Conceptualizing language as symbolic power, Linda Tsung, an Australian scholar of Chinese origin, establishes the link between multilingual education and power relations in contemporary China from an insider-outsider perspective. Based on a number of case studies and empirical fieldwork in five main multilingual minority regions (mainly the autonomous regions), Tsung delicately but forcefully spells out the importance and urgency of reviving, maintaining and practicing multilingualism in modern China.

The eight-chapter book opens with a review of multilingualism and multilingual policies and educational practice in the international context. In the author's view, multilingualism is not static but interlocked with language status, power and markets. Examples including Singapore, India, Switzerland, and Germany are drawn on to illustrate this view. Chapter 2 zooms in on multilingualism and linguistic inequality in China. Topics such as language families, rankings of status, linguistic loss, endangerment, revival, and linguistic conflicts are discussed. Chapters 3 to 7 are devoted to case studies in five main minority regions in China. Rich with ethnographic data (pictures, documents, statistics, observation notes and interview transcripts), these studies carefully but critically examine such issues as political status, educational policies, and attitudes toward languages of ethnic groups. Specifically, chapters 3, 4 and 5 focus on case studies in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and the province of Qinghai in northern China. The case study on Mongolian language education (chapter 3) reveals that the Mongolian language has been in sharp decline since the 1980s due to political ideologies and a lack of educational resources for the Mongolian medium instruction curriculum. The case of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (chapter 4) exhibits an ‘integration in policy, segregation in reality’ mismatch in the education system and a bilingual-or-trilingual dilemma in language choice. In Qinghai (chapter 5), the dominance of the Chinese language over Tibetan and other minority languages leads to inequality in education and employment. Chapters 6 and 7 concentrate on two areas in southern China: Yunan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The use of minority languages in Yunan (chapter 6) has been in worrying decline and many of these languages have become endangered under pressure from the language policy of spreading Putonghua (Mandarin). But the Naxi (one of China's smaller minority nationalities) language is an exception. A tourist boom has boosted interest in Naxi culture. In Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (chapter 7), the traditional script Sawndip has been replaced by modern Zhuang scripts and Putonghua through political efforts, which caused concerns about the maintenance of Zhuang cultural heritage associated with the former. Following five micro studies of multilingual education in the minority regions, chapter 8 concludes with a discussion of the future of the function of multilingualism. Challenges and prospects in practicing multilingualism in the new era under president Xi are also discussed.

This book offers a data-rich, critical survey of minority language education across China, casting new light on theoretical and practical issues surrounding multilingualism as a global phenomenon. Linguists, policy makers and anyone working with multilingual education in China will find it valuable.