A Survey Study On Cultural Identity Of Yi Minority University Students In Yunnan Under The Multi-cultural Context

Cultural identity has become an interdisciplinary hot topic and research focus in today’s multi-cultural society. As a special elite group of Yi nationality, Yi minority university students are living in a multi-lingual and multi-cultural campus setting, and their cultural identity is worth concerning and studying.This thesis concerns with a survey study on Yi minority university students’ cultural identity in Yunnan under the multi-cultural context, and it attempts to answer the following three research questions: 1).What is the situation of the students’ cultural identification with Yi culture, Han culture and English culture? 2).How is the students’ language attitudes towards Yi language, Chinese language and English language correlated with the students’ cultural identity? 3).What influences does the multi-cultural context bring to the students’ cultural identity?The study takes 142 Yi minority university students from Yunnan Minzu University as the research subjects. A survey study on these students’ cultural identity with the three types of cultures---Yi culture, Han culture and English culture under the multi-cultural context is conducted through questionnaire. The collected data are analyzed by employing quantitative analytical methods such as frequency statistics, descriptive statistics, as well as Correlation Analysis in SPSS 11.5.The major findings of the research are:(1). Most of the Yi minority university students identify with Yi culture and Han culture respectively in general aspect of identification, as well as in its cognitive, affective and behavioral dimensions; they hold a high degree of general identification and affective identification with Yi culture, and they also hold a high degree of general identification, affective identification and behavioral identification with Han culture; some of them hold a low degree of identification with the superficial cultural elements of English culture.(2). Most of the students hold positive attitudes towards Yi language, Chinese language and English language. These students’ language attitudes towards Yi, Chinese and English have significant positive correlation with their Yi, Han and English cultural identification respectively.(3). Under the multi-cultural context, most of Yi minority university students identify with the three cultures in an integrated attitudinal model---while positively identifying with their ethnic culture, most of them can learn, accept and recognize some advanced and positive elements from Han culture and English culture; the multi-cultural context brings many good influences on and changes to their cultural identity in aspects of minds, behaviors and values, etc.Based on the above research findings, the thesis explores the research implications: in order to cultivate ethnic minority university students’ sense of multi-cultural identification,campus cultural construction and language and culture education in minzu universities should be enhanced, education policies for the ethnic minority university students of minzu universities should be implemented thoroughly, and the ethnic minority university students’ multi-cultural and multi-lingual acquisition and practice in their study and life should be further improved. Finally, limitations of the research and suggestions for further research are proposed, for example: the validity of the questionnaire is not high, the survey sample is not large enough, interview can not be employed, and the study is conducted just in a synchronic approach. Owing to the limitation of the research sample and research method, in further research, a more valid questionnaire, a larger group of research sample, research methods combined with quantitative research method and qualitative research method(interview), as well as a diachronic approach are recommended to collect more detailed, comprehensive and convincing types of information and data.