Dr. Ge Wang is the professor of applied linguistics at School of Foreign Languages, Yunnan University, China. He has been engaged in English teaching and research in multilingual education over 20 years. He obtained his PhD in English Language Education from the University of Hong Kong and was the 2014-2015 Sino-American Fulbright research visiting scholar at Graduate School of Education, the University of Pennsylvania. His research interest is in applied linguistics, bi/trilingual education, intercultural communication and educational anthropology. His major publications can be found in the internationally refereed journals such as The Journal of Asia TEFL, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism (SSCI ), The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher (SSCI ) and book chapters published by TESOL, Routledge and John Benjamins. He is currently the deputy secretary of Yunnan Foreign Language Education Association (YFLEA) and Vice director of International Association of Multilingual Education, Yunnan Branch (IAME Yunnan Branch).
This paper mainly introduces the teaching practice advocated by western scholars rep resented by ... more This paper mainly introduces the teaching practice advocated by western scholars rep resented by Jacobs, which integrates environment education w ith TEFL. It is pointed out that as an i mportant component of global education, environment education in TEFL context w ill i mp rove the students¡flL2 p roficiency as well as their environm ent awareness. A successful environment education in TEFL context calls for competent teachers w ith interdiscip linary know ledge, interesting teaching m aterials and well2tailored courses. Above all, what is learnt from the class should be put into practice and extended to learners everyday life.
Yunnan is a province with the richest language and culture diversity. She is also a a gateway in ... more Yunnan is a province with the richest language and culture diversity. She is also a a gateway in China’s opening up to the South and Southwest Asia for economic and cultural exchange. Thanks to her language and culture diversity, Yunnan has become one of the most desirable “field” for scholars at home and abroad to study multilingualism and multilingual education. This paper is a review of multilingual and multicultural studies in Yunnan. It is argued that drawing on the current academic resources, interdisciplinary studies shall be carried out and the findings will provide intellectual support for the social-economic development in Yunnan.
This paper reviews the ethnic multilingual policies and practices in China in general and Yunnan ... more This paper reviews the ethnic multilingual policies and practices in China in general and Yunnan in particular. It first introduces the demographic features and multilingual policies in Yunnan and then discusses the challenges of ethnic minority education in China from a critical perspective in terms of policy and curriculum. It is argued that it is necessary to re-conceptualize ethnic minority learners in an ever dynamic sociocultural discourse in contemporary China. The author proposes to deepen the research in ethnic multilingual education so as to develop a curriculum to meet the needs of ethnic multicultural learners in the 21st century and to contribute to the design of more relevant language policies, teaching practices, and learning resources, and to pave the way for further in-depth research.
CCTV Spring Festival Gala (SFG) has caught the eye-balls of Chinese people over 30 years since 19... more CCTV Spring Festival Gala (SFG) has caught the eye-balls of Chinese people over 30 years since 1983 and some popular words and expressions derived from SFG have been heatedly discussed and frequently disseminated on the internet and flat media as precious linguistic varieties. These popular Spring Festival gala languages (PSFGLs) not only mirror people’s enthusiasm about SFG but also people’s perception of the reality and expectation of future lives. Drawing on the theories of cultural studies, social studies and media education, this paper tries to trace and analyze the use of these PSFGLs from 2009 to 2013 in a context-dependent way. The author attempts to observe and discuss the types, characteristics of PSFGLs and explain how PSFGLs develop with the dramatic shift of sociocultural discourse in China. The analysis is conducted at the level of text. It would be significant to study PSFGLs to understand the distinctive social change and social identity in the ever-dynamic and transforming Chinese society.
