A Survey of Language Practices and Services in Public Security within Ethnic Minority Areas:A Case Study of a Local Police Station in Xingyi City,Guizhou Province
The effectiveness of law enforce-ment for the public appears to be influenced by language use and service provided by local public security(police)staff.Taking the local police sta-tion in Xingyi City,Guizhou Province as its re-search subject,this paper explores the current public security language practices and services in ethnic areas.Findings reveal that while all local ethnic minority public security officers are profi-cient in standard spoken Chinese(Putonghua)and the local Chinese dialect,fewer than 30%are proficient in ethnic minority languages.In addi-tion,children from interethnic marriages often can-not speak these ethnic minority languages.In fami-ly,society,and professional settings,Chinese dia-lects apparently are mainly used,with Putonghua and Chinese dialects being used in formal speech contexts.Written communications seem to be more frequent in Putonghua than oral communications.The respondents from this survey primarily use Pu-tonghua and consume media in Chinese,with min-imal use of ethnic minority language media.Daily communication,computer use,text messaging,and WeChat are exclusively in Chinese.Further-more,respondents hold high expectations for the social status,practical function,and future of Pu-tonghua and Chinese writing,so they have positive behavior tendency in learning standard spoken and written Chinese language;their emotional connec-tion to ethnic minority languages and scripts is stronger,while their expectations for its social sta-tus,practical function and future are relatively low,resulting in less proactive behavior.In terms of language services,respondents interact with vis-itors in Chinese dialects and arrange for police flu-ent in Buyi and Miao languages to assist them when encountering Buyi and Miao visitors who cannot speak Chinese.Data also suggests a strong demand for ethnic minority language translation or courts and government service windows;however,expec-tations for ethnic minority language proficiency tests,when recruiting public security police and government officers,are lower.What is more,the study shows a tension be-tween promoting standard language use and preser-ving linguistic and cultural diversity in multi-lan-guage or multi-dialect areas,so the further sprea-ding of Putonghua requires addressing this contra-diction.Historical language traditions,language use status in specific fields or of different groups are key factors to be considered while constructing harmonious and healthy language practices.Stand-ard spoken and written Chinese has demonstrated to be an effective and crucial communication tool across regions and ethnicities.It,moreover,plays a significant role in maintaining the cohesion of dif-ferent peoples and their national identity,while ethnic minority languages and Chinese dialects have been fulfilling complementary roles.To foster a harmonious language environment,it is necessary to observe different groups of people's Putonghua proficiency and areas of use,as well as changes in disadvantaged languages and dialects and the lan-guage attitudes of different people groups,and ad-just language policies accordingly.Finally,the promotion of Putonghua is a gradual and systematic endeavor,with school education as a fundamental element,and the country's civil servants have dis-played to be the pioneers of Putonghua use in so-cial fields.Without active participation from gov-ernment sectors and civil servants in fostering a Pu-tonghua-friendly environment,achieving wide-spread adoption of he standard spoken and written Chinese language will likely be challenging.
ethnic minority public security policelanguage practiceslanguage servicelan-guage need
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
