Multilingualism at the China-Myanmar border

Trilingual signage at the Muse checkpoint on the China-Myanmar border

Applied Linguistics at Macquarie University presents

Multilingualism at the China-Myanmar border: fieldwork experiences

When: Wednesday, March 26, 1:00-2:00pm [Please note updated time!]
Where: Macquarie University, W5C 221
Presenter: Li Jia, Macquarie University and Yunnan University

Abstract: In this talk I will share my experiences of conducting sociolinguistic ethnographic fieldwork investigating multilingualism in education in the Chinese-Myanmar border area. Having recently returned from half a year of fieldwork, I will talk about the challenges and opportunities of doing ethnographic fieldwork in an out-of-the-way locale and with speakers of a range of languages. The presentation will also be of interest to those who wish to increase their understanding of the languages and peoples of the rapidly changing borderlands of China and Myanmar.

About the presenter: Li Jia is currently a PhD student in the Linguistics Department at Macquarie University and she is also a lecturer at Yunnan University. Her research interests are in the sociolinguistics of language learning and classroom discourse. She is passionate about improving language education in her native Yunnan and beyond.