Yingjiang is a frontier county in southwest Yunnan, China, with distinctive ethnic
and cultural d... more Yingjiang is a frontier county in southwest Yunnan, China, with distinctive ethnic and cultural diversity. Bilingual education (BE) has been a prominent feature in Yingjiang since the 1950s due to supportive policies and measures at various levels. BE in Yingjiang developed so well in the 1980s that a bilingual school was awarded the title of ‘flower of ethnic minority education’. However, since the late 1990s, BE in Yingjiang has gone dramatically downhill. The old ‘followers of bilingual education’ are in danger of withering. This can be seen from the shrinkage of the scale of BE and the dramatic reduction of bilingual schools and bilingual students. At the same time, the number and quality of bilingual teachers has been called into question. This paper, based on a document review and a field study, discusses the challenges and prospects for BE in Yingjiang. It is argued here that as the ethnic minority people in Yunnan are trying to make socioeconomic progress like other places in China, it is necessary to promote BE by reviewing the current BE mechanism, social reality and to take more sensible measures to revitalize BE, as was done in the late 1980s
Teacher training and professional development of Chinese English language teachers: Changing from fish to dragon , 2017
The last thirty years have witnessed the rise of C hina as a global power. More and more importan... more The last thirty years have witnessed the rise of C hina as a global power. More and more importance is placed on education as a means to build an intellectual engine for the purposes of nation building and global competitiveness. Toward that end significant resources have been allocated to the sector and comprehensive policies have been put into place, including English language policies. As mentioned in earlier chapters, since 2000, English has become a mandatory subject in the curriculum throughout the Chinese educational system from elementary to tertiary education. Despite these efforts, the quality of English teachers in ethnically diverse and rural areas of China remains challenging and problematic, necessitating the involvement of agencies at multiple levels to find ways to improve it. This chapter will highlight the efforts by a non- governmental agency, the Sowers Action (SA) (苗圃行动, Miapu Xingdong), a Hong Kong– based non- religious, non- political, and non- profit registered charity, to assist English teachers in one of the most ethnically diverse areas of southwestern China.
Existing research on multilingual acquisition indicates that learners confront
challenges not onl... more Existing research on multilingual acquisition indicates that learners confront challenges not only in mastering unfamiliar linguistic forms, but also in forming new identities, especially when the languages concerned are socially and linguistically distant from each other. This study shows that ethnic multilingual learners (EMLs) in China face more challenges at universities than the ethnic majority Han, when they choose to study English as their major subject. The textbook written for the majority Han and instructive methods for mainstream students are imposed upon them. The environment is unfamiliar to EMLs, and they are often regarded as “strangers” to the new language learning community. Their problems include the national examination system, the medium of instruction, learning difficulties, psychological issues and cultural exclusion. In a sense, the current educational policies in China are designed to protect the educational rights of ethnic minorities, but ignore the role of education in promoting ethnic minority cultures. The current university curricula mainly focus on subject knowledge and patriotic education. As a result, the “cultural self-consciousness” or wenhua zijue in Chinese and “cultural capital” in English are less emphasized and encouraged. In this study, data are collected on two female ethnic multilingual minority students at Yunnan University of Nationalities (YUN) through ethnographic interviews, autobiography, oral narrative, online chatting and field observation. This study provides information at the micro level on how the two students have successfully navigated the Chinese education system to the tertiary level. They have tried their best to excel in the curricula of YUN by constructing multiple identities. The findings suggest that the informants negotiate their multiple identities through their active engagements, on and off the university campus, as legitimate participants in various “communities of practice”. These identities are shaped partly by their own cultural heritage and partly by the present sociopolitical realities in China. Drawing iv mainly on poststructuralist and multicultural education theories, the study also examines the power relationships exercised in YUN and discusses the impact of these power relationships on the identity formation of the target informants. The national and local policies as well as the curriculum structures of YUN are analyzed to identify the implicit power relationships that cause tensions in the education of EMLs. It is argued that multiculturalism, as a discourse of education, may help to ease the tension between being an ethnic minority and a Chinese national. Multiculturalism may also help reduce the danger of assimilation and marginalization. To achieve the goal of multilingual education based on the notion of multiculturalism, a “collaborative” power relationship, which facilitates the empowerment of EMLs, should be the goal of Chinese higher education. With such a goal, EMLs will be able to act as human resources for raising the productivity of the country, as agents for social transformation and as citizens of the cosmopolitan world.
