Abstract—As a cross-discipline between linguistics and
economics, the Economics of Language has been widely
discussed by scholars both at home and abroad in recent years
as economic globalization advances. Among them, English, as
the most widely spoken language in the world, is involved in
many economic activities of human beings. The location
disadvantage of inland minority regions makes their average
English education level low. Therefore, this study analyzes the
costs and benefits of individual English education investment
based on the Economics of Language and human capital
investment theory, using questionnaire survey method and
cost-benefit analysis method in economics, and taking English
majors of Yanbian minority as the research object.
The results of the study show that the benefits of personal
investment in foreign language education of English majors in
Yanbian minority areas outweigh the costs, and it is also an
effective economic investment behavior. The results of this
study can also provide an empirical basis for the formulation of
policies on English education and economic development in
ethnic minority regions. And to a certain extent, they can
contribute to the economic development of ethnic minority
regions, promote foreign communication and provide some help
for regional language policies.
Index Terms—Economics of language, ethnic minorities,
cost-benefit analysis, human capital
Huiling Li is with Northwestern Polytechnical University, Shaanxi,
China. E-mail: lihuiling123@mail.nwpu.edu.cn
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Cite: Huiling Li, "A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Individual Investment in English Language Education for Ethnic Minorities in Yanbian," International Journal of Languages, Literature and Linguistics vol. 9, no. 5, pp. 356-360, 2023.