Modern Xinjiang and English learners‫ ياخشىمۇسىز‬你们好
ThaiTESOL 2020, Bangkok
Presenter: Eric GondreeOverview: Background: Why?
 Xinjiang history to present Tensions & Human Rights
 Xinjiang Education

 Interview Methodology/Participants Interviewee Responses Compared Conclusion/Future Questions/References/Appendix

Background: Why?
 Personal curiosity about the region
 Studied Chinese and Uyghur in Beijing Interest in Xinjiang, Chinese history & ethnic minorities
 “Frontier” province; diverse, rapidly changing society What are experiences of English learners in Xinjiang?
 Chinese minorities socioeconomically trail Han; lack ofcomparison in sociology (Wu and Song, 2014; Zang, 2008)
 Can teachers elsewhere learn from Xinjiang English learners’
perspectives and experiences? Does the situation in Xinjiang
affect English education?

Background: Xinjiang
 Population: ≈ 24 million, half+ are Han Chinese (XJTJN, 2018)
 Uyghur, Kazak, Hui, Mongol, other minorities
 Was majority-Muslim
 Han majority in past decade Government development
programs until 1960s
 Major destination for internal
Han migration (Becquelin, 2000;
Howell & Fan, 2011)
 “Settler culture” (Cliff, 2016)

Background: Xinjiang
 2019: 70th anniversary of “Peaceful Liberation of
Xinjiang”
 1955: Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region“Autonomy” is nominal (Bovingdon, 2004; Clarke 2008)

 State and military-led urbanization & development: oil, gas,
infrastructure (Wiemer, 2004).

Background: Xinjiang
 PRC: Xinjiang is an integral but ethnically distinct part ofChina (Bovingdon and Tursun, 2004)
 Early PRC: Suspicion of minorities & diminishment ofpromised CCP minority autonomy (Dillon, 2014; Mullaney, 2011)
 Islam, Pan-Turkism, Soviets, “splittism”(分裂主义), backwardness
 Mosques had to re-register with CCP’s Islamic Association of China
 Early Uyghur communists considered too pro-Soviet (Jacobs, 2016)
 Wang Zhen, first PRC Xinjiang military governor, regarded minorities as“troublemaking” (Cliff, 2016)
 Ethnic-based bullying reported in Xinjiang factories in ‘50s (Jacobs, 2016)

 Is Xinjiang an internal colony? (Bovingdon, 2010; Clarke, 2008;
Cliff, 2016; Sautman, 2000)

Background: Xinjiang
 Tensions/Human Rights:
 Han migration, economic disparities, discrimination,lack of autonomy (Bovingdon, 2010; Clarke, 2008; Hasmath &Ho, 2015; Wu & Song, 2014)
 Repression as anti-terrorism & crime-control; “7/5
Incident” of 2009 (China 2017/2018, 2018; Cliff, 2016)

 High-tech mass-surveillance, “Re-education centers”
and “kindergartens,” disappearances (Amnesty
International, 2018; Charbonneau, 2019; China: Big data fuels
crackdown in minority region, 2018; Ramzy & Buckley, 2019;
Sudworth, 2019) The “largest mass-internment of an ethnic-religious minority
since World War II” (Allen-Ebrahimian, 2019)

Xinjiang Education:
 Education pre-20th century: Madrassas for Muslims, Confucian education for Han; notuniversal
 Education early 20th century: Turkic merchants returned from abroad; founded secular,
western-style schools for science, math and foreign
languages
 Influenced by jadidist (reformist; progressive) education of
Russian Tatars; pan-Turkist ideology
 Education from 1920s to 1940s:
 Soviet-influenced curriculum & organization(Millward and Tursun, 2004)

Xinjiang Education:
 Post-1949 Xinjiang:• 6 yrs primary, 3 yrs lower secondary, 3 yrs upper secondary•

15 years of free education, 47 universities & colleges• English education begins age 10; oriented to test-taking• Significant gaps between north & south (Gao, 2017)• Some Han resentment about minority college admissions (Wu &Song, 2014)• “In practice, “bilingual education” in Xinjiang ... produces alarge number of students who are proficient in neither theirmother tongues nor in Mandarin…” (Tohti, 2015)
Sakharov Prize (2019)

Interview Methodology:
 Planned with Interviewing as Qualitative Research(Seidman, 2006)

 Project goals, interview questions shown beforehand(Appendix 1)

 Audio-only recordings performed as privately as possible, aftergetting participant consent.

