AcitizenofGuilininsouthChina’sGuangxiZhuangAutonomousRegion
Istronglyencouragechildrentolearnindigenousdialects.IamfromGansuProvinceinnorthwestChinaandmyhusbandisfromGuilin.SoIwantmydaughter,whoisnowoneandahalfyearsold,tolearnbothGuilinandGansudialectssothatsheknowsthecultureofhertwohometowns.
Inmyopinion,dialectindicatesaperson’saffectiontohisorherhometown.However,nowadays,alargenumberofpeoplefromdifferentplacesarefloodingintobigcitiessuchasBeijing,ShanghaiandGuangzhou.Tobetterintegrateintothecities,theygraduallypickupMandarinandlosetheirdialects.It’sverysad.
It’salwayspleasingtomeetsomeonefromyourhometown.Onewillfeelcordialwhenheorshehearslocalaccentinaforeignland.Dialectisareminderofwhoweareandwherewearefrom.
ZengJin
AteacherinGuilin
Asaprimaryschoolteacher,Ithinkstudentsshouldbeencouragedtolearnindigenousdialects.NowadaysmanyparentsspeakMandarinwiththeirchildrenandtheyencouragetheirgrandparentstospeakMandarinwiththeirgrandchildrenathome.Inschool,studentslearnMandarinandEnglish.ThoughitisconvenientforpeopletocommunicateinMandarin,nothingcanreplacethevibeandbeautyofindigenousdialects.Proverbsandslangareusuallyrichwithlocalsoundandinterestingtospeak.Theyallrequiredialectstoexpresstheirfullmeaning.Forinstance,dialectinnortheastChinaisconcise,vivid,richanddynamic,andidenticaltolocalpeople’scharactersofboldness,straightness,andhumor.Masteringindigenousdialectswillhelpstudentsbetterappreciatelocalculturesandtraditions.That’swhyweshouldstudylocaldialectsinourcompulsoryeducation,especiallyinChinesetextbooks.
WangZhenjun
ProfessorwithZhengzhouUniversity
Iamworriedaboutthefutureofindigenousdialects.China’svastterritoryhascultivatedvariousdialects.Dialects,beingthecarriersoflocalculture,reflectthetraditionsdeeplyrootedinpeople’shearts.Itisworthmentioningthatthedegenerationofdialectshasbecomeevidentinrecentyears.Thisphenomenonhasbecomehighlyprevalentincitiesthaninruralareas.Thefrequencyofindigenousdialectusagehasreduced.Languageisanintangibleculturalheritage,aswellasthecarrierofotherintangibleculturalheritages.Eachdialectrepresentsaknowledgesystemandavarietyofculturaltraditions.Ifadialectisdead,wewouldloseacorrespondingculturesystem.
Isuggestthatprimaryandsecondaryschoolssetupdialectcoursesandmoremeasuresshouldbetakentocultivateafriendlyenvironmentfortheuseoflocaldialects.
ZhouXiao
AGuilinresident
Iamagainstchildrenlearningdialects.IgrewuplearningGuilindialectandendedupwithnon-standardMandarin.MymajorintheuniversityrequiredanextremelyhighlevelofMandarin.Ispentalotoftimecorrectingmypronunciation.ItwasatthattimewhenIrealizedthatmychildrenshouldlearnMandarininearlychildhood.ManyparentsIknowsharethesameidea.Betweeneachotherasparents,wespeakGuilindialect,butwithourchildren,wecommunicateinMandarin.
MysonhasnevervisitedmyhometownintheruralareabecausewenowliveinGuilin.LocaldialectwouldbeofnouseforhimandspeakingMandarinisdefinitelyeasier.Duringclass,onTV,andinacademicliterature,peopleareusingMandarin.Whenhebeginstoattenduniversityinperhapsanothercity,hecancommunicateinMandarin.
ChenShaoling
AresidentinHuizhouCity,SouthChina’sGuangdongProvince
Ihavebeenworkinginthefieldofpre-schooleducationfor25years.Accordingtomyresearchandexperience,thereismoreharmincultivatingachild’slanguageabilityiftherearedifferentdialectswithinafamily.Thechildwillbecomeoverwhelmedbythemanditwouldslowdowntheirlanguagedevelopment.
Toavoidthis,whenteachingyourchildbasicChinese,it’sadvisabletostartwithstandardMandarin.Thisisunlikelytocompromiseyourchild’sexpressionabilityinthelanguagelearningprocess.
It’seasierforstudentstolearnandspeakMandarinfromTVandbooks,whichhelpsbuilduptheirvocabulary.Theybecomemoresensitivetophrasesandwords.Indigenousdialect-speakingstudents,however,wouldfinditmoredifficulttounderstandthelinguisticsofMandarin.
DongJian
ProfessorwithSchoolofChineseLanguageandLiterature,NanjingNormalUniversity
Itisinappropriatetopromotetheuseofdialectsatpresent.Thedeathoflanguageordialectisanaturalprocess.Wecannotsympathizeforthelossofcertaindialects.Forexample,peopleinmoderntimesdonotfeelfrustratedwhentheyfailtoreadinscriptionsonbonesortortoiseshellsfromtheShangDynasty(16001100B.C.).
Forcertaindialects,whichwillnotdisappearinshortterm,wecanusethem,butshouldnotmakespecialeffortstopromotethem.Thedisappearanceofdialectsisalossindeed.But,aslongasoursocietykeepsmovingforward,thereisnogroundtoblamesuchphenomena.
Ithinktheygotowardthewrongdirectionwhensomepeoplearepromotingdialects.IndigenousdialectsbreaktheintegrityoftheChineseculture.TheydonotcoherewiththeChinesephilosophyof“grandunity.”