Linguistic Challenges and Enhancement Strategies for Rural Elderly: An Empirical In­vestigation in Cantonese-Speaking Villages

Journal of Language Situation and Language Service

JLSLS, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2025, pp.45-60.

Print ISSN: 3078-3755; Online ISSN: 3104-5065

Journal homepage: https://www.lslsjournal.com

DOI：Https://doi.org/10.64058/JLSLS.25.1.05

农村老年人语言生活的困窘与提升

——立足粤方言区几个农村的调研

罗咏琪（Luo Yongqi），黄玲玲（Huang Lingling），刘楚群（Liu Chuqun）

摘要：对粤方言区几个农村的调研显示，农村老年人的普通话使用率极低，普通话能力有限，学习普通话的意愿不强。农村老年人在普通话交际语境中有一些较为明显的问题，一是隔代交流较为困难，二是媒体娱乐受到限制，三是独自就医面临不便，四是经济活动中有阻碍。提升农村老年人语言生活品质，既需要开展有针对性的推普活动，又要保留必要的方言服务项目。

关键词：农村老年人；语言生活；语言调查

作者简介：罗咏琪，江西师范大学文学院硕士研究生，语言学及应用语言学专业，电邮：1624329146@qq.com。黄玲玲，江西师范大学文学院博士研究生，语言学及应用语言学专业，电邮：1054408765@qq.com。刘楚群，通讯作者，江西师范大学文学院教授，研究方向：现代汉语语法、社会语言学、国际中文教育，电邮：liuchuqun@sina.com。

Title: Linguistic Challenges and Enhancement Strategies for Rural Elderly: An Empirical In­vestigation in Cantonese-Speaking Villages

Abstract: A survey of several rural areas in the Cantonese-speaking region reveals that elderly villagers exhibit extremely low Mandarin proficiency, limited Mandarin competence, and min­imal motivation to learn Mandarin. The rural elderly encounter notable difficulties in Manda­rin-dominant communicative settings, including: (1) impediments in cross-generational inter­action, (2) constrained engagement with media and leisure content, (3) challenges in accessing medical services unassisted, and (4) hindrances in economic participation. To enhance the lin­guistic quality of life for rural elderly populations, it is essential to implement targeted Manda­rin promotion initiatives while preserving necessary dialect-based service provisions.

Keywords: elderly villagers; linguistic ecology; linguistic survey

Author Biography: Luo Yongqi, Master’s candidate in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, School of Chinese Language and Literature, Jiangxi Normal University. E-mail: 1624329146@qq.com. Huang Lingling, Doctoral student in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, School of Chinese Language and Literature, Jiangxi Normal University. E-mail: 1054408765@qq.com. Liu Chuqun, Corresponding Author, Professor, School of Chinese Language and Literature, Jiangxi Normal University. Research interests: Modern Chinese Grammar, Sociolinguistics, International Chinese Education. E-mail: liuchuqun@sina.com.

 Received: 15 May 2025 / Revised: 25 May 2025 / Accepted: 22 Jun 2025 / Published online: 30 Jun 2025 / Print published: 30 Jun 2025.