Chinese in a multilingual foreign language ecology: An insight from a language policy and planning perspective in Mongolia

Abstract

Drawing on the ecological view of language as something shaped by its interaction with the surrounding society, this article examines the language ecology of Mongolia from a language policy and planning (LPP) perspective and considers what it means for learners of Chinese. The analysis combines Mongolian language legislation and foreign language education policy documents, official trade statistics, and interviews with families in Ulaanbaatar whose children are learning Chinese. Mongolia’s language ecology is best described as a firmly established national language surrounded by a plurality of foreign languages. English is the designated first foreign language and Russian retains protected curriculum time, while the law leaves other foreign languages unspecified, which leaves functional room for Chinese.
The main opportunities for Chinese lie in the economic value created by bilateral trade, its regional value as a neighbouring language, and the curricular space that a more plurilingual orientation could open up. The main challenges concern its place in the curriculum, teachers and materials, the link between assessment and local pathways, competition among foreign languages, a narrow range of use, and limited data. The article argues that a functional-planning view, in which languages differ in function rather than in rank, offers a useful way to understand the division of labour among languages in Mongolia and to align Chinese language education with the country’s existing language policy and its multilingual education system.