English in China: Language, Identity and Culture 0367430835, 9780367430832

Citation preview

English in China

This volume explores Chinese identity through the lens of both the Chinese and English languages. Until the twentieth century, English was a language associated with capitalists and “military aggressors” in China. However, the massive progression of globalisation in China since the 1980s has transformed the language into an important tool for China’s modernisation. Regardless of the role English plays in China, there has always been a fear there that the spread of culture(s) associated with English would lead to a weakening of the Chinese identity. This fear resulted in the development of the ti-yong principle: “Chinese learning for essence (ti), Western learning for utility ( yong)”. Fong’s book aims to enhance the understanding of the ti-yong dichotomy in relation to people’s sense of being Chinese in China, the penetration of English into non-English-speaking societies, the resultant tensions in people’s sense of personal and national identity, and their place in the world. Using Q methodology, the book presents observations based on data collected from four participant groups, namely high school and university students, teachers and parents in China, to investigate their perspectives on the status and role of English, as well as those of Chinese. Considering the growing international interest in China, this volume will appeal to readers interested in China’s contemporary society in general, its language, culture and identity. It will be a useful resource for academics, researchers and students in the field of applied linguistics, language education and Chinese cultural studies and can also be adopted as a reference book for undergraduate courses relating to language, identity and culture. Emily Tsz Yan Fong is currently an Honorary Lecturer at the School of ­Culture, History and Language at the Australian National University (ANU). She has ­previously taught linguistics and translation at the ANU and the University of Hong Kong. Her research interests span global Englishes, sociolinguistics, translation and Chinese studies.

Routledge Studies in World Englishes Series Editor: Ee Ling Low, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and President of Singapore Association of Applied Linguistics This Singapore Association for Applied Linguistics book series will provide a starting point for those who wish to know more about the aspects of the spread of English in the current globalized world. Each volume covers the following aspects of the study of World Englishes: issues and theoretical paradigms, feature-based studies (i.e. phonetics and phonology, syntax, lexis) and language in use (e.g. education, media, the law and other related disciplines). The Future of English in Asia Perspectives on Language and Literature Edited by Michael O'Sullivan, David Huddart and Carmen Lee English Pronunciation Models in a Globalized World Accent, Acceptability and Hong Kong English Andrew Sewell Attitudes to World Englishes Implications for Teaching English in South Korea Hyejeong Ahn Teaching English as an International Language Implementing, Reviewing and Re-envisioning World Englishes in Language Education Roby Marlina Negotiating Englishes and English-speaking Identities A Study of Youth Learning English in Italy Jacqueline Aiello World Englishes Rethinking Paradigms Edited by Ee Ling Low and Anne Pakir EIL Education for the Expanding Circle A Japanese Model Nobuyuki Hino Professional Development of English Language Teachers in Asia Lessons from Japan and Vietnam Edited by Kayoko Hashimoto and Van-Trao Nguyen The Politics of English in Hong Kong Attitudes, Identity and Use Jette G. Hansen Edwards Topicalization in Asian Englishes Forms, Functions and Frequencies of a Fronting Construction Sven Leuckert

English in China Language, Identity and Culture

Emily Tsz Yan Fong

First published 2021 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2021 Emily Tsz Yan Fong The right of Emily Tsz Yan Fong to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Fong, Emily Tsz Yan, author. Title: English in China : language, identity and culture / Emily Tsz Yan Fong. Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2021. | Series: Routledge studies in world Englishes | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2020047496 (print) | LCCN 2020047497 (ebook) | ISBN 9780367430832 (hardback) | ISBN 9781003001225 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: English language--China. | English language--Social aspects--China. | English language--Discourse analysis. | Discourse analysis--China. | Chinese--Ethnic identity. | English language-Globalization. | Language and culture--China. Classification: LCC PE3502.C54 F66 2021 (print) | LCC PE3502.C54 (ebook) | DDC 427/.951--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020047496 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020047497 ISBN: 978-0-367-43083-2 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-367-70663-0 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-00122-5 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by SPi Global, India

Dedicated to my parents, Lai Yin Eddie Fong (1950–2019) Lai Ying Chiu to my husband, Leo Lai and to the Fong family

Contents

List of Figures List of Tables Acknowledgements

ix x xi

Introduction

1

  1 China and “being Chinese”

3

  2 English in China: Education policies, changing roles and Chinese identity

18

  3 “English learning with Chinese characteristics” or “ti-yong dilemma”?

26

  4 Q methodology: A semi-quantitative approach to discourse analysis

49

  5 Q sort results: An overview of existing discourses about English and “being Chinese”

63

  6 Grounded theory, keywords approach and critical discourse analysis

90

 7 “When we see a foreigner in the streets, we are no longer too surprised as if we see a monster. It’s all commonplace now, they are like us as people”: Development of a Chinese plus global identity

101

viii  Contents

 8 “There used to be a thinking that all countries in the world were very hostile towards China, but after you understand more, it turns out that they are not that hostile”: “Multiple worlds” and “English-speaking self”

132

  9 Mandarin and the plurality of “being Chinese”

145

10 “Being Chinese” in the global world

157

162 Epilogue 169 References Index 183

Figures

4.1 6.1 E1 E2 and E3 E4 E5

Q sort table Diagrammatical representation of coding processes Zhongshan Lu (opposite the Bund) The Press (a café in the building of the former Shun Pao Daily Newspaper, established in 1872) An English luxury brand shop in an old European-style building An advertisement promoting reading as a habit, at a bus stop in a residential area

59 94 162 163 163 164

Tables

1.1 4.1 4.2 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16 5.17 5.18 5.19 5.20 5.21 6.1 6.2 10.1

China’s foreign contacts in different periods 4 Variance design for Q statements: Balance, clarity and comprehensiveness52 Q statements 53 Commonalities among discourses of university students 64 University students: Discourse A 65 University students: Discourse B 66 University students: Discourse C 67 University students: Discourse D 68 Commonalities among discourses of high school students 70 High school students: Discourse A 72 High school students: Discourse B 73 High school students: Discourse C 74 High school students: Discourse D 75 High school students: Discourse E 76 Commonalities among discourses of teachers 78 Teachers: Discourse A 79 Teachers: Discourse B 80 Teachers: Discourse C 81 Teachers: Discourse D 82 Commonalities among discourses of parents 83 Parents: Discourse A 84 Parents: Discourse B 85 Parents: Discourse C 86 Parents: Discourse D 87 Face-to-face interview questions 91 CDA devices and tools adopted in this research 100 Summary of official and popular discourses about ti-yong158

Acknowledgements

This work would have been impossible without the support and guidance of the many people whom I have been fortunate to meet and work with. My deep gratitude goes to Dr Chantal Crozet and Dr Geng Song. Their extensive knowledge of language learning and identity politics and the insightful comments they provided have been indispensable. I am also very much indebted to Professor Joseph Lo Bianco, who inspires me with his profound knowledge of sociolinguistics and language education. I have greatly benefited from his invaluable comments on the very early drafts of this work. I wish to express my gratitude to the reviewers for their constructive feedback on my work, and to my participants for taking part in the study and sharing their experiences. Parts of the introduction, and Chapters 2–4, 6–8 and 10 of this book have appeared in a chapter in Researching Chinese English: The State of the Art (2017). I thank the publisher, Springer, for allowing me to reproduce and adapt them in this book. I also thank Ms. Shanell Cheung, who has given me permission to reproduce her photographs. I am deeply indebted to my parents and the Fong family, who have offered me their unreserved love, support and encouragement over the years. Last but not least, my ultimate thanks go to my husband, Leo. I thank him for his endless support and patience at every stage of the life journey over the last 20 years. I look forward to our parenthood journey together.

Introduction

China’s relations with the world have been influential in determining Chinese self-perceptions and attitudes towards “foreigners” and one of their languages, English. Between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries, China’s defeats in war, unequal treaties and humiliations by foreign countries (mainly in the West) destroyed China’s self-image as a “middle kingdom”. English became associated with “barbarians”, “military aggressors” and “anti-Communists” (Adamson 2002:231). There has always been a fear of the spread of the culture(s) associated with English, which can lead to a weakening of the Chinese identity. This fear was instrumental in the development of the ti-yong principle: “Chinese learning for essence (ti), Western learning for utility (yong)” (中体西用) (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 (改革开放) in the late 1970s. As a global language, English plays a significant role in China’s integration. It is the principal language of business, science and technology, a tool for modernisation and a vehicle to ensure China’s voices are heard. To equip Chinese people with this essential modern skill, a series of English campaigns have been initiated, both from the top down and the bottom up, and foreign language education policies have also been introduced. In the quest for a national image presented both within China and to the world, learning English has exposed Chinese people to Western cultural values and beliefs. This, coupled with the absence of a clearly identifiable self-image, has contested the integrity of Chinese identity and the upholding of the ti-yong principle. The Chinese identity and culture has had to confront the influx of English and its associated culture(s). This book 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 linguistics perspective, it aims to investigate Chinese perceptions of the “self” in relation to other countries, symbolising the Other through English as a window. In particular, it looks into what it means to “be Chinese”, using the ti-yong

2  Introduction principle as a reference point. To address these research aims, a case study was conducted through questionnaires and interviews with high school and university students, teachers and parents in Beijing in late 2009, a month after the Beijing Olympics and during the nation’s celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. The data were collected using Q methodology and analysed within critical language analysis frameworks and post-structuralist approaches to language and identity. This book comprises two parts. Part 1, from Chapters 1 to 3, presents important contextual information for the present study of English and Chinese identity. Chapter 1 reviews and establishes the concept of “being Chinese” through examining Chinese perspectives on its international relations and its language and culture. It also demonstrates how these Chinese “elements” are promoted, both within and outside the nation, to portray a strong unified Chinese identity. The Beijing Olympics are used as a window into modern China, to provide the broader sociocultural and political contexts of the study. Chapter 2 discusses the history of English in China and how English study has been linked to the identity challenges of China as a nation between the eighteenth and early twenty-first centuries along the lines of the ti-yong principle. Chapter 3 focuses on the official views of the roles of English and the influences of the unprecedented “English fever” in today’s China, thereby highlighting the identity tensions English brings. The chapter then ends with a discussion on the theoretical frameworks adopted in this book to analyse the global spread of English and Chinese identity. Chapters 4 to 10 form Part 2 of this book. They present the main research study, findings and discussion. Chapter 4 introduces the data and the semi-quantitative approach to discourse analysis called Q methodology, which consists of two phases: questionnaires and interviews. I then discuss the results of Phase One questionnaires in Chapter 5, to reveal the diverse popular discourses that exist about English, as well as the similarities and differences among the four participant groups. Following Chapter 6, which presents the analytical approaches for the Phase Two interviews, Chapters 7 to 9 analyse the interview data, focusing on how English learning influences “being Chinese” among the participants and gives rise to and brings out the different dimensions of Chinese identity. Chapter 10 compares the official and popular discourses about English and Chinese identity and examines the manifestations of “being Chinese” in the global world, highlighting the issues around the upholding of the ti-yong principle. October 2019 marked the seventieth birthday of the People’s Republic of China. I visited Shanghai to conduct a study with university students on similar topics. To end this book, the epilogue briefly reports the findings of this study, with a note to conclude the development of English in China and Chinese in the world today.

1 China and “being Chinese”

It is necessary to understand historical experiences of China to make sense of the country’s international relations and current development, of which the popularisation and domestication of English alongside the national language, Mandarin (also known as Putonghua), is a part. China once regarded itself as the “middle kingdom”, meaning the centre of the world. Before contact with Western nations, it perceived of them as backward and “barbarians” (Gelber 2007:33). It is generally agreed that during the past two hundred years, there have been two periods of intensive confrontation and self-isolation, in terms of China’s relations with the West.1 One was the period around and after the Opium Wars (and also the Boxer Rebellion of 1900), and the other was the first 30 years of Communist rule, before the reform and opening up (改革开放) in the late 1970s. From 1860 on, following the end of the Opium Wars, which first exposed the military weaknesses of China, Western powers, such as Britain and France, coveted the rich resources China could provide in the era of the Industrial Revolution (Gelber 2007). During the nineteenth century, China underwent a series of wars with the West, which resulted in a long period of hostility between them. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the military, economic and political strength of the United Kingdom and United States grew tremendously. China began to follow in their footsteps. Since the reform and opening up commenced in the late 1970s and intensified in the late 1980s, China has been opening up to the world, and modernisation has become the direction for national development. While for some Chinese people, the English language has had a long history of humiliating and unpleasant associations because of the positioning of the West as an enemy of China, English provides the major medium for the information and knowledge indispensable to modernisation. With China’s economic growth and increasing involvement in international affairs, English language learning has become unprecedentedly widespread and welcome, especially since China’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 and hosting of the Beijing Olympics in 2008. While modernising the country in order to renegotiate its place in the world (Rofel 2007), China also strives to preserve and promote to the world its own characteristics. To achieve this, the Chinese people need to look back and reflect on themselves, in search of their identifiable and distinctive national characteristics. Research and discussions in the field of China studies are addressing what constitutes these

4  China and “being Chinese” characteristics of being Chinese. In the current economic, political and cultural atmosphere, China studies scholars (for example, Barmé, 2010a, b; Mitter 2017; Zheng 2014) have shown that China relies on both the past and the modern era to establish its world status and identity. Throughout Chinese history, contact with foreign countries has played an important role in China’s transformation into its current being. The spread of English, and the question of what Chinese identity means in today’s China, cannot be considered independently of these contacts. China’s relations with foreign countries and its search for a national image thus underlie the mindset that guides the present research, as examined further in this chapter.

1.1 “Being Chinese”: Chinese perspectives on relations with the “world” Based on Gelber (2007), Table 1.1 highlights China’s foreign contacts in different periods of Chinese history. China has a diverse history of links with the world, especially with the West. This history has been characterised by self-imposed isolation, mutual learning and foreign interference. All along, China has relied on the categorisations of

Table 1.1  China’s foreign contacts in different periods Dynasty/Year

China’s contacts and cultural exchanges with the outside world

Isolationist period 1100–206 BC

• Creation of “middle kingdom”: “developed from an aggregation of tribes into a single people” (Gelber 2007:21) • Trade and cultural contacts with Greece, Rome and Indian Buddhism through the Silk Road • Contacts with the Eastern Roman Empire, Venetians, Near East and Central Asia (for example, Arabia and Persia) • Contacts with India, Korea and Japan • Continued cultural contacts with India, Korea and Japan • Zheng He’s expeditions • Cultural contacts with Christianity • Importation of Western knowledge, such as science and mathematics, and exportation of Confucianism by Western missionaries • Conflicts with the Russian Empire

Qin, Han, Jin and Sui dynasties 206 BC–581 AD Tang and Song dynasties 581–1276 AD Song and Yuan dynasties 1210–1368 AD Ming dynasty 1368–1644 AD

Qing dynasty 1644–1727 AD Qing dynasty 1719–1816 AD Qing dynasty 1816–1860 AD

• European missionaries and trade • Trade conflicts with European powers • Opium Wars • Beginning of unequal status between China and the West

China and “being Chinese”  5 “self” and “other” to create its ideal self-image. The old Chinese saying: “非我族 类 其心必异” (literal translation: “those who are not our kin surely have a different heart”), which first appeared in the Chinese narrative history (Zuo Zhuan) around mid-400 BC, has applied not only to issues regarding the internal stability of China, but also to comparisons between China and the outside world (Zhang 2001). This ideal image was formed by comparing the “psychologically salient” differences between itself and the world (Tajfel 1978:66), including cultural beliefs and values. Before the mid-nineteenth century, the world outside of its borders was perceived by China as barbaric. The Silk Road, extending from China to Rome, played a significant role in early economic and cultural communications between imperial China and other states. Indirect contacts with Rome and Greece during the Qin and Han periods might have been China’s first interchanges with Europe (Gelber 2007). The Silk Road and sea travel enabled the exchange of goods, including Chinese silks, ceramics, weapons and furs, and Roman glass, textiles, iron goods and gold (Zhang 2012). Around 300 BC, China also traded with Greek merchant groups in Bactria (now Afghanistan) (Gelber 2007). Along with cultural artifacts, Chinese envoys to Rome brought back new information and knowledge. Through the Silk Road, the four inventions of ancient China – paper, the compass, gunpowder and printing – spread to Western Asia and Europe. During the Tang dynasty, the Eastern Roman Empire dispatched Christian missionaries and monks to China. Despite a prohibition on Western religion, Christianity wielded some influence in western China. As Gelber (2007) states, most of the Tang and Song emperors were open to foreigners. Some people from Japan, Korea and the Middle East, and communities such as Nestorians, Arabs and Persians, were allowed to do business in China. Under the Mongol rulers in the Yuan period, Italian and Islamic merchants, such as the Polo family from Venice, lived in China. As a favourite of Mongol emperor Khan, Marco Polo was made a governor in China. On his return to Europe, the book he wrote about his travels provided Europeans with information about China2 (Gelber 2007). During the Tang and Song dynasties, China had more cultural contacts with Asian countries. Chinese monks journeyed to India to bring back Buddhist texts. There were also exchanges of Indian medicine, music and dance, and Chinese paper and printing (Xu, Zhao & Wen 1981). Many Korean students travelled to China. The capital of Korea also replicated the Tang capital, Changan, and adopted its bureaucratic systems. During the Song period, Korea and China traded goods such as ginseng and herbal medicines. Japanese students and monks who went to China took Chinese government systems, and the land and tax policies of the Tang dynasty, back to Japan (Gelber 2007). During the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He made seven ocean voyages to Southeast Asia, taking with him articles from the official Ming dynasty and thus expanding Chinese contacts with other countries. The sixteenth-century Ming dynasty saw early contacts with Western priests and missionaries. The founder of the first Jesuit mission in China, Matteo Ricci, was the most prominent figure. He and other Jesuits preached to the Chinese people and emperor and promoted mutual learning (Li 2001; Gelber 2007). They transmitted Western knowledge of science,

6  China and “being Chinese” mathematics, technology and most significantly, knowledge of the other side of “the world”. Ricci amazed the Chinese by presenting a world map, declaring that “the world was round” and inhabited by men on its opposite side (Ricci 1953:325). In turn, foreign visitors to China learned from Confucian philosophy and set up oriental studies in Europe, with a subsequent impact on the European Renaissance (Li 2001). Therefore, it is said that Jesuits and other foreign missionaries led to the revival of Confucianism during the Ming-Qing period (Li 2001). Scholars such as Liang Qichao3 have claimed that Chinese translations and borrowings of the Western work brought in by Western Christians also greatly influenced the development of Chinese culture, contributing to what he called a “Chinese Renaissance” (Li 2001:117). During this long period of deep cultural contact, Latin was the main Western language studied in China. Through their early intercultural encounters, the Jesuits helped raise China’s awareness of the outside world and redefine what it meant to be Chinese. These unprecedented mutual learning relationships and cultural exchanges produced a general sense in China that there were sources of wisdom outside the country (Sen 2005). At the collective level, the encounter with otherness helped forge a Chinese sense of self. Following the overthrow of the Ming dynasty, the Manchus founded the Qing dynasty. The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries saw a series of internal conflicts among officials as well as external conflicts with Russia over land and resources. The Qing period marked a turning point in China’s contacts with the outside world. In the mid-nineteenth century, trade conflicts between China and the United Kingdom led to the First Opium War. Then in 1900, the killings of foreigners by the Boxers resulted in a conflict between China and the Eight-Nation Alliance, made up of the United Kingdom, the United States, Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia. A defeated China was forced to sign an unequal treaty. This was one of the significant humiliations by foreign powers that set the tone for China’s unfriendly relations with the world. Significant differences in social, cultural and political values have at times made China’s relations with the rest of the globe conflicted. China’s conflicts with the outside world, especially the Western powers, have exacerbated the intergroup differences between the two. Due to disparities in political orientation, China entered a second period of isolation from the late 1940s to the late 1970s, which were the first 30 years of communist rule. With the self-image of the middle kingdom destroyed, Chinese people need to seek “intergroup” or “intragroup” change, as the previous image with which they identified can no longer contribute to the positive aspects of being Chinese (Tajfel 1978, 1981; Turner 1982). In the 70 years since its establishment in 1949, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), in an attempt to seek these changes, has worked towards restoring the country’s internal social stability, economic prosperity and world status. According to a retired Chinese government official, Wu (2007:102), China’s foreign policy has emphasised “harmony with differences” as its key direction, ever since the early contacts with foreigners. The presentation of the “Great Harmony” concept to the world in the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics

China and “being Chinese”  7 stressed equality among peoples and countries, despite the existence of differences. As Chinese officials repeatedly emphasise the construction of a modernised country with a specific Chinese pattern, that is, “socialism with Chinese characteristics”, the differences between China and the rest of the world apparently remain psychologically salient. Modernisation, which has been a primary development direction for China since the late 1970s, is seemingly still perceived as equivalent to instilling Western knowledge and culture. What is termed “中 国特色现代化” (“modernisation with Chinese characteristics”) (Xin 2019) not only can be seen as a harmonisation of Chinese and Western differences, but also as a demonstration of China’s need for the West in reviving and defining its own contemporary place and identity. In informing the process of modernisation with Chinese characteristics, history has played an important role. Following Mao Zedong’s4 calls for abandoning and destroying old traditions and cultures, China literally became a cultural desert in the 1960s. In some cities, 95% to 100% of historic and cultural relics were lost forever. China is said to be retaining the spiritual presence of the past, which it constantly studies and utilises to construct and maintain its present (Ryckmans 2008). As Ryckmans (2008) puts it, “...the past which continues to animate Chinese life in so many striking, unexpected or subtle ways, seems to inhabit the people rather than the bricks and stones”. During his visit to the Road Toward Renewal exhibition at the National Museum of China in Beijing in November 2012, President Xi Jinping of the PRC examined exhibits on some major events in the nineteenth century, such as the First Opium War and the occupation of China’s territories by the West. He then made a speech about the goals to “realise the great renewal of the Chinese nation” and “complete the building of a moderately prosperous society” (Xinhua News Agency 2012). The idea of renewal and rejuvenation carries loads of baggage from the internal and social unrest of the last two centuries. In the political and international relations arena, Rana Mitter and his colleague (e.g. Mitter 2017; Mitter & Moore 2011) have famously illustrated how China’s past has shaped the behaviours of the country today, focusing on how the memory of war is mobilised to create and make sense of the present. For instance, while the Second World War was previously portrayed to the public as a “people’s war” led by the Chinese Communist Party against Japan, it was reinterpreted by China in the early twenty-first century as an international war, in which China played a role, together with global allies (Mitter 2017:268). How China prefers to be seen in international society today has led it to create a continuity of the past with the present (Mitter 2017; Mitter & Moore 2011). On a personal level, traditions and history also play a role in the construction of Chinese identity. Rofel’s (2007) study of young Chinese women’s cosmopolitanism and sense of self fits in well with the idea of the reinvention of the past in making sense of Chinese identity. According to Rofel (2007), cosmopolitanism is a site for China’s reimagination of its place in the world, where Chinese knowledge about the country is reconstructed and negotiated. For young Chinese women who are self-aware and reimagine the past as filled with constraint, sacrifice and deprivation, knowing about China embodies “cosmopolitanism with

8  China and “being Chinese” Chinese characteristics” (Rofel 2007:112) (a phrase reminiscent of modernisation with Chinese characteristics), and their Chinese identity, as Rofel (2007) illustrates, is influenced by the global culture of consumption, by which they imagine themselves to have become part of the world. This “cosmopolitan Chinese identity” (Rofel 2007:118) is characterised by “a wide range of aspirations, needs and longings” (Rofel 2007:3). For young women, their “cosmopolitan self” is defined by their desires for food, sex, fashion and language. They prefer Western restaurants, and fashionable clothing with English-language labels which symbolise global consumerism, and are also more open about discussing sex. These behaviours, which were previously deemed inappropriate in traditional Chinese culture, emerged from young women’s reinvention of China’s socialist past (Rofel 2007). Rofel’s (2007:112) study demonstrates that people in China “domesticate cosmopolitanism” by reinventing the past. Cultural encounters with the West have led young women, and by extension, a young generation, to reimagine their place in the world and their existence as global citizens. The 2008 Beijing Olympics presented a contemporary example of what constitutes modernisation with Chinese characteristics, or Chinese cosmopolitanism. By showcasing China’s gradual development and cultural quality (Collins 2008), the Beijing Olympics were tied to an important national Chinese historical narrative, presenting to the world the blending of ancient culture with images of a strong, confident and modern China. Like the other two previous Asian host nations, Japan and Korea, China made use of “the East–West dichotomy” (Collins 2008:185) in the bid to host the Olympics. It presented the coexistence of modern development with ancient cultural traditions, to demonstrate that modernisation does not equal Westernisation. A special edition of Renmin Ribao (People’s Daily) released after the opening ceremony included articles with headlines such as: “Let China be proud, Let the World be shocked” (“让中国骄傲 让世界 震撼”) (Chen & Li 2008), and “Let the World see the dream of Chinese people” (“让全世界看到中国人的梦想”) (Li & Chen 2008). The Olympics were said to belong to the Olympics, to the Chinese and to the people of the world. As Price (2008:5) writes, “the Games were a historical mandate, part of the country’s [China’s] birthright and part of what it was owed for its decades of decay and loss of face in the world”. In many ways, China “localised” the Games to make them a Chinese and yet globalised event. The Olympics were framed within Chinese culture, to demonstrate how Chinese culture and Olympic ideals shared commonalities. For instance, the volunteering spirit of the Olympics was related to the concept of charity in Taoism and Buddhism, and to Confucian ideas of “benevolence” and “loving others” and social obligations “to love people” (BOCOG 2007:19–20). Volunteerism was also further related to the practice of volunteering in communist China, as advocated by the “four generations” of leaders: Mao Zedong’s calls in 1963 to learn from comrade Lei Feng to serve the people; Deng Xiaoping’s creation in 1981 of a volunteer campaign to plant trees; Jiang Zemin’s 1997 encouragement of a young volunteers program; and Hu

China and “being Chinese”  9 Jintao’s 2005 approval of the program, College Graduates Voluntarily Serve the West,5 which aimed to facilitate economic and social development (BOCOG 2007:21–23). The choice of 2008/8/8 8.08pm as the starting date and time of the Beijing Olympics was influenced by the Chinese idea that the number eight is a lucky number denoting wealth (Brownell 2008). In line with the “harmony” doctrine of foreign policy, the Chinese organisers hoped that the Games would fully express the common aspiration of the Chinese people to seek peace, common development and common progress jointly with the peoples of the world (BOCOG 2007:80). The “One World, One Dream” theme6 was intended to project a benign and harmony-seeking China, emerging as a powerful yet positive global force (Haugen 2008:135), as well as to show China’s wish to become a member of the global community. As they had for previous host countries, the Olympic Games provided an occasion when China could “tell the world a story about itself” (Barmé 2009:64) and obtain the “seal of approval” and global acceptance, just as Japan and Korea had obtained at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 and the Seoul Olympics in 1988, respectively (Haugen 2008:46). As the Beijing Olympics showed, in seeking to be identified as a member of the world community sharing the same modern attributes, China also intended to showcase Chinese identity and culture. The manual for Beijing Olympics volunteers stated that the Beijing Olympic Games were a perfect occasion to fully display China’s “5,000-year history” and “resplendent” culture. China endeavoured to establish, consolidate and promote the “Chinese characteristics” identifiable to the outside world, and Confucian ideals and the Chinese language, Mandarin, are two of these “Chinese characteristics”. The Beijing Olympics were a “coming-out party” for China (Cull 2008:122) that celebrated China’s reengagement with the world and provided a chance to display a modernising China nearing its sixtieth birthday, as well as its history and culture. It is conceivable that China is simultaneously reconstructing the past, creating the present and projecting the future, with the discourse of modernisation with Chinese characteristics.

1.2 “Being Chinese”: Language and culture China is a linguistically heterogeneous country. An estimated 55 ethnic minority groups in China speak 130 languages (Zhou 2009), scattered in five autonomous regions and other provinces that cover more than half of the total area of the country. Among the Han Chinese, eight groups of dialects are spoken. Although only about 5.6% of China’s population speaks minority languages, this population still numbers about 60 million (Feng 2005). Despite this diversity, the country is always presented to the world as a homogenous nation, which has concealed the diversity within China (Wasserstrom 2010). As Ager (2005) illustrates, language policies are about cultural preferences and are informed by the planners’ self-­ image and how they want others to see them. In this regard, Confucian ideals and standard Mandarin are promoted to construct and maintain the positive internal and external image of being Chinese as one and not multifaceted.

10  China and “being Chinese” 1.2.1 National unity (within China) Internal and external cultural and identity tensions have hindered the peaceful development of self-image among Chinese. China’s territories were divided up and controlled by warlords in the early twentieth century, and the 1930s and 1940s also saw threats and attacks from outside nations, such as Japan. During the Cultural Revolution in the late 1960s, Mao called for the abolition of old traditions, cultures, ideas and habits (“Destroy the ‘Four Olds’”) (Orton 2009a:271), criticised Confucian ideals and advocated the adoption of a new culture. In a society that emphasised the supremacy of family, traditional ideas including filial piety were denounced, and children were encouraged to rebel against their parents and elders (Yue & Wakeman 1985; Zhang & Schwartz 1997), who were blamed for the failure of modernity. In order to participate in the global community with a clearly identifiable Chinese character, there have been emphases on a return to Confucianism to fill the modern “moral vacuum” of China (Bell 2008:9), as well as to counteract the influx of Western values brought about by modernisation. Courses on Confucianism are included in secondary and experimental schools and universities (Bell 2008). The national government has approved and funds the research conducted by the Confucius Foundation, founded in 1984 (China Confucius Foundation 2010). In some provinces, officials are assessed on the basis of Confucian values such as filial piety and family responsibility (Bell 2008). In the birthplace of Confucius, Qufu, in Shandong Province, the PRC Ministry of Education recently demanded that the provincial government include a “Confucius University” in its higher education development plan (Ministry of Education 2019a). As Bell (2008) demonstrates, the attachment to Confucian values has increased during China’s modernisation. At this time of sociocultural and political change, the intersection of an identity vacuum and capitalist ideas has essentially changed Chinese society and restructured China’s national character with some Western influences (Tu 1993). Confucianism introduces a “Chinese” dimension to the intersection. Since the mid-nineteenth century, both the government and the general public have made tremendous efforts to revitalise and modernise the country, and language reform has been taken to be a necessary precondition for modernisation and the unity of the country. In exploring “nation-ness”, Anderson (1991) demonstrates that a nation is an “imagined community”, because the members “will never know most of their fellow-members, meet them, or even hear of them, yet in the minds of each lives the image of their communion” (Anderson 1991:6). Mandarin, which is still under standardisation, is being promoted as the imaginary symbol of the Chinese whole. In so doing, China has to conduct what Ager (2005) calls “image planning” through language planning. Given the linguistic and ethnic diversity within China, image planning in China requires changing the status of Mandarin so that Chinese people accept it as a symbol of their national identity, before promoting it to the world. The promotion of Mandarin within China is achieved through the standard language ideology and the mother tongue ideology, which aim to guide Chinese people’s perceptions of the language.

