Mediatized Taiwan Mandarin

Abstract

This study examines the changing perceptions of Taiwan Mandarin (TM) among Chinese mainlanders and how televised media contribute to the formation of language ideology. This study shows that televised media play a role in reinforcing the socio-semiotic link between ideologies and linguistic practice. TM is traditionally associated with chic, urban television celebrities and young cosmopolitan types. However, the results of an online survey measuring language attitudes towards televised TM among young mainlanders indicate that the social prestige of TM may be waning for this demographic. TM is now perceived by many millennials on the mainland as gentle, pretentious and emasculated. The changing attitude among millennials on the Chinese mainland towards TM can be ascribed in part to (1) social and economic changes on the mainland and (2) the way TM is stylized in televised media.