Essays on Writing and Language in Honor - Sino-Platonic Papers

Sino-Platonic Papers, 27 (August 3 1, 1991)
Taiwan, and the Hokkien speaking area of China. It has been shown that given the sociolinguistic
situations of these Chinese communities, the natural trend is for Hokkien to become the hgua
fianca, and promoting Mandarin as the lingua franca is at a tremendous expense to both the
government and the people. I have pointed out that the respective governments have justified
the promotion of Mandarin on different grounds, but they similarly claim it to be a national
ne&ity, while neglecting the role that the unofficial languages play in the economic
opportunities of the individuals and the economic growth of various industries.
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For the study of the economic consequences of language use and language policies I
proposed collecting data concerning correlations among the following variables: an individual's
ability in different languages, an individual's income, the frequency of use of various languages
in various types of productive processes and consumption, and information available in different
languages in different industries. I proposed diachronic studies of these conelations at different
points along the course of implementing the language policies of the respective governments,
along with a comparative study of these three countries, noting their many significant similarities.
It is the view of this writer that, after considering the experience of different Chinese
communities, language policy is the function of political power and the tradition of the Chinese
intelligentsia, which characteristically uses non-simplified Chinese characters; it has a common
core of cumculum on the abstract Chinese culture, ambitions for high position in the government,
disdain for local culture y d language, and is alienated fiom the masses.
As for my view of a viable language policy, I have argued on other occasions, and
continue to here, that a bilingual policy that recognizes Hokkien, Hakka and Mandarin as official
languages is best for Taiwan.
1.In Taiwan the medium of instruction before 1945 was exclusively
Japanese, after which Chinese was adopted. During the ten year
transitional period that followed the defeat of Japan, Hokkien was
used in elementary schools, with a gradual conversion to Mandarin.
In Singapore the medium of instruction did not change overnight,
with the switch from Hokkien to Mandarin occurring gradually.
There was no sudden termination of English as a medium of
instruction as had occurred with Japanese in Taiwan. Under the
current bilingual policy, both English and Mandarin are used as
media of instruction much more widely than before.
2. For additional research into the correlation between income and
language proficiency see: Wescott, K. (1979). "A survey of use of
English in Hong Kong". Mimeograph. This study shows that high
income levels correlate positively with high proficiency in the
"high" language in a model of diglossia.
Suggested Readings
Berg, M.E. van den. 1988. Taiwan's sociolinguistic setting. In T. Cheng and S. Huang's The
Structure of Taiwanese: A Modem Synthesis. Taipei: Crane Publishing Co., Ud.
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