The Construction And Planning Of Mother Language(s) In The Multilingual Contexts

Globalization has changed language situation of modern society to a great extent.With abundant bilingual communities and multilinguals emerging,the existing concept of mother language(ML),which is based on the traditional monolinguals from families of the same ethnics,has lost explanatory power to new languistic facts.At the same time,in such activities as "International Mother Language Day"advocated by the UNESCO,the identification of ML(s)for bilinguals and multilinguals has faced various puzzles as a result of the concept deficiency.Therefore,the present study of ML issues bears both theoretical value and practical significance.Two traditional defining standards of ML are the sequence of language acquisition or ethnic identity,which leads to the conceptual equivalence of ML with"the first language" or "heritage language",depriving the independent conceptual connotation of ML(s).A key point in the identification of ML(s)for bilinguals or multilinguals is that both the objective language acquisition process and the subjective language identity should be taken into consideration,which reveals the essential difference between "language" and "mother language".This study holds that it is of more rationality to redefine ML as "the identity language(s)of a person or a community constructed in the process of early speech interactions".According to the definition,ML is the fruit rather than the root.The individual ML is constructed in the process of personal growth and development by means of social interaction with the final formation of language identity as the sign;while the community ML is constructed in the process of early formation of the community,which can be observed in the case studies of English,Modern Hebrew and Haitian Creole.The idea of mother language planning(MLP)is based on the constructivism of ML.Native dialects,as the underlying languages of the multi-layer nested structure of community-level MLs,play an important role in the maintenance of ethnic ML.Lessons from”Speaking Chinese Campaign" in Singapore have proved that dialect is the root of ethnic language.Due to simultaneous acquisition and dual identity,some bilinguals may build up dual mother languages(DMLs),reflecting the diversity and coexistence of ethnic languages,dialects,the national common language.The notion of DMLs is the backbone of the harmonious language life,and contributes to facilitate the implementation of language of human rights.The concept also helps to avoid the dilemma in language identity choice,which is actually conducive to cultivating the confidence of the bilinguals in using the two languages,reducing ML shift caused by psychological factors.Language attrition can trigger ML deconstruction,and language shift can bring ML reconstruction.ML deconstruction may originate from interference in the early language acquisition process,or from the existing ML identity resolution caused by low prestige.The fluidity of ML calls for social attention to MLP,which advocates the ML awareness and language equality,attaches great importance to ML education in families,and improves language vitality through the exploitation of ML resourses so as to achieve the aim of protect MLs.The research goal of the dissertation is to perfect ML concept in multilingual context for the aim of better language planning theory and more effective implementation of language policies.The research approach is from literature review to theoretical construction and to empirical research,and finally to applied research.The full text is divided into seven chapters.The first chapter introduces the background,purpose,method and significance of the research;The second chapter"Literature Review" introduces ML etymology,comments ML researches by Chinese and western scholars,and combs a variety of definition standards of ML to review some controversies in the study of ML;The third chapter demonstrates the constructive feature of the ML in the construction of language competence and language identity based on the questionnaire investigation and half-invasive observation;The fourth chapter explores the duality of ML:subjective and objective;individual and communal.Based on domestic and foreign related cases,this part redefines ML concept;Chapter Five discusses DMLs based on simultaneous acquisition and dual identity,which is testified by Swadesh core words list and matched-guise technique respectively.It is presented in the last section of the theoretical significance and application value of the concept of DMLs.Chapter Six discusses MLP based on language construction,deconstruction and reconstruction,which is the fluidity of ML,pointing out that the individual ML deconstruction is caused by incomplete acquisition and identity dissolution,and community ML deconstruction is caused by domain narrowing and prestige declining.After the discussion of the transmission and development of the ML notion of the UNESCO in China,the concept of MLP is then put forward and elaborated in detail.As the conclusion part,Chapter Seven makes a systemic summary of the study in above chapters,elucidates the enlightenment of the research,and points out the limitations of this study and makes suggestions for future research.