This paper mainly introduces the teaching practice advocated by western scholars rep resented by ... more This paper mainly introduces the teaching practice advocated by western scholars rep resented by Jacobs, which integrates environment education w ith TEFL. It is pointed out that as an i mportant component of global education, environment education in TEFL context w ill i mp rove the students¡flL2 p roficiency as well as their environm ent awareness. A successful environment education in TEFL context calls for competent teachers w ith interdiscip linary know ledge, interesting teaching m aterials and well2tailored courses. Above all, what is learnt from the class should be put into practice and extended to learners everyday life.
Yunnan is a province with the richest language and culture diversity. She is also a a gateway in ... more Yunnan is a province with the richest language and culture diversity. She is also a a gateway in China’s opening up to the South and Southwest Asia for economic and cultural exchange. Thanks to her language and culture diversity, Yunnan has become one of the most desirable “field” for scholars at home and abroad to study multilingualism and multilingual education. This paper is a review of multilingual and multicultural studies in Yunnan. It is argued that drawing on the current academic resources, interdisciplinary studies shall be carried out and the findings will provide intellectual support for the social-economic development in Yunnan.
This paper reviews the ethnic multilingual policies and practices in China in general and Yunnan ... more This paper reviews the ethnic multilingual policies and practices in China in general and Yunnan in particular. It first introduces the demographic features and multilingual policies in Yunnan and then discusses the challenges of ethnic minority education in China from a critical perspective in terms of policy and curriculum. It is argued that it is necessary to re-conceptualize ethnic minority learners in an ever dynamic sociocultural discourse in contemporary China. The author proposes to deepen the research in ethnic multilingual education so as to develop a curriculum to meet the needs of ethnic multicultural learners in the 21st century and to contribute to the design of more relevant language policies, teaching practices, and learning resources, and to pave the way for further in-depth research.
CCTV Spring Festival Gala (SFG) has caught the eye-balls of Chinese people over 30 years since 19... more CCTV Spring Festival Gala (SFG) has caught the eye-balls of Chinese people over 30 years since 1983 and some popular words and expressions derived from SFG have been heatedly discussed and frequently disseminated on the internet and flat media as precious linguistic varieties. These popular Spring Festival gala languages (PSFGLs) not only mirror people’s enthusiasm about SFG but also people’s perception of the reality and expectation of future lives. Drawing on the theories of cultural studies, social studies and media education, this paper tries to trace and analyze the use of these PSFGLs from 2009 to 2013 in a context-dependent way. The author attempts to observe and discuss the types, characteristics of PSFGLs and explain how PSFGLs develop with the dramatic shift of sociocultural discourse in China. The analysis is conducted at the level of text. It would be significant to study PSFGLs to understand the distinctive social change and social identity in the ever-dynamic and transforming Chinese society.