 Finding interviewees was difficult
 Hard to find willing participants; one suddenly withdrew
 Access to university campuses restricted Han interviewee specifically wanted to avoid “political” topics
 Other researchers reported similar difficulties (Cliff, 2016)

Interview Methodology:
 Interviewees chose names they wished to use Followed by listening, transcription and analysis ofrecordings
 Responses analyzed and compared Experience from West Bank

interviews in March, 2017
(Gondree, 2017)

Interview
Participants Interviews took place in Turpan city in August, 2019.

 Two former English majors: one Han, one Uyghur “Anna” (Han, from Urumqi, daughter of Han settlers from1960s; interpreter; early 50s)
 “Gulkiz” (Uyghur, from Turpan, hotel worker; late 20s)
 Studied English in and outside Xinjiang in late 1990s
 Both use English in current employment; both interface

with foreign visitors

Q 5: What do you think is the mostdifficult thing about studying English?

Anna:
 I think there are many grammars ... and you have to recitemany new words

Gulkiz: I think I can't speak English and I can't describe my thinkbut I think it's not very real sentence. It's a wrong sentence...
so I think English grammar is so difficult for meQ 8: Where do you practice speaking English?
What is the best way to practice?

Anna: Morning Review
 A: Actually, every day I spend some time reading. In the morning. I thinkthat's very important for me, in my experience, you know.
 E: What?
 A: I read aloud, you know, and try to recite the new words.
 E: Okay.
 A: So in the morning, at least half an hour reading E: Really.
 A: -reading all the things we have learned....
 E: So this is, this is a morning review?
 A: Morning review, yes.
 E: So you learned something the day before?
 A: Yes, that’s right.

Q 8: Where do you practice speaking English?
What is the best way to practice?

Gulkiz: “normal environment”
 G: I think I am norma- normal type topractice English because I have never everhave- have a foreigner teacher and I never
have a foreigner friend, so I think I don'thave... hmm, normal environment topractice English.

Q 8: Where do you practice speaking English?
What is the best way to practice?

Gulkiz: Movies & TV G: Watching movie E: Watching movies?
 G: Yes E: Oh, okay. All right. All right- G: Best way- I think- I think watching TV is best way to me E: Watching TV. Okay, what do you watch?
 G: ...Gossip Girl. Do you heard that?

 E: Gossip Girl?
 G: Yeah E: Yes, I've heard of that. Okay.

Q10: What kinds of problems do you havestudying English outside of school?

Anna: Talking a lot is important A: Practice is very, very important, yeah. But as long as you

open your mouth and speak E: Mhm
 A: -you -because some students they- they- you know, they
didn't want to- to talk with people. But language is- is
important to- to- it's a way for communication so that's
very important for you to talk. Then, even though you madea mistake, you are not afraid of talking. This will help a lot, I
think.
 E: All right.
 A: Yeah.

Q10: What kinds of problems do you havestudying English outside of school?

Gulkiz: Finding regular study time G: You- just you want to spend the time to learn. I think it's

the- you can learn it. But, how many time is not so lazy.
 E: How many time is not so lazy. What do you mean?
 G: It's not to study and not to hold on and study ...  E: So G: -put it down E: -so studying time. Studying enough G: -always in the time to E: So regular studying.
 G: Yes.

Q11: What kind of help would be good foryour study of English?

Anna: “Try to listen”
 A: You know, it's very important that we... listen... listen (to) English radios E: Mhm.
 A: Uh, yeah... every morning when we go- when we get up, the first thing is that

we turn on the- the recorder E: Mhm.
 A: And then you can have some English E: Mm.
 A: programs for you to listen to.
 E: Mm.
 A: And then you brush your teeth, you wash your face, but at- at the same time
you have the English radio over there E: Mhm.
 A: so this- this helps a lot.

Q11: What kind of help would be good foryour study of English?

Gulkiz: Friends and environment G: I think, uh, just make a friend and, uh,

makes- you make a- environment,
language environment, to practice.
Practice your English.
 E: Okay. That's a good answer.