China and “being Chinese”  11 Standard language ideology As is typical of other standard languages, Mandarin is a sociopolitical ideology and discursive construction (Milroy 2001). Since the mid-nineteenth century, the key language reforms in China have included the standardisation and promotion of Mandarin to deal with the many mutually unintelligible dialects spoken in different regions of the country (Chen 1999). Additional efforts have been made to standardise the phonology, lexicon and grammar of the language since 19557 (Chen 1999). Government institutions, the service sector, transportation systems, the military, mass media and schools at all levels have gradually shifted to Mandarin as the medium of communication and training. In 1982, the constitution of the PRC was revised to state that Mandarin was to be promoted across the country as the lingua franca and used in the media, government and all schools. In 1985, the National Working Committee on Language (国家语言文字工作委 员会) was established to ensure the implementation of national language policies and promote language standardisation. The committee, affiliated with the State Council of the PRC, is still the main body governing the language policy and standardisation of the country. As Wang and Yuan (2013) discuss, the last few decades have witnessed an attempt to remove dialects and popularise Mandarin across China. In the twenty-first century, Mandarin has been promoted as the official spoken language, in the interest of national cohesion. In 2000, the legitimacy of Han Chinese and Mandarin was further consolidated through the introduction of the Law on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language of the People’s Republic of China (中华人民共和国国家通用语言文字法), the first specific legislation on language in China (Ministry of Education 2000). It reiterates that a common language will protect national and ethnic integrity and in turn enhance identification with the country and nationality (Ministry of Education 2009). Education policy prescribes that schools must use standard Chinese in classrooms and meetings and as the primary or sole medium of instruction in all primary and secondary schools. Media presenters, teachers and government officials are required to reach the government’s proficiency standard (Ministry of Education 2006). In today’s China, social programs and activities promote and educate the public about the “correct” use of Mandarin. There are interprovincial events, such as poetry and language competitions, using “standard” language and standardised characters. There is an annual national Mandarin Week across the country. Through singing performances, Mandarin-speaking contests and classical readings, Mandarin is being widely promoted as the national language (CCTV China 2019). In celebration of the seventieth anniversary of the PRC, the 2019 theme of Mandarin Week was “Celebrating the 70th anniversary of the country in Mandarin, expressing the love for the country in standardised texts” (“普通话诵七十华 诞, 规范字书爱国情怀”) (Ministry of Education 2019d). Although the PRC established Mandarin as the national language back in 1912, the standardisation of the language in its written and spoken forms started in 1949, the year the PRC was founded. In December 2009, an exhibition entitled 60 Years of Chinese Language Development for New China (新中国语言文字工作

12  China and “being Chinese” 60 年成就展) was held in Beijing. Along with a series of performances and writing and speaking contests, through visual presentations and speeches, it exhibited the evolutionary processes of the language, and the government decisions and legal codifications made at different times, and introduced the different ethnic languages. The standardisation of the Chinese language is regarded as a form of the modernisation of language, which benefits the development of socialist culture (Ministry of Education 2010). With a view to achieving what President Xi Jinping called “脱贫攻坚” (literally translated as “fiercely alleviating poverty”), volunteer teachers are often recruited from major cities to teach Mandarin in villages and minority regions, in order to improve the quality of life (Ministry of Education 2019c). After almost 70 years of standardisation and promotion, more than 73% of China’s population can speak Mandarin, 68% know the pinyin system of Romanisation, and more than 95% of literates use standard Han characters (Ministry of Education 2018b, 2019e). By 2020, it is hoped that 80% of China’s population will be able to speak Mandarin (BBC 2017). The institutional and social acceptance of Mandarin has resulted in an ideology about standard language which overlays the ethnic and societal diversity within China. According to Dong and Blommaert (2009), monoglot ideologies such as the standard language ideology are often dominant in the public debate on language and identity, in policies and in media and expert discourses. This ideology appears to produce forms of habitus, and those who cannot live by the habitus stand out from the rest (Dong and Blommaert 2009). According to Bourdieu (1991:14), based on the distribution of resources or capital, a society consists of different “markets” or “fields,” which determine people’s interrelations. Bourdieu (1991) distinguishes between economic capital, symbolic capital and cultural capital. On his view, language has a symbolic power, due to sanctions by what he terms linguistic markets, which legislate the access to economic capital and symbolic capital. As a result, language can become a kind of “linguistic capital” and “habitus”, which influences people’s behaviour and generates practices, perceptions and attitudes (Bourdieu 1991:70). In China, discourses on homogeneity often revolve around the unquestioned status of Mandarin (Dong and Blommaert 2009). The standard language ideology in China can be seen as a habitus that guides language choice and perceptions of legitimacy. A standard language is considered to be the norm, a variety of great prestige and a benchmark against which other varieties are measured (Milroy 2001). The definition of “standard” assumes that languages are not uniform in nature but that speakers living in standard language cultures believe that their languages exist in standardised forms (Milroy 2001). Milroy refers to these beliefs in modern societies as “standard language ideology”. China clearly has what Milroy (2001:530) calls a “standard language culture”. Nativeness in Mandarin seems to correlate with the mainstream Chinese identity or “official culture” (Barmé 1999:20). “Standard” implies a “measure of achievement”, and therefore refers to the value judgement of a product (Milroy 2001:532). Educational norms, as well as standard languages, are symbolically acknowledged through government legislation and the institution of tests and language performance standards. Within China, the use of standard Mandarin in different professional fields, including

China and “being Chinese”  13 government, the media and education, is legitimising this variety as the standard (McArthur 1999). The standard language ideology is an institutional ideology unifying people who speak different dialects, for the good of the country. As the general public gradually orients towards the standard, the standard language sits comfortably as the norm expected to be used by all. Decades of language reforms and implementations in schools have legitimised and promoted standard Mandarin as a necessary and natural component of “the” Chinese identity. In the discussion of standard language ideology, a closely related language ideology that stands out in China is the ideology about “mother tongue”. Despite the highly linguistically and culturally diverse population within China, Mandarin is being promoted as the mother tongue of the Chinese people. Mother tongue ideology The mother tongue ideology also works to enhance national unity. In today’s China, there seems to be no consensus on what a mother tongue is. Many Chinese scholars (for example, those who study the impact of English learning on cultural identification and the Chinese language) present very blurry definitions of mother tongue. Some use the term to refer broadly to any variety of Chinese spoken by the Han people, be it Mandarin or a dialect. Although “mother tongue” is vaguely defined, it appears to be associated with the concept of the country as “mother”. Sun (1995) wrote about the “mother image” of China and how the Chinese people have lived in a society built upon a “mother–children” relationship, where the Communist Party, and by implication, the country, has been commonly referred to as the “mother” since the May Fourth Movement in the early twentieth century. During the Chinese Civil War in the late 1930s to the early 1940s, the love for the “country mother” was aroused among intellectuals who were imprisoned by the Chinese Nationalist Party known as Guomindang.8 In prison, these intellectuals and Party members wrote nostalgic poems and essays to their own biological mothers and the country. One well-known article, “可爱的中国” (“Lovely China”), was composed in 1935 by Communist leader 方志敏 (Fang Zhimin) (Sun 1995:197–200). Fang refers directly to China as the “mother” who gave birth to him and raised him; he praises this mother for providing an ideal geographical location and climate (referred to as the body and body temperature) and rich resources (referred to as the milk). Lei Feng was a worker taken as a role model and recognised and honoured as a people’s hero for devoting his life to Mao, the Communist Party and the country, as a soldier of the People’s Liberation Army. He is said to have composed the lyric, “Sing a song to the Party, the Party is my mother” (Sun 1995:12–13). Many of these writings are still found in propaganda disseminated to the Chinese public today. As Sun (1995) illustrates, the association of the country with the idea of a mother was also influenced by the Chinese concept of the nature of a biological mother and the tradition of filial piety. A mother is imagined as someone who cares for and makes sacrifices for her children and family, without asking for repayment (Sun 1995). Motherly virtues and love, which are perceived as solutions to problems, are emphasised in Chinese society and associated with the

14  China and “being Chinese” mother figure of China. According to Sun (1995:160), the calls for the abolition of Confucianism during the May Fourth Movement were in fact a call for the overthrow of “fatherly authority”, which controlled mothers and children. This explains the preference for “mother” over “father” in the choice of family figures associated with the country. The connection between filial piety and nationalism is illustrated by Fong (2004), who explores what she calls “filial nationalism” among Chinese teenagers born under the one child policy. She interestingly shows that fulfilling one’s duty to the nation is thought of as fulfilling one’s filial duty to one’s parents. Just as they have a duty to improve their parents’ living conditions by getting high-­ income work, teenagers perceive it as their responsibility to bring modernisation to their “motherland” to alleviate the country’s poverty and backwardness (Fong 2004:644). Their love of country is reminiscent of their love for their parents, and their sense of nationalism is premised upon the belief that “they could no more cease to be ‘people of China’ than they could cease to be their parents’ children” (Fong 2004:645). As instructed by school teachers, they also believe in the precept, “Study hard to repay the motherland” (Haohao xuexi, baoxiao zuguo) (Fong 2004:643). Fong’s study illustrates the connection in Chinese culture between family and country. The perception that China is a family is very likely rooted in the significance of family in Confucian ideals, where family (jia) is perceived as the basis of the state (guo). This is reflected in the doctrine, “Put the family in order and rule the state in peace” (Lin 2008:255). The well-being of family therefore has a direct positive impact on the state, and filial piety is regarded as the most important of all virtues (Lin 2008:263). Chinese people must be filial to their parents and family, in order to do good for the country. Even today, China is still presented to its citizens as a lovable mother. To celebrate the seventieth anniversary of the PRC, the Chinese national news and information website, People.cn, held an activity from July–October 2019, called ““我 对祖国母亲说句话”为祖国华诞献祝福活动” (People.cn 2019) (literal translation: My best wishes to the motherland mother – Celebration of the motherland’s birthday activity). It aimed to encourage people to stream their best wishes for the country live online, to produce a memorable gift for the “motherland mother”.9 As a requirement of the activity, people had to speak standard Mandarin. While a lot of people in fact do not speak Mandarin as their first language or the only language in China, the “motherland” ideology has made the motherland’s language, Mandarin, a language of inheritance. Standard language ideology and mother tongue ideology are the ideologies/habitus on which Chinese people live. The identity they are expected to develop is somehow implicated in these two language ideologies. It is also “the” identity they are expected to bear in encountering anything foreign, including English. 1.2.2 Promotion of Chinese identity (Outside China) The promotion of Mandarin and Confucianism both inside and outside mainland China is a means by which the Chinese whole and the centralised idea of

China and “being Chinese”  15 being Chinese are constructed. The idealised nativeness of speakers of Mandarin assumes a direct “one-nation-one-language-one-culture-one-self view” (Train 2002, March 9). Confucianism is considered an acceptable symbol that people identify with and respect, more so than Communism, which threatened the West in ways that contributed to the distance between the West and China.10 Nationalist political stances have aimed to use Confucianism as a way of (re-)introducing the assumed “essence” of Chinese identity, to make Confucianism an inspiring philosophical tradition for China and the rest of the world. Just as Germany and Italy have established the Goethe Institute and Dante Alighieri Society to project favourable images to the world (Ager 2001, 2005), Confucius Institutes have been established for a similar purpose. In 1987, The Office of Chinese Language Council International, known as Hanban, was established. It oversees and coordinates Chinese language-related activities such as cultural exchanges and tours and the establishment of Confucius Institutes, which symbolically lines up Chinese culture with Confucianism11 (Hanban 2020). The institutes are a very high priority for the PRC government, which provides financial support in the form of joint ventures.12 Confucius Institutes provide Chinese language teaching, develop and provide teaching resources, train Chinese language teachers, organise language and cultural exchange programs, and introduce Chinese language and culture to the general public. To assess the levels of Chinese proficiency of non-native speakers across the world, Hanban has also developed Chinese tests, such as the Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK), the Youth Learner Test (YCT) for primary and secondary school students and the Business Chinese Test (BCT), as well as the Certificate of International Chinese Teacher exam (Hanban 2019). As a form of image planning (Ager 2005), Confucius Institutes are intended to foster a sense of familiarity with Chinese language and culture. The spread of Chinese is a means to enhance the country’s national image on the world stage (Ministry of Education 2009). In 2007, then Chinese Premier Hu Jintao said at the 17th Communist Party Congress: “Culture has become a more and more important source of national cohesion and creativity and a factor of growing significance in the competition in overall national strength” (Dawson 2010). Since the first Confucius Institute was established in Korea in 2004, 541 Confucius Institutes and 1,170 Confucius Classrooms13 had been built in 162 countries and regions as of 31 July 2020 (Hanban 2020). By the end of 2018, there were 1,147 Chinese language examination centres set up in 137 countries (Hanban 2019). China’s goal has been to reinvigorate its national strength on the world stage by (re-)claiming its past, as one upon which a new glorious history of the new century can be built. The emphasis on showcasing traditional Chinese culture presents a starting point for an evaluation and inquiry into Chinese identity. As evidenced by political and social unrest and calls in the past for the abandonment of traditions, the desire to reclaim the glorious past and introduce Chinese culture to the world seems to be ambivalent. As Haugen (2008:146) states in concluding a study of Chinese discourses about the Beijing Olympics, Chinese leaders have attempted to fill the “ideological vacuum” in the post-Mao era by reviving the

16  China and “being Chinese” Chinese nationalist spirit. Chinese cultural identification is still an unresolved issue. Facing the existence of a moral and ideological vacuum, as well as modernisation and its associated ideas, languages and cultures, the direction of modernisation with Chinese characteristics illustrates that scholars need to be concerned about how the Chinese people are integrating this view of the past into the modern identity they are constructing. According to Fishman (1972), because the ethnocultural characteristics promoted of a group do not always reflect the reality of all the population, and the elements of the past on which the sense of “nation-ness” is built on are not readily available in the everyday life of the people, language is often used as a symbol of national identity and an instrument to promote the distinctiveness of the group. However, while Mandarin is promoted overseas as the identity and cultural marker of the Chinese people, it is still being learned and promoted by Chinese people themselves on the mainland. To both Chinese and non-Chinese, “Chinese identity” can seem imaginary.

Notes 1 For China, “the world” essentially means “the West”, and vice versa (Barmé 1999:258). 2 In Western countries, there are disputes about whether Marco Polo really went to China and whether his book is reliable. This remains a mystery. 3 Liang Qichao was a scholar who lived during the Qing Dynasty in the early twentieth century. He advocated for the modernisation of China through the adoption of Western technology and skills. 4 Mao Zedong was the first Chairman of the People’s Republic of China, who led China to become a socialist nation in the early 1950s. 5 Meaning the western part of China. 6 The two parallel “Ones” and “World” and “Dream” are meaningfully connected. The slogan in Chinese translates “one” into tong yi (same, one), highlighting the theme of “All the people belong to the same world; all the people seek the same dream” (BOCOG 2007:83). 7 This standard variety was first named Guoyu (“national language”). 8 Guomindang retreated to Taiwan after being defeated by the Communist Party in the Civil War. It is now one of the major political parties in the Republic of China, which is known as Taiwan. 9 This is the description of the activity: 通过此次全国线下直播活动, 能让更多的民众感受和认识到新中国成立70周年 中国的宏伟巨变, 通过直播来分享记录自己的爱国之情、青云之志, 并且通过直 播让人民群众亲身体会70周年的喜悦, 让更多的人参与到为祖国母亲70年华诞 的献礼活动中。(People.cn 2019). Through streaming live video online, people can record and share their love for the country and their dream to allow more people to experience and understand the enormous changes China has undergone on its 70th anniversary. This will allow people to share in the joy of the 70th anniversary and encourage them to participate in the celebration of the motherland mother’s 70th birthday. 10 Communism had dominated Chinese society at different times of Chinese history, such as during the Cold War in the 1940s and 1950s, and Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, resulting in the aforementioned second period of isolation and confrontation with the West.

China and “being Chinese”  17 11 The aims of a Confucius Institute, as set out on the website of Hanban (2020), are to adapt to the need for people around the world to learn the Chinese language, to enhance people’s understanding of the Chinese language and culture, to strengthen the cultural and educational exchanges between China and the world, to develop friendly relations between China and foreign countries, to promote multicultural development and to build a harmonious world. 12 The Confucius Institutes project is a part of the “汉语桥” 计划 (Chinese Bridge project), approved by the Chinese government in 2004 as the first systematic plan ever to promote Chinese language. The Chinese Bridge project includes other subprojects, such as a volunteer teacher project, joint publication by Chinese and overseas publishers of Chinese teaching materials, training programs for Chinese teachers overseas and Chinese Proficiency Test implementation (Xinhua News Agency 2005). 13 Confucius Classrooms are classes on Chinese language and culture developed and delivered within primary and secondary schools.

2 English in China Education policies, changing roles and Chinese identity

Since the nineteenth century, the principle known as ti-yong has guided the policy direction of China’s English education. While there has been a concern that learning Western knowledge weakens and contradicts Chinese culture, that knowledge has been perceived as essential to modernisation. Chinese politicians have therefore introduced the idea of “Chinese learning for essence (ti), Western learning for utility (yong)” (“中体西用”) (Lo Bianco 2009).1 According to the ti-yong principle, there is a difference between learning English and learning about its associated culture(s). The yong aspect of ti-yong dissociates English from its perceived associations with American and British cultures and prescribes the role of English “as instrumentally useful, temporary, connected to unaltered ­Chinese essences that would draw knowledge and skill from the learning but would endure, largely unchanged” (Lo Bianco 2009:42). Since the reform and opening up in the late 1970s, English language education in China has evolved tremendously to accommodate the more internationalising socio-economic landscape. At times, however, Chinese people’s enhanced exposure to foreign influences has redefined and sometimes challenged the ti-yong principle.

2.1 History of English in China From the eighteenth century onwards, the history of the status of English can be broadly classified into five periods, based on China’s changing self-perceptions in relation to the world: (1) self-isolated “middle kingdom”, (2) isolated kingdom, (3) internal cultural and identity crisis, (4) reform and opening up era, and (5) bilingual Chinese. 2.1.1 Self-isolated “middle kingdom”2 (eighteenth century–1940s): From English as a “barbarian’s” tongue to English for utility Before the nineteenth century, there was no desire within China for modernisation and alignment with the outside world, nor did those concepts even exist. China perceived itself as a self-sufficient “middle kingdom” and foreigners as “barbarians” (Adamson 2004:21), who spoke barbaric languages. Contacts with these outsiders were very minimal and confined to trade interactions. The government banned the teaching of Chinese to foreigners, to prevent their contact with

English in China  19 ordinary people. As a result, Chinese could only communicate with foreigners in pidgin English (Bolton 2003). The defeat in the First Opium War, in 1842, prompted an intention to modernise, recognising the technological advances of the West. Since foreign manuals and specialised booklets about machinery were published in English, it became an important language in China, just as it was in other parts of the world (Crystal 2003). In 1861, officials created the first foreign language school, called Tongwenguan, where English was one of the languages taught (Adamson 2002). Courses such as Chinese, mathematics and geography were later introduced to the college, to train interpreters and professionals in the scientific and military disciplines. The signing of unequal treaties after the Opium War with Great Britain forced China to open up, and the demands to deal with foreigners in business and trade increased. Due to the economic benefits English study brought about, Chinese students were eager to learn the language; English was also taught in schools established by missionaries (Adamson 2002, Bolton 2003). In 1902, Tongwenguan became Peking University, and many language schools were subsequently established in cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou and Nanjing. These schools offered translation courses in English, Russian, French, Japanese and other foreign languages. In the same year, the Qing dynasty introduced English into the high school curriculum (Adamson 2002). During the Republican era of the early twentieth century, English generally enjoyed a high status for military and diplomatic relations, as well as for science and technology. China was inclined to align with Western rather than Eastern powers to strengthen its international position (Adamson 2002) and to move towards a parallel and equal coexistence with the West. In 1922, China decided to adopt the education system of the United States. Although few people had access to schooling at that time, English consequently constituted an important part in China’s education system, and the popularity of English study grew. Realising that the US model was unsuitable for China, given the vast cultural differences between the countries, it was eventually relinquished (Adamson 2002). Coupled with the political and social instability created by the Sino-Japanese War from 1937–1945, this disrupted the education system. Schools taught whatever was available, at their own discretion, and English education was piecemeal before the 1940s. During this period, the aim of English education was clear: to gain access to science and technology and to strengthen China’s international diplomacy. Although the restricted access to English and disrupted English education did not seem to threaten the upholding of ti-yong, the image of ti was rather vague as a result of the damage done to the “middle kingdom” self-image by foreign invasion. 2.1.2 “Isolated” kingdom (1940s–1960s): Access to science and technology, and protection against the West As the West was seen as having more advanced science and technology, the goal of acquiring Western knowledge to protect China against the West became more explicit in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

20  English in China After 1949, when the Chinese civil war ended, the new People’s Republic of China (PRC) was isolated as a communist enemy by Western powers, ­English-speaking countries that included the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. This set the tone for the relations between the West and the new PRC in the early years (Adamson 2002). In the confrontation with Guomindang who had fled to Taiwan, mass campaigns were carried out to unite the people and to reinvigorate the nation and give it a stronger role in international affairs (Adamson 2004). United States support of Taiwan in the early PRC period caused anti-U.S. sentiment in the country, and as a result, learning English was considered unpatriotic (Adamson 2004; Tang 1983). As Sino-Soviet relations grew closer, Russian became the main foreign language taught in schools, and in 1954, it in fact became the only foreign language taught in secondary schools (Löfstedt 1980). Nevertheless, as English was still the main language providing access to science and technology, it was taught in tertiary institutes with the main purpose of training personnel to translate imported technical and scientific manuals (Ministry of Education 1950). Junior secondary schools with sufficient resources and teachers could teach either English or Russian (Tang 1983). When Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated as a result of the overthrow of Stalin in the 1950s, English gradually resumed its elevated status as a tool for modernisation (Adamson 2002). With the aim of training foreign language talents in various occupations, to build a modern “New China” (Tang 1983), in the early 1960s, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai introduced foreign language policies in major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. A very limited number of students were chosen to study in foreign language schools. Despite its improved status, English was perceived as a tool for science and technology only, and in this period, Chinese and Western ti were still in opposition. This appears to be in line with the ti-yong principle. However, as English study was restricted to selected students, it was associated only with these elites, for whom it might have become an identity marker to some extent. For this reason, Chinese ti was diverse and ambivalent. 2.1.3 Internal cultural and identity crisis (1960s–late 1970s): English as a “capitalist” language From 1966–1976, China underwent a period of political and social movement, known as the Cultural Revolution, that aimed to combat capitalist ideas, restore socialism and re-establish class struggle. When the movement first started, foreign language teaching was almost completely wiped out, and the masses were mobilised to carry out political campaigns in support of the Party. Educational organisations were either closed down or turned into “revolutionary headquarters” (Ji 2004:85), and intellectuals were assigned to manual labour (Adamson 2002). Because of the association of English with capitalism, English teachers were punished. Slogans such as “I am Chinese. Why do I need foreign languages?” and “Don’t learn ABC. Make revolution!” (Qun and Li 1991) spread across the country. The prevailing perception was that learning English was useless and that

English in China  21 to be a good Chinese meant to be a communist. Political identity was the most important consideration during that time. Mao started to realise that extreme socialism was “wrong” (Barmé 2010a) and in 1968, English courses resumed in schools. This sudden change was not without political purposes. As Ji (2004:97) concludes from her study of the English textbooks published during the Cultural Revolution Period, English language textbooks in China during the Cultural Revolution ensured that learning a foreign language was not going to open up a window onto another world or give students access to alternative ways of thinking. The goal was not to help the students communicate with foreigners but to keep them locked within Maoist discourse – a discourse which they were expected to reproduce, internalize and live by. Ji finds five common themes in these texts: “the bitter past of the labouring people”, “class struggle”, “reverence for workers, soldiers and especially poor and lower-middle peasants”, “Maoist thought of serving and caring for the people” and “the “universal appeal of Mao’s Thought” to ordinary people from other countries” (Ji 2004:88). Most of the vocabulary used in the books was not part of the everyday speech of native speakers of English but translations of the slogans of the Cultural Revolution. Before learning how to say “hello” or “goodbye”, students were taught such phrases as, “Chairman Mao leads us in the socialist revolution and socialist construction, and in the struggle against imperialism and revisionism” (Ji 2004:91). The teaching curriculum was strictly controlled and confined to the study of Mao’s works and Maoist newspaper editorials, and to political talks by workers and peasants (Ji 2004). English was a tool to promote Chinese political ideas and values. Coupled with the domestic and overseas political and social turmoil of previous decades, the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) further disrupted the modernisation of China by censoring all Western knowledge considered capitalistic, including knowledge of the English language. Chinese traditions were also denounced and destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. During the period of non-recognition by the West, the domestic condemnation of Western knowledge and the destruction of traditional values, Chinese identity lost its “spirit” and “cultural vitality” (Cha 2003:484). There was no foundation on which Chinese culture and identity (ti) could exist and be defined. Chinese identity was primarily political. 2.1.4 Chinese identity revisited (reform and opening up era, late 1970s–1990s): English is essential for modernisation After the 1972 visit of President Richard Nixon, the first time that a US president had visited China to start to build diplomatic ties, China’s relations with the West improved. English was again perceived as essential for international diplomacy. Although foreign language education started to surge again in 1976, English education was not delivered at a satisfactory level in most regions, due to a lack of qualified teachers and resources (Adamson 2002, 2004).

22  English in China In 1978, Deng Xiaoping introduced new economic reforms, including a reform and opening up policy which encouraged foreign investment in the PRC. Deng’s “four modernisations” stressed development in agriculture, industry, science and technology and defence. In 1983, he further introduced the doctrine known as the “Three Orientations”: “orient towards modernisation”, “orient towards the world” and “orient towards the future”. This doctrine guided (and continues to guide) China’s modernisation (Zhang and Bai 2018). It placed importance on the need to learn English, to acquire modern knowledge from the West in order to modernise the nation and for use in foreign diplomacy. Numerous language policies were introduced from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. These included the Proposals for Enhancing Foreign Language Education, in 1979, the Plan for University English Teacher Training, in 1980, and the College English Syllabus for Arts and Social Sciences Students, in 1985 and 1986 (Feng 2009). Foreign languages, including English, Russian, Japanese and French, were restored in all schools from 1979 on, and universities also developed foreign language curricula and recruited native speaker teachers (Adamson 2002). Language undergraduates had the chance to study overseas. The reform and opening up era increased the contact with English speakers, and the development of international trade and the tourism industry led to the creation of more English-speaking activities and materials. According to Ji (2004), since the late 1970s, foreign language teaching has become as important as mathematics and Chinese in the school curriculum. Foreign languages have no longer been taught as a political tool to promote the government’s ideas but, rather, as a tool for communication with foreigners. Political jargon has been eliminated and lessons featuring direct warfare against class enemies replaced by a wide variety of foreign stories, including the cultural heritage of the English-speaking world, and by items explaining basic science and technology and general knowledge (Ji 2004). Intercultural communication was emphasised in the curriculum in the 1980s. Despite a greater recognition of English, the Chinese government remained aware of the problems the high status of English could bring. Deng Xiaoping once publicly emphasised the need to resist corruption by a middle-class lifestyle and foreign ideas from abroad (Adamson 2002, 2004). While the ti of English was to some extent brought into English language education, the language was still intended to be a tool separate from the Chinese ti. In the 1980s, a draft English syllabus for primary and secondary schools was released stating that English could be learned during either the third or the seventh grade and should only be taught when the required conditions, such as having qualified teachers, were met. As a result, English was restricted to some key urban primary schools which met the criteria (Adamson 2002). In the late 1980s, because regions along the coast could provide better foreign language education in primary schools, a great disparity grew between coastal, developed areas and less developed regions. The most prominent policies during the 1980s were the two college English syllabi issued in 1985 and 1986. The CET4 (College English Test–Band 4) and at a higher level, the CET 6 (College English Test–Band 6) are perceived as key to personal and institutional success (Feng 2009). The 1990s

English in China  23 saw an English syllabus for the new secondary school curriculum, which set out the official role of foreign languages as an “important tool for making contact with other countries and…promoting the development of the national and world economy, science and culture” (Adamson 2002:240). In the public sector, the English books sold in bookstores were predominantly translations of works by Chinese authors, such as the poetry and thoughts of Mao, books on travel in China and children’s fiction. Translations of the works of Marx and Lenin were also available in English and several other languages. In the late twentieth century, key urban primary schools, as well as the coastal and developed areas, had more access to English resources compared to less developed inland regions. The former were thus differentiated and marked by English, as prestige capital. Ti in this sense was fabricated and diversified by the distinction. 2.1.5  Bilingual Chinese (late 1990s–early twenty-first century): English as medium of instruction The late twentieth century saw the global spread of English facilitated by the spread of American popular culture and the growth of communication systems and the Internet (Crystal 2001). The need for English to access information and to modernise further increased. In the late 1990s, the support for English classes in China did not come from the top down. Parents and the general public showed strong demand for English classes in primary schools (Wang 1999a), and an increasing number of primary schools initiated their own English programs. At the fourth national symposium on primary school English language teaching in 1998, it was agreed that guidelines or curriculum standards should be developed to regulate the teaching of English in primary schools (Wang 1999b). The public demand for English education in the lower grades was seen as a contributing factor to the rise of the language policy. In 1999, approximately 7 million out of 130 million primary school pupils were learning English in China (Hu 2007). Due to a lack of qualified teachers, appropriate teaching materials, a uniform policy and a national English syllabus, most countryside schools did not teach English. Together with political classes on topics such as Marxist principles, English has been part of China’s tertiary education reform since the start of the twenty-first century (Cargill 2006). Students are required to pass both subjects to graduate. In 2001, a guideline named Vigorously Promoting the Teaching of English in Primary Schools (translation by Hu 2007) was released, mandating that English be a compulsory subject in both urban and rural schools in the third grade. Prior to this, English had been introduced to the majority of students in the seventh grade. An official of China’s Ministry of Education stated that “the fact that English has become an important tool in international interactions as a result of globalization makes the knowledge of English a basic requirement that citizens of the 21st century should fulfil” (Hu 2007:361). In the Beijing Olympic bid, foreign language education was one of the five areas identified as needing improvement, along with pollution control and

24  English in China infrastructure. The Olympic Games raised the status of English to a new height. For example, from 2001 on, the Beijing Foreign Language Committee held annual English promotional activities, such as Foreign Language Week and the Beijing Foreign Language Festival. English learning materials, self-study courses, handbooks and manuals were provided for free to the public, police, restaurant staff and taxi drivers. To ensure the success of the Olympic Games in the short term and to strengthen and modernise the country in the long term, English-learning campaigns in China were initiated from both the top down and the bottom up. The acceleration of internationalisation has brought about efforts to introduce “composite” majors at the tertiary level, to train people in English skills plus the knowledge of specific fields (Gao 2009). The new tertiary curriculum thus aims to nurture all-around English majors. In 2001, guidelines were issued for ­English-as-the-medium in undergraduate teaching. They stipulate that 5% to 10% of tertiary undergraduate courses be conducted in English or another foreign language within three years (Feng 2009). As Chen (2002) points out, the guidelines contradicted the national language law promulgated in 2001. As the first official endorsement of this strong form of bilingual education, they violate Article 10 of the Law of the PRC on the use of language and script, which states that all educational institutions in China, excluding those of minority groups, must use Mandarin as the primary teaching language and adopt standard Chinese characters as the written form (Feng 2009). However, this violation did not receive any official response (Feng 2009) which signifies the importance attached to English by the Chinese authorities. As Feng (2005, 2009) illustrates, there are two parallel strands of bilingualism in China: (1) traditional bilingualism, directed at minority language speakers who are expected to know their mother tongues as well as standard Chinese (Mandarin); and (2) modern-day bilingualism–English and standard Chinese for the majority Han population. After many years of ambivalence about English education, China ultimately cannot avoid the growing importance of English. The reform and opening up era has opened the door to English education. Facilitated by globalisation, WTO membership and the 2008 Beijing Olympics, mainstream bilingualism has been promoted for the Han people in China. Teaching that uses both Chinese and English is believed to be an effective way to produce bilinguals among the Chinese public (Feng 2005). Bilingual nurseries, schools and universities are multiplying, and a large number of “experimental bilingual schools” use English as the medium of instruction for most subjects, including science, mathematics, music and art (Feng 2005:537). Early immersion programs and classes for ages 0–3 years old have also become a trend. Under these circumstances, English studies have become a business (Chan 2019; Lai 2001; Lam 2005). New Oriental and New Channel are two famous English teaching enterprises currently operating in China. In last two decades, parents have been much better off and thus able to invest in the best possible education for their children, as well as seeking extra English classes and tuition outside school. They can also afford to send their offspring to study abroad. The “bilingual Chinese” period demonstrates the strong demand for E ­ nglish from the people. However, this demand is not being met, due to a lack of resources

English in China  25 and a uniform syllabus in some regions, as well as individual financial circumstances. This unequal access to English education could potentially create group disparity and present challenges to the unified ti. As for the English yong, whether and how the spread of English learning has influenced its nature and the upholding of the ti-yong principle is the subject of this book.

