English in China: some thoughts after the Beijing Olympics

Abstract

Institutional and learners' discourses about English and the implications for ‘China English’. China's politics and international relations with Western powers have historically determined the role and status of the English language in China (Adamson, 2004). Following the country's Open Door Policy in the 1970s, the entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Beijing Olympics, English, once considered a barbaric language, has been enjoying unprecedented popularity. The seven years leading up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics saw a series of foreign language campaigns in different sectors of Chinese society. The Beijing Olympics provided China with an opportunity to improve its world position and to ‘reclaim’ – and show the world – its glorious past. Since 2001, when China won the bid to host the Olympics in 2008, English learning campaigns have promoted both so-called ‘standard’ and ‘authentic’ English. The purpose of these campaigns was not only to ensure a successful Olympics, but also to equip the people with a tool essential for modernising and integrating China into the global community.

‘A more inclusive mind towards the world’: English language teaching and study abroad in China from intercultural citizenship and English as a lingua franca perspectives

“…English has made remarkable gains in status during the last few decades particularly after the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, 2010 Shanghai Expo and Guangzhou Asian Games and the English teaching industry is booming (Fong, 2009). English is taught from kindergarten, to primary school, to secondary school, and as a compulsory subject in Chinese higher education to both English and non-English majors.…”

“…Chang, 2006), others have been more critical. As a country that highly values Confucianism and first language literacy (Deng, 2011(Deng, , 2014Fong, 2009), the popularity of English learning in China has generated 'identity anxiety among Chinese involved in learning English' (Gao, 2009: 57-58). Therefore, the notion of zhongxue weiti, xixue weiyong (中学为体，西学为用：Chinese learning for essence (ti); Western learning for utility (yong)) is applied in English learning (Gao, 2009;Gil & Adamson, 2011).…”

‘Mind your Local Accent’ Does accent training resonate to college students’ English use?

“…Previous research is based simply on the traditional research framework of second language acquisition (SLA), which prioritises the concept of native standard ideology. In this sense, some argue the importance of abandoning a CE accent and the necessity to improve Chinese learners' English accents so they will sound more native-like (Fong 2009;Huang 2010). Some researchers have also researched the CE accent from the perspective of WE.…”

English‐medium instruction at a university in Macau: Policy and realities

“…Generally, research on the use of English at Chinese universities have remained focused on attitudes of Chinese learners towards various English varieties (e.g. Kirkpatrick and Xu ; Gao et al ; Hu ; ; Young ; Fong ; He and Li ; Evans ), and this study aims to provide what appears to be much needed sociolinguistic data on the actual use of English at Chinese universities (Bolton , Bolton and Graddol )…”