Dongyan Blachford

Bilingual Education in China

China is a multi-nationality country. It has 56 recognized nationalities, in a total population of 1.2 billion. The Han nationality, generally known as ‘Chinese’, makes up the vast majority, with about 92 percent of the country’s entire population. Its language, Mandarin, is the official language of the country. The other 55 nationalities, usually referred to as ‘national minorities’, have a combined population of slightly over 90 million. The size of these minority nationalities varies from more than 15 million (the Zhuang) to only 4000 (the Hezhen).

China's Fate as a Multinational State: a preliminary assessment

After the collapse of the two communist multinational states, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, the fact that China survives as the only communist multinational state poses an interesting question: why does China remain intact and how long will it be able to survive in its present state? This paper tries to address these questions. The analysis is centred on three areas: the formation and characteristics of Chinas ethnic minorities and their role in this multinational state; the relevant domestic politics including institution building and polices; and the influence of external conditions such as international law and realpolitik. The preliminary finding is that in fact only two minority groups in two regions, Tibetans in Tibet and Uygurs in Xinjiang, have the real potential of secession, but it is very unlikely that China as a multinational state will disintegrate in the near future because the internal environment and international politics do not constitute adequate conditions for that to happen.

Rethinking International Migration of Human Capital and Brain Circulation The Case of Chinese-Canadian Academics

This article examines the dynamics of brain circulation through a historical review of the debates over international migration of human capital and a case study on Chinese-Canadian academics. Interviews with 22 Chinese-Canadian professors who originally came from China provide rich data regarding the possibilities and problems of the contemporary global mobility. The findings indicate that brain circulation is possible in the case of Chinese-Canadian academics but that certain conditions and factors, especially some disparity issues associated with international migration of human capital, have prevented a more effective brain circulation from taking place. This article argues that addressing these disparity issues will be an indispensable step toward fostering an effective global human capital circulation and knowledge exchange.

‘Old Bottle, New Wine’? Xinjiang Bingtuan and China’s ethnic frontier governance

Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (Xinjiang Shengchan Jianshe Bingtuan—shortened form Bingtuan) is a distinctive military agricultural settlement and production institution in China’s western region, Xinjiang. It is also a modern form of China’s traditional ethnic frontier governing mechanism. This article discusses Bingtuan’s historical precedents, modern development and innovative change for Xinjiang governance. In an examination of Bingtuan’s main functions for China’s ethnic frontier governance, this article argues that in addition to economic sustainability and territorial security, Bingtuan played an important but multifaceted role in ethnic relations in Xinjiang, such as territorial fragmentation, ethnic separation and redefinition of regional identity; therefore Bingtuan not only makes its administrated area China’s ‘frontier of settlement’ but also acts as a key state agency for whatever future Xinjiang might have.

Ethnic Disputes in International Politics: Manifestations and Conceptualizations

In a world where most nations are multinational states, ethnic issues often become serious trans-national concerns, as they could potentially lead to international conflicts. This article first puts ethnic issues in the perspective of contemporary international relations through identifying three different manifestations of international ethnic disputes. Then the article examines ethnic issues in the context of international law and norms, especially focusing on key concepts of national self-determination, secession, intervention, and state sovereignty. Finally it makes a presentation on the main conceptualizations of ethnic issues in international relations.

The Guide to Kuan Hua Language and Literacy in the 19th-Century Chinese Business Environment

This article examines the Guide to Kuan Hua, arguably the world’s first business Chinese textbook series, exploring how a group of business communication experts in late 19th-century China created instructional materials that allowed foreigners to function efficiently in China’s business and bureaucratic environment. Rather than simply focusing on the mechanics of language, editors of the series fostered in students a set of literacies that would help them cope with the tumultuous change in 19th-century China. This study suggests that the experience of 19th-century textbook editors may inform our approach to complex intercultural communication challenges in today’s globalized world.

Sustainable Development and CIDA's China Program: A Saskatchewan Case Study.

Through funding from the Canadian International Development Agency’s (CIDA) China Program, the University of Regina (UofR), Canada, implemented two major development projects with the Educational Institute of Jilin province (EIJP) from 1990 to 2001. This paper re-examines this historic cooperation. The paper argues that prevailing theories of sustainable development which had been percolating in education faculties of Canadian universities in the 1990s allowed the UofR/EIJP program to transcend a simple international aid paradigm and to focus on the mutual benefit of the partners. At the same time, we observe that despite the enormous goodwill and institutional learning achieved through the UofR/EIJP program the project failed to live up to its significant potential. The paper concludes with some practical measures that institutions might implement to ensure important cooperative projects can build robust international capacity sustainable for the long term.

Multidisciplinary approaches to computing

This paper summarizes the discussions at a panel on Multidisciplinary Approaches to Computing at CCECE 2013, showcasing multidisciplinary research at the University of Regina. The panellist were invited from Fine Arts, Arts, Science, and Engineering. They elaborated on interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary views of computing, covering various topics such as agents, arts, knowledge engineering, granular computing, environment, mobile computing, multi-media, new media, scientistic computing, teaching, and Web-based support systems. The emerged theme of multidisciplinary computing brings new insights and in-depth understanding of computing.

Bilingual Education in China: practices, policies and concepts

related to biand multilingualism. Among these are great introductions and readers (Altarriba and Heredia 2007; Baker 2006; Bhatia and Ritchie 2004; Heller 2007; Kroll and De Groot 2005; Wei 2006). Bilingualism: an advanced resource book, however, is unique among these publications. No other book has the combination of being a comprehensive overview of the field, containing the authors’ writing as well as reproduced reading material, and offering an abundance of practical application activities. My appreciation is that teachers and students will be very happy to have this book as a resource in advanced courses on the foundations of bilingualism.