What We Know about Chinese English: Status, Issues and Trends

Xu, Zhichang; Deterding, David; He, Deyuan

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-53110-6_1

Cited by 14 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Cook (2016: 188) argued that we should encourage our English learners to see themselves not “as failures always trying to be like native speakers” but “as successes, achieving things as L2 users that are out of the reach of monolinguals”. However, the findings from the present study as well as those from previous research (He, 2011; He and Zhang, 2010; Li, 2007; Xu et al, 2017) indicate that ELT in China still adopt native-speaker-based models – principally the US or UK – as the only pedagogic norms and assign more weight to lexico-grammatical correctness compared with fluency and appropriacy of communication in context. In a world where English is increasingly functioning as the global lingua franca, it is doubtful what good it would bring to unduly privilege the “native speaker” norms, when so-called native speakers are already outnumbered by bilingual users of English worldwide.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 47%

Glocalizing ELT Reform in China: A Perspective from the Use of English in the Workplace

2021

RELC Journal

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With the largest number of English learners in the world, the influence of the English language teaching (ELT) reform in China cannot be underestimated. This article explores the implications of the actual use of English in China’s workplace for ELT reform in the context of English as a lingua franca (ELF). On the basis of cross-validated data (questionnaire survey and focused interview) collected from 2495 participants, we argue that ELT reform in China should be geared towards using English communicatively in ELF settings –that is, firstly, ELT curriculum and pedagogies should focus more broadly on improving students’ communication skills instead of narrowly measuring whether they have successfully adhered to lexico-grammatical accuracy pertaining to Standard English norms. Secondly, the native-speaker-based pedagogical model of ELT in China should be enriched with judiciously selected indigenized variants as long as meaning is not adversely affected. Last but not least, for ELT reforms to bear fruit, it is absolutely crucial to ensure a steady supply of properly trained and resourceful ELT teachers.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 47%

Glocalizing ELT Reform in China: A Perspective from the Use of English in the Workplace

2021

RELC Journal

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“…In terms of Kachru's three concentric circles of English, China English in the Expanding Circle has the potentials to enrich, enliven, and revitalise World Englishes. It is in fact ‘a developing variety of English’ to be ‘more widely used in China’, and ‘nativized in different aspects of the Chinese society’ (Xu, Deterding & He, 2017: 12). After all, China English is not anti-English, nor is its development or expansion an out-of-control one from the Expanding Circle.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short fiction writing in English by Chinese university students: An integrated F-A-I-T-H approach

Sui¹

2019

English Today

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When delivering a speech at a meeting of the Writers’ Congress, Ernest Hemingway said as a fiction writer: A writer's problem does not change. He himself changes, but his problem remains the same. It is always how to write truly and having found what is true, to project it in such a way that it becomes part of the experience of the person who reads it. (1937) Does this statement still ring true today? If it does, what approach should and can be taken for Chinese university students to write ‘truly’ during their fiction writing workshops in English when they know what they try to accomplish is indeed something fictional or self-evidently ‘untrue’? What characterises the main thematic and stylistic elements of Chinese students’ short stories written in English as creative outcomes?

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“…That said, it needs to be pointed out that while there are undoubtedly clear hindrances to the adoption of ELF in China, these are not insurmountable as China is increasingly integrated into today's globalized world and developing a willingness to accept a pluricentric view of English which emphasizes linguistic and cultural diversity and highlights pragmatic sensitivity. As a matter of fact, recent studies have demonstrated that Chinese people are beginning to show more tolerance towards expressions and accents that deviate from native norms both among teachers and students in the educational context (Wu, 2014; Xu et al, 2017) and the general public in the popular discourse (Wang & Fang, 2019). In addition, these non-standard forms are found to be adopted due to mother tongue transfer, facilitation of communication or exploitation of language resources (Ji, 2016), which lends support to the argument that ELF needs to be understood as an adaptable and creative use of language in its own right, and not as a deviant or erroneous version of native speaker English (Seidlhofer, 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It also strongly relates to the Chinglish stigma traditionally attached to China English, which results not necessarily from its inability to serve communication needs of speakers, but from its ‘lack of recognition as symbolic capital for negotiating upward mobility’ (Wang & Fang, 2019: 8). Although some Chinese students have become more accepting of Chinese English than ever before (Xu, He & Deterding, 2017) and see themselves as primarily ‘language users’ in the presence of other non-native speakers of English as a result of their gradual developing the ideology of English as a tool, they tend to perceive themselves as ‘language learners’ in ELF communication contexts involving native speakers of English (Sung, 2017). Apparently, the ideology of nativeness is still deeply entrenched in the mind of many a Chinese learner.…”

Section: Language Ideologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Teaching English as a lingua franca in China

Xia¹,

Liu²

2021

English Today

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The last decade has witnessed a significant increase of research on English as a lingua franca (ELF) as today's world becomes progressively more globalized (Lei & Liu, 2018). However, studies on ELF in the Chinese contexts remain sparse although linguistic research in China has kept pace with the development of international linguistic academia. Moreover, many researchers studying ELF-informed teaching in China are either non-Chinese scholars or researchers working in countries other than China (Si, 2019). In other words, this newly emerged field of research has not yet been widely embraced by Chinese scholars, nor its paradigm has been promoted in English education while traditional native-English-based teaching has been challenged and initiatives have been taken to promote English education within the ELF paradigm in many countries in the expanding circle (see e.g., Sifakis & Tsantila, 2019). In this paper, we address the issue through identifying various hindrances to teaching ELF in Chinese classroom and analyzing the factors leading to the difficulties and problems with implementing the ELF-informed teaching in Chinese context. Following this, we explore the prospects for taking advantage of the pedagogical value of ELF research in the foreseeable future.

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What We Know about Chinese English: Status, Issues and Trends

Cited by 14 publications

References 17 publications

Glocalizing ELT Reform in China: A Perspective from the Use of English in the Workplace

Glocalizing ELT Reform in China: A Perspective from the Use of English in the Workplace

Short fiction writing in English by Chinese university students: An integrated F-A-I-T-H approach

Teaching English as a lingua franca in China

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