Notes 1 It was first introduced by Feng Guifen (馮桂芬), a prominent politician during the Qing dynasty, who advocated for reforms. 2 In the seventeenth century, China considered itself as the centre of the world, given its limited knowledge about the “world” beyond its borders. “Middle kingdom” literally means “centre country” in Chinese.

3 “English learning with Chinese characteristics” or “ti-yong dilemma”?

With the increasing popularity of English, there are attempts to make the l­anguage relevant and accessible to the Chinese people by incorporating Chinese cultural discourses into the interpretation of the role of the language. The English language has taken on new meanings and status. “English for all” is encouraged, and many schools start English classes even in the first grade. Mainland Chinese have become the largest group of English learners in the world. The spread of the language in today’s China has made the discussion of whether English has truly become a language of the Chinese people or, instead, presented identity tensions an interesting topic.

3.1 “English learning with Chinese characteristics” The global spread of English led Graddol (2006:72) to predict that English would become a “basic skill”. In my earlier study of the official views of English (Fong 2009), English emerged as a universal modern skill in the twenty-first century. As the People’s Daily comments: 公务员的现代化，并不主要是“会电脑”、“会英语”、“会开车”等仅仅 局限于某些现代技能的掌握…公务员现代化的核心是思想意识、道德 观念、价值尺度、思维方式、行为方式、感情方式、社会责任感和创 新精神等综合素质的现代化 (Yang 2000). Civil servants do not only need to acquire modern skills such as computer literacy, English and driving skills, but moral beliefs and values, a sense of social responsibility and creativity should also be the core qualities of modernisation. 一位英语很好的女士，却没有找到合适的工作，田光哲建议她去学 厨师，因为“英语加厨师”的能力结构，正是社会急需的 (Jiang & Ding 2004). A lady with very good English could not find a job. Mr Tian suggested she learn to be a chef because the ability structure of “English plus Cooking” is exactly what the society is in need of.

“English learning with Chinese characteristics”  27 为适应日益增多的涉外案件审理工作，北京法院系统十日举办了第 一期法官英语培训班，以培养懂法律、通英语的实用型高素质审案人才 (Lou & Wu 2000). To accommodate the increasing number of cases involving Westerners, the court in Beijing implemented the first season of English training for judges on the 10th to train practical and high-quality talents who are good at law and English. In more recent years, articles reporting on the efforts made to modernise the country and communicate with the world through English as a tool continue to appear frequently in the People’s Daily (e.g. Yao 2013; Zheng 2017). According to Gee (1999), newspapers, especially national editions, promote official views and ideologies that communicate what is considered “acceptable” and “normal”. As an official newspaper of the Chinese government, the People’s Daily is a government publication that represents and expresses institutional views on different issues. From an official perspective, English has become a modern tool for interacting with the world in general, rather than just with native English speakers; is promoted as essential in the twenty-first century, together with driving and computer literacy skills; and is encouraged as a study along with other practical skills, such as cooking. Orton (2007, 2009b) compares two sets of textbooks, published in the 1980s and the 2000s, to investigate whether English was presented to school learners as “just a tool”, the positions and voices offered and the social groups the learners might join by learning English. The authors of the texts were educators employed by the Chinese government in the People’s Education Press (PEP), making them in line with the official national policy and promoting and shaping learner perceptions of what is “acceptable” and “normal” in relation to learning English. Orton’s analysis (2009b) shows the perceptions and roles of English in Chinese people’s lives, and how the relationship of learning English to being Chinese has changed within 25 years. The images of native speakers of English in the textbooks of the 1980s were negative, characterised by behaviours such as white racism and petty crime. Textbooks of the early 1980s, first published during the reform and opening up period, featured primarily universal objects and activities of the home, school and street, and political terms of the Chinese Communist Party. Rather than being a language for interaction with foreigners, English was merely an alternative mode for Chinese communicating with other Chinese, to express and access Chinese viewpoints and facts. English was only a tool to acquire global knowledge. Foreigners were portrayed as coming to China to learn and speak Chinese to Chinese. In one of the 2006 texts, Orton notices new relationships between Chinese and native English speakers, depicted in several dialogues involving “direct and sustained Chinese-native English speaker contact” (Orton 2009b:150). Chinese people appear as participants and stakeholders of the international community and discuss world issues from a global perspective. Modern lifestyles of

28  “English learning with Chinese characteristics” English-speaking people emerge. For the Chinese people, English is a universal (and hence neutral) means of communication. The target group they desire to integrate with is the outside world. The dialogues include not only people in formal roles, such as teacher–student and co-workers, but also friends in informal situations, with no observable differences between Chinese and native English speakers in their interactions. The characters are no longer “Chinese” and “non-Chinese”, but “modern hybrids” (Orton 2009b:152). In Orton’s (2007, 2009b) analysis, the text projects a new group to which Chinese learners belong. It is one where their voices are not those of non-native speakers among native speakers, but rather, one where theirs are among other voices in a shared international language. This means that there is no need for a knowledge of native speaker belief systems and values, and that contemporary English is mainly a tool to know rather than to interact with the world. In the 2006 texts, Chinese people no longer use English among themselves. The identity of the language projected in the 2006 textbooks has shifted from Chinese English to International English without a particular culture attached. Apart from being a universal modern skill, English has been portrayed as a tool to educate the world about China (Fong 2009). This view is commonly found in articles from the People’s Daily (e.g. Cui 2010; Li 2019). One article mentioned in my earlier study (Fong 2009) remarks that: 其实，我们狂热的不是英语本身。中华民族百年期盼，奥运终于来到 华夏古都。热情的人们渴望敞开心扉，释放激情，向世界诠释五千年 的东方文明，用微笑迎接八方宾朋。这才是 “热源” 所在 (Jiang 2008). In fact, we are not enthusiastic about the English language itself. Chinese have been longing to host the Olympics for a hundred years and this time the dream has finally come true. People [Chinese] wish to open up their hearts to welcome and show the world the 5000 years of Chinese civilisation. This is what we are really enthusiastic about. English in China has transformed from a language associated with “English people” into an international modernisation and communication skill greatly promoted in society. It is ascribed a new image, one that is no longer historically and culturally constructed; a symbol of modernity, through which Chinese people voice their own opinions about English; and appropriated (Canagarajah 2006) and made accessible to the public who are placed in the position of active learners capable of “overcoming English” (Pennycook 1994). Foreign language education has a direct effect on a person’s career, the reputation of a school and even the happiness of a family (Feng 2005, 2006). It affects all its stakeholders in today’s China. The unprecedented “English fever” in the country has manifested itself in the education and job markets, and has had an impact on Chinese

“English learning with Chinese characteristics”  29 language and culture and social structure. This demonstrates how English can potentially affect the Chinese ti. 3.1.1 Education and job markets With global economic integration, a growing market economy and WTO accession, the role of foreign languages (mainly English) has become more prominent. In China, approximately 300 million people are learning English. Graduates with professional skills and university English standards are very welcome in society (Cai 2019). A good command of English is seen as a prerequisite for studying abroad, promotion, graduation and employment. Wanting their children to be successful, parents are very keen for English studies to begin as early as kindergarten. In a study of more than 11,000 students from more than 100 preschools, primary schools and high schools in eight Chinese provinces, 67% started learning English online and via apps before they were five (Subject English Education Research Academy 2016). Many parents and students alike feel the need to start learning English at a young age, due to peer pressure. In China’s job market, many employers in both private and foreign-owned companies as well as government departments regard English examination certificates as an important recruitment criterion. Students’ academic reputation is linked to CET-4, and teacher promotion is also determined by the possession of a pass certificate. Civil servants are required to pass English examinations, especially in the lead-up to international events held in China (e.g. Asia Games) (Lo 2009). Many Chinese feel social pressure, driven by short-term goals and the benefits of English ability, and English learning deviates from the initial purpose of acquiring knowledge and improving personal quality. Although debates have arisen in recent years over the necessity and practical value of “English for all”, social demands and peer pressure have forced students, parents and ordinary Chinese to follow the trends, to avoid falling behind. Recent literature suggests that the impact of bilingual teaching is felt most by students at the tertiary level. English takes up 10% of the total credits required for undergraduates (Feng 2009). As many universities enthusiastically promote bilingual teaching, students often have no choice but to cope with the fact that certain academic subjects are being offered in English. During the nine years of primary and secondary compulsory education, policy documents clearly define the standards of English proficiency (Feng 2009). Students have to meet the required levels in order to proceed to the next stage. Feng (2009) analyses how the College English Curriculum Requirements issued in 2004 prescribed the three tiers tertiary students are to be allocated on entrance, according to their competency levels. Those who achieve Level 7 are to be assigned to the “Normal Requirement” tier, those at Level 8 are assigned to the “High Requirement” tier, and those at Level 9 are streamed into “Advanced Requirement”. There is a clear emphasis on the overall competence of English in speaking, listening, reading and writing, instead of in reading alone, which had long been the major component. Level 5 is

30  “English learning with Chinese characteristics” the bottom line for a student to move upward to a good senior secondary. Level 7 is the minimum to attend university (Feng 2009). ­English plays a key role in ­student advancement and thus potentially interferes with self-development. While English has become more popular nationally, China has further attempted to modernise English language assessment. In 2014, the Ministry of Education announced a plan for the Reform of the National College Entrance Examination that is said to further the conformity of English tests in China with international English tests. As a result of the reform implemented in 2017, two tests are held per year, and students can make as many attempts as they wish to take the college English admission tests. For college admissions, they can choose their best score out of the attempts made. This means that English is no longer a subject in the National College Entrance Examination, and students can take the tests at their own pace (Wu 2014). In 2018, the Chinese Ministry of Education introduced China’s Standards of English Language Ability (the CSE), to assess the English ability of Chinese learners and users of English in three stages: elementary, intermediate and advanced. These three stages are further divided into nine levels: levels 1–3 are elementary, levels 4–6 intermediate, and levels 7–9 advanced (Ministry of Education 2018a). In late 2019, the CSE was successfully linked to international English tests, including the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). For example, the CSE level 4 is equivalent to a minimum overall IELTS score of 4.5, 5 in listening, 4.5 in reading, 5 in speaking and 4 in reading (China IELTS 2020). By 2020, the CSE is expected to operate in full across China as a single national test for assessing English proficiency from primary school to the university and professional levels, and in the National College Entrance Examinations (gaokao). The linking of the CSE to international English tests not only aims to further promote the integration of China’s English educational standards and provide clearer yardsticks for the assessment, teaching and learning of English in China, but also serves to “enable the world to understand China’s standards and students’ ability” by measuring their English competence against international standards (Yao 2019). This is clearly a manifestation of both an appropriation of English into the Chinese context and an attempt to construct a global, international Chinese identity. In China, English learning is associated with the quality of life. On 5 July 2003, an article in the People’s Daily reported on an English class held in a rural area in Nanjing by a volunteer English teacher from Nanjing Normal University, as part of a four-day “Poverty-alleviation volunteer summer program” (my translation) (Sun 2003) . On 25 May 2008, the newspaper featured a report (Liu 2008) on the aftermath of the devastating Sichuan earthquake that month. Chinese military rescuers who knew English sacrificed their break time to teach the language to the students of schools destroyed in the disaster. On 4 September 2018, another article praised a Chinese insurance company for assigning their staff as English teachers in the rural areas of the Hubei Province, to help alleviate poverty (Sun 2018). In all these instances, at difficult times, English was portrayed to children as a life-saving language. From an early age, children inherit beliefs about the value of English. Similar to Mandarin, the association of English with the

“English learning with Chinese characteristics”  31 alleviation of poverty and improved living conditions produces positive feelings about the language among Chinese. In this regard, English is more than just a tool. It is associated with the (re-) construction of life and the self. 3.1.2 Disruption of Chinese language and cultural ideas The spread of English in China has also threatened traditional Chinese values and language. English study is perceived by many as more important than mother-tongue study (Liu & Li 2004, Zhang 2007), Western festivals are more valued, and Western movies and ideas are also popular (Zhang 2007). Western popular culture (mainly American) has also made ancient Chinese collections of literature, art and philosophy, such as the Analects of Confucius, less attractive to the younger generations (Zhu & Zhou 2016). In early 2010, a wave of anti-Confucian sentiment in China was caused mainly by the ban on the movie Avatar to give way to the domestic movie Confucius. The removal resulted in calls to boycott Confucius, and some, especially the youth, even pointed to the thoughts of Confucius as a negative force in Chinese history (Zhou 2010). This incident shows that the younger generation does not wish to be cut off from the outside world. To investigate the impacts of English on the Chinese language, Chen (2008) looks into students’ attitudes towards the code-mixing of Chinese and English and finds a direct relation with ethnic identity. Those more tolerant of code-mixing were more affiliated with foreign-language identity and less with mother-tongue identity. Higher-year students were more tolerant than were lower years. English majors were more tolerant than Chinese majors, who were themselves more tolerant than were journalism majors. Students were more tolerant than teachers. For educators, the overall high tolerance of code-mixing is noteworthy. The emphasis on English has also undermined student motivation to learn Chinese. In 2010, four universities in Shanghai included an English test in their independent admission examinations but chose to leave out Chinese. Although this received a lot of public criticism, with accusations that the universities were “giving more importance to a foreign language”, and were “discriminatory”, “traitorous” and “blindly worshipping foreign languages” (Wu 2010), the action was supported by some students and parents. One parent said: “I quite agree with the idea…if [my daughter] had to prepare for a Chinese test as well, she would have no time to sleep” (Wu 2010). Having already spent a fortune on English tutoring programs, other parents were aware of the financial pressures to prepare their children for Chinese exams. Some students thought it was not essential to test Chinese, because it was their mother tongue: “there isn’t much of a point to test our Chinese skills at entrance exams for colleges that don’t have much to do with Chinese as a language anyway” (Wu 2010). From these students’ perspectives, testing English was essential for their future, for travelling, for going on exchanges and for reading overseas publications which are predominantly in English. In contrast, the Chinese language is “dispensable” (Zhu & Zhou 2016). In ethnic regions, Han students used to learn minority languages in class to facilitate social exchange and communication, but parents today prefer to send their children to English tutoring classes after school (Feng 2009).

32  “English learning with Chinese characteristics” This demonstrates that the dominant role played by English also has a direct impact on linguistic diversity within China. 3.1.3 Social status For many Chinese people, the most direct goal of English lessons is to gain personal benefits (Yuen 2007) which can improve their social status. Learning English is fashionable and provides a sense of superiority and success (Zhang 2007). Donald and Zheng (2008) seem to associate the “new rich” or “new middle class” in China with better access to English learning resources. Those in this group are better educated and can afford the tuition to equip themselves or their children with English. For their offspring, high-income parents such as entrepreneurs and academics tend to choose expensive experimental English or international schools that emphasise English and technology. This shift in consumption patterns is in line with the changes in cultural values reflected in Chinese commercial discourse (Feng & Wu 2007). As the summer and winter vacations approach each year, many parents start enrolling their children in extracurricular English activities. Numerous English teaching enterprises hold summer and winter English camps during school breaks, but the costs are very high. For instance, the fee for a seven-day summer camp at the New Oriental School for high school students in 2020 was RMB 4,5801 (New Oriental Corporation 2020b). A 48-hour English oral course for adults costs RMB 9,800 (New Oriental Corporation 2020a). The fee is the equivalent of over half the monthly salary of most parents2 or over a month of the salary of most white-collar workers. English supplementary tutoring is currently a “staple in a child’s routine”, particularly those from the 400 million in China’s middle class who earn a salary of between RMB 25,800 and RMB 258,000 per year (Chan 2019). It seems, then, that only the “new rich” can afford extra English tutoring. Their concept of ti is to be richer, and English has become a feature of ti for them, as it brings them wealth. Chinese identity is cultural, economic, political and linguistic. Different aspects of Chinese identity include English ability and wealth. Even though English is promoted in the official discourse as a culturally neutral universal modern skill, it is associated with self-advancement and a sense of success. Questions arise about its role for Chinese people as “instrumentally useful, temporary” and about Chinese identity that is said to “draw knowledge and skill from the learning” but “endure, [be] largely unchanged” (Lo Bianco 2009:42). Under these circumstances, the ti and yong distinction is less clear-cut, and English education today could potentially present challenges.

3.2 Ti (Chinese identity) vs. yong (English utility) As these chapters have demonstrated, the official and popular discourses of ti and yong have been redefined in different periods. Although an isolated ti was defined by the pure existence of a “middle kingdom”, from which English yong had been strongly separated since the seventeenth century, according to Gelber (2007), China did not have a concept of a “Chinese nation” until the eighteenth

“English learning with Chinese characteristics”  33 century. In the nineteenth century, when the middle kingdom image was damaged by defeat in wars, China started to find its place and identity through English. There was an awareness of differences between Chinese and English culture, and a desire for acquisition of English by some as a tool. The ti in the early period was perceived as being fragmented and partly linked to the country’s linguistic diversity, which included dialects and minority languages. Only in the late nineteenth century was a national language introduced as a way to create a national identity. During the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s, the Chinese culture that was based on Confucianism was destroyed. The meaning of “being Chinese” became shaky, as a consequence of both internal and external cultural crises. While Chinese culture and language/dialects (ti) were being re-established, the reform period saw the status of English resume. China had then to reconstruct and consolidate Chinese identity in the context of hastened modernisation. At present, the idea of a Chinese nation and ethnicity (ti) is evidenced by the declaration that Mandarin is the official language. While, in the eighteenth century, foreigners were forbidden to learn Chinese to communicate with Chinese people, the twenty-first century has witnessed growing government attempts to promote Mandarin as the symbol of a unified ti inside and outside China. Access to English education was limited in earlier centuries, but English is now accessible and open to the public as a compulsory and important subject. Proficiency in both standard Chinese and English is currently a measure of success, both economic and social. While from the official perspective English is only a form of economic and political capital, popular views on English are not homogenous. For the public, such as students and parents, English constitutes a form of cultural and economic capital, and there is room for the development of a personal self. The general status of English in today’s China is high, but there is a large research gap in the literature on popular discourse about ti in the twenty-first century. Even though Mandarin is promoted as part of the unified ti, there is an identity vacuum created by China’s long history of internal and external unrest, and English education could bring about two possible outcomes. First, as English can create a social divide, there is tension between the personal self and the collective self. Second, English could potentially challenge and fill the identity vacuum, rather than exist side-by-side with Chinese ti. 3.2.1  Official discourse of Chinese ti As influenced by the collectivist culture of learning, education has long been perceived as a vital means to improve the quality of the people and produce wellrounded graduates, which is essential for the modernisation and strengthening of the nation. English learning campaigns and activities initiated from the top-down, such as those in preparation for the Olympics, demonstrate an institutional effort to promote the language to Chinese society as a “group tool”. “English corners” have also emerged in spaces such as school playgrounds or public parks, where people communicate in English just for fun or practice. Gao (2007) points out that these English corners offer an opportunity for autonomous learning efforts in the collectivist culture of learning and learner collaboration. From his observations

34  “English learning with Chinese characteristics” of English classrooms in China, Cargill (2006) also concludes that learners tend to acquire the language as a group, rather than as individuals. A group identity built on Chinese cultural conceptions of self underlines the formation of a learning community of English with common group goals. In Chinese culture, each individual is socially situated, defined and shaped in social relationships. This Confucian conception of the self can be divided into two – the “big” self, that is, the communal identity shared with one’s family and community, and the “small” self, which is the individual (Wang & Ollendick 2001). As the Chinese self is highly enmeshed in social groups, the evaluation of one’s family and other significant in-groups is an indispensable part of self-evaluation (Wang & Ollendick 2001). The emphasis on social interpersonal relationships in China encourages the development of collectivism, and English is integral to the “big self”, as a symbol of the modern national Chinese identity. Collectivism is still greatly emphasised in Chinese institutional discourse, especially in the form of national patriotism. In 2001, hastened by the admission of China into the WTO, the Implementation Guidelines to Construct Civic Virtues of Citizens (translation by Feng 2006:91) (《公民道德建设实施纲要》Gongmin Daode Jianshe Shishi Gangyao) were introduced in tertiary education. They state that patriotism is the lawful and moral obligation of all citizens, who need to take pride in loving the country. The main purpose of patriotism education is to enhance ethnic pride and confidence, and to educate citizens about the importance of national interest and dignity. As Feng (2006:92) indicates, the official conceptions of “a collectivistic socialist citizenship” model suggest that no conflict should exist between national interests and individual rights. From his translation of the guidelines, this idea is clear: We should encourage people to gain material benefits through honest work and legal business. On the other hand, we must guide them to conscientiously fulfil their obligations specified in the constitution and other governances and actively perform their social duties. He/She must always put the national and people’s interests first while enjoying personal legal rights (Gangyao 2001:2, translation by Feng 2006:91–92). Personal rights or interests are conditional only when citizens fulfil their obligations and perform their social duties and only when there is no conflict between the nation’s and the collective interests and their own can they start thinking about political, economic, cultural and social rights (Feng 2006:92). In 2019, the State Council introduced a new version of the implementation guidelines, Implementation Guidelines to Construct Civic Morals of Citizens in the New Age3 (《新时代公民道德建设实施纲要》XinShidai Gongmin Daode Jianshe Shishi Gangyao). It states that “extreme individualism” (“极端个人主义”) still prevails in some places and sectors. To combat this, one important task is to “incorporate individual desires into the wish to strengthen the country, revitalise the

“English learning with Chinese characteristics”  35 nation and better the life of the people through the unity of communist and socialist ideas with Chinese characteristics” (Xinhua News Agency 2019, my translation). Recent Chinese premiers have emphasised education on patriotism and the national interest. For instance, Premier Hu Jintao outlined the “Eight Honours and Eight Shames”, the first of which is “Love the country; do it no harm” (Yan 2006). Premier Jiang Zemin once stated: The patriotism we insist on and nationalism are essentially different. We must make our people understand that to insist on opening up to the outside world, study earnestly the best elements of various nationalities in the world, introduce advanced science and technology, strengthen our ability and speed up the motherland’s development are the important actions that enhance patriotism (Li & Deng 2004:342; my translation). As the quote suggests, nationalism and patriotism are construed differently. While nationalism is concerned with Chinese people’s attachment to and feeling towards the country and their identity (that is, ti), patriotism can be affiliated with learning English as the best element of other nationalities (that is, yong). On the centenary of the May Fourth Movement, in April 2019, Premier Xi Jinping highlighted the patriotism of those who sacrificed themselves to fight against foreign invasion and protect the country (Xinhuanet 2019; my translation), showing again the aforementioned influence of the past on the present: Patriotism is the core of our national spirit, the spirit of Chinese unity and strength. During the May Fourth Movement, a group of patriotic young people led the general public to fight on the verge of the nation’s demise, chanting the song of patriotism with a noble spirit, “the nation cannot be ceded and people cannot surrender”. Patriotism has been in the blood of ethnic Chinese, which cannot be eliminated. It is the driving force of the Chinese people and ethnic Chinese to strengthen and preserve the dignity of the ethnicity. To further strengthen patriotic education in China, the State Council published an outline for promoting patriotic education in the new era (《新时代爱国主义 教育实施纲要》) in November 2019 (Xinhua 2019). It stresses the importance of patriotic education to ensure love for the country, rejuvenate the nation and safeguard ethnic unity through the use of mass media, including online platforms. According to some Chinese scholars (for example, Li 2006; Li & Deng 2004), the aim of patriotic education is to mitigate the contradictions between Chinese nationalism and Western influence, through spreading the message that to live meaningfully is to integrate personal goals and wants with the future of the country, to repay the country and to spread Chinese culture. The Chinese self, apparently, is one that connects the individual self and the nation. Chinese ti can involve both collective and individual selves, but the collective self is more dominant in the official discourse.

