I am currently doing research for my master’s dissertation in Linguistics. I have never had to write anything longer than 2,500 words in my entire educational career, which includes 16 master’s classes across two years and being a professional English as a Second Language teacher. This dissertation is expected to be 10,000 words, roughly 20 pages if single-spaced and 40 if double-spaced, with all the usual standards of Times New Roman or Arial font-size 12, one-inch margins, blah, blah, blah…

If you can’t tell already, I am beyond stressed out.

So, what is this?

I am still in the (very) early stages of my research, and while I read quite a bit about the linguistic history and language policies in Taiwan for a few papers I’ve written, those were small projects and severely lacked depth. I figured it might be helpful for me to use my blog as a platform to work out my frustrations, pitfalls, and general organization of my research to get it all out of my head.

In my dissertation, I will be focusing on four key issues: language policy, identity, education, and cultural integration. Taiwan has a monolingual majority, but I want to bring the focus on the cultural impact of minority mother tongue education (specifically the indigenous Austronesian languages) and the government’s goal of having Taiwan be a Mandarin-English bilingual nation by 2030.

This research will delve into aspects of applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, and language education policy. Now I just have to see if I have bitten off more than I can chew, or if I can do justice to this project in just 10,000 words!

Language and Identity

I recently read Jolan Hsieh’s book Collective Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Identity-Based Movement of Plain Indigenous in Taiwan (2006). Hsieh is a Taiwanese scholar from the Pingpu indigenous peoples of Taiwan. I was originally planning to do my dissertation specifically on how the indigenous languages of Taiwan have been researched and preserved since Dutch colonization in the 1600s, so the following quotes from her book mostly focused on the language backgrounds.

Austronesian; Not Chinese

Here are some quotes from Hsieh’s book to give a little context:

As Hsieh explains, the languages of the indigenous peoples of Taiwan are part of the Austronesian, not Chinese, language family, and are classified as Formosan (from the historic name of Taiwan) languages. When the second wave of large-scale migration from China occurred, with mainland members of the KMT retreating there, indigenous groups were forced to change how their names and often their cultures were structured. An example of this is the assignment of the father’s last name to children. In the past, many of the indigenous peoples were matrilineal and matrilocal, meaning that the female line was most important for matters of inheritance and the family focused on female leadership. With the successive migrations and the rule of mainlanders, this practice was virtually wiped out in favor of patrilineal naming and inheritance.

Suppression of Identity

Another severe effect of this was the suppression of ‘other.’ Mainlanders saw the indigenous peoples as little better than savages or barbarians. Due to this pressure, many people of indigenous heritage began to assimilate, most by force and some by choice. Hsieh explains that many of her generation do not even know that they are indigenous because families have either kept it silent or it has been forgotten. She, along with many others, sees this as a great loss to the cultural history and diversity that Taiwan has to offer. Her book, while written about her research on and with the Plains indigenous peoples, has a very personal theme. She had suspected that she was part Pingpu, but did not know for sure until she was working on her research. In this book, we can see her process of coming to understand and value her heritage as she learned and grew through the process.

Recognition and Representation

Hsieh also explains the history of indigenous recognition and representation in and out of Taiwan. At the time of her publication, only 12 groups were officially recognized by the government. The group Hsieh is part of was not, at that time, recognized. She explained that the government allocated a certain amount of financial support to indigenous groups for the preservation of cultural heritage. Because that amount is so small, it has created a divide between recognized and unrecognized groups. If more groups are recognized, it could lead to less financial support. This issue has caused great friction in the fight for representation.

In terms of external recognition, ‘… indigenous peoples from Taiwan have participated in the WGIP (UN Sub-Commission Working Group on Indigenous Populations) almost every year [since 1988].’ (Hsieh, p. 47) They had originally been able to participate under the ‘Delegation from Taiwan’ status, but since 1997, they have no longer been able to use that status when they participate. (Hsieh, p. 48)

My Thoughts

After reading Hsieh’s book, I have been more drawn to the cultural implications accompanying language change, particularly in the case of language suppression. Taiwan is going through a resurgence in research on indigenous peoples and cultures. While many have done research and documentation in this field, documentation was originally done by the Dutch at the time of colonization and Christian missions. Therefore, that data was not made available outside of those circles. Much of the modern research on the Formosan languages has been conducted by Chinese or Japanese scholars and, as such, has been published in those languages with relatively little accessible to other scholars.

Conclusion and Final Questions

As we have seen, the indigenous peoples of Taiwan have had their cultures and languages suppressed for generations. When Taiwan was annexed by Japan, forced assimilation further suppressed and ostracized indigenous populations. The KMT era was no better, with martial law in effect and people being forced to use only Mandarin, a holdover strategy from the enforcement of Japanese-only laws. After reading Hsieh’s book and seeing the personal toll it took on her and those she interviewed to fully recognize themselves as indigenous, I am curious how the newer policies and younger generations of researchers are approaching the documentation and preservation of their languages through the lens of cultural analysis.

Thank You!

If you made it all the way to the end, thank you! I hope you will enjoy coming on this journey with me. I ask only for patience (and maybe a bit of encouragement) as I inevitably make mistakes and, hopefully, rectify them. If you have any suggestions, questions, or anecdotes to share, please don’t hesitate to comment!

Kara L. Neely