Implications For China English

By Author: Stephen Covey
Total Articles: 74
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This paper has presented an initial study on the attitudinal stances of the Chinese government and overseas Chinese students towards English, including how they perceived 'standard' English and China English. The institutional and learners' support given for 'standard' American English might present challenges to the integration of China English into the English curriculum in China and its widespread use; and as we can see, the ascribed role of English as a universal skill, which seems to bear no difference to computer literacy, driving and other so-called 'modern skills', can explain the preference for 'standard' American English.

In the advocacy of China English of some Replica Cartier scholars, two issues stand out. One relates to the concept and definitions of China English, and the other to the notions of 'native speaker' and 'standard language' within the localised context of China. Mandarin Chinese, the 'standard' language of China, is not a native language of many Chinese. Despite tremendous governmental effort towards promoting Mandarin ...
... as the lingua franca across the country since the mid-nineteenth century, Mandarin is still not yet widely spoken in many dialect areas (Li, 2006). As one of the interview participants who was originally from Fujian indicated, 'I can't say I speak [Mandarin] Chinese very well and know well about Chinese culture. I am still learning' (Female, 24, 5 months).

This comment somewhat illustrates that the native-speaker status of Mandarin Chinese (or 'Putonghua') in China is still a fundamental Breitling Replica Watches question. Although some norms and patterns of China English have been identified in the literature (e.g. X. Hu, 2004), which characteristics of Chinese culture, vocabulary, sentences and discourse might most appropriately be seen as contributing to the variety of China English is an issue for careful consideration. The growing status of Mandarin in recent years is associated with the rise of China as a world power. Mandarin Chinese is being learnt as a foreign language by increasing numbers of learners and, with the help of the Chinese government, Confucius Institutes have been set up in many countries around the world including the US, UK, Australia and Asia. X. Hu (2004) maintains that China English is more useful than other varieties for business and cultural exchange with China. However, the growing global status of Mandarin may counteract the need for China English in the international.