36  “English learning with Chinese characteristics” In a review of 70 years of achievement in Chinese education, the theme of “studying to serve the country” is featured across all periods, from the establishment of the PRC, when work commenced to rebuild the education system, to the reform and opening up, when nine-year compulsory education and higher education were introduced and developed, to the contemporary period, when international collaboration and the modernisation of China’s education were fostered (Ministry of Education 2019b). Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, English education has been incorporated into China’s basic quality education (“suzhi education”) (素质教育), which is a manifestation of the Chinese collective self. As a word central to the governance of the PRC, suzhi (素质), literally translated as “quality”, is an all-encompassing term that refers to personal intelligence and strength (Kipnis 2006). As explained by the Chinese Association for Suzhi Education (2017), “suzhi takes [the] forms of one’s political consciousness, moralities, ethical standards, professional competencies, and physical and psychological well-beings”. Suzhi education aims to develop an individual’s suzhi, to cultivate their social responsibility (Chinese Association for Suzhi Education 2017). It is focused on enhancing the quality of individual Chinese to improve the strength and quality of the whole nation, and it promotes the idea of linking individual efforts to national development. As early as the late nineteenth century, China’s encounters with colonial powers led intellectuals to posit that national survival depended on improving the personal quality of citizens. For instance, in the early twentieth century, Liang Qichao proposed that the intention of profiting oneself and the intention of profiting others was an integrated intention, not two separate intentions. In contemporary China, Mao Zedong’s pronouncements about promoting the all-around development of individuals under the Marxist tradition (Kipnis 2006) were also in one of the earliest stages of the formation of the suzhi discourse based upon the image of Chinese as a collective identity. Since the 1970s, suzhi policy has been a sub-discourse of China’s modernisation. Achieving the modernisation of China involves modernising the nation and the individual simultaneously (Li 2000). Many policy initiatives of the Chinese government today are also linked to enhancing suzhi, especially following China’s entry into the WTO (Li 2015; Murphy 2004). In the promotion of the suzhi discourse, Chinese people are conceptualised as a collective self, with many “small selves” contributing to the “big self” (ti). The discourse even pressures them to behave as one collective unit. As Kipnis (2006:310) states: “the anxiety generated by the possibility of falling behind increases competition to attain the trappings of suzhi”. Those with high suzhi seem deserving of more income, power and status than those with low suzhi. Through nation-wide education, individuals are expected to internalise the idea that they are responsible for raising their suzhi, which in turn can empower their home town and country (Kipnis 2006). In 2009, the work of standardising Mandarin and the use of Chinese characters in Beijing was also incorporated into suzhi education. Fluent accomplished Mandarin and fine Chinese learning are said to enhance suzhi, as they encourage growth, success and development (Ministry of Education 2009). By

“English learning with Chinese characteristics”  37 incorporating English and Chinese into suzhi education, hard study of both languages is portrayed as a personal responsibility to oneself and the family, as well as the country. The study of English and Mandarin naturally becomes an act of contributing to the country and, by extension, of forming a strong ti. According to Wu (2007), a retired Chinese government official, the views of profiting oneself and the group morally legitimise the appearance of personal profit in modern Chinese society. More recent studies on English learning motivation in China appear to contradict this “proportional” relation between national and personal benefits. In China’s current socio-economic, cultural and political atmosphere, there is an acceleration of what Gao (2009:58) calls the “ti-yong dilemma”. 3.2.2 Popular discourse of ti: “Ti-yong dilemma” (Gao 2009:58) In the official discourses, English symbolises a new generation and image of Chinese people. Knowledge of English is a characteristic of the new generation, on a par with international business and other modern skills with no particular culture attached. It is well integrated into Chinese society and adapted to the national interest, through the combination of traditional Chinese discourses and English education. The current discourses about English in China are embedded within existing Chinese discourse patterns, including those of learning, collectivism and national development. English is used to reflect local Chinese themes that are already common in the local context and, at the same time, is appropriated to refashion a new modern Chinese identity (Pennycook 2010). Having been re-accentuated by these Chinese discourses, English is a means by which personal benefits are obtained and elevated into being collective benefits. The group identity constructed by the collectivism discourse is imposed upon the discourse of English. Together with traditions, the history associated with English in China is utilised to make sense of present intentions to study and popularise the language. The reworking of the past discourses about English and foreigners aims to shape current attitudes towards and practices of learning English. This in turn constructs the subject positions in which Chinese people are placed in learning English. The need for this reworking and re-­ accentuation illustrates the role the ti-yong principle currently plays in English education in China. Although the government’s emphasis on English as a universal skill and group tool for modernisation might be able to dilute the cultural threat to ti, the opening up of China inevitably imports Western beliefs and values, some of which may contradict native cultural values. As Gao (2009:63) remarks: …what has not been fully realized or willingly acknowledged by the Chinese government at least is that ti is embodied in the dispositions that make up a linguistic habitus. Anyone learning a language for any reason is bound to respond to the dispositions contained within it. Thus the clash in ti between China and the West has been tacitly but painfully felt by the Chinese

38  “English learning with Chinese characteristics” government, teachers and learners alike and has become a haunting issue in the field of foreign language education. The ti, like Gao’s illustration, is aimed to orient learners towards a certain set of dispositions concerned with the roles ascribed to English and the positions that learners are supposed to take in learning. The dispositions in Gao’s remarks are made up of Chinese cultural values that represent the national identity, including the Chinese language and Confucian heritage promoted to the outside world as a marker of the Chinese whole. As the current spread and status of English in the different spheres of life demonstrates, ti appears to be defined and varied by people’s geographical location, level of prosperity and economic status. In this increasingly globalised world, a consolidated Chinese ti has become even more of a demand in the encounter of different world views and cultures. Although English is considered a culturally neutral tool, the ti-yong distinction and the Chinese cultural and official concepts of the self are meant to elicit two main responses from English learners: first, that learning English is driven purely by instrumental motives without any desire to assimilate and become closer to the target language’s culture; second, that the instrumental motives be nation- or community-oriented, and that personal gains should ultimately link with national benefits. While ti-yong remains a guiding principle and frames the identity of English learners in today’s China, studies of Chinese students’ motivations for learning English have revealed the challenges presented to the upholding of the principle. This is seen in the research of Gao and her associates (2003, 2005, 2007), who interviewed 2,278 English, social and natural sciences undergraduates from 30 Chinese universities, foreign language schools, and tertiary institutions across 29 provinces and four directly administered cities. Their Likert-scale questionnaire included 30 items about learning motivations, based on a summary of open responses. Seven motivation types emerged from the factor analysis: 1) intrinsic interest 2) immediate achievement 3) learning situation 4) moving abroad 5) social responsibility 6) individual development and 7) information medium (Gao et al. 2007). These seven factors were further generalised as instrumental, cultural and situational motivations. Instrumental motivations included the employment of a target language as an instrument to achieve certain goals. Immediate achievement, information medium and individual development belonged to this category. The social responsibility motivation found under the category of cultural motivations in Gao et al. (2003, 2007) clearly demonstrates a community-­ oriented motive for learning English, as it is constitutive of two country-related (native culture) items: “contribute to strengthening China” and “let the world understand China”, and a related item: “do not disappoint parents”. Its existence relates to the deeply rooted Chinese cultural tradition of “harmonizing the family and putting the country in order” and the long-lasting promotion of the traditional ideal of “齐家治国” (establish order in family and country) (Gao et al. 2003:36). It may also be related to China’s growing national strength in recent years and the resultant rise of national consciousness. Participants in the Gao et al. study also exhibit a desire to present their native culture to the world by

“English learning with Chinese characteristics”  39 using English as an instrument. This, as the authors state, might be quite peculiar to the Chinese students. In contrast to social responsibility, intrinsic interest in the target language and culture demonstrates the possible salience of English ti for undergraduates. Students majoring in English scored much higher than non-English majors on this factor. Thus, choosing English as their major might relate to some “pure” interest in the language, indicating the influence of English ti. Interest in the English language and its associated culture(s) is not only found among university students. In a study of 1,213 elementary (n=568), middle (n=291) and high school (n=354) Mainland Chinese students, Xu and Case (2015) investigate the motivations to learn English across age groups, through a 27-item questionnaire. The students from 15 schools in northeast China ranged from seven to 17 years old, and 601 were males and 612 were females. The ­Likert-scale questionnaire they used, based on Csizér and Dörnyei (2005), measures the constructs of student motivations, including instrumental motivation, integrative motivation, direct contact with native speakers4, linguistic self-confidence5, cultural interest, milieu6 and the vitality of the L2 community7. Xu and Case (2015) show that integrative motivation drops with age, while instrumental motivation increases with age. When students enter middle school, their instrumental motivation, cultural interest, vitality, milieu, direct contact with native speakers and linguistic self-confidence rise significantly. This can be attributed to their higher exposure to English media (cultural interest), positive attitudes towards native English speakers, encouraging family and friends (milieu) and the perceived wealth of the L2 community (vitality). Middle and high school students also face the pressure of passing rigorous English exams to get into a good high school and college. Therefore, their instrumental motivation is also higher than that of elementary school students. In the mid-1990s, scholars in second language acquisition called for a re-­ conceptualisation of language learners as “social beings” and of language learning as a process of identity/ties construction. According to Norton (1997), every time language learners use the target language, they are also constantly organising and reorganising a sense of who they are and how they relate to the social world. The notion of multiple identities as constructed in language use is significant for the analysis of Chinese identity in relation to the roles of English. It posits that language learners do not need to integrate fully with the target language group in this transcultural and transnational era, and that it is common to hold multiple identities associated with different languages. This “side by side” idea of identity is further advanced by studies in critical multilingualism, which assume the multiplicity of identity where learners can shift between identities with a shift in language codes, in different contexts. Multicultural8 identities have become a reality studied in the field of second language acquisition. Arnett (2002:777) has argued that one of the most striking psychological effects of globalisation is that “most people now develop a bicultural identity, in which part of their identity is rooted in their local culture while another part stems from an awareness of their relation to the global culture”. Through the media, especially television and the Internet,

40  “English learning with Chinese characteristics” young people “develop a global identity that gives them a sense of belonging to a worldwide culture and includes an awareness of the events, practices, styles and information that are part of the global culture” (Arnett 2002:777). At the same time, they retain a local identity in their families and local communities, which enables them to observe local traditions when necessary, without any sense of contradiction to their other, “global” selves. This existence of “local” and “global” selves has been noted in minority students in Western countries, who need to make sense of their “membership(s) in at least two worlds” (Syed 2001:130). As Gao and associates (2005, 2007) illustrate, students who express some intrinsic interest in English and its associated culture(s) undergo productive and additive changes. Knowing more about English-speaking cultures arouses an awareness in English majors of their own native cultural identity. They are better able to appreciate the characteristics and strengths of their heritage and better motivated to work for the prosperity of their families and country. In other words, mother tongue identity is not weakened, but even enhanced by their interest in English. This is Gao’s notion of “productive bilingualism”, which suggests harmony in identity (Gao et al. 2007:135). Gao and her colleagues also demonstrate that social responsibility and personal development can coexist. For the Chinese undergraduate students in their 2007 study, individual development includes job searches, communication, a sense of symbolic social status and a related sense of achievement. Simultaneously, social responsibility motivation which is centred on native culture plays a part, alongside personal development. In the work of Orton (2009a), many students see the study of English as a social responsibility undertaken to develop the country and to comply with parental wishes, while they also have personal goals for learning English. This is consistent with the suzhi discourse, which brings collective and personal selves closer and points to the agreement of official and popular discourses. However, in their two-year longitudinal study into developments and changes in the motivation types of 1,300 college English and non-English majors in Beijing, Zhou and Gao (2009) find that students became more interested in English and its culture(s) over time. The study ran from 2005, the first year of enrolment for the participants, to 2007, following on from Gao et al. (2003). Students received questionnaires three times over the two years (first enrolment, end of first year and end of second year). Within that period, intrinsic motivation (for example, an interest in the target language’s culture) increased, and the social responsibility motivation decreased. Other studies also show that learning English is detrimental to the acknowledgement of mother tongue language and culture. Using a questionnaire measuring aspects of languages, values, religions, politics and cultural behaviours, Chen (2008) compares the results of first-year and fourth-year English majors in a Nanjing university, to investigate whether the length of study plays an impact on students’ attitudes towards mother tongue language and culture. He finds that first-year students’ acknowledgement of Chinese political views, values and cultural behaviours is significantly higher than that of fourth years, whose acknowledgement of foreign values, religions, politics and cultures is significantly higher.

“English learning with Chinese characteristics”  41 As in Gao’s research, the acknowledgement of the mother language increases with the length of studying English. Yum’s study (2008), conducted with 65 non-English major first-year undergraduates and 57 English-major third- and fourth-year undergraduates in a university in Nanzhou, reveals similar results. Chinese learners of English maintain their own mother-tongue cultural identity while having developed, to different extents, an identity associated with English. As compared to non-English majors, English majors tend to affiliate themselves more with English culture. This could possibly be due to the longer exposure to the language. The development of a personal self which contradicts the native self of English learners is obvious in the results of Gao and her associates (2007), built on the 2003 and 2005 studies on types of identity change. The most prominent self-identity change for the Chinese university English students occurred in self-confidence, while the second-highest score appeared for zero change. Evidence suggests that learners driven by a native-culture oriented sense of social responsibility might have two extreme kinds of self-identity changes: their self-identities could either be positively affected by the integration and mutual enhancement of the target and native cultures, or conflict and result in identity confusion and split. Even individuals studying English for immediate achievement, such as going abroad or obtaining good test scores, might lose their way and feel the conflict between the two languages and cultures. The development of personal identity appears to be more predominant among university students. As Xie (2003) illustrates, while the less developed economy and technology of China, and an admiration for the West, have been determining the sense of Chinese identity of university students, they have been less associated with the country’s politics and less oriented towards the national good. A more self-oriented identification has arisen. This is no longer premised upon strong familial relations and traditional values but rather, upon materialism and self-benefits (Xie 2003). Among teachers, situations vary and comply more with the official discourse. Using a 10-question online survey about the role and impacts of English, in 2006–2007, Lo Bianco (2009) interviewed 154 tertiary English teachers from 10 locations across China. There were 119 respondents aged under 40, and 35 above 40. Their age profiles corresponded with major foreign relations periods, such as the Cultural Revolution and the start of reform and opening up. From the data, Lo Bianco (2009) identifies the “problem” and “positive” of learning English in China, grouping them into seven and six dominant themes, respectively. In order of the commonality characterised by the variables of age, urban/provincial origins, English/non-English majors and gender, the seven “problems” were “loss of national identity, culture and tradition”, “less knowledge of Chinese language, classical Chinese and cultural heritage”, “English as a certificate”, “waste for students”, “no danger”, “difficult to implement” and “miscellaneous socio-political consequences” (Lo Bianco 2009:301–302). The six “positive” themes were “cross-cultural exchange (communication and understanding)”, “China’s development”, “broadening Chinese people’s horizons”, “better for English learning”,

42  “English learning with Chinese characteristics” “better employment prospects” and “the world knows China/Chinese language” (Lo Bianco 2009:302–303). The main difference among the variables, and of interest to the present study, is that the idea of “loss of national identity” was shared by participants of all age groups, and both non-English/English majors, which indicates the potential threats of English to Chinese ti. “Better employment prospects”, as an individual-oriented motive, spread quite evenly across other variables. There was also a strong bias towards “cross-cultural exchange” among the youngest two age categories: the 20s and 30s, that is, those born around the time of reform and opening up. Although the results of all these studies point to learner interest in both the target and native cultures, and to “productive bilingualism”, they seemingly violate the ti-yong distinction, which rules out the coexistence of two ti. There is a less clear-cut boundary between learning English for the self and the nation, where the English yong is evolving and coming to define the personal self of Chinese learners. As the Chinese government seeks to produce a strong nation by “individually” and “collectively” raising the quality of its citizens (Kipnis 2006:296), personal and group aims can hardly be separated. English learning involves personal goals, but it also complies with the government’s campaign. Learning English is a patriotic act in the contemporary socio-economic and political atmosphere. The Chinese concepts of learning, as well as the suzhi discourse, have already presented a vaguely drawn line between the self and social benefits9; and more important, individual interests are not completely denounced in the official culture, where social responsibility and personal wealth can coexist. English can define the ti of Chinese people only if it is ultimately and largely connected to the collective ti. While Gao and her colleagues saw the struggle between learning English and remaining “Chinese” as a “ti-yong dilemma”, the foregoing discussion has shown that the dilemma more concerns the coexistence of two ti. This book examines this “side by side” existence of two ti among Chinese people.

3.3 Theoretical framework for the analysis of the impacts of English on Chinese identity The development of foreign language education is closely related to the political, economic and social development of China. With the large-scale modernisation embarked upon during the reform and opening up period in the late 1970s, China’s demand for English also increased. English is portrayed as a collective group tool for modernisation and for becoming a part of the global community in today's China. The responsibility to strengthen the country through acquiring English is directed to individual Chinese by the incorporation of English education into patriotism and suzhi education. This book adopts the following theoretical frameworks to examine the roles of English in China, as well as the impacts of the language on the Chinese ti.

“English learning with Chinese characteristics”  43 3.3.1 On “global English”: “Global” and “English” Globalisation has created the need to re-conceptualise “English” and “the world” as the “target language community”. Kachru (1982) introduced his World Englishes (WE) paradigm to explain the indigenised varieties of English emerging around the world. His paradigm postulates three concentric circles: the Inner Circle, the Outer Circle and the Expanding Circle. The Inner Circle comprises locations where English is often the language of a monolingual majority (for example, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States). The varieties spoken in some of these locations provide the norms of what is called “standard English” to the other circles. The Outer Circle represents locations that typically are former British or American colonies, where English continues to be used for interethnic communication and social and economic mobility. The “New Englishes” used in these regions are still regarded by users as inferior to the Anglo-American norms. The Expanding Circle represents societies where English is taught in schools to an increasing number of learners and is used by some people in interacting with other linguistic communities and for international trade and tourism. These locations have traditionally used American or British models of English in education. According to the WE paradigm, China is an Expanding Circle country, with English used as a foreign language. Chinese people regard American or British English as the standards and thus the norms that should be promoted in English education. Despite this, WE scholars have found that “Chinese English” has been emerging in China as a variety (for example, He & Li 2009, Xu 2010, Xu, He & Deterding 2017). In response to the WE paradigm, critical approaches to the worldwide spread of English, introduced in the 1990s, have aimed to develop an understanding of English better suited to this global era. These approaches have illustrated how English is localised and appropriated to local culture from a micro perspective, such as language use in the classroom, postcolonial communities and popular subcultures. According to Canagarajah (2006:208), appropriation occurs when “others accommodate the English language to adopt orality based, narratively structured, person-centred discourses that are more resembling of local traditions”. In Malaysia, for instance, the coloniser’s English has shifted from being a tool used by the colonisers to assert power, to being a tool used creatively in literary work, which can be taken as a way of “writing back” and “talking back” by the colonised (Pennycook 1994:295). Hybrid discourses have been developed as a strategy of negotiation to appropriate the English language according to the needs and values of the colonised, who can take up different subject positions in the dominant discourses of English. A view significant for the re-conceptualisation of global English is Pennycook’s idea that English is “always/already local” (2007a:136). This means that English is used to reflect local themes that are already common in the local context, and “what may look like an imported set of global concerns may in fact be either a local take on more global themes or a local reconstruction of both the global and local” (Pennycook 2007a:115). In the “local”, English may already be present, merely taking on more meanings brought about by contact with the

44  “English learning with Chinese characteristics” “global”. As Pennycook (2007b) states, only when analysts move away from looking within Englishes to looking at the language in a particular context and its associated local beliefs and ideologies can they better understand how English is received, enacted and performed to refashion new identities. In this sense, not only does the “global” affect English, but the “local” always plays a part (Pennycook 2010). This process is called “glocalisation”, whereby the “compression of the world” has increasingly involved the emergence of locality, i.e. the place and trends of homogenisation and heterogenisation are essentially “complementary and interpenetrative” (Robertson 1995:40). While the dichotomy of “local” and “global” is always made in the existing literature on global English, Pennycook (2007a, 2010) looks more into the “local”, by directing the focus away from “time” (such as the colonial, postcolonial, modern and postmodern periods) to “space” and “place”, and further advances the idea of “language (English) as local practice”. Viewed as practice rather than structure, language is no longer defined by geographic location, but as an everyday social activity that constitutes the meaning of “life”. In Pennycook’s (2010) view, languages should not be seen as separate entities, because they are always mixed and hybrid in consequence of the contacts between different local forces or between local and global forces. They are associated with each other and with English as an integral part of the globalisation processes that are transforming the local (Pennycook 2010). As used in Pennycook’s (2010) work, “practice” seems to be an all-inclusive term that embodies social activity as well as the beliefs that guide the activity. Practice is about “doing” as well as about the “thinking” and “knowledge” of the “doing” (Pennycook 2010:24–25) that “prefigures activity” (Pennycook 2010:29). The idea of “language as local practice” is therefore premised on the inseparability of understanding language and practice (that is, the knowing, thinking and doing in a society) and provides the “starting point, not the end point, of the analysis” (Pennycook 2010:31) of the ideologies that guide the “doing with English” as a resource. Since language practice is integrated with a wide range of other social practices, practice involving English is a part of social practices which are “bundled” activities (Pennycook 2010:46), guided by local ideologies and beliefs and individual habits and ideas. From this point of view, English is always social, historical and local, and for any study of global English, it is necessary to understand how English is used locally across the social worlds (Pennycook 2010), as well as to understand the histories, cultures and ideologies guiding the use of English. To look into the internal working of the complex socio-cultural, political and linguistic factors determining the spread of English in China, micro-level theoretical approaches, such as Pennycook’s “language as local practice”, are needed rather than approaches that focus on the forms of Englishes and the impacts of the global spread of English on indigenous languages and cultures. Under globalisation, although there is a less clear boundary between countries and the flows of people, heterogeneity still remains the case for China, which strives for “modernisation with Chinese characteristics”. An approach that allows for discussion of

“English learning with Chinese characteristics”  45 the localisation of English is required to explore the interaction between English and “Chinese characteristics”. As Pennycook (2010) shows with the examples of graffiti as a way to claim ownership of space and create place, language practices construct and are constructed by locality, which is itself dynamic. The modernisation discourse in China has created a place where English language practice is a part of social practice. As exemplified by the Beijing Olympics events, it has led to the “relocalisation” (Pennycook 2010:74) of Chinese culture and identity using English. It is as if language practices involving English construct what is called “China” and Chinese society. English in today’s China has drawn Chinese and foreigners into a new relationship. 3.3.2 On learning English and “being Chinese” Gao and her colleagues (Gao et al. 2007; Zhou & Gao 2009) conclude with a tentative remark that the social psychology and motivations of learners have become much more complex, as they may be struggling between national development and the potential individual benefits of English. The work of Kramsch (2009) on multiple identities and the work of cross-cultural psychology on bicultural/ bilingual identities offer a new perspective to investigate the tensions of the two “selves” of the Chinese learners/users of English associated with these two motivation types. From a static and essentialist view to seeing identity as complex and constructed through language, Kramsch (2009) further moves to treating identity as imagined and fantasised about. She looks into “multilingual subjects” and their experiences of learning, speaking and thinking in a foreign/second language, through an analysis of the testimonies of language learners. Kramsch concludes that multilingual subjects have memories of other languages, fantasies of other identities and projections which are shaped by culture and society. Learning a new language is seen as able to broaden imaginations. For language learners, different languages mean different realities and imagined subjectivities they can create and identify with. When considering adolescents and young adults who study foreign languages at an age when they are seeking their linguistic identity and position in the world, it is necessary to take into consideration hidden layers of imagined meanings and ritualised verbal behaviours (Kramsch 2009). These young learners, unlike children, have already been socialised in their native language and culture. Their imagination in the new language may therefore be at work in non-conventional ways, based on the myths and stereotypes of the target language and culture. Thus, the myths and stereotypes of the target language and culture fulfil an important emotional function for non-native speakers striving to acquire and use the language. Kramsch’s work does provide a framework for investigating the identities of Chinese learners of English. She illustrates that when we talk about desire in language learning, it involves exploring various possibilities of the self in real

46  “English learning with Chinese characteristics” or imagined encounters with others (Kramsch 2009). In the age of globalisation, how individuals identify themselves and stable identities attached to fixed places have become less important than ways of belonging. Language learning and identity research can no longer assume a canonical association of language and identity. Whereas for monolingual speakers, words and the world have a canonical one-to-one sign-and-signifier relationship, different words evoke different worlds for multilingual subjects (Kramsch 2009). What “international Chinese” and the “world” mean can only be revealed if such an assumption of one-language-oneidentity-one-culture is overthrown. While Kramsch’s ideas offer an analytical approach to identifying the multiple identities of language learners, she touches little upon the relations between these multiple identities which has been picked up by social psychologists. Cross-­ cultural psychology has looked into how bi/multiculturals activate the accessibility to knowledge of different cultures, with the pioneering work of Hong and associates (Hong et al. 2000; Hong et al. 2001). In their view, cultures internalised by biculturals are not necessarily merged but are present “in the form of loose networks of domain-specific knowledge structures” (Hong et al. 2000:710) that can be activated by situational cues, such as language. In their study of American Chinese, Hong et al. (2000) and Hong et al. (2001) find that when subjects think of themselves as Chinese, they mention more duties than rights. Individual rights are more important components when the American cultural self is made salient. The Chinese and English versions of the questionnaire Hong et al. used have activated the subjects’ respective cultures, mental frames and their associated values, behaviours and identities. By accessing their internalised cultural knowledge, bicultural and bilingual individuals can negotiate, construct and shift between their cultural self-concepts in different situations (Hong et al. 2000). This dynamic view of identity and culture is particularly appropriate for this era of globalisation and increased contact between cultures. Learning or socialising into a second culture does not always mean relinquishing the original culture. Among 70 20- to 30-year-old urban college students and white-collar adults in postgraduate classes in Shanghai, Zhang and Kulich (2008) find that hybrid identities intertwine between these students’ collectivist and individualistic identities. Individualistic or modern identities are more evident in younger participants, including personal uniqueness and individualism (for example, the desire to be different to others). The authors conclude that these students’ identities are made up of multifaceted components whose importance likely shift over time and context. They also show that urban culture in China today is characterised by the “co-existence of traditionality and modernity with enormous pluralism” (Zhang & Kulich 2008:204). In the study of Li et al. (2006), China is also said to be characterised by a mixed individualistic and collectivist nature. The idea of multiple and hybrid identities has led me to presume that the “self” of Chinese is not statically individualistic or collectivist. Rather, it can switch between the “interdependent” (collectivist) self and “independent” (individual) self. “The” identity involved in learning English can differ among learners,

“English learning with Chinese characteristics”  47 depending on which identity is more significant and invested in (Zhang & Kulich 2008). The integrative motive in learning English may be associated with a particular “self”, but not at the expense of another “self” which may assert itself more in instrumental motives. Chinese people have multifaceted identities. From the discussions of Wang (2001) and Dong and Blommaert (2009), the multiple layers of migrant, Beijing, hometown and minority group identity associated with different Chinese dialects and accents manifest in different contexts. In relation to the outside world, it is the ethnic Chinese identity that becomes most salient, and within Chinese society, one’s identity is defined as “collective vs. personal” and “local resident vs. migrant worker”, and by social categories and occupations. From the various official policies, the message is obvious: nation comes before self. The lack of official responses to the violation of the law on teaching medium, as mentioned in Chapter 2, indicates that there is something non-codified about English which markedly demonstrates the possible tensions between various ideological and social-cultural forces, hidden or overt, and between globalisation and patriotism or nationalism (Feng 2009). China’s internal and external unrests have created an identity and cultural vacuum which has to confront the spread of English and its associated culture(s). As Orton (2009a:271) remarks, “[i]n the face of so much new and foreign, the central task for Chinese remained the construction and maintenance of a coherent narrative of Chinese self-identity”. The national language, Mandarin, and Confucian heritage are promoted as Chinese ethnocultural symbols, both inside China and overseas. This can be seen as an attempt to build up and promote the linguistic image of Chinese identity and a strong basis for identification which Chinese people can hold onto so that modernisation, as well as English, can further develop and proceed in China without threatening the native Chinese essence. Under this circumstance, how is this image of Chinese identity received by the people? The following chapters look into popular perspectives on English and Chinese identity, in light of the ti-yong principle.

Notes 1 RMB 4,580 is approximately equivalent to USD 667 (as of August 2020). 2 In major Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, the monthly salary for office administration staff is around RMB 4,500; a high school teacher earns around RMB 8,000–10,000 per month; the general staff in a foreign-invested office earns RMB 4,500–6,000; supervisors earn RMB 8,000–10,000; managers earn RMB 15,000– 20,000; and directors earn RMB 30,000–40,000. As for hospitality, service staff in restaurants earn around RMB 3,000–6,000 per month (51job.com, 15 April 2020). 3 Translation adopted from Feng (2006:91) for the 2001 version. 4 Direct contact with native speakers concerns the “extent to which students felt positively towards the particular countries and citizens” (Csizér & Dörnyei 2005:21). 5 Linguistic self-confidence “reflects a confident, anxiety-free belief that the mastery of a L2 is well within the learner’s means” (Csizér & Dörnyei 2005:22).

48  “English learning with Chinese characteristics” 6 Milieu is “social influence” or “perceived influence of significant others, such as parents, family, and friends” (Csizér & Dörnyei 2005:22). 7 Vitality of L2 community “concerns the perceived importance and wealth of the L2 community” that leads learners to use the L2 (Csizér & Dörnyei 2005:21–22). 8 Multicultural identity is more a current global reality, although studies tend to use the term “bi-cultural” more often. 9 The vague line between national and individual benefits started to emerge in the 1980s, when the reform era brought power and money, while a new sense of selfimportance and self-worth for the children of Cultural Revolution was found (Barmé 1999). These children who became adults during the 1980s and 1990s desired strength and revenge for the nation (Barmé 1999:277), while gradually accumulating wealth.

4 Q methodology A semi-quantitative approach to discourse analysis

This study devised Q methodology, which consists of questionnaires and interviews, to investigate public opinion on the status and roles of English in China. While the interviews elicited more in-depth discussions, the questionnaires served to provide an overview of the diverse popular discourses about English that exist in China. This chapter explains the theoretical constructs and procedures of Q methodology as it was adopted in this research. The results of the questionnaires are then presented in Chapter 5. The interviews, analytical approaches and findings are the focus of Chapters 6 to 9.

4.1 Q methodology as a form of discourse analysis First introduced by British psychologist William Stephenson, Q methodology conjoins philosophical and statistical components, combining qualitative and quantitative analyses (Stephenson 1953; McKeown & Thomas 1988). It is a tool for studying and representing a range of opinions on particular topics, with factor analysis being a fundamental part. It is a means of identifying groups or “types” of persons who share similar attitudes and the views characteristic of those attitudes. Psychologists seem to treat “attitudes”, “beliefs” and “feelings” as different matters, in that “beliefs” and “feelings” are treated as the characterising forces of forming a particular “attitude”. Brown (1980:68) distinguishes between “attitudes” and “beliefs” in saying that “attitudes are operantly defined and formally modelled as factors. Beliefs and values provide explanations of factors and may reach into ego dynamics and other schemes for their theoretical substance”. Attitudes research, including language attitudes, tends to ignore the beliefs characterising attitudes and lump the two together. A study that did so would risk pinpointing only respondents’ superficial views of language. In a Q study, participants are given a set of statements to rank, according to how representative the statements are of their own viewpoints. Q is an approach that relies on participants’ ratings of statements to explain the rating of one another; in which sense, Q focuses more on the belief systems characterising the resulting attitude measures than on the resulting measures themselves. To summarise what Q methodology is, I quote Brown’s (1980:5–6) concise explanation:

50  Q methodology Q technique is a set of procedures whereby a sample of objects is placed in a significant order with respect to a single person. In its most typical form, the sample involves statements of opinion (Q sample) that an individual rank-orders in terms of some condition of instruction – e.g. “most agree” (+5) to “most disagree” (-5). The items so arrayed comprise what is called a Q-sort. Q sorts obtained from several positions are normally correlated and factor-analyzed by any of the available statistical methods. Factors indicate clusters of persons who have ranked the statements in essentially the same fashion. Explanation of factors is advanced in terms of commonly shared attitudes or perspectives. Q methodology is the body of theory and principles that guides the application of the technique, method and explanation. In a wide variety of fields, from psychology to political science, Q methodology has been used to determine perspectives which can be taken as discourses. In his study on Basque national identity, Davis (1997) concludes that without Q methodology, it would not be possible to reveal the two different layers of Basque identity, with all people instead simply identifying themselves as Basque. Paradice (2001) looks into attitudes and beliefs about dyslexia among parents, educational psychologists and special educational needs coordinators. Dryzek (1994) researches Australian perceptions of democracy, and Nitcavic and D ­ owling (1990) study American perceptions of terrorism so as to predict the effects of terrorism coverage on American public policy. In linguistics, very limited studies have adopted Q methodology to look into language attitudes and identity issues (for example, Ives 2008; Lo Bianco 2015; Lundberg 2019). An important key construct of Q methodology is the idea of operant subjectivity. Q is operant in that, without having imposed on a person any external frame of reference, which is said to be a shortcoming of conventional questionnaires such as the Likert scale1, it allows a person to express “his subjectivity operantly, modeling it (through his ranking of the statements) in some manner” (Watts & Stenner 2012:26). Another key principle of Q methodology is contextuality, which refers to “the meaning associated with a phrase largely dependent upon the behavioural context” (Brown 1980:47). While ranking statements, participants are expected to constantly make comparisons between statements, permitting interaction between individual statements and the whole set of statements.

