has been reported that the vitality of numerous languages in China, other than Mandarin, is declining due to the government’s language policy and extensive internal migration. Moreover, although English continues to play an important role in education, academic research, media, business, and tourism, reflecting a microcosm of the global boom in English-language learning, the Chinese government’s promotion of Mandarin in recent years has led to changes in individuals’ language practices at the macro and micro levels, thus influencing family language dynamics and interactions. As such, although there are some mainland Chinese (MC) migrants who are bilingual and multilingual, and despite their different backgrounds and migration intentions, MC individuals are generally considered to be a monolingual Putonghua-speaking community by the local Malaysian society. This chapter examines the language-use patterns and highlights the accommodation behaviours of this new minority community in Malaysia, with a particular focus on how these individuals and their families manage bilingualism and multilingualism and how they respond to language-related policies and linguistic pressures, underscoring the ongoing/potential negotiations between the home language and main language(s) when they adapt and adjust to their chosen new life in a multilingual society.

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Language Use and Accommodation in a New Land

  • Seong Lin Ding,
  • Rui Li

摘要

While mainland China is perceived as the ‘home to over 290 languages and 2,000 dialects’, it has been reported that the vitality of numerous languages in China, other than Mandarin, is declining due to the government’s language policy and extensive internal migration. Moreover, although English continues to play an important role in education, academic research, media, business, and tourism, reflecting a microcosm of the global boom in English-language learning, the Chinese government’s promotion of Mandarin in recent years has led to changes in individuals’ language practices at the macro and micro levels, thus influencing family language dynamics and interactions. As such, although there are some mainland Chinese (MC) migrants who are bilingual and multilingual, and despite their different backgrounds and migration intentions, MC individuals are generally considered to be a monolingual Putonghua-speaking community by the local Malaysian society. This chapter examines the language-use patterns and highlights the accommodation behaviours of this new minority community in Malaysia, with a particular focus on how these individuals and their families manage bilingualism and multilingualism and how they respond to language-related policies and linguistic pressures, underscoring the ongoing/potential negotiations between the home language and main language(s) when they adapt and adjust to their chosen new life in a multilingual society.