ABSTRACT
The chapter focuses on the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (IMAR), an area that is undergoing transformation from a largely pastoral, nomadic lifestyle to one that is increasingly urban, from a society dominated by ethnic Mongolians to one with a rapid influx of majority Han and other groups. The chapter starts by introducing the IMAR and the functions of English in the region. It then looks at models of trilingual education that have been implemented and provides studies of two schools to show what is happening at the grassroots level. The pressure on primary and secondary schools in IMAR to offer trilingual education has met a mixed response. In the two schools highlighted in this chapter, some efforts are being made to attain genuine additive trilingualism, albeit with a clear hierarchy that places Chinese at the top and English in second place once primary schooling moves towards the interface with secondary schooling.
