Come learn about the risks and benefits of the modern Chinese language at our talk with Professor Hongyin Tao from UCLA.
Date: Tuesday 9 April, 2024
Time: 5:00pm – 6:00pm
Location: Sydney Law School LT 024, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2006
Sydney China Distinguished Fellow Presents
“Dangers” and “Opportunities” Surrounding the Language of Contemporary Chinese: Perspectives from Social, Cultural, and Applied Linguistics
“Crisis” is a term often used to describe major issues surrounding contemporary Chinese/Huayu. For example, in the 21st century, books titled “Chinese in a Crisis” were published; “Defending the Chinese Language” was among the sensational media headlines; “Increasingly vulgar Chinese” made intellectuals worry about “the rupture of civilization”. In addition, the decay of major dialects such as Shanghainese and Cantonese has caused uproar in public opinion. Finally, on the international stage, Chinese is considered to represent a weak voice. Is contemporary Chinese really in danger? What are the “opportunities” in the “crisis”? This talk will attempt to offer some rational accounts for those and similar phenomena, with perspectives from Social, Cultural, and Applied Linguistics.
About the speaker
Hongyin Tao is a professor of Chinese language and linguistics at the University of California, Los Angeles; he also holds an honorary Distinguished Chair Professor position at the National Taiwan Normal University and was a Fulbright Canada Research Chair with the University of Alberta in 2022. His research and teaching focus on the social, cultural, and interactional aspects of Chinese language use in context. His recent publications include Chinese under Globalization (World Scientific, 2011), Global Chinese Variation – USA (Commercial Press 2022), and Learner Corpora Construction and Explorations in Chinese and Related Languages (Springer 2023). He serves on editorial boards of over 30 academic publications and was a former president of the Chinese Language Teachers Association, USA.
As part of the Sydney China Distinguished Fellowship Program 2024, this event is co-hosted by the Discipline of Chinese Studies in the School of Languages and Cultures, the China Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. The fellowship is enabled by the acuity of vision and generosity of Mr James Lee, a University of Sydney alumnus now based in Hong Kong.
