Commodification of the Chinese language: investigating language ideology in the Chinese complementary schools’ online discourse

Abstract

Despite the increasing popularity of Chinese and the recognition of the growing commodifying ideology of Chinese language in many contexts [Liu, Y., & Gao, X. (2020). Commodification of the Chinese language: Investigating language ideology in the Irish media. Current Issues in Language Planning, 21(5), 512–531. https://doi.org/10.1080/14664208.2020.1741236], the ideological orientations of the Chinese diaspora community towards the Chinese language remain under-researched. This research seeks to bridge this gap by investigating the micro-level language ideologies embedded in Chinese complementary schools in the Republic of Ireland. Informed by Ruíz’s [(1984). Orientations in language planning. NABE Journal, 8(2), 15–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/08855072.1984.10668464] metaphorical representations of language, 11 Chinese complementary schools’ websites were analysed as discursive texts that signal the language policy and ideology to prospective learners and parents. The results of the analysis suggest that a move from a portrayal of Chinese as linked to student heritage identity, to the commodification of linguistic and cultural diversity, is evident. It denotes the growing commodifying ideology among the Chinese complementary schools in the Republic of Ireland. This study contributes to wider discussions of language ideology and language planning, with regards to modern language learning and heritage language maintenance.