4.2 Q methodology procedures The present study followed a rather standardised set of Q methodology procedures which essentially consisted of six steps: Step 1: 326 statements about English were collected from the Chinese national newspaper, People’s Daily, between 2000 and 2008, a period characterised by the start of China’s active participation in the global arena. Step 2: 54 statements were selected from Step 1, and each statement was written out and numbered on a separate card.

Q methodology  51 Step 1 and Step 2 are interrelated. The first step of Q is the collection of Q sample statements, used to elicit attitudes and opinions. They serve as stimulus items presented to respondents for ranking in a Q-sort (McKeown & Thomas 1988). The stimuli making up the Q-sample named by Stephenson as the “communication concourse” (1978:12) are constrained only by the domain of subjectivity in which the researcher is interested. The “communication concourse” (Stephenson 1978:12) can be derived from a number of sources, including focus groups and interviews (Nitcavic & Dowling 1990; Ives 2008) and ready-made materials such as textbooks/literature (for example, Paradice 2001), newspaper articles, magazines, political statements and television programs (for example, Dryzek 1994), or a combination of these sources. The statements collected are then categorised in a matrix. The categories, that is, the levels and factors in the matrix that was used to select a representative statement sample, can be designed based on the literature. For example, Davis’s (1997) 3x2 Fisherian factorial design was informed by the social-psychological literature on national identity that hypothesises three different types of identity: affective, goal and ego (three factors), which are then grouped with “committed” and “alienated” (two levels). In the present study, the Q samples were drawn from a “concourse of communication” (Stephenson 1978:12) vis-à-vis the discourses of English. The statements were drawn from the People’s Daily between 2000 and 2008, which constituted the English Language concourse. In a Q study, the ideal number of a Q sample would be 40–60 (Stephenson 1978:12). Q samples can be structured or unstructured. For structured samples, the researcher takes either a deductive or an inductive approach. A deductive approach is based on a priori hypothetical or theoretical considerations, while inductive designs emerge from the patterns that are observed as statements are collected (McKeown & Thomas 1988). The present study was based on an inductive design, whereby Q sample statements were assigned to conditions induced from the statements themselves. The dimensions that guided the final selection of statements were not obvious prior to the statement collection. Regardless of the design method, the principle is to ensure a reasonably comprehensive and representative selection of a particular population of stimulus elements (McKeown & Thomas 1988). In order to systematically reduce the concourse to a manageable size for ranking, I used a matrix based on Fisher’s variance design, as shown in Table 4.1, which was common to Q studies (for example, Brown 1980; Dryzek 1994; ­Dryzek & Berejikian 1993). There are three categories, a–c, which are called factors, and three kinds of attitudes, 1–3, which are called levels. These factors and levels were derived from my reading of the People’s Daily articles and reports using grounded theory, a process which is mentioned in ­Chapter 6. As Brown (1980) states, the dimensions or criteria built into the matrix design can reflect issues occurring in the public debate. The categories derived from the People’s Daily have thus revealed the diverse views about English existing in the wider context. When the statements began repeating what had already been collected, the expansion of the concourse was complete. In the end, the matrix created a

52  Q methodology Table 4.1  Variance design for Q statements: Balance, clarity and comprehensiveness 1. Positive

2. Negative

a. Roles of English Positive roles (1a) Negative roles (2a) b. Impacts of Positive impacts Negative impacts English (1b) (2b) c. Chinese vs. Chinese dominates English dominates English (1c) (2c)

3. Neutral Neutral roles (3a) Neutral impacts (3b) Chinese and English are not contradictory (3c)

concourse of 326 statements about English. In finalising the Q sample for the fieldwork in Beijing in 2009, I ended up having nine groups in my Q-sample, and for each group, I then randomly chose six statements, making up a Q-sample of 54 statements. The original Chinese version of the statements was used during the fieldwork. The statements were translated into an English as close to the original Chinese version as possible and were checked by a native Mandarin Chinese PhD student in translation studies. They are presented in Table 4.2. The sample of 54 statements was selected after a process which involved the removal of duplicates and the selection of the clearest and most comprehensive statements. According to Brown (1980), a Q sample must be representative, simple, clear and unambiguous. A factorial design of statements selection helps ensure an appropriately wide range of statement types in the concourse, and hence uncovers the areas in which people genuinely agree and disagree. The matrix also acted as a filtering device for reducing the number of statements in the concourse, choosing statements and therefore minimising the researcher’s bias. Considering that each Q sort would take about 45 minutes to complete, followed by a 15-minute interview, the concentration span required of each participant was also taken into account, and 54 statements would be the maximum. The Q statements concerned the roles of English, the impacts of English and the status of Chinese and English (Chinese vs. English). Three different types of attitudes towards the three issues were found and named as positive, negative and neutral attitudes. In relation to the status of Chinese and English, there were statements about Chinese dominating in the society and statements about English dominating. Neutral statements were those which pointed out the ­non-conflicting relations between the two languages. As the readings of the People’s Daily ­articles did not locate any statements pertaining to the individual benefits of learning English, I made up a statement: “24. English can help me find a better job and improve my quality of life”. This statement was included in the final Q sample, to elicit information about the participants’ individual attitudes. In the Q sample, statements of facts are not necessarily precluded, since the acceptance of facts and their sequencing involves reasoning, and hence subjectivity. As Brown (1980) states, facts of a certain variety may produce emotional reactions. It is thus important to find out how and why a seemingly apparent fact is accepted or denied. Step 3: Respondents were recruited. Before the researcher arrived in Beijing, initial contacts with staff at two universities were made through the researcher’s

Q methodology  53 Table 4.2  Q statements 1. Students have to learn English, regardless of their disciplines. 2. The number of people learning English is increasing. This represents the increasing openness of my country. 3. English is the most important communication tool in the world today. 4. For the Chinese, English is a key to opening up Western civilisation. 5. We learn English to acquire the advancement of the West, so as to protect the benefits of the country and people! 6. Foreign languages should become a channel for us to understand the world. 7. We learn foreign languages only for exams and without actual application. 8. For many people, there is no use in learning English. 9. The importance of foreign languages is unquestionable. However, that doesn’t mean they are important to everyone, any time. 10. Many people have spent a lot of time and money on learning a foreign language, and in the end, they don’t really need to use the language. 11. It has become a common phenomenon that people learn English when they actually cannot put it to use. They are also incapable of using it. 12. In many situations, people learn English as a necessity. From this perspective, it creates language inequality. 13. The impacts of English are enormous, following the rise of the United Kingdom and the United States. Especially in this era of economic globalisation and information technology, English is used widely, everywhere. 14. English education is an important part of basic education; therefore, it has a responsibility for improving personal quality and advancement. 15. English education should aim to improve teachers’ personal quality and knowledge of the culture and customs of English-speaking countries. 16. English no longer belongs to the British alone but is the asset and major communication tool for all humans. 17. If we want to be part of the world, we should only use English for international communication. 18. Chinese in the twenty-first century not only need foreign languages, but also need to be open-minded. 19. If children do not have the certificate of public English examination, they essentially have no competitiveness. 20. For a long time, English education has taken up a lot of human, material and financial resources. Its role in facilitating economic and social development is irreplaceable. 21. I become more confident when I see my improvement in English. 22. More people are learning English. This is good for the country. 23. Learning English well can contribute to the home town. 24. English can help me find a better job and improve my quality of life. 25. People’s talents and abilities have been our criteria for employment. However, career promotion is now tied up closely with foreign language examinations, which has caused much frustration and to a certain extent, facilitated the desire for immediate success. 26. The main purpose of learning languages is communication and application. If it becomes a criterion for school admissions, is introduced without considering children’s abilities and causes a huge financial burden for parents, what, then, is the real benefit of learning a language, except to benefit only a small portion of the population? 27. Nowadays, a lot of students, especially primary school students, take part in the national English examination (PETS). This affects the normal operation of school teaching and actually burdens students. (continued)

54  Q methodology Table 4.2 (Continued) 28. When speaking of “saving”, everyone immediately thinks of saving water, saving electricity, saving food. But the waste produced by English-for-all and so on is neglected. 29. Non-English speakers originally made up a majority of the world’s population. But under the current dominance of English, non-English speakers have become a minority. Their language has also become an “inferior language”. 30. There are different types of English examinations in high schools and universities. Grammatical accuracy has almost become a technical demand. 31. “College English” is not only a language course but also a “venue” for the transmission and competition of different cultures and thoughts. 32. To teach students ethnic traditions, national morality and socialism, it is especially important to incorporate nationalism and views and values of life into English classes. 33. In the near future, the number of people who can speak English in China will exceed the population of all English-speaking countries in the world. 34. English has become an international language. Many people can speak and write English. 35. Learning and speaking English has become a trend for the public. 36. After entry into the WTO and winning the bid to host the 2008 Beijing Olympics, mastering English and strengthening communication with the outside is becoming a demand for the youth. 37. It is important to learn a foreign language, but “ABC” can never replace the “Three Character Classic”. 38. China has become stronger and is rising internationally. Under these circumstances, we should be proud of the long tradition of our mother tongue and even become determined to make it “walk towards” the world, as English has. 39. There seems to be greater emphasis on English education. English is taught from pre-school and has almost become an “imperialist language”. It is time to advocate for mother-tongue education. 40. For historical reasons, there are many English-speaking countries in the world. If we want to “face the world” and have “contact with the world”, it is essential to learn English. However, in every country, the native language should be dominant. The citizens of every country should first learn the native language. 41. For Chinese people, the Chinese language, as the mother tongue, is definitely much more important than English. 42. The creativity of the Chinese language is comparable to that of any language in the world. We can’t blindly adore English as a “to-be world language”. Many aspects of English cannot compete with Chinese. 43. English has taken up time that students would otherwise have spent learning Chinese. 44. Some primary schools have started to use English as a medium of instruction. It is true that the students’ English has improved, but how about Chinese literary studies and poems? Perhaps they have already been obscured by the 26-letter alphabet. 45. Learning English is more valued than learning Chinese, for the Chinese in China. 46. The society and people are all immersed in English. English seems to have become a firm prerequisite for getting a degree and career promotion and is a criterion for talent selection. On the one hand, the mother tongue has been polluted, and on the other, English has monopolised the world. 47. In modern China’s educational system, primary school students are already learning English. In some preschools, English or other foreign languages are even taught. It would be terrible if children can’t speak good Chinese when they grow up. 48. We are all busy with foreign languages and forget our mother tongue. (continued)

Q methodology  55 Table 4.2 (Continued) 49. There is no contradiction between learning English and learning Chinese. 50. Using English does not necessarily mean you don’t love the country. The problem is, we can’t encourage foreign languages at the expense of the mother tongue. 51. In recent years, China’s economic growth has accelerated, and many countries have also increased their economic dealings with China. This has led to the rise of “Chinese fever”. Some people even think that the Chinese language will become a new “world language”, alongside English. 52. Advocacy for writing in the mother tongue does not mean opposition to English and resistance to outside culture. Rather, it emphasises language and cultural equality. 53. Chinese is a language of the soul, and English is a tool. 54. If we say English is a tool for international communication, then Chinese is our personal foundation and the foundation of our identity. The former is an addition and tool, and the latter is a foundation and guide.

personal networks. Emails were also sent randomly to six high schools. Although three responses were received expressing interest in the research, ultimately only one teacher agreed to help arrange recruitment and the interviews with students and parents. In the fieldwork in Beijing, 87 participants in the education sector were interviewed, including (1) university students, (2) high school students, (3) parents and (4) teachers. Demographic information was obtained prior to the interviews, including place/city of origin, mother tongue spoken, knowledge of dialect(s), length of stay in Beijing (if born elsewhere), English proficiency certificates obtained, major fields of study (for university students) and occupation types (for parents). Below is a brief introduction to the four groups of participants:



(1) University students The 25 university students interviewed attended three different universities. Aged between 18 and 25, they ranged from undergraduate year three to postgraduate year three. While 14 were English majors, 11 were not. Among the non-English majors, two were commerce majors; six journalism majors; one a computing major; one an engineering major and one a science major. The families of these university students lived in other Chinese cities or towns, and the students only moved to Beijing to study. All of the students reported that they had passed either College English Test–Band 4 or Band 6. (2) High school students The 20 students interviewed came from the same high school and were from three different Grade Eight classes. The high school was famous, and all of those interviewed were considered top students by their teachers. The students were aged between 12 and 13, and the majority were born in Beijing (only three students were born elsewhere and moved to Beijing when they entered Grade One), lived with their parents, and were only children. They were all enrolled in extra English tuition classes outside of school.

56  Q methodology



(3) Teachers The group consisted of 10 university academics, nine high school teachers and four primary school teachers, totalling 23 individuals. They were aged between 25 and 50. Nine university staff were English lecturers and one was a Chinese classics lecturer. Six high school teachers taught English, one taught politics, one taught mathematics, and one taught Chinese. Only one primary school teacher taught English. (4) Parents 19 parents of university and high school students (two of university students, and 17 of high school students) were interviewed. While the majority did not consent to reveal their occupations, those given included university dormitory receptionist, business owner, researcher, university faculty dean and government official.

Research and the literature informed the variables required for consideration in selecting a representative set of person samples. These variables included: (1) dialects spoken and (2) city of residence, other than Beijing. In each group, I intended to interview both participants who spoke Mandarin as the first ­language and were originally from Beijing, and participants who spoke dialects and were from other cities and the countryside. This was because their coming to an urban area from the countryside and their ability to speak Mandarin, along with their attitudes towards Mandarin, could affect their perception of English as an additional language. Following my arrival in China, I discussed the actual demography of each group with local contacts and teachers and decided that it was not feasible to control the aforementioned variables. Therefore, they were discarded. Movement from rural or less developed areas to major cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, for study and work opportunities has been an extremely common phenomenon in China. Many university students therefore had migrated from other parts of China. When I first raised the idea of interviewing Beijingers separately from non-Beijingers, all of the local contacts and university teachers were dubious about the possibility. I insisted on trialling the original recruitment decision for one week but had to discard the “Beijingers and non-Beijingers variable” as the recruitment process went along. To reveal the viewpoints on English of the four groups, Q methodology offers a systematic way to examine their subjectivities in relation to the issue. In Q, participants are chosen for comprehensiveness and diversity, rather than representativeness or quantity, as the focus is on “person”, not the correlation between variables. Q studies usually work with a small number of participants. In the current research, the subgroups were fairly small. Because of this small sample of participants, the generalisability of Q methodology has raised some concerns. In response to criticism, Brown (1980:36) offers this example to illustrate the intensity of the method: “It is more informative to study one subject for 1000 hours than 1000 subjects for one hour”. Therefore, all that is required is enough subjects to establish the existence of a factor for purposes of comparing one factor with

Q methodology  57 another (Brown 1980). Using Benedict’s example, Brown (Benedict 1946:16–17, cited in Brown 1980:194) further explains the efficacy of a small participant sample, with the law in economics of diminishing returns: Who bows to whom and when, for instance, needs no statistical study of all Japan; the approved and customary circumstances can be reported by almost anyone and after a few confirmations it is not necessary to get the same information from a million Japanese. As emphasised by Stephenson (1953), Brown (1980) and other Q scholars (for example, McKeown & Thomas 1988), Q is not designed to determine what percentage of the population holds each particular view but to elicit the range and variety of accounts or discourses about or around a particular issue. Unlike survey research which looks at the correlation between variables observed across a large number of individuals, Q seeks to look into the correlation between participants who have the status of variables, rather than being sample elements. This is clearly explained by Brown (1980:68): Q technique to study attitudes and opinions is not to study attributes nor to measure the intensity of isolated opinions as is conventionally practiced. Rather, the intent is to provide the subject with the materials and operational procedures necessary to provide the subject with the opportunity to engage in the formation of his own opinion, subjectively rendered. Q researchers cannot say how many people in a larger population are likely to hold particular perspectives, but they can say with confidence that the perspectives do exist in the larger population. A degree of comprehensiveness in the perspectives identified can also be claimed if the participants are diverse. In this regard, Q is primarily an exploratory technique and cannot prove hypotheses (Watts & Stenner 2005). Q studies do not make generalisations about the larger population, but generalisations are expected to be valid for other persons of the same type, i.e. for those persons whose views would lead them to load highly on a particular factor (Brown 1980). To produce highly reliable factor scores, six persons loaded significantly on a factor are normally sufficient, and increasing the number of persons on a factor merely fills up factor space and has very little impact on the scores (Brown 1980). It should be noted that Q technique provides no guarantee that all factors have been located. There may be additional factors representing different attitudes, but they will have no influence on the existing factors, as they will be orthogonal to the existing factors (Brown 1980). Step 4: Interviews were conducted. The interviews, which consisted of two phases, were conducted in Beijing in September–November 2009, a year after the Beijing Olympics. In Phase One, respondents were asked to rate how strongly they agreed or disagreed with the statements chosen in Step 2. Their ratings constituted what is called the Q sorts that provided an overview of existing discourses about English in China. In Phase Two, face-to-face interviews were conducted

58  Q methodology using a list of 11 questions centred around the roles and impacts of English that were tailored according to the contents of the statements used in Phase One. With the respondents’ consent, interviews were audio-recorded, and handwritten notes were taken when individuals did not agree to be audio-recorded. All respondents remained anonymous throughout. The 11 questions are listed in Chapter 6. Phase One: Q-sorting After Q-statement sampling and participant recruitment, the next core technique of Q methodology is Q-sorting, whereby respondents rank order a set of Q statements on a scale, for example, -4 to +4, according to a set of procedures called a “condition of instruction” (McKeown & Thomas 1988:30). The procedure for ranking the statements is premised on concepts in psychology. As Brown (1980:198–199) states, Q-sorting is guided by the “psychological significance” of respondents. Statements at the extremes of the distribution are most salient (significant) positively or negatively for a person operating under a specific condition of instruction. Items at the two ends of the continuum under +4 and -4 are assumed to hold “greater importance to me” than items elsewhere in the Q-sort (McKeown & Thomas 1988:35). During the ranking process, respondents rank each item relative to other items and determine what is of “greater importance to me” (McKeown & Thomas 1988:35). The middle score (0) is a point neutral in meaning and without psychological significance. ­Figure  4.1 illustrates the distribution pattern of the 54 statements in the Q-sort. It is essentially a visual translation of the condition of instruction that I used to record participants’ Q-sorting. The number of statements placed under each heading was restricted, for example, only three statements under -/+ 4, and 5 statements under -/+ 3. This forced distribution pattern allows participants to consider their attitudes more carefully and rank each statement contextually with the others. According to McKeown and Thomas (1988), the spreading out of statements under the degree headings facilitates the reading of the statements contextually and the making of comparisons. More important, the headings are nominal rather than ordinal. They are not distinct categories but rather constitute an opinion continuum. Q-sorting is therefore a ranking process of items on the basis of “more or less” rather than “either/or” (McKeown & Thomas 1988:35). In the fieldwork, each participant was presented with a survey pack which consisted of 54 Q statements numbered from 1 to 54, nine heading strips (from -4 to +4), an information sheet detailing the purpose of the interview, an instruction sheet (conditions of instructions), and a consent form. The statements, information sheet, instructions and consent form were all written in Chinese. Before Q-sorting began, participants were asked to sign the consent form. In Q studies, including the present study, the instructions and procedures researchers use with respondents were rather standardised. The 54 statements were shuffled and offered to the participants. To begin with, participants were asked to read the statements on the accompanying deck of cards to familiarise themselves with them. With the nine heading strips lined up on a

Q methodology  59

Figure 4.1  Q-sort table.

table horizontally, with -4 to the far left, +4 to the far right and 0 between the two extremes (as illustrated in Figure 4.1), each participant was asked first to sort the statements into three piles, placing to the left those with which they disagreed, in the middle those about which they were neutral or unclear, and to the right those with which they agreed. Working from the three piles, the participants were instructed to choose three of the statements with which they had agreed and place them vertically under +4. After this, they were asked to turn to the statements with which they had disagreed, choose three with which they most strongly disagreed and put them under -4. Turning back to the cards on the left side, namely, those with which they had disagreed, the participants were asked to choose five with which they still disagreed quite strongly and place them under -3, which made them less significant than the three already placed under -4. The participants then were asked to work back and forth, repeating the same procedures until the statements about which they were neutral or ambivalent were set out under 0, and all of the statements had been ordered. Working back and forth, as McKeown and Thomas (1988) mention, was intended to provide the participants the opportunity to think anew about the significance of each item in relation to the others.

60  Q methodology Normally around + and –2, the respondents exhausted the characteristic and uncharacteristic items, and so had to make subtle distinctions among the neutral items, placing those that were only “slightly characteristic” under +1, and those that were only “slightly uncharacteristic” under -1; the remaining went in the 0 column (Brown 1980:198). In the course of Q-sorting, participants were told that they could adjust the ratings of any of the statements at any point. There were a few instances when I was asked to define terms in the statements. To observe the idea of operant subjectivity as the core value of Q, the meanings of the terms were left for the participants themselves to define. Before the sorting was completed, respondents were asked to have a final check of their ranking, to ensure it was representative of their personal opinions and make any changes as they wished. The Q sort produced by each participant was recorded on the Q sort table and kept for statistical analysis. During the recording, the participants were given the interview questions in preparation for Phase Two. Phase Two: face-to-face interviews The Phase Two follow-up interview gives the respondent opportunity to explain his/her reasoning for ranking the statements (Brown 1980). On some occasions, when a rank-ordering seemed contradictory, clarification was sought in the follow-up interviews. By way of example, the following rating occurred in a Q-sort, and the participant’s explanation was requested. The number in parentheses was the score assigned to the statement. 8. For many people, there is no use in learning English. (-3) 19. If children do not have the certificate of public English examination, they essentially have no competitiveness. (-3) A contradiction seemed to emerge when the participant strongly disagreed that, for many people, there was no use in learning English but at the same time perceived that there was also not a need for children to obtain an English exam certificate to maintain their competitiveness. The participant, in this case, was asked to expound on her reasoning. The completed Q sorts constitute the conceptual images of respondents’ views of the issues in question and, coupled with the additional comments made in follow-up interviews, provide very rich data on the respondents’ subjectivity to the research. Step 5: Data were analysed and processed using statistical analysis software. As is common in Step 5 of Q, the completed Q-sorts constitute the raw data for statistical analysis through a software program called PQMethod (Schmolck 2002). Specifically tailored to the analysis of Q studies data, PQMethod is an updated version of the QMethod program developed by John Atkinson at Kent State University in 1992 (Schmolck 2002). The program allows raw data to be entered as it was recorded on the Q sort scoring table and groups participants who share a particular viewpoint into different factors. PQMethod generates reports and provides various outputs to aid interpretation, such as correlations among

Q methodology  61 Q-sorts, factor loadings, statement factor scores, factor arrays, distinguishing statements for each factor and consensus statements across factors. Factor analysis is fundamental to Q data analysis. Unlike R analysis, which is commonly used in statistical packages such as SPSS, the variables in Q studies are the people performing the Q-sorts, not the Q-sample statements. While the results generated by R factor analysis only show the correlations of variables, Q helps determine the clusters of people sharing particular traits, and the number of underlying dimensions on which the traits cluster together (McKeown & Thomas 1988). Factors in Q are “themselves generalisations of attitudes held by persons defining a given factor” (McKeown & Thomas 1988:37). Through factor analysis, opinions are aggregated, reduced and categorised by types of persons. Persons significantly associated with a given factor share a common perspective and are grouped into one and the same factor. Those who correlate highly with a particular factor are designated as the “defining” Q sorts. For a factor to be valid, at least two Q sorts must load significantly upon it (Watts & Stenner 2012). An individual’s positive loading on a factor indicates his or her shared subjectivity with others on that factor, while negative loadings are signs of a rejection of the factor’s perspective (McKeown & Thomas 1988). Step 6: Resulting factors were then interpreted. The final stage of a Q study is to analyse the resulting patterns to produce a set of shared views about the issue. For each factor, a “defining” or “ideal” Q sort can be extracted, which represents how a hypothetical individual loading 1.0 (100%) on that factor and 0 on every other factor would order the statements. This idealised Q sort forms the basis for the interpretation of each factor (Brown 1980; McKeown & Thomas 1988). The constructs of contextuality and operant subjectivity discussed previously apply throughout the procedures of Q, even at the stage of statistical analysis and results interpretation. Due to the way in which respondents rank the Q statements, the rating of one statement can explain the rating of another, in that Q methodology can reveal the areas of consensus and opposition among different factors contextually (Brown 1986). In the reconstructed Q sorts representing each factor, one needs to look at how the statements are placed relative to one another and compare and contrast the positions of the statements. In doing so, the researcher needs to look at factor arrays, which show how a Factor 1 and Factor 2 participant typically rates. For instance, a statement such as “English is more valued in China than the Chinese language” is confirmed, but such confirmation says little about how English is valued. The statement contains a condensation of potential information which Q methodology can uncover in relation to other statements in the concourse. In the result reports generated by PQMethod, factor scores are computed as z-scores but converted into whole numbers, to facilitate comparisons between factor arrays. These scores can be compared to determine what Q-sample items are placed significantly differently and thus distinguish any two factors (Brown 1980). According to the average score for each statement for the defining Q sorts, results are always presented in the form of a narrative for each factor, which can be treated as discourse, and the place to begin explicating the results is at the two

62  Q methodology poles (strongly agree and strongly disagree) (Dryzek & Berejikian 1993; Watts & Stenner 2005). The next chapter presents the Q sort results of the 87 participants in the Beijing fieldwork.

Note 1 For a discussion of the shortcomings of conventional questionnaires, see, for example, McKeown and Thomas (1988) and Dryzek (1994).

5 Q sort results An overview of existing discourses about English and “being Chinese”

Using the procedures in the previous chapter, Q methodology has been adopted to identify and reveal types of persons within each of the four participant groups: university students, high school students, teachers and parents. It not only uncovers and facilitates a more comprehensive understanding of the unique and diverse perspectives on English within each participant group, but also demonstrates the similarities and differences among the four groups.

5.1 Q sort results The completed Q sorts constitute the conceptual images of respondents’ feelings and opinions and other elements of subjectivity. Meaningful factors extracted in the factor analysis of the 87 participants’ Q sorts inform the reconstruction of discourses of English representing the different ways to conceptualise the roles of English and its related issues. For each factor, an idealised Q-sort is computed, and the statements characterising each factor are presented in the form of a narrative (Dryzek & Berejikian 1993; Watts & Stenner 2005). In reconstructing the narrative or discourse, special attention was paid to the most salient statements and the discriminating items. 5.1.1 University students Among the 25 university students, four factors are discovered without any bipolar1 factors. This suggests the presence of a consensus on several issues among the four discourses. Table 5.1 shows some noticeable viewpoints shared among the university students. It is agreed across the four discourses that Chinese people not only need foreign languages, which serve as a channel to understand the world in the ­twenty-first century, but they also need to be open-minded. Although English might be a key to Western civilisation for Chinese people, participants all disagree that they should only use English to communicate with the outside and that it is the only means to be a part of the world. In terms of the impacts of English, the four discourses are rated rather neutrally and slightly negatively on statements 20, 21 and 23, indicating that from the university students’ perspectives, English does not play a significant role in facilitating the economic and social development of the country and the home town. The language’s impact on improving self-confidence

64  Q sort results Table 5.1  Commonalities among discourses of university students Statement/Discourse

A B C D

35 Learning and speaking English has become a trend for the public. 23 Learning English well can contribute to the home town. 4 For the Chinese, English is a key to opening up Western civilisation. 21 I become more confident when I see my improvement in English. 49 There is no contradiction between learning English and learning Chinese. 18 Chinese in the twenty-first century not only need foreign languages, but also need to be open-minded. 17 If we want to be part of the world, we should only use English for international communication. 6 Foreign languages should become a channel for us to understand the world. 20 For a long time, English education has taken up a lot of human, material and financial resources. Its role in facilitating economic and social development is irreplaceable.

-2 -2 -1 -1 0 -1 -1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 -1 0 0 1 2 1 4 4 3 3 -2 -3 -4 -4 3 4 2 4 0 0 0 0

is also not salient for the university students. As learning and speaking English has not really become a trend for the Chinese public, the contradiction between learning English and learning Chinese does not seem to be a concern. There are also differences between the four discourses, which demonstrate the ways in which the university students conceptualise English and its related issues, and the extent to which these issues are significant or insignificant for them. Each of these discourses is named in a way that reflects its core ideas (Tables 5.2–5.5). Discourse A (Table 5.2): The rankings of statements 37, 38, 40 and 41 clearly show that this university student group advocates for the Chinese language in encountering the dominance of English. They perceive that the mother tongue, Chinese, remains the most important language, and Chinese people should be determined to make Chinese as strong as English. The number of people who can speak English in China will not exceed the population of all English-speaking countries in the world. Despite advocating for Chinese, English-for-all Chinese advocates agree rather strongly that English is playing a role in economic globalisation and communication. The widespread use of the language following the rise of the United Kingdom and the United States has made it useful, and it is not learnt for exams only, without any actual application. English-for-all is not a waste, and learning English does not only benefit a few people. English-for-all Chinese advocates do not think that there is an emphasis on grammatical accuracy in the different exams in high schools and universities. They believe that English education should aim to enhance teachers’ quality and their proficiency in and knowledge of the English language and culture. In addition to foreign languages, Chinese people also need to be open-minded. Like Discourse D, these English-for-all Chinese advocates disagree most strongly about the negative impacts of English. For example, from their perspectives, English has not had an impact on the time that students have to learn Chinese; it has not monopolised studying, the world and job markets; there is no

Q sort results  65 Table 5.2  University students: Discourse A Discourse A: English-for-all Chinese advocates 7 We learn foreign languages only for exams and without actual application. 13 The impacts of English are enormous, following the rise of the United Kingdom and the United States. Especially in this era of economic globalisation and information technology, English is used widely, everywhere. 18 Chinese in the twenty-first century not only need foreign languages, but also need to be open-minded. 15 English education should aim to improve teachers’ personal quality and knowledge of the culture and customs of English-speaking countries. 26 The main purpose of learning languages is communication and application. If it becomes a criterion for school admissions, is introduced without considering children’s abilities and causes a huge financial burden for parents, what, then, is the real benefit of learning a language, except to benefit only a small portion of the population? 28 When speaking of “saving”, everyone immediately thinks of saving water, saving electricity, saving food. But the waste produced by English-for-all and so on is neglected. 30 There are different types of English examinations in high schools and universities. Grammatical accuracy has almost become a technical demand. 33 In the near future, the number of people who can speak English in China will exceed the population of all English-speaking countries in the world. 37 It is important to learn a foreign language, but “ABC” can never replace the “Three Character Classic”. 38 China has become stronger and is rising internationally. Under these circumstances, we should be proud of the long tradition of our mother tongue and even become determined to make it “walk towards” the world, as English has. 40 For historical reasons, there are many English-speaking countries in the world. If we want to “face the world” and have “contact with the world”, it is essential to learn English. However, in every country, the native language should be dominant. The citizens of every country should first learn the native language. 41 For Chinese people, the Chinese language, as the mother tongue, is definitely much more important than English. 43 English has taken up time that students would otherwise have spent learning Chinese. 46 The society and people are all immersed in English. English seems to have become a firm prerequisite for getting a degree and career promotion and is a criterion for talent selection. On the one hand, the mother tongue has been polluted, and on the other, English has monopolised the world. 48 We are all busy with foreign languages and forget our mother tongue.