Yingjiang is a frontier county in southwest Yunnan, China, with distinctive ethnic
and cultural d... more Yingjiang is a frontier county in southwest Yunnan, China, with distinctive ethnic and cultural diversity. Bilingual education (BE) has been a prominent feature in Yingjiang since the 1950s due to supportive policies and measures at various levels. BE in Yingjiang developed so well in the 1980s that a bilingual school was awarded the title of ‘flower of ethnic minority education’. However, since the late 1990s, BE in Yingjiang has gone dramatically downhill. The old ‘followers of bilingual education’ are in danger of withering. This can be seen from the shrinkage of the scale of BE and the dramatic reduction of bilingual schools and bilingual students. At the same time, the number and quality of bilingual teachers has been called into question. This paper, based on a document review and a field study, discusses the challenges and prospects for BE in Yingjiang. It is argued here that as the ethnic minority people in Yunnan are trying to make socioeconomic progress like other places in China, it is necessary to promote BE by reviewing the current BE mechanism, social reality and to take more sensible measures to revitalize BE, as was done in the late 1980s
Teacher training and professional development of Chinese English language teachers: Changing from fish to dragon , 2017
The last thirty years have witnessed the rise of C hina as a global power. More and more importan... more The last thirty years have witnessed the rise of C hina as a global power. More and more importance is placed on education as a means to build an intellectual engine for the purposes of nation building and global competitiveness. Toward that end significant resources have been allocated to the sector and comprehensive policies have been put into place, including English language policies. As mentioned in earlier chapters, since 2000, English has become a mandatory subject in the curriculum throughout the Chinese educational system from elementary to tertiary education. Despite these efforts, the quality of English teachers in ethnically diverse and rural areas of China remains challenging and problematic, necessitating the involvement of agencies at multiple levels to find ways to improve it. This chapter will highlight the efforts by a non- governmental agency, the Sowers Action (SA) (苗圃行动, Miapu Xingdong), a Hong Kong– based non- religious, non- political, and non- profit registered charity, to assist English teachers in one of the most ethnically diverse areas of southwestern China.
Existing research on multilingual acquisition indicates that learners confront
challenges not onl... more Existing research on multilingual acquisition indicates that learners confront challenges not only in mastering unfamiliar linguistic forms, but also in forming new identities, especially when the languages concerned are socially and linguistically distant from each other. This study shows that ethnic multilingual learners (EMLs) in China face more challenges at universities than the ethnic majority Han, when they choose to study English as their major subject. The textbook written for the majority Han and instructive methods for mainstream students are imposed upon them. The environment is unfamiliar to EMLs, and they are often regarded as “strangers” to the new language learning community. Their problems include the national examination system, the medium of instruction, learning difficulties, psychological issues and cultural exclusion. In a sense, the current educational policies in China are designed to protect the educational rights of ethnic minorities, but ignore the role of education in promoting ethnic minority cultures. The current university curricula mainly focus on subject knowledge and patriotic education. As a result, the “cultural self-consciousness” or wenhua zijue in Chinese and “cultural capital” in English are less emphasized and encouraged. In this study, data are collected on two female ethnic multilingual minority students at Yunnan University of Nationalities (YUN) through ethnographic interviews, autobiography, oral narrative, online chatting and field observation. This study provides information at the micro level on how the two students have successfully navigated the Chinese education system to the tertiary level. They have tried their best to excel in the curricula of YUN by constructing multiple identities. The findings suggest that the informants negotiate their multiple identities through their active engagements, on and off the university campus, as legitimate participants in various “communities of practice”. These identities are shaped partly by their own cultural heritage and partly by the present sociopolitical realities in China. Drawing iv mainly on poststructuralist and multicultural education theories, the study also examines the power relationships exercised in YUN and discusses the impact of these power relationships on the identity formation of the target informants. The national and local policies as well as the curriculum structures of YUN are analyzed to identify the implicit power relationships that cause tensions in the education of EMLs. It is argued that multiculturalism, as a discourse of education, may help to ease the tension between being an ethnic minority and a Chinese national. Multiculturalism may also help reduce the danger of assimilation and marginalization. To achieve the goal of multilingual education based on the notion of multiculturalism, a “collaborative” power relationship, which facilitates the empowerment of EMLs, should be the goal of Chinese higher education. With such a goal, EMLs will be able to act as human resources for raising the productivity of the country, as agents for social transformation and as citizens of the cosmopolitan world.
