Educational Policy and Practice for Ethnic Minority Language Teaching Method and Material in Chinese Universities

Chinese universities face challenges in teaching ethnic minority languages due to factors such as class sizes, outdated resources, and dialectal variations. Undergraduate courses typically consist of 30-50 students, inhibiting meaningful interaction, while Masters and PhD courses offer a more personalized educational experience.

Medium of Instruction for ethnic minority language courses depends on students’ linguistic background and the presence of standardized pronunciation. In cases where standardized pronunciation exists, it is employed in teaching; otherwise, lecturers utilize native dialects, allocate students into dialect-specific classes, or use the Hàn language for instruction.

Very strong ethnic minority languages, such as Uyghur, Tibetan, and Chinese Mongolian, benefit from shared teaching materials, while other ethnic minority languages, including Dǎi, Nakhi, and Jǐngpō, lack standardized resources, necessitating compilation of materials by teaching staff.

Outdated teaching materials present a persistent issue in ethnic minority language education. Contemporary efforts to update and modernize these resources involve consultation and approval by department teaching committees, which consist of senior academic staff.

Addressing the challenges in teaching ethnic minority languages in Chinese universities requires revisiting class sizes, updating and standardizing teaching materials, and adapting instructional methodologies to accommodate linguistic variations, ultimately enhancing the learning experience and promoting language preservation. It also promotes the entrepreneurship and innovation among ethnic minority Chinese for their potential employment in the job market.