English in China : language, identity and culture

Abstract

China's relations with the world have been an influential factor determining Chinese self-perceptions and how 'foreigners' and one of their languages, English, are perceived in the country. Between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries, China's defeats in wars, unequal treaties and humiliations by foreign countries (mainly from the West) destroyed China's self-image as a 'middle kingdom'. Exacerbated by the deteriorating relations with the West in the twentieth century, English became associated with "barbarians", "military aggressors", and "anti-Communists" (Adamson 2002). There is, and always has been, the fear of the spread of culture(s) associated with English which can lead to the weakening of Chinese identity. This fear was instrumental in the development of the 'ti-yong' principle: "Chinese learning for essence (ti), Western learning for utility (yong)" (" {u4E2D}{u4F53}{u897F}{u7528}") (Zhang 2001: 18), which prescribes the role of English as a tool separated from Chinese essence and, has been guiding China's English education policies. Since the late 1980s, there has been a massive progression of globalisation in China, characterised especially by the entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 and the hosting of the Beijing Olympics in 2008. The two events signify the most active participation of China in the global community in the last few decades following the 'reform and opening up' ('{u6539}{u9769}{u5F00}{u653E}') in the late 1970s. As a global language, the roles English plays in China's integration are significant. English is the principal language of trade partners, technicians, scientists and tourists, an essential tool for modernisation and a vehicle to ensure China's voices are heard. In China, a series of government{u00AC}initiated and bottom-up English campaigns have been embarked on and foreign v language education policies have also aimed to equip Chinese people with this essential modern skill. Despite the eagerness to integrate into the global community, globalisation has opened up China to the world and, in learning English, Chinese people are more exposed to western cultural values and beliefs. This, coupled with the absence of a clearly identifiable self-image, has presented challenges to the integrity of Chinese identity and the upholding of the 'ti-yong' principle. Chinese identity and culture has had to confront the influx of English and its associated culture(s). The present research stems from two issues of interest which are interrelated: the roles of English in today's China and what it means to 'be Chinese'. From an applied linguistic perspective, this research aims to investigate Chinese perceptions of 'Self in relation to other countries symbolising 'the Other' through English as a window. In particular, this thesis looks into what it means to 'be Chinese' from the official and popular perspectives using the 'ti-yong' principle as a reference point. To address the research aims, a case study was conducted. It investigates the Chinese government's views on English as reflected in a government newspaper, as well as popular opinions through questionnaires and interviews. Official discourses are identified and analysed using critical language analysis frameworks including the work of critical literary criticisms, in particular, that of Bakhtin, and Critical Discourse Analysis. The analysis is also inspired by Pennycook's critical approaches to global English. In investigating the popular discourses about English, Qmethodology was used to collect questionnaires and interviews data. This research focuses on the interviews as the primary data. In particular, the analysis of Chinese identity draws on post- VI structuralist approaches which take identity as ever-changing and multiple. This thesis consists of six chapters. Chapter One reviews and establishes the concept of 'being Chinese' and the ways Chinese perceive their country, identity and language which are important contextual information for the present study of Chinese identity. The Beijing Olympics are used as a window into modern China to provide the broader socio-cultural and political contexts of the study. To conclude the chapter, some keywords that are central to the understanding of Chinese perceptions of itself and the world are also explained. Chapter Two discusses the history of English in China from the eighteenth century onwards, the impacts of English on Chinese perceptions of its identity and how English learning has been linked to the identity challenges of China as a nation. Along the lines of how the 'ti-yong' principle has manifested in different periods, the official discourses about Chinese identity and the challenges English learning has presented are illustrated with reference to China's current policy directions and some existing literature. Chapter Two then discusses the theoretical framework adopted in the case study to analyse the impacts of English on Chinese identity as well as the research focus and aims that guide the present research. The case study ofthis thesis, including data collection methodology and analysis, is presented and discussed in Chapter Three to Chapter Five. Chapter Three introduces and discusses the data collected for the case study, the data collection methodology and approaches to data analysis. The chapter discusses the theoretical frameworks used including Bakhtin's literary theories, Critical Discourse Analysis and Q methodology. Chapter Four examines the data collected from the government newspaper, People 's Vll Daily, to uncover the official Chinese perceptions of English and 'being Chinese' in relation to the outside world. It discusses how Chinese agency is claimed in learning or using English and is related to Chinese discourse of globalisation. Chapter Four also demonstrates how Chinese cultural values and ideologies are manipulated to re{u00AC}accentuate the purposes of English and postulate the ideological construction of Chinese identity in the discourses about English. Chapter Five discusses the results of the interviews conducted during fieldwork in Beijing with university and high school students, teachers and parents. Within the framework of 'frame-shifting' of cross-cultural psychology, the interviews were set up to investigate the significance of Chinese identity for the participants. The chapter particularly focuses on the similarities and differences between the official and popular discourses. In comparing the two discourses, it also investigates the extent to which 'non-standard' language and identity ideologies exist and the ways in which English learning influences 'being Chinese' among the people. The findings reveal some issues around the upholding of the 'ti-yong' principle. Chapter Six discusses the manifestations of 'being Chinese' at the national, local and personal levels as reflected in the case study. It concludes the thesis with the implications of the case study for the status of the 'ti-yong' principle and a note on the potential areas for future research. Show more