Ethnic Identity & Language Attitude of Zhuang Migrant Workers

1. The Ethnic Identity and Language Attitude of Rural Migrant Workers of Zhuang Nationality in China • Dr./Prof. Binlan HUANG • College of Foreign Languages • Guangxi University • jfshi@gxu.edu.cn • Ningbo Multilingual Education Symposium • Nov. 27-29, 2014

2. Introduction • Number of rural migrant workers in China: (National Bureau of Statistics, 2013) 98 million in 2003, over 263 million in 2012 • Age bracket : from 18 to 45 years • Average age: 37.3 • Average level of education: junior secondary school or below (13% senior high) • Male: 66.4%; Female: 33.6% • Without special skills, they tend to take up less technical or non-technical jobs in factories and the service industries

3. Introduction • Work longer hours, mainly occupy jobs that local residents disdain (Roberts, 2000) • Average Monthly Income: RMB 2290 yuan, lower than the urban residents, but much higher than their fellow residents in the place of emigration • Accommodation: Over 50% in crowded dormitories in factories, construction sites; About 20% in rooming houses

4. Introduction • Population of Guangxi in 2014: 48.22 millions Population of the Zhuang Nationality: about 16 millions, 33% of Guangxi’s total • Most Zhuang ethnic communities are located in the economically less developed areas • Over 65% of the people aged between 18 and 45 in the Zhuang ethnic communities work as rural migrant workers in the urban areas

5. Introduction • Participants of this study are 60 rural migrant workers of the Zhuang nationality from four less economically developed rural Zhuang communities where their children receive bilingual education in primary and/or junior secondary schools, which have been selected as provincial experimental sites to implement Zhuang-Han bilingual teaching.

6. Introduction • Great attention has been attracted to rural migrant workers in various fields due to its magnitude and potential economic and social impact on China’s society. • Literature in the last ten years shows that most studies on Chinese rural migrant workers come from such disciplines as geography, economics, sociology (Wong et al, 2007). • Little has been done from other disciplines, such as social linguistics, psychology, etc.

7. Focus of this Study • The ethnic identity of the rural migrant workers of the Zhuang nationality • Their language use in outgroup and ingroup social interaction and their language attitude towards their native language (namely, the Zhuang language), Mandarin and English

8. Intergroup Contact Theory • A theory (Allport, 1954; Pettigrew, 1998) that focuses on reducing intergroup bias and has become one of the most influential theories in the field of intergroup relations. • Contact between groups can improve intergroup attitudes if it takes place under optimal conditions (Allport, 1954): equal status between the groups, common goals, co-operation and institutional support. • The theory has suggested a range of cognitive and affective mediators that account for the success of contact at reducing intergroup bias and improving intergroup relations.

9. Intergroup Contact Theory • Many studies (Voci and Hewstone, 2003; Landis, Brislin, and Hulgus, 1985; Pettigrew and Tropp, 2000) have suggested that the positive effects of contact with outgroup people at the workplace are mediated by reduced levels of intergroup anxiety during contact, facilitating positive attitudes and behaviors, generalizing positive feelings toward the outgroup as a whole, learning more about the outgroup (Gardiner, 1972), bringing ingroup members closer to the self, without affecting the distance between the self and outgroup (Gaertner, Mann, Dovidio, Murrell, and Pomare, 1990; Gaertner et al., 1993).

10. Intergroup Contact • However, there is little research that has explicitly investigated the potential link between contact and ethnic identity and language attitude and use. • This study on the potential impact of intergroup contact on the subjects’ ethnic identity and on their language attitude could provide indicative support and insights for this theory and also for the policy-making and implementation of bi/trilingual education in the rural ethnic regions.

11. Ethnic Identity and Our Argument • Ethnic identity refers to individual identification with or a sense of belonging to a certain cultural community (Hutchinson and Smith 1996). • Rural migrant workers’ sense of ethnic identity can be a key variable of their language use and attitude towards their native language and the bilingual/trilingual education of their children back in their hometown.

12. Objectives • Based upon this argument, the first objective of this study is to examine whether and the extent to which contact with outgroups affects the ethnic identity of the rural migrant workers of the Zhuang nationality; the second objective is to explore their language use in outgroup and ingroup social interaction and their language attitude towards their native language, Mandarin and English. The last objective is to find out whether their ethnic identity and language attitude are positively correlated.

13. Methods and Procedures Participants • Sixty rural migrant workers were approached individually when they were back in their Zhuang communities to observe the traditional festivals. • 50 men and 10 women, selected from four different Zhuang ethnic communities in four different counties • Average age: 35 years, with a range from 25 to 45 years. All are married and have children attending the local community primary and secondary schools

14. Methods and Procedures • All the subjects’ native language is Zhuang language • 10 received primary school education, 35 junior secondary school education, and 15 senior high school education • Their average monthly income was about 2650 yuan (approximately US$1 = 6.14 yuan, as of November 2014). More than 60 per cent of the workers sent about half of their incomes back home.

15. Methods and Procedures • The subjects were interviewed individually by filling out questionnaires and answering interviewing questions. The interviewing questions and questionnaires were prepared in Chinese. • The questionnaires were pilot-tested to evaluate the relevancy of vocabulary and the clarity of linguistic expressions.

16. Methods and Procedures • Ethnic identity, as the key independent variable, was assessed in terms of ethnic belonging, ethnic cultures, and attitudes toward their nationality. • Subjects were asked to rate their level of agreement or disagreement on a five-point scale for each the questions.

17. Methods and Procedures • This ethnic identity scale were modified statements borrowed from (Joong-Hwan Oh & Jung-Hee Lee, 2014 ) , which has been tested and revealed good internal consistency in their study (Cronbach’s alpha=0.76). • The questionnaires were pilot-tested to evaluate the relevancy of vocabulary and the clarity of linguistic expressions.

18. Data Analysis • The participants in this study had a positive affective behavior towards their own ethnic group. They were happy to belong to their own ethnic group. They also had a strong sense of belonging, and took pride in their ethnic group and its achievements. They also felt good about their cultural and/or ethnic background.

19. Results and Discussion • Subjects hold high, positive ethnic identity, intergroup contact further strengthening their ethnic identity; • Active use of Zhuang language at home and/or among their ingroup peers, but Putonghua and local dialect of Chinese used in their working places; positive language attitudes towards Putonghua, English and Zhuang language; • Positive correlation between ethnic identity and language attitude/use

20. Results and Discussion • The active use of their own ethnic language is due to their being ethnically homogeneous communities • Participants are surrounded by people of their own ethnic group; • They live together in crowded dormitories in factories, construction sites, or rooming houses, thus they can speak their ethnic language with families, peer friends, etc. There is no question of their language not being understood within their own group. • Ethnic language use is more extensive when the ethnic group is numerically dominant.

21. Results and Discussion • The interrelationship between language and ethnic identity has been acknowledged; that is, “language usage influences the formation of ethnic identity, but ethnic identity also influences language attitudes and language usage” (Gudykunst and Schmidt 1987:157). The influence of language and ethnic identity on each other can be seen as bidirectional. • .

22. Results and Discussion • There are views that support the influence of ethnic identity on language: a strong ethnic identity results in active use of the ethnic language. This is the patrimony dimension of Fishman’s (1977) view of the language and ethnicity link, where language is considered learned behavior for expressing ethnic group membership.