Q13: Do you think English education isimportant for people in Xinjiang? Why?

Anna: “it’s a kind of ability”
 A: ...still it's important for all the students to study English.
 E: Hm A: I think maybe this will teach them, uh, more abilities. So that

although, you know, that when they study English, maybe, uh, it's a kindof ability for them. Yeah.
 E: Hm A: ...it's not really that you can- will use English in your future but, uh,maybe this will teach you a kind of ability to- to study languages.
 E: Hm A: Yeah. So, I think it’s- it’s as important as when you study
mathematics E: Hm
 A: -Chinese. So it's not that maybe you’ll use math- mathematics infuture life but, anyway, this will teach you ability…

Q13: Do you think English education isimportant for people in Xinjiang? Why?

Gulkiz: “know more the world”
 G: If you want more language, you can

travel and you can speak other people iscome from…
 E: Okay.
 G: …and you can know more language andyou can know more the world.
 E: Mhm.

Off script question: Not a lot of Uyghurs
speaking English?

Gulkiz: “Possibly it’s not developed”
 E: I have a question. So I have been goingaround Xinjiang for a few days. I haven't metvery many, like, Uyghur people who speak
English... Right? Why do you think that is?
 G: 嗯- 可能是没发展吧. (Hm. Possibly it’s notdeveloped.) E: 没发展.是吗? (Not developed. That’s so?)Conclusion:
 Interviews of two Xinjiang-based former English majors
 Agreement on the need for practice and learner agency
 Ambiguity about significance of English in Xinjiang
Commonalities: Implications oflearner agency, needing to do work
Q 5: Difficulties?
• Grammar & practice

Q 10: Problems?
• Time for practice & study

Differences: Reflections ofindividual preferences and goals
Q 8: Best ways to practice English?
• Morning review• Movies & TV
Q 11: What kind of help?
• Listening practice• Friends and “normal environment”

Q 13: English in Xinjiang important?
• Language study as a skill• Knowing more about the worldFuture Questions: Questions for further research about English educationin Xinjiang: What role does English education play in Xinjiang?
 How do learners feel about it?

 Is English relevant to people in Xinjiang? To whom?

Why?

 Would it be more or less relevant to Han than to Uyghurs?

 If not, would other foreign languages be consideredmore relevant and to whom? Which ones? Why?
 Central Asian languages? Russian? Others?

 Is English education “not developed” in Xinjiang? If so,for whom and how?

 Analogous to other inland provinces? Implications forteaching opportunities and teaching materials?

References: Allen-Ebrahimian, B. (2019, November 24). Exposed: China's Operating Manuals for Mass
Internment and Arrest by Algorithm. International Consortium of Investigative
Journalists. Retrieved from https://www.icij.org/investigations/china-cables/exposedchinas-operating-manuals-for-mass-internment-and-arrest-by-algorithm/
 Amnesty International (2018, September 24). Up to one million detained in China's mass "reeducation" drive. Retrieved from https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/09/

china-up-to-one-million-detained/ Becquelin, N. (2000). Xinjiang in the nineties. The China Journal, 44, 65−90.
 Bovingdon, G. (2004). Autonomy in Xinjiang: Han Nationalist Imperatives and Uyghur
Discontent, Policy Studies, East-West Center Washington.
 Bovingdon, G. (2010). The not-so-silent majority: Uyghur resistance to Han rule in Xinjiang.
Modern China, 28(1), 39-78.
 Bovingdon, G. and Tursun, N. (2004). Contested histories. In Starr, S. F. (Ed.). Xinjiang: China’s
Muslim Borderland (353-374), Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.

References:
 Charbonneau, L. (2019, October 30). Countries Blast China at UN Over Xinjiang Abuses.
Human Rights Watch. Retrieved fromhttps://www.hrw.org/news/2019/10/30/countries-blast-china-un-over-xinjiangabuses.
 China 2017/2018. (2018, February 22). Amnesty International. Retrieved June 14, 2018, fromhttps://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/asia-and-the-pacific/china/report-china/
 China: Big data fuels crackdown in minority region. (2018, March 6). Human Rights Watch.
Retrieved June 14, 2018, from https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/02/26/china-bigdata-fuels-crackdown-minority-region
 Clarke, M. (2008). China's 'war on terror' in Xinjiang: Human security and the causes of violent
Uighur separatism. Terrorism and Political Violence, 20(2), 271-301.
 Cliff, T. (2016). Oil and water: Being Han in Xinjiang. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago
Press.
 Dillon, M. (2014). Xinjiang and the expansion of Chinese communist power: Kashgar in theearly twentieth century. London, Routledge.

