“What a standard Taiwan Mandarin accent”: Online metalinguistic commentary on linguistic performances of non-native Chinese speakers

Abstract

This study explores metadiscourse about Chinese language varieties used by two non-native Chinese speakers on Bilibili through the lens of citizen sociolinguistics. Drawing on a meaning-based content analysis, we analyze danmu comments by Chinese internet users in response to a video featuring the non-native speakers’ linguistic performances. The findings reveal that Chinese mainlanders express favorable attitudes towards the non-native speaker who demonstrated proficiency in Taiwan Mandarin, while expressing prejudices against the non-native speaker whose accent presented comprehension challenges. The native Chinese speakers also experienced linguistic insecurity when confronted with non-native speech. These findings are interpreted in terms of linguistic ownership, orders of indexicality, and linguistic discrimination, highlighting the relationship between language use and social values in a digitally mediated environment in Mainland China.