-3 -2 -4 1 3 -2 -2 2

4 4 3 3 3 1 2 4 -3 1 0 3

-3 2 -1 -1 -3 0 -1 2 -4 -4 0 0 3 3 1 -3 4 0 2 -1

3 1 4 3

4 1 3 -2 -3 -1 -1 -3 -4 2 1 -4

-4 -1 -2 -3

66  Q sort results Table 5.3  University students: Discourse B Discourse B: English-for-some neutralists 1 Students have to learn English, regardless of their disciplines. 3 English is the most important communication tool in the world today. 6 Foreign languages should become a channel for us to understand the world. 18 Chinese in the twenty-first century not only need foreign languages, but also need to be open-minded. 9 The importance of foreign languages is unquestionable. However, that doesn’t mean they are important to everyone, any time. 10 Many people have spent a lot of time and money on learning a foreign language and, in the end, they don’t really need to use the language. 11 It has become a common phenomenon that people learn English when they actually cannot put it to use. They are also incapable of using it. 14 English education is an important part of basic education; therefore, it has a responsibility for improving personal quality and advancement. 29 Non-English speakers originally made up a majority of the world’s population. But under the current dominance of English, non-English speakers have become a minority. Their language has also become an “inferior language”. 31 “College English” is not only a language course but also a “venue” for the transmission and competition of different cultures and thoughts. 32 To teach students ethnic traditions, national morality and socialism, it is especially important to incorporate nationalism and views and values of life into English classes. 33 In the near future, the number of people who can speak English in China will exceed the population of all English-speaking countries in the world. 37 It is important to learn a foreign language, but “ABC” can never replace the “Three Character Classic”. 47 In modern China’s educational system, primary school students are already learning English. In some preschools, English or other foreign languages are even taught. It would be terrible if children can’t speak good Chinese when they grow up. 53 Chinese is a language of the soul, and English is a tool.

-1 -4 -3 0 1 3 -2 0 3 4 2 4 4 4 3 3 2 3 1 4 1 4 0 3 -2 3 -2 2 1 -3 1 1 -1 -3 -3 0

-1 -4 -2 -1 -2 -3 1 1 -4 -4 0 0 3 3 1 -3 0 3 1 -2

0 -3 1 -1

academic or financial burden caused by learning English, and the mother tongue has not been polluted. The dominance of English has not interfered with the learning, preservation and status of the mother tongue, Chinese, as revealed by the rankings of statements 43, 46 and 48 Discourse B (Table 5.3): English-for-some neutralists emphasise the neutral role of English, without strongly advocating for either Chinese or English. Their neutral attitudes towards the languages have led them to think that we cannot classify Chinese as a language of the soul and English as a tool. As a student holding this perspective states, “[Chinese and English] are important for different people. English is also a language of soul for other countries” (“英语也是其他 国家的灵魂”). Although English is the most important communication tool in the world, ­English-for-some neutralists perceive that not everyone and not all students need the language. Even though many people have unnecessarily spent a lot of time

Q sort results  67 Table 5.4  University students: Discourse C Discourse C: Non-contradictory Chinese advocates 1 Students have to learn English, regardless of their disciplines. 7 We learn foreign languages only for exams and without actual application. 8 For many people, there is no use in learning English. 12 In many situations, people learn English as a necessity. From this perspective, it creates language inequality. 17 If we want to be part of the world, we should only use English for international communication. 18 Chinese in the twenty-first century not only need foreign languages, but also need to be open-minded. 19 If children do not have the certificate of public English examination, they essentially have no competitiveness. 22 More people are learning English. This is good for the country. 29 Non-English speakers originally made up a majority of the world’s population. But under the current dominance of English, non-English speakers have become a minority. Their language has also become an “inferior language”. 36 After entry into the WTO and winning the bid to host the 2008 Beijing Olympics, mastering English and strengthening communication with the outside is becoming a demand for the youth. 40 For historical reasons, there are many English-speaking countries in the world. If we want to “face the world” and have “contact with the world”, it is essential to learn English. However, in every country, the native language should be dominant. The citizens of every country should first learn the native language. 41 For Chinese people, the Chinese language, as the mother tongue, is definitely much more important than English. 42 The creativity of the Chinese language is comparable to that of any language in the world. We can’t blindly adore English as a “to-be world language”. Many aspects of English cannot compete with Chinese. 50 Using English does not necessarily mean you don’t love the country. The problem is, we can’t encourage foreign languages at the expense of the mother tongue. 52 Advocacy for writing in the mother tongue does not mean opposition to English and resistance to outside culture. Rather, it emphasises language and cultural equality. 54 If we say English is a tool for international communication, then Chinese is our personal foundation and the foundation of our identity. The former is an addition and a tool, and the latter is a foundation and guide.

-1 -4 -3 0 -3 -2 -4 1 -1 0 -3 2 -1 -1 -3 0 -2 -3 -4 -4 4 4 3 3 0 -1 -4 -4 0 -1 -3 -2 -1 -3 -3 0

2 0 3 -1 3 1 4 3

4 1 3 -2 2 0 4 2 1 2 3 -2 -1 2 3 0 -1 0 4 -2

and money on learning the language, they still cannot use it. For this reason, the number of people who can speak English in China will not exceed the population of all English-speaking countries in the world. English education is not an important part of the basic education responsible for personal quality and advancement. English-for-some neutralists perceive that English education has brought negative impacts. For instance, children are unable to speak Mandarin properly, since they study English too early. They think that literary Chinese is important and will not be replaced.

68  Q sort results Table 5.5  University students: Discourse D Discourse D: English benefits a few, mother-tongue-education antagonists 6 Foreign languages should become a channel for us to understand the world. 9 The importance of foreign languages is unquestionable. However, that doesn’t mean that they are important to everyone, any time. 10 Many people have spent a lot of time and money on learning a foreign language and, in the end, they don’t really need to use the language. 15 English education should aim to improve teachers’ personal quality and knowledge of the culture and customs of English-speaking countries. 17 If we want to be part of the world, we should only use English for international communication. 18 Chinese in the twenty-first century not only need foreign languages, but also need to be open-minded. 19 If children do not have the certificate of public English examination, they essentially have no competitiveness. 25 People’s talents and abilities have been our criteria for employment. However, career promotion is now tied up closely with foreign language examinations, which has caused much frustration and to a certain extent, facilitated the desire for immediate success. 26 The main purpose of learning languages is communication and application. If it becomes a criterion for school admissions, is introduced without considering the abilities of children and causes a huge financial burden for parents, what, then, is the real benefit of learning a language, except to benefit only a small portion of the population? 37 It is important to learn a foreign language, but “ABC” can never replace the “Three Character Classic”. 39 There seems to be greater emphasis on English education. English is taught from preschool and has almost become an “imperialist language”. It is time to advocate for mother-tongue education. 40 For historical reasons, there are many English-speaking countries in the world. If we want to “face the world” and have “contact with the world”, it is essential to learn English. However, in every country, the native language should be dominant. The citizens of every country should first learn the native language. 43 English has taken up time that students would otherwise have spent learning Chinese. 46 The society and people are all immersed in English. English seems to have become a firm prerequisite for getting a degree and career promotion and is a criterion for talent selection. On the one hand, the mother tongue has been polluted, and on the other, English has monopolised the world. 48 We are all busy with foreign languages and forget our mother tongue. 51 In recent years, China’s economic growth has accelerated, and many countries have also increased their economic dealings with China. This has led to the rise of “Chinese fever”. Some people even think that the Chinese language will become a new “world language”, alongside English.

3 4 2 4 2 3 1 4 1 4 0 3 3 1 2 4 -2 -3 -4 -4 4 4 3 3 0 -1 -4 -4 0 2 0 3

-3 1 0 3

3 3 1 -3 1 1 0 -3 3 1 4 3

-3 -1 -1 -3 -4 2 1 -4

-4 -1 -2 -3 -2 -2 2 -3

Q sort results  69 Due to their advocacy for being open-minded, English-for-some neutralists stress that a language classroom is not a venue for the transmission and competition of different cultures and thoughts. Furthermore, Chinese ideas should not be incorporated into English classes. Discourse C (Table 5.4): What is distinctive about this account is its emphasis on the non-contradictory relations between Chinese and English and their distinctive roles. It displays less concern about the positive and negative impacts of English. For non-­contradictory Chinese advocates, English is becoming an important tool for connecting with the world, and after entry into the WTO and winning the bid to host the 2008 Beijing Olympics, mastering English and strengthening communication with the outside has become a demand for youth. For Chinese people, however, the mother tongue, Chinese, is still the most important foundation for their personal identity and should take priority. English is not the only means to become part of the world. From the perspectives of non-contradictory Chinese advocates, language inequality does not exist. They agree rather strongly that Chinese people need to be open-minded and emphasise language and culture equality in general. They do not blindly reject things associated with English or “foreigners”, even though anything Chinese, including the mother tongue, is more important. The Chinese language is also comparable to English in many aspects. Non-contradictory Chinese advocates perceive that English is useful for many people, not just for exam purposes. This, however, does not mean that more people and all students need to learn English. An English certificate is also not needed to enhance children’s competitiveness, and using English does not mean not loving the country. Advocacy for writing in the mother tongue does not mean opposition to English or resistance to outside culture. Discourse D (Table 5.5): This university student group stresses that foreign languages should be a channel to understand the world, but it is not important for everyone, and children do not need English certificates to be competitive. To become part of the world, English is not the only means. English benefits a few, mother-tongue-education antagonists display some concerns about the negative impacts of English. While English has not polluted the mother tongue, and students still have time to learn the Chinese language, English learning has caused academic and financial burdens and facilitated a desire for immediate success. If English becomes a school admission criterion, is introduced without considering children’s abilities and causes a huge financial burden for parents, it only benefits a few people. There is also a possibility that Chinese literary work could be replaced by English. As explained by some students, this is because Chinese literary work is not useful in modern times. In addition to learning foreign languages, they believe that Chinese people also need to be open-minded. As compared to the previous three groups, English benefits a few, mother-­ tongue-education antagonists most strongly rate the need to improve a teacher’s quality and basic knowledge about the English language and culture. This is also the only group that negatively rates the need to advocate for mother-tongue education. As some university students in this group explain, without mother-tongue education, children will not forget the mother tongue and can still speak it well,

70  Q sort results because they live in a Chinese-speaking environment. The Chinese language is still more important for Chinese people, but it will not become a new “world language”, alongside English. 5.1.2 High school students Among the 20 high school student participants, five factors and therefore discourses about English are found. There are no bipolar factors among the high school students, which means that they agree on some issues. Discourse D has the lowest correlation with the other four discourses. Below are some similarities (Table 5.6).

Table 5.6  Commonalities among discourses of high school students Statement/Discourse

A B C D E

33 In the near future, the number of people who can speak English in China will exceed the population of all English-speaking countries in the world. 4 For the Chinese, English is a key to opening up Western civilisation. 25 People’s talents and abilities have been our criteria for employment. However, career promotion is now tied up closely with foreign language examinations, which has caused much frustration and to a certain extent, facilitated the desire for immediate success. 36 After entry into the WTO and winning the bid to host the 2008 Beijing Olympics, mastering English and strengthening communication with the outside is becoming a demand for the youth. 15 English education should aim to improve teachers’ personal quality and knowledge of the culture and customs of Englishspeaking countries. 31 “College English” is not only a language course but also a “venue” for the transmission and competition of different cultures and thoughts. 22 More people are learning English. This is good for the country. 8 For many people, there is no use in learning English. 29 Non-English speakers originally made up a majority of the world’s population. But under the current dominance of English, nonEnglish speakers have become a minority. Their language has also become an “inferior language”. 42 The creativity of the Chinese language is comparable to that of any language in the world. We can’t blindly adore English as a “to-be world language”. Many aspects of English cannot compete with Chinese. 43 English has taken up time that students would otherwise have spent learning Chinese. 20 For a long time, English education has taken up a lot of human, material and financial resources. Its role in facilitating economic and social development is irreplaceable. 14 English education is an important part of basic education; therefore, it has a responsibility for improving personal quality and advancement.

-2 -1 -2 -2 -1 1 0 1 2 1 1 0 1 1 1

1 3 2 1 2 2 1 0 2 1 0 -1 -1 -1 -2 -1 0 -1 1 0 -2 -4 -3 -3 -3 -2 -2 -2 -2 -4

3 1 2 0 1

-3 -2 -4 -4 -2 -1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 -1

Q sort results  71 Generally, high school students perceive that English is of use for many people and English is a key to opening up Western civilisation. After China’s entry into the WTO and winning the bid to host the Beijing Olympics, mastering English to strengthen communication with the outside has become a demand for youth. However, the number of people who can speak English in China will not exceed the population of all English-speaking countries in the world. English does not really play a role in facilitating economic and social development, and thus more people learning English does not really affect the country. Foreign language exams might facilitate the desire for immediate success, but learning English does not take up time that students would otherwise spend learning Chinese. Non-English speakers will not become a minority group, and their languages are not inferior. With its creativity and beauty, Chinese is comparable to other languages, including English. Whether English should be a part of basic education responsible for improving personal quality is not an issue of concern for high school students, but it is true that English education should focus on improving teachers’ quality and knowledge of the English language and culture. While learning about English culture is necessary for better English proficiency, high school students tend to think that a “College English” classroom should not be a venue for the competition of different languages and cultures. There are also very clear differences between the five discourses among high school students, as outlined in Tables 5.7–5.11. Discourse A (Table 5.7): This perspective is characterised by its emphasis on the importance of the mother tongue, Chinese, and the practical nature of English as a communication tool that does not provide any particular benefits. For English-as-a-communication-­channel Chinese advocates, Chinese people also needed to be open-minded, apart from needing foreign languages. They disagree strongly that children need English certificates to be competitive. However, learning English would be useful in some ways. English is not learnt purely for exams. Learning and speaking English has not become a trend for the Chinese public. It does not bring benefits such as better jobs and improved living conditions. The strong rankings of 37, 38, 39, 40 and 42 indicate the advocacy for Chinese of students who adopt this perspective. Chinese is a beautiful language and can thus compete with other languages, including English. Literary Chinese can never be replaced, and we should advocate for mother-tongue education. Although English is important for connecting with the world, Chinese is still the most important language for Chinese people, and Chinese people should be determined to make it strong. This high school student group thinks that there is a distinction between English and Chinese, in that English is a tool, and Chinese is a foundation for their identity. Learning English does not take up time that students would spend learning the Chinese language or affect the mother tongue. English learning is not more valued than Chinese learning. Discourse B (Table 5.8): Chinese-English equality advocates stress that Chinese people should be determined to make the Chinese language as dominant as English, because the need for English, which is widely used because of the power of the United States and United Kingdom, has somehow created language

72  Q sort results Table 5.7  High school students: Discourse A Discourse A: English-as-a-communication-channel Chinese advocates 6 Foreign languages should become a channel for us to understand the world. 7 We learn foreign languages only for exams and without actual application. 17 If we want to be part of the world, we should only use English for international communication. 18 Chinese in the twenty-first century not only need foreign languages, but also need to be open-minded. 19 If children do not have the certificate of public English examination, they essentially have no competitiveness. 24 English can help me find a better job and improve my quality of life. 35 Learning and speaking English has become a trend for the public. 37 It is important to learn a foreign language, but “ABC” can never replace the “Three Character Classic”. 38 China has become stronger and is rising internationally. Under these circumstances, we should be proud of the long tradition of our mother tongue and even become determined to make it “walk towards” the world, as English has. 39 There seems to be greater emphasis on English education. English is taught from preschool and has almost become an “imperialist language”. It is time to advocate for mother-tongue education. 40 For historical reasons, there are many English-speaking countries in the world. If we want to “face the world” and have “contact with the world”, it is essential to learn English. However, in every country, the native language should be dominant. The citizens of every country should first learn the native language. 42 The creativity of the Chinese language is comparable to that of any language in the world. We can’t blindly adore English as a “to-be world language”. Many aspects of English cannot compete with Chinese. 43 English has taken up time that students would otherwise have spent learning Chinese. 45 Learning English is more valued than learning Chinese, for the Chinese in China. 48 We are all busy with foreign languages and forget our mother tongue. 54 If we say English is a tool for international communication, then Chinese is our personal foundation and the foundation of our identity. The former is an addition and tool, and the latter is a foundation and guide.

4 0 3 0 -1 -4 -2 -3 3 0 -3 -4 -3 1 -4 4 4 1 1 4 -4 -3 -1 -4 -3 -3 0 1 0 2 -3 -1 2 -3 -2 3 0 4 -2 2 4 4 3 -2 4

3 2 0 -1 1 3 2 0 -1 3

3 1 2 0 1 -3 -2 -4 -4 -2 -4 -3 -1 3 -3 -3 -4 -1 0 0 3 -3 -2 0 -1

inequality. Discourse B represents the only high school student group that agrees (rather strongly) that the need to learn English to communicate has created inequality. They perceive that English for all is not a waste. It is useful for many people, and all students, regardless of their disciplines, need to learn English. However, this does not mean that children need English certificates to be competitive. As the country is opening up after entry into the WTO and winning the bid to host the Beijing Olympics, there is a demand for youth to learn English, which represents the increasing openness of the country. However, English is not the only means for Chinese to be part of the world. In addition to learning foreign languages, Chinese people need to be open-minded.

Q sort results  73 Table 5.8  High school students: Discourse B Discourse B: Chinese-English equality advocates 1 Students have to learn English, regardless of their disciplines. 2 The number of people learning English is increasing. This represents the increasing openness of my country. 8 For many people, there is no use in learning English. 12 In many situations, people learn English as a necessity. From this perspective, it creates language inequality. 13 The impacts of English are enormous, following the rise of the United Kingdom and the United States. Especially in this era of economic globalisation and information technology, English is used widely, everywhere. 17 If we want to be part of the world, we should only use English for international communication. 18 Chinese in the twenty-first century not only need foreign languages, but also need to be open-minded. 19 If children do not have the certificate of public English examination, they essentially have no competitiveness. 28 When speaking of “saving”, everyone immediately thinks of saving water, saving electricity, saving food. But the waste produced by English-for-all and so on is neglected. 32 To teach students ethnic traditions, national morality and socialism, it is especially important to incorporate nationalism and views and values of life into English classes. 36 After entry into the WTO and winning the bid to host the 2008 Beijing Olympics, mastering English and strengthening communication with the outside is becoming a demand for the youth. 38 China has become stronger and is rising internationally. Under these circumstances, we should be proud of the long tradition of our mother tongue and even become determined to make it “walk towards” the world, as English has. 44 Some primary schools have started to use English as a medium of instruction. It is true that the students’ English has improved, but how about Chinese literary studies and poems? Perhaps they have already been obscured by the 26-letter alphabet. 45 Learning English is more valued than learning Chinese, for the Chinese in China. 48 We are all busy with foreign languages and forget our mother tongue. 54 If we say English is a tool for international communication, then Chinese is our personal foundation and the foundation of our identity. The former is an addition and tool, and the latter is a foundation and guide.

2 3 -4 -1 -4 0 3 4 -2 -3 -2 -4 -3 -3 -3 0 3 -2 -4 -1 -2 4 0 4 -2

-3 -4 -3 1 -4 4 4 1 1 4 -4 -3 -1 -4 -3 -2 -3 0 -3 -3 1 3 0 0 3 1 3 2 1 2 4 4 3 -2 4

2 -3 2 -1 1

-4 -3 -1 3 -3 -3 -4 -1 0 0 3 -3 -2 0 -1

Chinese-English equality advocates believe that one cannot make such a distinction between Chinese as a foundation and English as a tool because, as one student explains, Chinese and English are equally important. The other statements in the “non-contradictory” category also receive rather neutral ratings, very possibly for the reason that Chinese and English cannot be compared. Although English creates language inequality, there is no damage to the Chinese language. People still value learning Chinese more and speak the mother tongue well, and English has not replaced Chinese literary studies. It is important to incorporate traditional Chinese ideas and socialism into English classes.

74  Q sort results Table 5.9  High school students: Discourse C Discourse C: English-for-self-strengthening Chinese advocates 1 Students have to learn English, regardless of their disciplines. 2 The number of people learning English is increasing. This represents the increasing openness of my country. 3 English is the most important communication tool in the world today. 5 We learn English to acquire the advancement of the West, so as to protect the benefits of the country and people! 6 Foreign languages should become a channel for us to understand the world. 7 We learn foreign languages only for exams and without actual application. 8 For many people, there is no use in learning English. 9 The importance of foreign languages is unquestionable. However, that doesn’t mean they are important to everyone, any time. 11 It has become a common phenomenon that people learn English when they actually cannot put it to use. They are also incapable of using it. 16 English no longer belongs to the British alone but is the asset and major communication tool for all humans. 17 If we want to be part of the world, we should only use English for international communication. 34 English has become an international language. Many people can speak and write English. 37 It is important to learn a foreign language, but “ABC” can never replace the “Three Character Classic”. 38 China has become stronger and is rising internationally. Under these circumstances, we should be proud of the long tradition of our mother tongue and even become determined to make it “walk towards” the world, as English has. 43 English has taken up time that students would otherwise have spent learning Chinese. 46 The society and people are all immersed in English. English seems to have become a firm prerequisite for getting a degree and career promotion and is a criterion for talent selection. On the one hand, the mother tongue has been polluted, and on the other, English has monopolised the world.

2 3 -4 -1 -4 0 3 4 -2 -3 -1 2 -3 2 0 0 -2 4 0 0 4 0 3 0 -1 -4 -2 -3 3 0 -2 -4 -3 -3 -3 -2 1 3 -3 0 -1 1 -3 3 -1 0 0 3 3 0 -3 -4 -3 1 -4 -1 1 3 2 2 3 0 4 -2 2 4 4 3 -2 4

-3 -2 -4 -4 -2 -1 -1 -4 -2 0

Discourse C (Table 5.9): What is distinctive about this account is its “English for self-strengthening” views. English is an international language that many people, not just the British, can speak and write. The use of English is advocated, to understand the world and learn from the West, to protect the country. For the high school students holding this perspective, English represents the openness of the country. If people learn it, it would be useful in some ways, not just for exams. Nevertheless, it is not important for all students and everyone, nor is it the most important communication tool in the world today. English is not the only means for the Chinese to be a part of the world. English-for-self-strengthening Chinese advocates also believe that English has not affected the Chinese language. Students still have time to learn Chinese, and literary Chinese can never be replaced by English. English has not monopolised

Q sort results  75 Table 5.10  High school students: Discourse D Discourse D: English is universal and more valued, although Chinese and English are not contradictory 7 We learn foreign languages only for exams and without actual application. 8 For many people, there is no use in learning English. 9 The importance of foreign languages is unquestionable. However, that doesn’t mean they are important to everyone, any time. 11 It has become a common phenomenon that people learn English when they actually cannot put it to use. They are also incapable of using it. 12 In many situations, people learn English as a necessity. From this perspective, it creates language inequality. 13 The impacts of English are enormous, following the rise of the United Kingdom and the United States. Especially in this era of economic globalisation and information technology, English is used widely, everywhere. 16 English no longer belongs to the British alone but is the asset and major communication tool for all humans. 19 If children do not have the certificate of public English examination, they essentially have no competitiveness. 28 When speaking of “saving”, everyone immediately thinks of saving water, saving electricity, saving food. But the waste produced by English-for-all and so on is neglected. 30 There are different types of English examinations in high schools and universities. Grammatical accuracy has almost become a technical demand. 35 Learning and speaking English has become a trend for the public. 41 For Chinese people, the Chinese language, as the mother tongue, is definitely much more important than English. 43 English has taken up time that students would otherwise have spent learning Chinese. 45 Learning English is more valued than learning Chinese, for the Chinese in China. 49 There is no contradiction between learning English and learning Chinese. 50 Using English does not necessarily mean you don’t love the country. The problem is, we can’t encourage foreign languages at the expense of the mother tongue.

-4 -2 -3 3 0 -2 -4 -3 -3 -3 -2 1 3 -3 0 -1 1 -3 3 -1 0 3 -2 -4 -1 -2 4 0 4 -2

0 0 3 3 0 -4 -3 -1 -4 -3 -2 -3 0 -3 -3 0 -2 2 4 0 -3 -1 2 -3 -2 0 2 0 -3 1 -3 -2 -4 -4 -2 -4 -3 -1 3 -3 1 -1 1 4 -1 2 0 -1 3 0

study, the world and job markets. It also has not polluted the mother tongue. With the growing international status of China, these students also advocate for the Chinese language, which needs to be made as dominant as English. Discourse D (Table 5.10): Students adopting this perspective place a higher emphasis on the spread and usefulness of English and the relationship between Chinese and English. English is now widely used, because of the power of the United Kingdom and the United States, and has become a universal communication tool. In the education sector, there are many different English exams which make grammatical competence a technical demand. In such a case, people just learn it for exams without actual application, and there is no use for the knowledge after learning it. Children do not need English certificates to be competitive. Even

76  Q sort results Table 5.11  High school students: Discourse E Discourse E: English-with-negative-impacts-but-useful Chinese advocates 1 Students have to learn English, regardless of their disciplines. 2 The number of people learning English is increasing. This represents the increasing openness of my country. 8 For many people, there is no use in learning English. 17 If we want to be part of the world, we should only use English for international communication. 18 Chinese in the twenty-first century not only need foreign languages, but also need to be open-minded. 19 If children do not have the certificate of public English examination, they essentially have no competitiveness. 21 I become more confident when I see my improvement in English. 23 Learning English well can contribute to the home town. 26 The main purpose of learning languages is communication and application. If it becomes a criterion for school admissions, is introduced without considering children’s abilities and causes a huge financial burden for parents, what, then, is the real benefit of learning a language, except to benefit only a small portion of the population? 28 When speaking of “saving”, everyone immediately thinks of saving water, saving electricity, saving food. But the waste produced by English-for-all and so on is neglected. 29 Non-English speakers originally made up a majority of the world’s population. But under the current dominance of English, non-English speakers have become a minority. Their language has also become an “inferior language”. 32 To teach students ethnic traditions, national morality and socialism, it is especially important to incorporate nationalism and views and values of life into English classes. 38 China has become stronger and is rising internationally. Under these circumstances, we should be proud of the long tradition of our mother tongue and even become determined to make it “walk towards” the world, as English has. 40 For historical reasons, there are many English-speaking countries in the world. If we want to “face the world” and have “contact with the world”, it is essential to learn English. However, in every country, the native language should be dominant. The citizens of every country should first learn the native language. 45 Learning English is more valued than learning Chinese, for the Chinese in China. 47 In modern China’s educational system, primary school students are already learning English. In some preschools, English or other foreign languages are even taught. It would be terrible if children can’t speak good Chinese when they grow up. 52 Advocacy for writing in the mother tongue does not mean opposition to English and resistance to outside culture. Rather, it emphasises language and cultural equality.

2 3 -4 -1 -4 0 3 4 -2 -3 -2 -4 -3 -3 -3 -3 -4 -3 1 -4 4 4 1 1 4 -4 -3 -1 -4 -3 0 2 2 0 3 1 1 0 2 -3 1 -2 1 -1 4

-2 -3 0 -3 -3 -2 -2 -2 -2 -4

1 3 0 0 3 4 4 3 -2 4

3 2 0 -1 3

-4 -3 -1 3 -3 0 0 -1 0 3

2 -1 1 2 3

Q sort results  77 though learning and speaking English has not become a trend for the public, English for all is not a waste and is still useful for many people. In many situations, people learn English as a necessity, but this does not create language inequality. Among the five high school student discourse groups, Discourse D students most strongly agree that Chinese and English are not contradictory. Using English does not mean not loving the country. Interestingly, this group are the only students that rate statement 45 most positively and statement 41 negatively. They agree that English learning is more valued than Chinese learning in China and disagree that the Chinese language is more important than English for Chinese people. English has not taken up time that students would otherwise spend learning Chinese. One student who loaded significantly on this discourse points out, “Some people emphasise more English, say, in our school, there are exams on English, Maths and Commerce, but there is more emphasis on the results of English and Maths. It feels like it’s okay to just do well in Chinese” (“就是也是有 一些人 就是更重视英语 就譬如我们学校现在学习 一些学校考试的时候 是 考英语跟数学或者是商科都考 但是更重视英语跟数学的成绩 语文就是好 像考得好就成那种感觉了”). For the high school students holding this perspective, English is more valued than Chinese. Discourse E (Table 5.11): This perspective is characteristic of its agreement with the negative impacts English brings to the society as well as the perspective’s advocacy for the Chinese language. Although English is useful for many people, and English for all is not a waste, not all students need to learn English. Without English exam certificates, children will still be competitive. We need English to connect with the world, but it is not the only means for Chinese to become part of the world. In English classrooms, this high school student group, as with Discourse B, believes that it is necessary to incorporate nationalism and traditional values. Languages other than English are not inferior, and advocacy for the mother tongue does not mean opposition to English and outside culture. Chinese people should be open-minded and, at the same time, be determined to make Chinese as strong as English. For English-with-negative-impacts-but-useful Chinese advocates, English does not symbolise the increasing openness of the country and brings harm to the society and Chinese language. Chinese people do not value learning English more, but in today’s education, children start learning English at an early age, even in preschool. When they grow up, they cannot speak Chinese properly. The Chinese language is still the most important for Chinese people so they should master it well first. Even though English learning also causes a financial burden for parents and only benefits a small portion of the population, it has brought some personal benefits for these students, such as enhanced confidence. This group is the only high school student group that disagrees that learning English can contribute to home town development. 5.1.3 Teachers Four discourses about English are extracted from the Q sorts of the 23 teachers. Discourse C has the lowest correlation with the other three discourses, and within Discourse C, there is one bipolar case, meaning that two of the teacher

78  Q sort results Table 5.12  Commonalities among discourses of teachers Statement/Discourse

A B C D

7 We learn foreign languages only for exams and without actual application. 21 I become more confident when I see my improvement in English. 23 Learning English well can contribute to the home town. 29 Non-English speakers originally made up a majority of the world’s population. But under the current dominance of English, non-English speakers have become a minority. Their language has also become an “inferior language”.

