Education | IPM launches research on language and cultural identity

Zhang Yan

A project entitled the “Macau public’s attitude on language and cultural identity under a multicultural and multilingual background” was announced this week in a press conference organized by the Macau Polytechnic Institute (IPM).
Plans for the research project include collecting more than 1,000 interviews from Macau’s public servants, tertiary students and the general public. Researchers are seeking to understand respondents’ attitudes toward different languages, and to analyze their rationale behind using particular languages in specific settings.
Dr Zhang Yan, a researcher from the Beijing Language and Culture University and leader of the research project, said that the project is expected to enrich relevant theories, and expand the scope of research in the field. The project could also provide data for predictions of Macau’s future linguistic landscape.
“Our hypothesis is that there are two factors determining the choice of language. One is the emotional factor and the other is the rational factor. An emotional factor means that a person chooses to use a particular language based on his identifying with the language; while a rational factor means that the choice is made based on economic reasoning. For example, a person may consider that they are able to find a better job or earn more through speaking that language,” Dr Zhang explained on the sidelines of the press conference.
The researcher has pointed to a decline in Portuguese speakers among the Macanese business community. She suspects that this is largely due to the fact that English is more popular than Portuguese in Macau, making it less economically beneficial to master the language.
Zhang said that she would like to interview some members of the Macanese community to understand why they might still choose Portuguese as their first language. She believes that the reasons provided by these interviewees can help to promote Portuguese in Macau in the future.
Despite an ostensible decline in the use of Portuguese among the Macanese community, Zhang has noticed the beginnings of a revival of Portuguese in Macau, with an increasing amount of people paying the language more importance. “Although some Macanese have given up using Portuguese as their first language, there are people from other groups who have realized the importance of Portuguese,” she said.
Meanwhile, the executive director and secretary-general of the IPM Language and Culture Research Centre of Macau, Professor Zhou Jian, argues that Macau residents and the government must be forward-thinking in terms of language education. Instead of focusing on languages that are popularly used nowadays, people should also learn languages that are seen as less relevant, in order to prepare for future needs. He also agreed that language promotion will be more effective if the government sets concrete goals and targets to measure achievements. Nevertheless, he warned that the public may not want to follow the direction of the government.
The project’s researchers will finish collecting questionnaires at the end of March, and are expected to submit a report in August.