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Papers by Ge Wang
达20多年的助学行动。本文着重介绍2012 年“苗圃行动”同云南师范大学外国语学院合
作在云南临沧市永德县实施的英语教师培训项目，重点探讨以下几个问题：非政府组织参
与农村地区外语教师培训的可行性、特点和效果；农村英语教师专业发展存在的问题；非
政府组织和当地高校合作伙伴关系面临的前景和挑战。
and cultural diversity. Bilingual education (BE) has been a prominent feature in
Yingjiang since the 1950s due to supportive policies and measures at various
levels. BE in Yingjiang developed so well in the 1980s that a bilingual school was
awarded the title of ‘flower of ethnic minority education’. However, since the late
1990s, BE in Yingjiang has gone dramatically downhill. The old ‘followers
of bilingual education’ are in danger of withering. This can be seen from the
shrinkage of the scale of BE and the dramatic reduction of bilingual schools and
bilingual students. At the same time, the number and quality of bilingual teachers
has been called into question. This paper, based on a document review and a field
study, discusses the challenges and prospects for BE in Yingjiang. It is argued here
that as the ethnic minority people in Yunnan are trying to make socioeconomic
progress like other places in China, it is necessary to promote BE by reviewing the
current BE mechanism, social reality and to take more sensible measures to
revitalize BE, as was done in the late 1980s
Books by Ge Wang
ethnically diverse and rural areas of China remains challenging and problematic, necessitating the involvement of agencies at multiple levels to find ways to improve it. This chapter will highlight the efforts by a non- governmental agency, the Sowers Action (SA) (苗圃行动, Miapu Xingdong), a Hong Kong– based non- religious, non- political, and non- profit registered charity, to assist English teachers in one of the most ethnically diverse areas of southwestern China.
challenges not only in mastering unfamiliar linguistic forms, but also in forming new
identities, especially when the languages concerned are socially and linguistically
distant from each other. This study shows that ethnic multilingual learners (EMLs) in
China face more challenges at universities than the ethnic majority Han, when they
choose to study English as their major subject. The textbook written for the majority
Han and instructive methods for mainstream students are imposed upon them. The
environment is unfamiliar to EMLs, and they are often regarded as “strangers” to the
new language learning community. Their problems include the national examination
system, the medium of instruction, learning difficulties, psychological issues and
cultural exclusion. In a sense, the current educational policies in China are designed to
protect the educational rights of ethnic minorities, but ignore the role of education in
promoting ethnic minority cultures. The current university curricula mainly focus on
subject knowledge and patriotic education. As a result, the “cultural
self-consciousness” or wenhua zijue in Chinese and “cultural capital” in English are
less emphasized and encouraged. In this study, data are collected on two female ethnic
multilingual minority students at Yunnan University of Nationalities (YUN) through
ethnographic interviews, autobiography, oral narrative, online chatting and field
observation.
This study provides information at the micro level on how the two students have
successfully navigated the Chinese education system to the tertiary level. They have
tried their best to excel in the curricula of YUN by constructing multiple identities.
The findings suggest that the informants negotiate their multiple identities through
their active engagements, on and off the university campus, as legitimate participants
in various “communities of practice”. These identities are shaped partly by their own
cultural heritage and partly by the present sociopolitical realities in China. Drawing
iv
mainly on poststructuralist and multicultural education theories, the study also
examines the power relationships exercised in YUN and discusses the impact of these
power relationships on the identity formation of the target informants. The national
and local policies as well as the curriculum structures of YUN are analyzed to identify
the implicit power relationships that cause tensions in the education of EMLs. It is
argued that multiculturalism, as a discourse of education, may help to ease the tension
between being an ethnic minority and a Chinese national. Multiculturalism may also
help reduce the danger of assimilation and marginalization. To achieve the goal of
multilingual education based on the notion of multiculturalism, a “collaborative”
power relationship, which facilitates the empowerment of EMLs, should be the goal
of Chinese higher education. With such a goal, EMLs will be able to act as human
resources for raising the productivity of the country, as agents for social
transformation and as citizens of the cosmopolitan world.