References: Gao, X. (2017, November 30). Education in Xinjiang. Borgen Magazine. Retrieved fromhttps://www.borgenmagazine.com/education-in-xinjiang/ Gondree, E. (2017, November 19). Voices from Palestinian English teachers. Presentation at
JALT 2017, 43rd Annual International Conference on Language Teaching and Learning,
Tsukuba, Japan.
 Hasmath, R. and Ho, B. (2015): Job acquisition, retention, and outcomes for ethnic minorities
in urban China, Eurasian Geography and Economics,
DOI:10.1080/15387216.2015.1049637

 Howell, A. and Fan, C. (2011). Migration and inequality in Xinjiang: A survey of Han andUyghur migrants in Urumqi. Eurasian Geography and Economics 52(1), 119-139.
 Jacobs, J. M. (2016). Xinjiang and the modern Chinese state. Seattle, WA: University ofWashington Press.
 Millward, J. and Tursun, N. (2004). Political history and strategies of control, 1884-1978. In
Starr, S. F. (Ed.). Xinjiang: China’s Muslim Borderland (63-98), Armonk, NY: M. E.
Sharpe.

References: Mullaney, T. (2011). Coming to terms with the nation: Ethnic classification in modern China.
Berkley, CA: University of California Press.
 Ramzy, A., and Buckley, C. (2019, November 16). 'Absolutely No Mercy': Leaked Files Expose
How China Organized Mass Detentions of Muslims. The New York Times. Retrieved
from https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/16/world/asia/china-xinjiangdocuments.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes
 Sakharov Prize: Jailed Uighur academic Ilham Tohti wins award. (2019, October 24). BBC News.
Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-50166713.
 Sautman, B. (2000). Is Xinjiang an internal colony? Inner Asia 2(2). p. 239-271.
 Sudworth, J. (2019, July 04). China Muslims: Xinjiang schools used to separate children fromfamilies. BBC News. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china48825090

 Tohti, I. (2015, April). Present-Day Ethnic Problems in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region:
Overview and Recommendations (2) – Bilingual Education. (C. Carter, Trans.) China
Change. Retrieved from https://chinachange.org/2015/04/22/present-day-ethnicproblems-in-xinjiang-uighur-autonomous-region-overviewand-recommendations-2

References: Wiemer, C. (2004). The economy of Xinjiang. In Starr, S. F. (Ed.). Xinjiang: China’s Muslim
Borderland (163-189), Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.
 Wu, X. and Song, X. (2014). Ethnic stratification amid China’s economic transition: Evidence
from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Social Science Research 44(March),
158-172, 2014.
 XJTJN (2018). Xinjiang tongji nianjian 2018 (Xinjiang Statistical Yearbook 2018). China Statistics
Press: Beijing.
 Zang, X. (2008). Market reforms and Han-Muslim variation in employment in the Chinese state
sector. World Development 36(11), 2341-2352.

Thank you for attending Questions/Comments?
 This PPT (without audio) available for download at:

http://eric.gondree.com

Appendix 1: Question List


1. Please tell me your preferred name and where you are from?



2. Can you tell me about your education and work experience?



3. When and why did you start learning English?



4. Where did you study English? Can you tell me about this place?



5. What do you think is the most difficult thing about studying English?



6. What kinds of materials or books did you use in your classes?



7. How much time did you spend on homework for English class each week?



8. Where do you practice speaking English? What do you think is the best way to practice English?



9. Did you enjoy your English classes? Why or why not?



10. What kinds of problems did you have studying English outside of school?



11. What kind of help would be good for your study of English?



12. How do you hope to use English in the future?



13. Do you think English education is important for people in Xinjiang? Why or why not?



14. Tell me about an interesting or an important experience that you had in English? Why was it interesting to you.