As part of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a series of large-scale projects have been launched in the Arab Gulf due to its geopolitically strategic position. We examine the influence of Chinese as a third player, in addition to Arabic and English, in a UAE university educationscape together with Emirati students' attitudes towards its…

Recent linguistic landscape (LL) research has witnessed a change in focus to untypical, peripheral and fluid signs. Compared to typical (or permanent, fixed, etc.) signs which tend to be subject to strong policy intervention, language use on untypical signs is often more autonomous, thus could better reflect the "de facto" language…

A region's identity is closely related to its semiotic landscape as well as history, economy and culture. This article explores the linguistic landscape of Jianghan Road, a historical business centre in Wuhan, P. R. China, by photographing and analysing 1308 official and unofficial signs in order to provide a snapshot of language choice and…

This article presents the results of a small-scale study on the linguistic landscape in the two terminals of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Thirty-one digital photos of non-identical signs out of a total of 368 'top-down' signs identified in the public space were collected, and questionnaires were administered to airport users to gauge…

Nuosu script, a unique character-based script with a long history, permeates the public spaces of Xichang, the capital of the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in southwest China. Using interviews, photos, observations, and documents, this qualitative study discovers the uses and meanings of Nuosu script in the linguistic landscape (LL). The…

Along with China's economic development and expanding cultural influence, the Chinese language has attracted an increasing number of learners in Myanmar, a culturally and linguistically diverse country. However, little is known about local languageChinese teachers' language ideologies toward the Chinese language and Chinese language education…

Hong Kong's bilingual street signs declare a kind of correspondence, equivalence and thus translation between the English and Chinese languages. This study finds four translation phenomena among the street signs: domestication with positive connotation, foreignisation with negative connotation, bilingual incompatibilities, and cross-street…

Language choices in the economic field of late capitalist societies are shaped by a combination of local, national, and global forces as well as historical, political, and economic factors. This study conducts an analysis of language choices in the linguistic landscape of Macao's heritage tourism (i.e. signposts of tourist attractions) and gaming…

In May 2017, Taiwan's legislature passed the Indigenous Languages Development Act (ILDA), which came into effect in June of that year. This paper traces the process and context that have led to the act's adoption, and provides an overview of its symbolic and substantive content. In doing so, this paper draws attention to the importance of…

The selection of standards and norms constitutes the first and most important step for language standardisation. In this paper, we examine the standard establishment for Huayu (or Singapore Mandarin), a new Chinese variety that has emerged in Singapore as a result of centralised planning and inter-linguistic contact. Huayu is the officially…

The Internet is used to create a grassroots counter-hegemony force. However, how individuals can effect changes to the development of language policies, especially in contexts such as China, is understudied. This study analyses three different forms of online activities -- self-generating content, interaction, and discussion -- to demonstrate how…

Educational issues in relation to ethnicity and language education policies have been underexplored in Asian contexts. In particular, issues related to ethnic and linguistic minority students have not received much attention in the post-colonial context of Hong Kong. This paper highlights challenges and tensions faced by Nepali ethnic minority…

We investigate the perceptions of international and American Chinese bilingual pre- and in-service graduate students and language teachers regarding Chinese varieties. The 25 participants were currently enrolled college students or recent graduates majoring in language education or other associated programmes at an urban university in the…

This paper reports the results of a review of research articles on the teaching of Chinese as a second or foreign language published in four leading mainland Chinese journals during the years 2005-2015. The review found that Chinese language researchers are exploring a wide array of issues including language policy and planning, language learning…

Language education for ethnic majority and minority students alike has recently received much policy attention in the People's Republic of China. An outcome of this policy attention is the Chinese-English bilingual education initiative which turns on the use of English as a medium of instruction for Han majority students at the primary and…