-4 -1 -1 -1

-4 -1 0 -1

-3 -2 -2 1

-4 0 -1 0

participants have contrasting viewpoints. If the positive loaders agree with the item rankings and overall item configuration for that factor, the negative loaders are agreeing with an entirely reversed configuration, and hence, they are advocating an opposed viewpoint. If the positive loaders have ranked an item at +4, the negative loaders have ranked the same item at -4. The four discourses share some commonalities, as stated in Table 5.12. Teacher participants seem to have more consensus on issues related to English than student groups do. They disagree strongly that learning foreign languages is only for exam purposes, without actual application. Learning English does not seem to improve self-confidence or contribute to home town development. They are also neutral about whether non-English speakers and languages other than English would become a minority. Tables 5.13–5.16 present the differences between the four teacher discourses. Discourse A (Table 5.13): The strong positive ratings of statements 37–42 indicate that teachers adopting this perspective are Chinese advocates. For these teachers, the mother tongue, Chinese, is still the most important, and English can never replace Chinese literary work. As there are many aspects of English that cannot compete with the Chinese language, Chinese people should promote Chinese as strongly as English, and we should advocate for mother-tongue education. Although English is useful for connecting with the world, not all students and not everyone need to learn it. Children will not lack competitiveness without English certificates, and Chinese people do not need to learn it to learn from the West and protect the country. Although English is not a necessity for everyone, if one learns it, it is still of use in some ways, not just for exams. In addition to learning foreign languages, on the part of Chinese, they also need to be open-minded. Teachers holding this “English with no benefits” perspective all disagree strongly or quite strongly with the positive impacts of English, for example, that it does not facilitate their economic and social development or help with their employment and life quality. The fact that more people are learning English is not necessarily good for the country. On the contrary, these teachers agree with the negative impacts, for instance, that English facilitates the desire for immediate success. Discourse B (Table 5.14): The second perspective found among teachers is English-as-a-­ communication-tool Chinese-English equality advocates. This teacher group thinks that languages and cultures are equal and that we cannot

Q sort results  79 Table 5.13  Teachers: Discourse A Discourse A: English-with-no-benefits Chinese advocates 1 Students have to learn English, regardless of their disciplines. 5 We learn English to acquire the advancement of the West, so as to protect the benefits of the country and people! 7 We learn foreign languages only for exams and without actual application. 18 Chinese in the twenty-first century not only need foreign languages, but also need to be open-minded. 19 If children do not have the certificate of public English examination, they essentially have no competitiveness. 20 For a long time, English education has taken up a lot of human, material and financial resources. Its role in facilitating economic and social development is irreplaceable. 22 More people are learning English. This is good for the country. 24 English can help me find a better job and improve my quality of life. 25 People’s talents and abilities have been our criteria for employment. However, career promotion is now tied up closely with foreign language examinations, which has caused much frustration and to a certain extent, facilitated the desire for immediate success. 37 It is important to learn a foreign language, but “ABC” can never replace the “Three Character Classic”. 38 China has become stronger and is rising internationally. Under these circumstances, we should be proud of the long tradition of our mother tongue and even become determined to make it “walk towards” the world, as English has. 39 There seems to be greater emphasis on English education. English is taught from preschool and has almost become an “imperialist language”. It is time to advocate for mother-tongue education. 40 For historical reasons, there are many English-speaking countries in the world. If we want to “face the world” and have “contact with the world”, it is essential to learn English. However, in every country, the native language should be dominant. The citizens of every country should first learn the native language. 41 For Chinese people, the Chinese language, as the mother tongue, is definitely much more important than English. 42 The creativity of the Chinese language is comparable to that of any language in the world. We can’t blindly adore English as a “to-be world language”. Many aspects of English cannot compete with Chinese.

-4 -1 -1 2 -3 0 0 -1 -4 -4 -3 -4 3 4 -1 3 -4 -4 -1 -3 -3 0 -3 1 -3 -1 1 -1 -3 1 -4 -2 3 1 -3 0

3 1 1 3 4 0 -1 2

3 -1 1 1 4 3 0 1

4 3 0 -1 3 2 0 -2

make such a distinction between English as a tool and Chinese as the soul and foundation. Advocacy for writing in the mother tongue does not mean opposition to English and outside culture, but it emphasises language and cultural equality. These teachers strongly agree that English education should aim to enhance a teacher’s personal quality and knowledge of the English language and culture. Teachers holding this perspective emphasise that foreign languages should be a channel for Chinese to understand the world and Chinese people need to be more open-minded. More people learning English represents the country’s openness. Discourse B teachers most strongly agree that as the country is more open, there

80  Q sort results Table 5.14  Teachers: Discourse B Discourse B: English-as-a-communication-tool Chinese-English equality advocates 2 The number of people learning English is increasing. This represents the increasing openness of my country. 6 Foreign languages should become a channel for us to understand the world. 7 We learn foreign languages only for exams and without actual application. 15 English education should aim to improve teachers’ personal quality and knowledge of the culture and customs of English-speaking countries. 17 If we want to be part of the world, we should only use English for international communication. 18 Chinese in the twenty-first century not only need foreign languages, but also need to be open-minded. 19 If children do not have the certificate of public English examination, they essentially have no competitiveness. 36 After entry into the WTO and winning the bid to host the 2008 Beijing Olympics, mastering English and strengthening communication with the outside is becoming a demand for the youth. 40 For historical reasons, there are many English-speaking countries in the world. If we want to “face the world” and have “contact with the world”, it is essential to learn English. However, in every country, the native language should be dominant. The citizens of every country should first learn the native language. 41 For Chinese people, the Chinese language, as the mother tongue, is definitely much more important than English. 43 English has taken up time that students would otherwise have spent learning Chinese. 45 Learning English is more valued than learning Chinese, for the Chinese in China. 48 We are all busy with foreign languages and forget our mother tongue. 52 Advocacy for writing in the mother tongue does not mean opposition to English and resistance to outside culture. Rather, it emphasises language and cultural equality. 53 Chinese is a language of the soul, and English is a tool. 54 If we say English is a tool for international communication, then Chinese is our personal foundation and the foundation of our identity. The former is an addition and tool, and the latter is a foundation and guide.

-1 3 -1 4 0 4 0 -1 -4 -4 -3 -4 1 4 0 3 -3 -3 1 -3 3 4 -1 3 -4 -4 -1 -3 1 3 -2 -1 4 3 0 1

4 3 0 -1 0 -3 -2 -4 -2 -3 3 -3 -1 -3 2 -4 2 3 3 0 2 -4 0 0 2 -3 -2 -2

is a demand for the youth to learn English. If one learns English, it would be of some use, not only for exams. However, children do not need English certificates to be competitive, and if we want to be part of the world, English is not the only means. For English-as-a-communication-tool Chinese-English equality advocates, Chinese is still the most important language and Chinese people should prioritise learning Chinese well over English. The harms English brings do not seem to concern these teachers, as they disagree that English has taken up time that students would otherwise spend learning Chinese and that learning English is more valued than learning Chinese, in China.

Q sort results  81 Table 5.15  Teachers: Discourse C Discourse C: English-negativists 10 Many people have spent a lot of time and money on learning a foreign language and, in the end, they don’t really need to use the language. 11 It has become a common phenomenon that people learn English when they actually cannot put it to use. They are also incapable of using it. 20 For a long time, English education has taken up a lot of human, material and financial resources. Its role in facilitating economic and social development is irreplaceable. 24 English can help me find a better job and improve my quality of life. 25 People’s talents and abilities have been our criteria for employment. However, career promotion is now tied up closely with foreign language examinations, which has caused much frustration and to a certain extent, facilitated the desire for immediate success. 28 When speaking of “saving”, everyone immediately thinks of saving water, saving electricity, saving food. But the waste produced by English-for-all and so on is neglected. 30 There are different types of English examinations in high schools and universities. Grammatical accuracy has almost become a technical demand. 32 To teach students ethnic traditions, national morality and socialism, it is especially important to incorporate nationalism and views and values of life into English classes. 33 In the near future, the number of people who can speak English in China will exceed the population of all English-speaking countries in the world. 45 Learning English is more valued than learning Chinese, for the Chinese in China. 46 The society and people are all immersed in English. English seems to have become a firm prerequisite for getting a degree and career promotion and is a criterion for talent selection. On the one hand, the mother tongue has been polluted, and on the other, English has monopolised the world. 49 There is no contradiction between learning English and learning Chinese. 51 In recent years, China’s economic growth has accelerated, and many countries have also increased their economic dealings with China. This has led to the rise of “Chinese fever”. Some people even think that the Chinese language will become a new “world language”, alongside English. 52 Advocacy for writing in the mother tongue does not mean opposition to English and resistance to outside culture. Rather, it emphasises language and cultural equality.

1 2 4 1 -2 1 4 1 -3 0 -3 1 -3 1 -4 -2 3 1 -3 0

0 -2 3 1 1 -1 3 0 1 -2 -4 2 0 -2 -4 2 -2 -3 3 -3 0 -2 4 -2

1 1 -3 -1 0 -1 -3 -2

2 3 3 0

Discourse C (Table 5.15): This discourse is characterised by its negative views of English learning in general. English-negativists believe that people spend too much time and money on learning English, when they cannot put it to use. There is an emphasis on grammatical accuracy in the different exams in high schools and universities. English for all is a waste, and the number of people who can speak English in China will not exceed the population of all English-speaking countries in the world. English knowledge does not facilitate economic and social development and does not help with employment and life quality.

82  Q sort results Table 5.16  Teachers: Discourse D Discourse D: English is a symbol of openness important for some, with no harm to the Chinese language 2 The number of people learning English is increasing. This represents the increasing openness of my country. 4 For the Chinese, English is a key to opening up Western civilisation. 9 The importance of foreign languages is unquestionable. However, that doesn’t mean they are important to everyone, any time. 14 English education is an important part of basic education; therefore, it has a responsibility for improving personal quality and advancement. 15 English education should aim to improve teachers’ personal quality and knowledge of the culture and customs of English-speaking countries. 17 If we want to be part of the world, we should only use English for international communication. 18 Chinese in the twenty-first century not only need foreign languages, but also need to be open-minded. 19 If children do not have the certificate of public English examination, they essentially have no competitiveness. 34 English has become an international language. Many people can speak and write English. 35 Learning and speaking English has become a trend for the public. 37 It is important to learn a foreign language, but “ABC” can never replace the “Three Character Classic”. 43 English has taken up time that students would otherwise have spent learning Chinese. 44 Some primary schools have started to use English as a medium of instruction. It is true that the students’ English has improved, but how about Chinese literary studies and poems? Perhaps they have already been obscured by the 26-letter alphabet. 45 Learning English is more valued than learning Chinese, for the Chinese in China. 48 We are all busy with foreign languages and forget our mother tongue.

-1 3 -1 4 0 2 0 3 1 1 2 4 -2 0 1 3 1 4 0 3 -3 -3 1 -3 3 4 -1 3 -4 -4 -1 -3 0 2 -1 3 -1 -2 2 -3 3 1 1 3 0 -3 -2 -4 0 0 2 -4

-2 -3 3 -3 -1 -3 2 -4

Although it does not facilitate the desire for immediate success, English monopolises the world, study and job markets and harms the Chinese language and some parts of the society. This group is the only teacher group that agrees rather strongly that English is more valued than Chinese. For this reason, they also think that there is a contradiction between learning English and learning Chinese. The Chinese language will not become a world language, alongside English. English negativists strongly disagree that it is necessary to incorporate nationalism and Chinese cultural values into English classrooms. They support language and cultural equality and believe that advocacy for writing in the mother tongue does not mean opposition to English and outside culture. As mentioned previously, there is a bipolar case within this Discourse C group. One participant loads negatively on this perspective, meaning that his/her views differ considerably from Discourse C. Discourse D (Table 5.16): Teachers adopting this discourse strongly believe that English is an international language that represents the openness of the country and is a key to Western civilisation. English is useful, but it is not important

Q sort results  83 for everyone, any time. Even though many people can speak and write English, learning and speaking English has not become a trend in China. Without English, we are still able to communicate with the outside world and be a part of the world, and children do not need English certificates to be competitive. For this teacher group, English education should also be responsible for improving personal quality, and English education should aim to enhance teacher’s quality and knowledge about the English language and culture. Apart from needing foreign languages, Chinese also need to be open-minded. The negative impacts on the Chinese language brought about by English learning do not concern these teachers, who perceive that the mother tongue, Chinese, has not been affected. Students still have time to learn Chinese, and Chinese literary work cannot be replaced by English. Mother tongue education is still the more valued. 5.1.4 Parents Among the 19 parent participants, there are five factors with eigenvalues above 1.0. Since there is only one Q sort that loads heavily on Factor 5, its validity is weak, and four factors are finally extracted to reform the parental discourses about English. Discourses B and C have rather low correlations with one another and with the other two discourses. No bipolar cases are found. The commonalities found across the four discourses are shown in Table 5.17. All parent participants are generally neutral about the idea that English belongs to the whole world, not just the British, and they do not think that the number of people who can speak English in China will exceed the population of all English-speaking countries in the world. With varying levels of agreement, they believe that the mother tongue, Chinese, is the most important for the Chinese people. They are either neutral or disagree with the benefits English could bring to the country and the home town. Apart from the similarities, diversity can also be found. The four discourses about English that exist among the parents are as follows (Tables 5.18–5.21). Discourse A (Table 5.18): The rankings of statements 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 demonstrate strong agreement with the role of English in this discourse, as compared to the other three discourses. From the perspective of English-for-self-strengthening-and-communication Chinese-English equality advocates, English is the most Table 5.17  Commonalities among discourses of parents Statement/Discourse

A B C D

16 English no longer belongs to the British alone but is the asset and major communication tool for all humans. 22 More people are learning English. This is good for the country. 23 Learning English well can contribute to the home town. 33 In the near future, the number of people who can speak English in China will exceed the population of all English-speaking countries in the world. 41 For Chinese people, the Chinese language, as the mother tongue, is definitely much more important than English.

1 1 0 0 0 0 0 -2 -1 -1 -2 -3 -2 -1 -3 -3 1 3 1 2

84  Q sort results Table 5.18  Parents: Discourse A Discourse A: English-for-self-strengthening-and-communication Chinese-English equality advocates 1 Students have to learn English, regardless of their disciplines. 2 The number of people learning English is increasing. This represents the increasing openness of my country. 3 English is the most important communication tool in the world today. 4 For the Chinese, English is a key to opening up Western civilisation. 5 We learn English to acquire the advancement of the West, so as to protect the benefits of the country and people! 6 Foreign languages should become a channel for us to understand the world. 18 Chinese in the twenty-first century not only need foreign languages, but also need to be open-minded. 19 If children do not have the certificate of public English examination, they essentially have no competitiveness. 20 For a long time, English education has taken up a lot of human, material and financial resources. Its role in facilitating economic and social development is irreplaceable. 25 People’s talents and abilities have been our criteria for employment. However, career promotion is now tied up closely with foreign language examinations, which has caused much frustration and to a certain extent, facilitated the desire for immediate success. 38 China has become stronger and is rising internationally. Under these circumstances, we should be proud of the long tradition of our mother tongue and even become determined to make it “walk towards” the world, as English has. 43 English has taken up time that students would otherwise have spent learning Chinese. 47 In modern China’s educational system, primary school students are already learning English. In some preschools, English or other foreign languages are even taught. It would be terrible if children can’t speak good Chinese when they grow up. 48 We are all busy with foreign languages and forget our mother tongue. 53 Chinese is a language of the soul, and English is a tool. 54 If we say English is a tool for international communication, then Chinese is our personal foundation and the foundation of our identity. The former is an addition and tool, and the latter is a foundation and guide.

-3 -4 1 -1 3 -1 2 4 4 -2 3 3 4 -1 1 0 3 -2 0 0 4 0 2 0 3 1 4 3 -4 -3 -4 -4 -3 -1 -2 -4 3 -1 0 2

3 2 0 1

-3 0 -1 1 -3 4 0 1

-3 2 -1 -1 -4 3 3 3 -4 4 3 2

important channel to communicate, to understand the world today, and to learn from Western civilisation, to protect the country. Although English is important, they disagree that children will need it to be competitive and that all students need to learn the language. It does not play a significant role in facilitating economic and social development. English is simply a symbol of openness. For these parents, career promotion is now tied up closely with foreign language examinations, which have caused much frustration and facilitated the desire for immediate success, but English education has done no harm to the Chinese language and has not taken up time that students would otherwise spend learning Chinese. What also stands out in this discourse, compared to the other three parent discourses, is its emphasis on the importance of both Chinese and English.

Q sort results  85 Table 5.19  Parents: Discourse B Discourse B: English-for-some non-contradictory advocates 1 Students have to learn English, regardless of their disciplines. 7 We learn foreign languages only for exams and without actual application. 10 Many people have spent a lot of time and money on learning a foreign language and, in the end, they don’t really need to use the language. 11 It has become a common phenomenon that people learn English when they actually cannot put it to use. They are also incapable of using it. 19 If children do not have the certificate of public English examination, they essentially have no competitiveness. 26 The main purpose of learning languages is communication and application. If it becomes a criterion for school admissions, is introduced without considering children’s abilities and causes a huge financial burden for parents, what, then, is the real benefit of learning a language, except to benefit only a small portion of the population? 28 When speaking of “saving”, everyone immediately thinks of saving water, saving electricity, saving food. But the waste produced by English-for-all and so on is neglected. 29 Non-English speakers originally made up a majority of the world’s population. But under the current dominance of English, non-English speakers have become a minority. Their language has also become an “inferior language”. 40 For historical reasons, there are many English-speaking countries in the world. If we want to “face the world” and have “contact with the world”, it is essential to learn English. However, in every country, the native language should be dominant. The citizens of every country should first learn the native language. 41 For Chinese people, the Chinese language, as the mother tongue, is definitely much more important than English. 42 The creativity of the Chinese language is comparable to that of any language in the world. We can’t blindly adore English as a “to-be world language”. Many aspects of English cannot compete with Chinese. 44 Some primary schools have started to use English as a medium of instruction. It is true that the students’ English has improved, but how about Chinese literary studies and poems? Perhaps they have already been obscured by the 26-letter alphabet. 47 In modern China’s educational system, primary school students are already learning English. In some preschools, English or other foreign languages are even taught. It would be terrible if children can’t speak good Chinese when they grow up. 52 Advocacy for writing in the mother tongue does not mean opposition to English and resistance to outside culture. Rather, it emphasises language and cultural equality. 53 Chinese is a language of the soul, and English is a tool. 54 If we say English is a tool for international communication, then Chinese is our personal foundation and the foundation of our identity. The former is an addition and tool, and the latter is a foundation and guide.

-3 -4 1 -1 -1 -4 -4 -3 2 -3 1 2 0 -3 0 1 -4 -3 -4 -4 2 -3 2 4

-1 -3 -2 3 -2 -4 -4 -1

0 3 3 0

1 3 1 2 -1 3 0 -1

0 3 -3 2

-3 4 0 1

1 4 4 -2 -4 3 3 3 -4 4 3 2

86  Q sort results Table 5.20  Parents: Discourse C Discourse C: Non-contradictory Chinese-English equality advocates 3 English is the most important communication tool in the world today. 7 We learn foreign languages only for exams and without actual application. 8 For many people, there is no use in learning English. 15 English education should aim to improve teachers’ personal quality and knowledge of the culture and customs of English-speaking countries. 18 Chinese in the twenty-first century not only need foreign languages, but also need to be open-minded. 19 If children do not have the certificate of public English examination, they essentially have no competitiveness. 29 Non-English speakers originally made up a majority of the world’s population. But under the current dominance of English, non-English speakers have become a minority. Their language has also become an “inferior language”. 32 To teach students ethnic traditions, national morality and socialism, it is especially important to incorporate nationalism and views and values of life into English classes. 33 In the near future, the number of people who can speak English in China will exceed the population of all English-speaking countries in the world. 40 For historical reasons, there are many English-speaking countries in the world. If we want to “face the world” and have “contact with the world”, it is essential to learn English. However, in every country, the native language should be dominant. The citizens of every country should first learn the native language. 44 Some primary schools have started to use English as a medium of instruction. It is true that the students’ English has improved, but how about Chinese literary studies and poems? Perhaps they have already been obscured by the 26-letter alphabet. 46 The society and people are all immersed in English. English seems to have become a firm prerequisite for getting a degree and career promotion and is a criterion for talent selection. On the one hand, the mother tongue has been polluted, and on the other, English has monopolised the world. 49 There is no contradiction between learning English and learning Chinese. 52 Advocacy for writing in the mother tongue does not mean opposition to English and resistance to outside culture. Rather, it emphasises language and cultural equality. 53 Chinese is a language of the soul, and English is a tool. 54 If we say English is a tool for international communication, then Chinese is our personal foundation and the foundation of our identity. The former is an addition and tool, and the latter is a foundation and guide.

4 -2 3 3 -1 -4 -4 -3 -2 0 -3 0 1 1 4 1 3 1 4 3 -4 -3 -4 -4 -2 -4 -4 -1

0 1 -3 -2 -2 -1 -3 -3 0 3 3 0

0 3 -3 2

-2 2 -3 1

2 1 3 -1 1 4 4 -2 -4 3 3 3 -4 4 3 2

While the other three discourses rate statements 53 and 54 positively, these Chinese–English equality advocates disagree most strongly with the distinction made between Chinese and English, as these languages play different roles for different people. They also perceive that Chinese people should be determined to make the Chinese language as strong as English and need to be open-minded. Discourse B (Table 5.19): This perspective is characterised by the higher significance of the usefulness of English and the distinctions between Chinese

Q sort results  87 Table 5.21  Parents: Discourse D Discourse D: English is a symbol of openness and important communication tool for some with social harms 2 The number of people learning English is increasing. This represents the increasing openness of my country. 3 English is the most important communication tool in the world today. 7 We learn foreign languages only for exams and without actual application. 9 The importance of foreign languages is unquestionable. However, that doesn’t mean they are important to everyone, any time. 13 The impacts of English are enormous, following the rise of the United Kingdom and the United States. Especially in this era of economic globalisation and information technology, English is used widely, everywhere. 14 English education is an important part of basic education; therefore, it has a responsibility for improving personal quality and advancement. 17 If we want to be part of the world, we should only use English for international communication. 18 Chinese in the twenty-first century not only need foreign languages, but also need to be open-minded. 19 If children do not have the certificate of public English examination, they essentially have no competitiveness. 20 For a long time, English education has taken up a lot of human, material and financial resources. Its role in facilitating economic and social development is irreplaceable. 23 Learning English well can contribute to the home town. 26 The main purpose of learning languages is communication and application. If it becomes a criterion for school admissions, is introduced without considering children’s abilities and causes a huge financial burden for parents, what, then, is the real benefit of learning a language, except to benefit only a small portion of the population? 28 When speaking of “saving”, everyone immediately thinks of saving water, saving electricity, saving food. But the waste produced by English-for-all and so on is neglected. 33 In the near future, the number of people who can speak English in China will exceed the population of all English-speaking countries in the world. 53 Chinese is a language of the soul, and English is a tool.

3 -1 2 4 4 -2 3 3 -1 -4 -4 -3 1 0 0 4 0 0 1 -3

0 -2 1 -4 0 -2 -1 -4 3 1 4 3 -4 -3 -4 -4 -3 -1 -2 -4 -1 -1 -2 -3 2 -3 2 4

-1 -3 -2 3 -2 -1 -3 -3 -4 3 3 3

and English. Even though English-for-some non-contradictory advocates do not agree that all students need to learn English and that children will not be competitive without English certificates, the language is indeed useful, and they do benefit from it when they learn it. It is not a waste of time and resources. Participants holding this perspective are also the only parent group who disagree rather strongly that English causes financial and academic burdens and only benefits a few people. Although English is a useful tool, it brings some harm to the Chinese language, including children’s ability to speak good Chinese and the declining importance of Chinese literary studies. For the English-for-some non-­contradictory advocates, the mother tongue, Chinese, is more important for the Chinese people. Chinese is a beautiful language, and there are many aspects where English cannot

88  Q sort results compete with it. Therefore, languages other than English are not inferior, and those who cannot speak English are not a minority. Statements 52, 53 and 54 receive strong positive ratings, indicating that parents who adopt this discourse advocate the non-contradictory roles of Chinese and English. Advocacy for the mother tongue does not mean opposition to the English language and outside culture. There is a clear distinction between the roles of English as a tool and Chinese as a foundation for the soul and identity. Discourse C (Table 5.20): Non-contradictory Chinese-English equality advocates think that English brings no harm to the Chinese language and society and emphasise the equal relations between Chinese and English. From their perspective, English has not replaced Chinese literary studies and polluted the mother tongue. It has not monopolised study, the world and job markets. This is likely why they agree strongly to improve teachers’ quality, as well as their knowledge of Western culture, and do not agree to incorporate nationalism and traditional values into English classes. They consider the roles of English and Chinese and their cultures as distinctive and non-contradictory, as indicated by the strong positive ratings of statements 49, 52, 53 and 54. For this parent group, all languages are equal, and languages other than English are not inferior. There is no contradiction between learning Chinese and learning English. Although English is the most important communication tool for connecting with the world, Chinese is still the most important language, which Chinese people should prioritise. If people learn English, it will be useful in some ways, but children do not need English certificates to be competitive. The number of people who can speak English in China will not exceed the population of all English-speaking countries in the world. In addition to foreign languages, Chinese people also need to be open-minded. Discourse D (Table 5.21): Parents holding this perspective most strongly associate English with the openness of the country. While English is the world’s most important communication tool, it is not important to everyone, any time, and it is not the only means for Chinese people to be part of the world. Children do not need an English certificate to be competitive. Interestingly, this parent group does not think that the impacts and widespread of English in this era of globalisation were a result of the rise of the United Kingdom and United States. Apart from foreign languages, Chinese need to be more open-minded. The number of people who can speak English in China will not exceed the population of all English-speaking countries in the world. This group is the only parent group who agree that English for all is a waste and most strongly disagree that English is an important part of basic education responsible for improving personal quality. They perceive that English does not facilitate economic and social development and makes no contribution to the home town. Only some people would be able to benefit from it. There are no positive impacts of English, but rather, it creates burdens for parents and students. Discourse D parents are the only parent group that does not rate significantly (either positively or negatively) the “non-contradictory relations between Chinese and English”, but for them, Chinese is a language of the soul, and English is just a tool.

Q sort results  89

5.2 Discussion Q methodology has identified the diverse viewpoints on English that exist among Chinese, as well as the areas of consensus and disagreement around the roles and impacts of English and the relative importance of Chinese and English among the four participant groups. For all the four groups, English is an important means to understand and communicate with the world. It is in general useful if one learns it, although it is not essential for everyone. From the perspectives of most participants in the four groups, the Chinese language is more important for Chinese people, and it should take priority over learning English. Furthermore, the view that Chinese and English are equal and non-contradictory is common across the four groups. Participants believe that the two languages have distinctive roles that are important for different purposes and for different people. This somehow demonstrates the participants’ open-mindedness. Indeed, the belief that Chinese people need to be open-minded receives strong consensus among the four groups. All groups disagree that non-English speakers have become a minority and their language has become an “inferior language”. They think that Chinese should be determined to make the Chinese language as strong as English. Interestingly, however, opinions are divided as to whether Chinese will become a world language alongside English. While the positive impacts of English are not salient for all participant groups, there are participants in each group who find that English causes harm to the Chinese language and society to varying degree, with some teachers most characterised by their negative attitudes toward the language. The “self-strengthening” function of English to protect the country, which is historically a main purpose of English education, is significant only among high school students and parents. Of the four groups, some high school students agree to incorporate nationalism and traditional Chinese values into English classrooms. In the encounter with English, Chinese relations with the world have determined how the language is perceived and received among Chinese. As the Q sort results have shown, on the one hand, globalisation has made the participants aware of the importance of English as a communication tool for Chinese as part of the global community; on the other hand, the Chinese language, one that they wish to promote to the world, is still undeniably more important as a Chinese identity marker. The Phase Two interviews, which are explored and discussed in the following chapters, explain in more depth the different views held by the participant groups. Through their attitudes towards English, a focus is placed on how the participants perceive themselves in relation to the world.

Note 1 “Bipolar factor” refers to a factor defined by two opposed viewpoints, that is, by both positive and negative loading Q-sorts or viewpoints.

6 Grounded theory, keywords approach and critical discourse analysis

In Phase Two, the 87 participants took part in face-to-face interviews, where 11 questions were asked. Within the framework of the “frame-shifting” of cross-­ cultural psychology, some of the questions were set up to frame the “self” for the participants. Table 6.1 provides an outline of what each question aims to achieve. The interview data were analysed within the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) framework. Despite its common usage in discourse analysis, CDA has been criticised for its lack of vigor and systematicity (Stubbs 1997; van Dijk 1999). Critical discourse analysts are also said to be laden with assumptions (Stubbe et al. 2003). In order to mould these criticisms, grounded theory and the keywords approach were used in this research, as the first step into CDA. Grounded theory was devised as a coding strategy for the interviews, while the keywords approach and CDA were used to link the findings to the wider sociocultural and political contexts.

