Models for Trilingual Education in the People’s Republic of China

Abstract

Since 2002, the People’s Republic of China has instigated a variety of language policies in education ostensibly designed to foster trilingualism in ethnic minority groups. This chapter reports the findings of a project studying the implementation of trilingual education policies (covering the ethnic minority language, Chinese and English) in Yunnan, Sichuan, Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Jilin, Gansu, Guizhou, Qinghai and Tibet. The study identifies four models of trilingual education—accretive, balanced, transitional and depreciative—that have emerged in the different regions, and explores reasons for the various manifestations. While there appears to be consensus among key stakeholders regarding the potential benefits of trilingual education, the differences in the four models reveal tensions in the context of policy implementation.