达20多年的助学行动。本文着重介绍2012 年“苗圃行动”同云南师范大学外国语学院合
作在云南临沧市永德县实施的英语教师培训项目，重点探讨以下几个问题：非政府组织参
与农村地区外语教师培训的可行性、特点和效果；农村英语教师专业发展存在的问题；非
政府组织和当地高校合作伙伴关系面临的前景和挑战。
and cultural diversity. Bilingual education (BE) has been a prominent feature in
Yingjiang since the 1950s due to supportive policies and measures at various
levels. BE in Yingjiang developed so well in the 1980s that a bilingual school was
awarded the title of ‘flower of ethnic minority education’. However, since the late
1990s, BE in Yingjiang has gone dramatically downhill. The old ‘followers
of bilingual education’ are in danger of withering. This can be seen from the
shrinkage of the scale of BE and the dramatic reduction of bilingual schools and
bilingual students. At the same time, the number and quality of bilingual teachers
has been called into question. This paper, based on a document review and a field
study, discusses the challenges and prospects for BE in Yingjiang. It is argued here
that as the ethnic minority people in Yunnan are trying to make socioeconomic
progress like other places in China, it is necessary to promote BE by reviewing the
current BE mechanism, social reality and to take more sensible measures to
revitalize BE, as was done in the late 1980s
ethnically diverse and rural areas of China remains challenging and problematic, necessitating the involvement of agencies at multiple levels to find ways to improve it. This chapter will highlight the efforts by a non- governmental agency, the Sowers Action (SA) (苗圃行动, Miapu Xingdong), a Hong Kong– based non- religious, non- political, and non- profit registered charity, to assist English teachers in one of the most ethnically diverse areas of southwestern China.
challenges not only in mastering unfamiliar linguistic forms, but also in forming new
identities, especially when the languages concerned are socially and linguistically
distant from each other. This study shows that ethnic multilingual learners (EMLs) in
China face more challenges at universities than the ethnic majority Han, when they
choose to study English as their major subject. The textbook written for the majority
Han and instructive methods for mainstream students are imposed upon them. The
environment is unfamiliar to EMLs, and they are often regarded as “strangers” to the
new language learning community. Their problems include the national examination
system, the medium of instruction, learning difficulties, psychological issues and
cultural exclusion. In a sense, the current educational policies in China are designed to
protect the educational rights of ethnic minorities, but ignore the role of education in
promoting ethnic minority cultures. The current university curricula mainly focus on
subject knowledge and patriotic education. As a result, the “cultural
self-consciousness” or wenhua zijue in Chinese and “cultural capital” in English are
less emphasized and encouraged. In this study, data are collected on two female ethnic
multilingual minority students at Yunnan University of Nationalities (YUN) through
ethnographic interviews, autobiography, oral narrative, online chatting and field
observation.
This study provides information at the micro level on how the two students have
successfully navigated the Chinese education system to the tertiary level. They have
tried their best to excel in the curricula of YUN by constructing multiple identities.
The findings suggest that the informants negotiate their multiple identities through
their active engagements, on and off the university campus, as legitimate participants
in various “communities of practice”. These identities are shaped partly by their own
cultural heritage and partly by the present sociopolitical realities in China. Drawing
iv
mainly on poststructuralist and multicultural education theories, the study also
examines the power relationships exercised in YUN and discusses the impact of these
power relationships on the identity formation of the target informants. The national
and local policies as well as the curriculum structures of YUN are analyzed to identify
the implicit power relationships that cause tensions in the education of EMLs. It is
argued that multiculturalism, as a discourse of education, may help to ease the tension
between being an ethnic minority and a Chinese national. Multiculturalism may also
help reduce the danger of assimilation and marginalization. To achieve the goal of
multilingual education based on the notion of multiculturalism, a “collaborative”
power relationship, which facilitates the empowerment of EMLs, should be the goal
of Chinese higher education. With such a goal, EMLs will be able to act as human
resources for raising the productivity of the country, as agents for social
transformation and as citizens of the cosmopolitan world.