Bilingual Education in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China: A Policy Web Perspective

Abstract

This paper examines bilingual education policy in Xinjiang, a Chinese minority region, through the lens of policy web theory. Power, voice, and the interaction of policies at different levels are scrutinized though document analysis. The paper concludes that: 1) Bilingual education in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has been influenced by different policies at multiple levels of a bureaucratic system; 2) The relationship among these policies is dynamic as they change over time with the macro-national context; 3) The basis of the bilingual education policy web in this region has changed along with the historical stages of modern Chinese history; 4) The China’s central government t has played a significant role in the formation of and changes in bilingual education policy under its centralized political system; 5) The voices of the populace, especially those of minorities, have not played a significant role in the policy process, which in part explains why bilingual education policy has not been as influential as expected. Future research may benefit from using discourse analysis as another avenue to explore these phenomena in depth.