Resumen de Language attitudes of two contrasting ethnic minority nationalities in China: the "model" Koreans and the "rebellious" Tibetans

Minglang Zhou

• This study measures directly and indirectly language attitude of Korean-Chinese and Tibetan College students in China, where language planning has promoted Putonghua (PTH) over ethnic languages and local dialects for over forty years. The direct measurement shows that the Koreans score much higher than the Tibetans on variables regarding PTH learning/using, and that integrative and instrumental orientations, financial Status, and family bilingual Status are associated with PTH achievement. The indirect measurement demonstrates that the Koreans adhere to the linguistic norm wherein PTH is considered the valued form and ethnic languages the nonvaluedform, while the Tibetans do not adhere to this norm. In a crossmeasurement comparison, the Koreans demonstrate consistent overt and covert attitudes toward PTH and PTH Speakers, whereas the Tibetans display positive overt but negative covert attitudes. These attitudes mirror the cultural, political, and socioeconomic disparities between the Koreans and Tibetans in China.