Bilingual students’ attitudes toward the Tibetan language

Abstract

This study investigates bilingual students’ attitudes toward the Tibetan language, examining the structural models of the attitudes of Tibetan students and the differences in attitudes between living communities and as moderated by learning years (comparing Tibet-based and Han-based communities). The participants were 1,118 Tibetan students in the Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, China. The results indicated the following: (i) the data supported the three components of attitude (Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral) in terms of bilingual students’ perception of the Tibetan language; (ii) the five lower-level domains of the attitudes toward the Tibetan language can be grouped into two categories – Cognitive (self-concept of the Tibetan language and social status) and Affective (friendliness, helpfulness, and identification) – and there is a causal relationship between them; and (iii) there are significant differences in attitudes toward the Tibetan language dependent on living community and learning year. Practical suggestions for educators in schools for bilingual students learning the Tibetan language are discussed.