CRI听力: First Ethnic Language Test to Roll out

The language of China's Zhuang ethnic group will have a standard with the launch of a language test. As our reporter Wang Jing tells us, this is the latest endeavor to protect the country's dying ethnic language.

The Zhuang is the largest ethnic minority group in China, with a population of 19 million. Most of them live in the Southwestern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The Zhuang language is used officially by the local government of Guangxi and included in its school curriculum, but gradually losing ground among young people, just as what's happened to other ethnic languages in China.

"We feel the education of the mother language is declining among Chinese students, and the level how good they use the language is going down, too."

Professor Li Jinfang from China's Minzu University was among the initiators of the language test.

He believes one reason that stops the Zhuang language from being promoted further is division in the language. Zhuang language has a Southern dialect and a Northern one, which is further branched into 12 regional dialects. Li says a standard helps promote communication.

"A test will create a standardized language that's recognized by all, like Mandarin, this will make it much easier for people to communicate. This will set up a norm for language teaching, rather than schools having their own language standards and using their own textbooks."

According to Li, the test is basically a written exam which consists of making sentences, grammar, reading comprehension and writing, with three difficulty levels.

"We are going to put up a trial test in May, and probably first to students who've received the Zhuang language education from Minzu University of China and Guangxi University for Nationalities. We want the trial to be promoted."

The trial period will last until 2013 and education authorities would decide whether to apply the practice on other ethnic languages in China, which are estimated to top a hundred.

For CRI, I'm wangjing.