University undergraduates’ attitudes on code-mixing and sex stereotypes

Mandarin Chinese is the high language in Taiwan; Taiwanese is the low. Taiwanese does not have the standardized written form. Many laymen even say that Taiwanese does not have the written form. English is the most widely learned foreign language in Taiwan, and Japanese is the second widely learned. Besides the fact that Japanese is the second widely learned foreign language, it was the 'national' language from 1895 to 1945 when Taiwan was under the control of Japan; therefore, the Taiwanese born before 1940 or so could speak either fluent Japanese or a little Japanese. In other words, people over 50 years old may be able to speak Japanese. In modern Taiwan, not only the mixing use of Mandarin and Taiwanese is very prevalent, but the mixing use of Mandarin and English and that of Mandarin and Japanese are also very popular. This phenomenon does not only exist in the educational domain (Liao 1992), but it also exists in the videotape shows made by the most profitable actor Zhu Ge-liang, who earns more than two million US dollars per year. Zhu's videotapes are mainly to entertain the working class in Taiwan. They are often shown on the deluxe tour bus; and intellectuals or university students often consider them as entertainment for the lower classes. It has been a tashion for the past two or three years that there is heavy code-mixing of Mandarin and Taiwanese, Mandarin and English, and sometimes, there is code-mixing of Mandarin and Japanese on TV programs depicting modern lif-e. On these programs, the major language used is still Mandarin. Recently on a TV program depicting modern life, we heard one actor say