Language and Development in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region

Introduction

At first glance, there is a language difference between African countries and the country of the Greater Mekong Sub-Region (GMS). In contrast with the former, language issues in Cambodia, the Lao PDR, Myanmar and Viet Nam seem to have been successfully resolved via the adoption of a national language, suggesting some degree of 'language uniformity' (Djité, 2008). When interpreted through the prevailing theories of language policy and planning and language and development of the last decades (Coulmas, 1992: 25; Fasold, 1984: 7; Gellner, 1983: 35; Pool, 1972: 213), one is tempted to conclude that the issues of development plaguing African countries (i.e. national unity, political stability, economic growth and good governance) would not stand in the way of countries that have made the pragmatic choice of 'instrumental and operational efficiency' (Fishman, 1968 – Fishman's concepts of 'nationalism' and 'nationism' are discussed in Chapter 6).

What follows suggests that the linguistic picture of the GMS is a complex one. This complexity goes a long way in providing some of the answers to the reasons why the countries in this sub-region continue to grapple with the same issues of development that African countries are faced with, especially in the areas of education, health, the economy and governance.

Language and Development in Cambodia

Cambodia is bordered by the Gulf of Thailand on the southwest, the Lao PDR on the northeast, Thailand on the northwest and west, and Viet Nam on the southeast and east (see Map 1.1). Its population was estimated at 14.8 million people in 2010.

Some 22 languages are spoken in the country. Khmer, the national and official language, has its own script, âkkhârâkrâm khémârâ phéasa, informally known as 'aksar Khmer', a segmental writing system based on consonants, with obligatory vowel notation. Although it has influenced and been influenced by neighbouring languages, such as Thai, Lao and Vietnamese, due to Sanskrit and Pali influences, Khmer differs from the latter in that it is not a tonal language. Estimates of the ethno-linguistic groups living in the country vary between 20 and 40. Apart from the Muslim Cham – also referred to as 'Khmer Islam' – and the Chinese and the Vietnamese, whose populations are in the hundreds of thousands (Kosonen, 2005, 2007; Leclerc, 2009a; Neou Sun, 2009), all other ethno-linguistic groups are small. Statistics place the number of Vietnamese in Cambodia at 2 million or 5% of the total population, while the Chinese make up only 1% of the population. All other ethnic groups put together represent 4% of the population. A significant number of Cambodia's minority groups live in remote highland provinces, where the literacy rate is estimated at only 5.3%. Some of these, such as the Brao and the Kraveth in the Ratanakiri province, are related to those living in southern Lao PDR, and were artificially separated from the latter by the border demarcation imposed by the French colonisers in 1903. Other indigenous people, such as the Khmer Leu or Choncheat (also known as hill tribes or highlanders. They call themselves 'Choncheat', hence my preference for this term), living in the northeast highland area and other areas of the country, are mostly illiterate and poor. As in the Lao PDR, education and economic development programmes have been aimed at settling the Choncheat outside their original villages and transforming their methods of agriculture and their general lifestyle, which was seen as backward (White, 1996). Two new provinces, Ratanakiri and Mondulkiri, were created in 1959 and 1960, respectively, in pursuance of a general policy of integration of the Choncheat into Khmer society. The government then started introducing Khmer culture to the indigenous people, as part of a five-year development plan. Then came the Khmer Rouge, who simply banned their cultural practices and language altogether.

Khmer is the dominant language, comprising approximately 90% of the population, making it one of the least diverse polities in southeast Asia. Cambodians are 95% Theravada Buddhists, but have Animist, Christian and Muslim minorities (5%).

Language and Development in the Lao PDR

Once known as Lan Xang or 'the Kingdom of a Million Elephants' (founded in the 13th century), the Lao PDR is a small, landlocked and ethnically diverse country of 6.32 million people. Expanding at average growth rates of between 2% (World Bank, 2005) and 2.8% per year (GoL, 2005), one of the highest in southeast Asia, the population of the Lao PDR is expected to double by 2024. The country has a total land area of 236,800 km2, stretching more than 1700 km from north to south, 100–400 km east to west, at the centre of the GMS. Bordering China and Myanmar in the north, it sits between Thailand (on the other side of the Mekong River) in the west, Myanmar in the northwest and Viet Nam in the east. More than two-thirds of the country (70%) is mountainous, with 47% forest cover (see Map 1.2).

The population of the Lao PDR is 85% Buddhist and 15% Animist, 23% urban and 77% rural. As in Cambodia, Myanmar and Viet Nam, poverty in this country is mainly regional, rural and ethnic related, raising issues of equity and justice. Almost 70% of the total population and 90% of the ethnic minorities live in rural areas (eStandardsForum, 2008: 1). They are mainly subsistence farmers (83%) and poor (46%). Four major ethnic minority groups are found in the Lao PDR:

(a) The Lao Tai (formerly Lao Loum) occupy the lowland plains and the Mekong river valley and constitute 66.7% of the population. This group, which comprises the Lao, the Lue, the Phou Ta`y and the Tai, has historically enjoyed a dominant position in society in the Lao PDR.

(b) The Mon-Khmer (formerly Lao Theun), comprising about 20.6% of the population, occupy the lower mountain slopes and are thought to have been the first inhabitants of the Lao PDR. This group includes the Brao, the Katang, the Katu, the Khmou, the Lamet, the Loven, the Makong, the So and the Ta Oy.

(c) The H'Mông-lu Mien (formerly Lao Soung) occupy the higher mountain slopes and make up 8.4% of the population, include the Huoay, the H'Mông and the Yao.

(d) The Chine-Tibet (formerly Lao Soung) occupy the higher mountain slopes, constituting about 3.3% of the population. This group comprises the Akha, the Lahu and the Sila.

Together, these ethnic groups are said to make up 48% of the total population and live largely in rural areas. There are several other marginal ethnic minorities in the Lao PDR, also living in rural areas, as well as the Chinese, Vietnamese and other south Asians, concentrated in urban areas.

The number of...