6.1  Grounded theory and the keywords approach as the first step of CDA While CDA does not offer a systematic micro-approach to data analysis and categorisations, grounded theory provides an “inductive [theory] discovery methodology that allows the researcher to develop a theoretical account of the general features of the topic” (Martin & Turner 1986:141). The theory in general does not encourage preset assumptions and ideas about what to look for in data analysis. Nonetheless, this research followed the Straussian school of grounded theory, which stipulates that without a priori constructs or a research focus informed by prior knowledge, it is easy to become confused by the volume of data and hence conduct random sampling that disables the formulation of theoretical constructs (Strauss & Corbin 1990, 1998). Supported by the history and current development of the English language in China, and driven by the research aim to investigate the changes in Chinese identity in relation to the Other, the data analysis in this study was premised upon the assumption that the roles of English and Chinese people’s attitudes towards the language have changed. The remaining questions are why and how they have changed. To answer these questions, grounded theory was adopted to analyse the Phase Two interview data, which were then examined and interpreted within the CDA framework.

Grounded theory, keywords approach and critical discourse analysis  91 Table 6.1  Face-to-face interview questions Question number

Aim

Question

Q1

Function as a starting point

Q2 Q3

Not define or frame the “self” Define self as a Chinese

Q4

Define the participants’ selves as part of the Chinese whole Investigate whether there are personal or intrinsic reasons to learn English (“individual self”) Test the significance of the “collective self”

“Do you think it is essential to learn English?” “Why or why not?” “What is the role of English for yourself as a Chinese?” “What is the role of English for the country?” “Do you like learning English and why?”

Q5 Q6 Q7

Investigate how interviewees frame themselves when the country is raised

Q8

Investigate views on the mother tongue relative to English, using English as a window into what the mother tongue is for Chinese people Reveal more of the relative statuses of the Chinese and English languages and cultures

Q9 and Q10

Q11

Test the desire to learn about Western culture

“Do you think all Chinese people should learn English and why?” “Do you think there are any impacts of English on the country? If so, what impacts or changes?” “Which one is more important, the mother tongue or English, and why?” Q9: “Do you think English learning has affected the mother tongue? If so, in what ways?” Q10: “Does English learning affect traditional Chinese culture? If so, in what ways?” “To learn English well, do you think it is essential to learn about the culture associated with the language and why?”

Grounded theory research involves three basic steps: open coding, axial/theoretical coding and selective coding (Strauss & Corbin 1990). This study adopted these three steps. Open coding The 87 interviews conducted in Phase Two provided a rich corpus of data for this research. As a first step in open coding, I examined the data with the aims of each interview question in mind, broke the data into smaller segments and noted key ideas as codes.

92  Grounded theory, keywords approach and critical discourse analysis When reading the interview transcriptions, I focused on the concepts conveyed through words, semantic relations and sentence structures, rather than using the line-by-line analysis common to many studies. This focus on words is important for two reasons. First, some words named as keywords are culturally specific and reveal cultural values. According to Wierzbicka (1997), the lexicon of a language mirrors the ways of thinking and life characteristic of its speakers. As she (­Wierzbicka 1997:5) explains, “culture-specific words are conceptual tools that reflect a society’s past experience of doing and thinking about things in certain ways; and they help to perpetuate these ways”. Second, Chinese is morphologically an analytic or isolating language (Li & Thompson 1978), in that Chinese words are composed of a single morpheme, and thus the language makes use of word order to convey meanings. To develop the emergent codes, I made notes, known in grounded theory as memos (Strauss & Corbin 1990), about the keywords and sentence relations found in the interview transcripts. With these notes, I constantly compared an idea with all previous ideas that had been coded. If an idea was new, I assigned a new code to it. Axial/Theoretical coding When the open coding was complete, the list of open codes produced enabled me to proceed to the next stage of coding, known as axial/theoretical coding. It was a process whereby the codes were related to each other, and similar codes were grouped. From the groupings of codes, I then identified several categories in relation to English and Chinese identity. For example, the codes “English as a means to promote Chinese culture”, “English as a means to strengthen the country” and “English enhances suzhi” belong to the category of “English to achieve collective Chinese aims consistent with the official discourse”; “broadening horizons” and “enhanced understanding of the outside world” fall under the category of “exposure to diverse ways of thinking and experience”; any references to China’s reform and opening up and growing international status are grouped into the category of “national development of China”; ideas about the mutual learning of Chinese and foreigners are categorised as “two-way linguistic and cultural exchange”. Selective coding Selective coding was implemented when the categories were identified after the grouping of codes. It was a process whereby I continued to analyse the codes and validate and confirm the categories to construct the main themes of English in China, as found in the interview data. For instance, the theme “Roles of English for Chinese” is confirmed as characterised by the categories of “Individual motives for studying English”, “General purpose of learning English for Chinese people”, “English to achieve collective Chinese aims consistent with official discourse” and “English is useless for some”. Through constant comparisons

Grounded theory, keywords approach and critical discourse analysis  93 between the different categories of a theme, this selective coding process uncovered and confirmed the similarities and diversities around the themes. Figure 6.1 is a diagrammatical explanation of the three coding processes and the interrelations between open codes, categories and main themes identified in this study. When all the interview data were analysed, and the categories and main themes were confirmed, the coding process was complete. I then examined the categories and themes within the CDA framework. The categories and themes analysed in this research were chosen on the basis of their theoretical significance, that is, to what extent they answered the initial research questions about English and China’s perceptions of itself in relation to the world. For example, I selected the category of “two-way linguistic and cultural exchange” within the theme “Globalisation as one world” to investigate Chinese agency in the discourses on the global spread of English. In the process of validating this category, I focused on the “subject positions” Chinese take by looking at the verbs and pronouns the participants used in communicating their opinions (a device offered by CDA, as discussed in a later section).

6.2 “Texts” as units of analysis: “dialogism” and “intertextuality” (Halliday; Bakhtin; Kristeva) The development of CDA is based on approaches that integrate texts and the contexts within which they are produced. In the 1970s, as the study of language use in social contexts gradually branched out of structural linguistics, the concept of a “text” as situated in a social context was developed and elaborated on by scholars, including M.A.K. Halliday and Ruqaiya Hasan (1976). They perceive text as encoded in sentences or clauses, functioning with respect to its context of situation or situation of use, and language as an instrument that rationalises social structures and practices. From Halliday’s point of view, social structure is an important determining factor in the meaning-making process. As language has a range of meanings in different contexts, social structure determines the meanings of language among “meaning potentials” (Halliday 1978:19) specific to particular features of those contexts. When individuals communicate, they have to draw on the linguistic resources available, depending on the social activity, the social relationships between participants and the communication channel, all of which, as Halliday (1978:110) illustrates, are “a conceptual framework for representing the social context as the semiotic environment in which people exchange meanings”. In linguistics, a text is any passage, be it spoken or written, that forms a unified whole. Halliday and Hasan revisit the work of literary critics Mikhail Bakhtin and Julia Kristeva. For Bakhtin, any words (texts) are part of a chain of speech communication and, in different ways, participate in dialogues. The expression of an utterance always responds to others’ utterances (Bakhtin 1986:92). It is related not only to preceding but also to subsequent links in the chain of speech communication. Speakers expect a response from listeners who are active participants in speech communication. An anticipated response, in turn, exerts an

Categories

Roles of English for Chinese

Impacts of English

Status of China

Globalisation as one world

Individual motives for studying English

Enriched Chinese language and culture

Historical relations with the world

Two-way linguistic and cultural exchange

General purpose of learning English for Chinese people

Negligence over the mother tongue language and culture

National development of China

Equal member in the global community

English to achieve collective Chinese aims consistent with official discourse

Exposure to diverse ways of thinking and experience

English is useless for some

Open codes: based on the data from 87 interviews

Figure 6.1  Diagrammatical representation of coding processes.

94  Grounded theory, keywords approach and critical discourse analysis

Themes

Grounded theory, keywords approach and critical discourse analysis  95 active influence on a person’s utterance. In this way, all utterances act as links to one another in communication, and any utterance reveals many “half-concealed or completely concealed” (Bakhtin 1986:92) words of others that need to be interpreted within the context of the totality of the utterances to understand it fully. In other words, any communication can be viewed as a dialogue among several writings: those of the writer, the addressee and the contemporary and earlier cultural contexts (Kristeva 1986:36). As Bakhtin (1986) also explains, texts are the embodiment of an existing socio-ideological dialogue between the present and the past, between different groups in society. He situates texts within history and society, where they are then seen as texts read by the writer, and into which he inserts his own voice by rewriting them (Bakhtin 1986:36). In this sense, any two utterances, if juxtaposed on a semantic plane, end up in a dialogic relationship, or they may mutually supplement or contradict one another (Bakhtin 1986). According to Bakhtin (1981), when a writer inserts his/her own voice into a text, a new meaning is given, while the original meaning is also retained through appropriation. By entering into interaction or “struggle” with other texts, a text awakens new and independent words in text contexts that “dialogize” it, and thus it is able to reveal ever newer ways of meaning (Bakhtin 1981:346). Bakhtin calls dialogic texts “double-voiced”, as they simultaneously serve the speaker/ writer and listener/reader and express two different intentions. In such texts, there are two voices, two meanings and two expressions, all of which are dialogically interrelated (Bakhtin 1981:324–327). Unlike authoritative texts, dialogic texts are heterogeneous, for they are “half-ours and half-someone else’s” (Bakhtin 1981:345). They become one’s own only when the speaker has his/her own intention as he/she appropriates the word (Bakhtin 1981). Building on Bakhtin’s idea of dialogism, Kristeva (1986) posits the idea of intertextuality, which refers to the interaction of texts with the cultural and historical contexts in which they are written and to the transformation of texts as a result of the interaction. In Kristeva’s words, each word (text) is “an intersection of words (texts) where at least one other word (text) can be read” (Kristeva 1986:37). She writes, “in the space of a given text, several utterances, taken from other texts, intersect and neutralise one another” (Kristeva 1980:36). Like Bakhtin, Kristeva argues against the unity of meaning and dominant definition in texts. Texts act through and on subjects (writers, readers and listeners) and on social and political environments (Crozet 2010). As a result, the multiple voices of the different subjects that respond to one another within particular historical and social contexts can be found. Because of this “linkage” character, intertextuality is able to uncover the hidden political and ideological conflicts and alternative and diverse voices present in society at any historical moment. As indicated by Bakhtin and Kristeva, the research on any aspects of concrete language needs to look at concrete utterances in different spheres, such as texts of law or government documents, which are “rejoinders” in everyday dialogue (Bakhtin 1986:62). This provides a framework to the current study, which looks into how past voices about English and the Other in China have been reworked and renewed, and how new Chinese voices about them have

96  Grounded theory, keywords approach and critical discourse analysis been formed in different historical and social contexts. The work of Bakhtin and Kristeva has been adopted as a theoretical basis by scholars in various fields, including CDA.

6.3 Critical Discourse Analysis In the 1980s, influenced by the early critical studies of language by scholars and literary critics, including Michel Foucault, and Bakhtin and Kristeva, respectively, CDA was introduced to the field of discourse analysis. In particular, CDA is premised upon Foucault’s ideas of discourse and subjectivity and Bakhtin’s and Kristeva’s work on intertextuality and dialogism. Two of the key concepts of CDA, namely, discourse as social structure, and voice and agency, are examples of these influences. Discourse as social structure and a site of power struggle A defining feature of CDA is its concern with power as manifested in discourse in society as influenced by Foucault’s concepts of discourse, knowledge and power. From Foucault’s (1972) point of view, a discourse is not simply an utterance or a text, but an institutional structure that guides the meanings of utterances and texts and prescribes the rules of what constitutes a meaningful interaction. In Foucault’s theory, knowledge and power are produced within a discourse. When knowledge is passed on in discourse and accepted by others, it then assumes its power, regulates social practices and influences people’s behaviours in a structure. Foucault (1972) also focuses on the ever-changing nature of discourse about a particular subject in different sociocultural and political contexts, when new discourse arises to represent new conceptions and when meanings change with discourse from time to time. Influenced by Foucault’s ideas of discourse as social structure, CDA sees text as the social product of a society and a discourse (in the sense of social structure) which reflects social norms, conventions and ideologies. In this sense, discourse can be specified as the whole process of social interaction that conditions the norms of the production and interpretation of texts. It reflects the wider social conventions and structure which determine how language is used. Norman Fairclough, one of the founders of CDA, believes that a discourse itself consists of “orders of discourse”, a term adapted from Foucault (1984), to refer to the “totality of discursive practices of an institution and relationship between them” (Fairclough 1993:138). “Orders of discourse” are interdependent networks that govern discourse and social practice. When one experiences society as structured into different spheres of action, the types of discourse and practice associated with these spheres prescribe the rules of what constitutes a conventional social activity. Whenever people produce or interpret discourse, they draw upon social conventions and practices as the “background knowledge” of discourses and the texts that occur within them. According to Fairclough (2001), there are three stages of CDA: description, interpretation and explanation. These three stages require text

Grounded theory, keywords approach and critical discourse analysis  97 producers’ and readers’ “background knowledge” of the texts. A writer utilises this background knowledge to construct “ideal readers” (Fairclough 2001:128) and entice them into his/her way of thinking. Fairclough’s early work was also influenced by Bourdieu’s (1991) work on language as symbolic resources and power in education. When an individual has economic and political power, s/he also has ideological power, the power to act in ways regarded as universal (Fairclough 2001). The dominant language/discourse grants its speaker/holder in a linguistic exchange symbolic power. In this regard, CDA also shows an interest in the relationships between discourse (language use) and power of an “order of discourse”, as well as in modifications to the order of discourse (Fairclough 1995). The ways in which “orders of discourse” are structured and the ideologies which they embody are seen in CDA as determined by the relationships of power in particular social institutions and in the society as a whole. CDA has also been greatly influenced by literary critics Bakhtin and ­Kristeva, taking their ideas out of the literary world by incorporating discourse, society and ideology into its framework. Applying their idea of intertextuality, texts are seen in CDA as lacking fixed authorship and meaning, and prior texts and existing conventions can be transformed and restructured to generate new ones (Fairclough 1992). CDA therefore sets out to reveal multiple discourses and meanings, and the ideological assumptions hidden in the discourses in the wider sociocultural and political context. Voice and agency In Bakhtin’s (1981) views, one’s “voice” creates one’s subject, and the formation of new “voices” introduces new identities. Subject positions, which are social roles in general constructed by discourse, are also a concern of CDA. In his work on sexuality, Foucault (1978) illustrates how discourses (in the sense of language use) produce subject positions and the multiplicity of discourse about a subject in a society. In different domains, different speakers use different discourses to speak about an idea. The rise of these different discourses is attributed to the “strategic necessities” (Foucault 1980:206) of having to identify one’s position in relation to the subject under a particular context. To determine one’s subject position within a discourse, one must locate oneself in the position which is governed by the discourse within the social context (Foucault 1980:132). Because of this identification of subject positions, a person is able to achieve his/her sense of identity within the discourse. For Fairclough, thus, each subject position a person occupies is attached by a set of “discoursal rights and obligations” (Fairclough 1989:31) prescribed by the discourse type. These rights and obligations refer to what is and is not allowed and required to say in a society. In this regard, CDA is concerned with the conditions which produce discourse that shapes the society and its people, who have to identify one’s position under a particular economic and political atmosphere (Foucault 1980).

98  Grounded theory, keywords approach and critical discourse analysis Bakhtin’s idea of dialogism and Kristeva’s intertextuality introduce the dynamic and multiple nature of the identities of both text producers and readers (as they insert their own voices into a text) and foster a pluralism of voices. The author of a text is “no core, fixed, unified self”, but a differentiated, complex, heterogeneous force (McAfee 2000:69). S/he is a “subject-in-process”, conveying the notion of subjectivity as always “on trial”, constantly questioning his/her identity and undergoing change (McAfee 2000:69). This is in line with discourse or text as a site of identity construction and negotiation in language use, as discussed earlier. The construction of subject positions and the restricted sets of legitimate subject positions are important for CDA analysis. Foucault (1972) was one of the pioneers in the study of multifaceted identity as constructed by language, which has influenced studies in identity and language learning. In his view, a person’s multiple roles and identities are constructed by multiple discourses which place the person into different subject positions. In the context of the global spread of English, it is often argued that the dominant English discourses of the West silence the dominated, whose voices cannot be heard and who are forced to accept the discourses. Hooks (1989:12) maintains that “speaking becomes both a way to engage in active self-transformation and a rite of passage where one moves from being object to being subject. Only as subjects can we speak. As objects, we remain voiceless – our beings defined and interpreted by others”. Studies on global English, as previously mentioned, have shown that through appropriation, the boundaries between the self and other change, and the self no longer is an object on which English is imposed, but becomes the subject that assumes agency in the reception of English. Through appropriation, non-English speaking communities add a new voice to the English discourse, which already has a polyvocal version, resulting in more diverse discourses about English. The present research shows how Chinese people insert their own voices into Western discourses about English and affirm their self-identity. CDA was adopted for the analysis of the interviews with a focus on the interactions between the wider sociocultural contexts and micro-level language use. By looking at the multiple discourses about English, the subject positions of Chinese people are revealed. The CDA paradigms in the current study The methodological decisions supporting this research have centred on revealing the underlying beliefs and ideologies about English and “being Chinese” in the popular discourses. The focus of CDA on texts, and its interactions with the wider sociocultural and political contexts, offers a backdrop to analyse the interviews. While Fairclough’s (1989, 1992, 1995) work on sociology underpins CDA, its aims and the analytical methods of his approach, different CDA scholars have developed different focuses in their own approaches. Wodak (1989) introduces a historical dimension to CDA that gives rise to the discourse-­historical approach. Van Dijk (1993) emphasises the role of social cognition in framing people’s minds by means of language processing mechanisms, which is the social-cognitive model of CDA. Along with the fundamental assumptions, principles and

Grounded theory, keywords approach and critical discourse analysis  99 procedures of CDA that underlie the analysis of the interview data, the discourse-historical approach (Wodak 2001) is particularly appropriate to this study of the development of English and identity issues in China in which history has played a key role. Wodak (2001:76) maintains that: …because history teaches that specific actions have specific consequences, one should perform or omit a specific action in a specific situation (allegedly) comparable with the historical example referred to. The discourse-historical approach analyses the historical dimension of discursive actions through looking into how discourses evolve over time. In doing so, it studies a great deal of the historical background information of the sociopolitical contexts within which texts are produced and interpreted (Wodak 1989, 2001). This approach is centrally dependent on the interdiscursive and intertextual relationships between discourses which, as Wodak (2001) believes, can minimise bias. It aims to provide a framework to study “inconsistencies, (self-) contradictions, paradoxes and dilemmas in the text-internal or discourse-internal structures” (Wodak 2001:65). One way to apply Wodak’s discourse-historical approach is to assume the interconnectedness between particular discursive practices and situations in particular historical contexts (Wodak 2001). As she states, discourses and discourse topics spread to different fields of action and discourses. “They cross between fields, overlap, refer to each other or are in some other way socio-functionally linked” (Reisigl & Wodak 2005:37). In this regard, each discourse topic allows for the creation of sub-discourses. The discourse-historical approach permits an analysis of the discourses about English in this study by linking the wider historical, sociocultural and political discourses about the Other/the world to existing and new discourses about English.

Table 6.2  CDA devices and tools adopted in this research Device Pronouns

Overwording, sentence structures

Semantic relations between words

Function • Pronouns can indicate agent and patient and highlight or background agency or absence of agency • Pronouns can also serve to stress the unity of a people and mark ingroup and outgroup relations • Overwording signals preoccupation with an idea, belief or situation • How sentences are linked together through cohesion and connectors marks various temporal, spatial and logical relationships between sentences • Connectors e.g. and, because, even though, mere juxtaposition of sentences can also indicate what information is more important • Semantic roles signal social relationships

100  Grounded theory, keywords approach and critical discourse analysis The following devices and tools offered by CDA, presented in Table 6.2, were adopted in the analysis of interviews in this book. They are taken from the work of different CDA scholars, including Fairclough (1992, 1995, 2001), van Dijk (2001) and Wodak (2001). The use of these devices is ideologically motivated and can be constrained by power and its effects on knowledge and beliefs, social relationships and social identities (Fairclough 2001). These devices can therefore contribute to the data analysis of this study, which explores the Chinese discourses about English and Chinese identity in relation to the Other in the twenty-first century.

7 “When we see a foreigner in the streets, we are no longer too surprised as if we see a monster. It’s all commonplace now, they are like us as people” Development of a Chinese plus global identity

In China, the official story about English is supposed to follow an unequivocal storyline – English as a tool for strengthening the country, integrating with the global community and showcasing Chinese culture. The changes that have occurred in the country as a result of the language’s spread show that English has done more than that. The public view and use the language differently. The diversity of discourses that exist about English, identified in Phase One, represents the multiple voices and subjectivities associated with the language that have developed in the Chinese society. Using grounded theory methodology and the keywords approach, the coding of ideas in the Phase Two interviews was completed to derive the main themes and categories. The categories identified were taken as discourses about English and Chinese identity, which were analysed within the CDA framework. The keywords used by the high school and university students, teachers and parents in the recorded interview responses to each of the 11 questions are attached as Appendix 1. The discussion in this and the next two chapters includes focal participants chosen from each participant group. Excerpts from the interviews are presented and discussed to illustrate the discourses identified in Phase Two. All interviews were conducted in Mandarin, and, to preserve the keywords used by the participants, interview excerpts were translated into an English as close to the original Chinese version as possible. According to cross-cultural psychologists, biculturals are able to shift between different facets of their identities as cued by culturally specific frames (Hong et al. 2000). In various situations, frames are the “structures of expectations about situations” that provide a guideline for individuals to act (Tannen 1993:21). Strong attachment with an identity will lead to perceptions and behaviours that are consistent with that identity as well as the values and norms defining it. In the interviews, while Q1 served as a starting question, the significance of the different “selves” within different “frames” for the interviewees was illustrated most clearly while answering the 11 questions, especially Q2–Q4.

102  Chinese plus global identity The interviews showed that English has further highlighted Chinese identity in relation to the outside world and led to the rise of a global identity among the two student cohorts. For both the high school and the university students, English is the world’s common communication tool, which can also broaden Chinese people’s horizons. They also learn English for exams, jobs/promotions, employment in multinational corporations, further study and personal interest. From the students’ perspectives, learning English also enhances suzhi, helps with the acquisition of advanced technology from the West and opens China up to the world. In responding to Q2, which allowed the students themselves to define the frame of reference, they still tend to distinguish themselves from foreigners (and “the West”). However, they are also aware of the universality of English, which situates them as part of China and part of the world. Below are a high school student’s responses to Q2–Q4, with my emphasis on the word choice in bold: Excerpt (1): Because I live in Beijing and Beijing is a very international metropolis. Especially now, due to globalisation, the world and every country started to communicate. Because there are many English-speaking countries, if I need to communicate with them, I need to use English. (Q2) Excerpt (2): And as for the role for myself, first, English is a tool and then also lets me understand this world. (Q3) Excerpt (3): For all Chinese people, China and the West need a bridge. There was originally no English and then Chinese people thought that the West was barbarian and backward when there was no understanding of English. And then now there is a better understanding of the West. (Q4) In the high school students’ responses about the necessity and roles of English, the keywords with the highest frequency in Q2 include “communication” (交流), “understand” (了解), “they” (他们) and “the world” (世界). The keywords in Q3 include “tool” (工具), “communication” (交流), “learn” (学习) and “the world” (世界), and those in Q4 are “the world” (世界) and “communication” (交流). The high school student’s responses to Q2–Q4 maintain the Chinese frame of the self throughout, without any obvious differences when the frames vary in Q2, Q3 and Q4. The group distinctions are made in Q3 and Q4 between herself and China/Chinese people and the West/this world. There are also signs of a global identity indicated in her response to Q2. In expressing views about the roles of English when her self is not defined in Q2, she reveals expectations and ideas about being a Chinese in relation to the world. The student situates herself within Beijing as an international metropolis, as well as within the world, which she

Chinese plus global identity  103 refers to as “international,” “globalisation” and “English-speaking countries”, as well as “them” in Excerpt (1). In answering Q3 which defines the self as “Chinese”, the student retains her “Chinese self” with clearly identifiable pronouns “myself” and “me”, as opposed to “this world”. While Q4 places her under a collective Chinese frame, she constructs a national collective Chinese identity through the categorisations of “Chinese people”/“China” and “the West”. “The world” is a high-frequency keyword in the responses to Q2–Q4. There is a total of seven instances of “the world” in Q2, six in Q3 and nine in Q4. Regardless of the frames within which she is situated, the student’s global and Chinese identities are prominent. From her perspectives about English and the world, global and Chinese identities exist side-by-side. University students’ viewpoints about English are very diverse. Across the responses to Q2–Q4, the pronoun “we” (我们) has a significantly higher frequency compared to its usage by the high school students. The highest-frequency keywords in Q2 include “we” (我们), “understand” (了解), “communication” (交流), and “the world” (世界). The keywords in Q3 include “tool” (工具), “understand” (了解), “communication” (交流), “we” (我们) and “culture” (文化) and those in Q4 are “we” (我们), “tool” (工具), “the world” (世界) and “foreign” (外国). Their conceptions of the “Chinese self” in relation to the world and the Chinese people reveal the development and coexistence of global and Chinese identities. In response to Q2, the students commonly use “we/us” (我们) to refer to Chinese people, but “the world” (世界) and “foreigners” (外国人) for foreigners. Alex is a postgraduate journalism student in his early twenties who has studied English for more than 12 years. He is from Sichuan and moved to Beijing in 2007. He scored 106 on the TOEFL exam, which he took to apply for a postgraduate program in the United States. He speaks his local dialect in his home town and identifies Mandarin as his mother tongue. In responding to Q2–Q4, his individual personal self appears to coexist with the collective and global self which complies with the official discourse: Excerpt (4): (1) Because the current development of the society is relatively fast, many foreign countries are more advanced than China. So, if you want to increase competitiveness, from a personal point of view, if you want to increase competitiveness, you must walk in front of others. Because no matter how fast technology is getting imported these days, the quickest, at the end of the day, would still be the ones who can get information on their own. It’s impossible to obtain first-hand details of what’s happening overseas if you don’t understand English – it might not be several months, half a year, or even a year until the information reaches China. So, I think you need to know about other places – especially those that are more advanced than China – what is happening to them. (2) The second point is I think learning English is not simply learning a language. You can understand through English when you read something about the outside, understand the situations outside and you will find a totally different society. You will find that even though you are told

104  Chinese plus global identity that the society you grew up in was very special, you will find that every society has its own uniqueness after knowing about other societies. The society you live in is not that outstanding, but it is in fact very ordinary. So, I think [learning English] is helpful for building a multidimensional view. If you ever only know about one culture or you have only one source of information, you are probably being controlled. You ever only watch one TV channel, only read one newspaper, you read the Globaltimes, so you think that the thing the whole world wants to do every day is to get rid of China – when that is so not true. [English] can also let our thinking pattern be more multidimensional. There is also a third point. (3) I myself like learning languages because I have also learnt Japanese. For English, I have taken TOEFL before when I was in Year 2, I got 106. Now I am preparing for the GRE because I am preparing to go to the US to apply for the school there. Personally, [English] is very much valued because English is very important. It becomes the key when you study or live overseas. It’s not because of exams, even though it’s for taking TOEFL, GRE and IELTS, these types of exams. You should have noticed that they will be very helpful for the future. You also memorise vocabulary now. That is something you do early. As [your] memory is very good now, you can do it earlier. It’s very helpful. (Q2) In this response to Q2, Alex constructs and shifts between the different frames of Chinese (vs. foreigners) and his personal self. As marked by (1) in the excerpt, he starts by talking about the roles of English at the global/national level, where group distinctions are made between “foreign countries”, “overseas”, “other places” and “them”, and “China”. He mentions the role of English in enhancing China’s competitiveness at the international level, where the collective self of Chinese in relation to the world is constructed. As indicated by (2), Alex continues to distinguish between China and the “outside”, “whole world” and “other societies”, which are characterised by differences in world views and cultures. It is not until (3) that Alex mentions his personal need for English to study and live overseas, which is more an instrumental motive. Below is Alex’s response to Q3, where his self is defined as Chinese: Excerpt (5): (4) The first point is because English will become a prerequisite, for example, if you find a job, they will ask about your results of the Band-4 and Band-6 tests. If you apply for a public servant position, many of them will require your Band-4 test score to be above 600 and require you to pass Band6. There are many concrete requirements. If you cannot meet the requirements, no one will be able to help you through personal relations because you don’t fulfil the requirements. (5) The second point is that I think that learning English is different to many other things since it reflects one’s suzhi. So, everyone to their abilities – some are particularly bright with numbers, some are good at other fields, and you’re talented at languages. If you’re able to use this to your advantage, then it’s also something that you can

Chinese plus global identity  105 train yourself on. (6) And as I said before, I major in journalism, so I need to read the CNN and BBC websites. What I should know should be complete and not be edited information. What I don’t need to know is those who were opposed to China. I want to know more about other information. If you want to get more original stuff, especially databases and electronic publications and thesis, they are not adequate in China. If we want to do more concrete and comprehensive research in an area, we might want to search in English databases. Because from there, we can find more. All the 56 students in the class won’t hand in the same work. Even though you borrow something from others, you will probably also import something new, a new perspective. This is more related to our study. (7) In relation to life, because now you can see many things written in English such as manuals, tags. For example, fruits. Even on fruits, there is a tag. In this case, we can understand more information. Although it might not be very helpful for you, it will let you understand more things. This has to do with personal life. (Q3) When the self is framed as a Chinese self, Alex responds first within a Chinese frame talking about the need of English to apply for government positions in the broader context in (4). As indicated by (5), he further draws upon the official discourse of suzhi in explaining the need for English for some people. As discussed previously, suzhi conceptualises “the Chinese people” as constitutive of many “small selves”. It is concerned with enhancing the quality of individual Chinese to improve the strength and quality of the whole nation, and links individual efforts to national development. From Alex’s response, however, he also conceives of Chinese people as diversified in terms of their talents. This diversity within Chinese people is further discussed in the next chapter. In (6), Alex again raises the point about English for accessing information not available in China or in the Chinese language, as he does in responding to Q2. He also constructs a university student identity within this Chinese self frame by mentioning the role of English in research. (7) is a more general point applied to all Chinese, where Alex explains how English is relevant to daily life. In response to Q4, Alex makes the following comment: Excerpt (6): (8) I don’t think all people need to learn English, because not everyone has the opportunity to engage with the outside. It’s really not necessary for everyone to learn English, because there are many other languages. If you really let everyone learn language, there are many other languages to choose from. Now it’s all free trade. China doesn’t just deal with English-speaking countries – there are also lots of others. For instance, you’ll notice, if you study foreign relations, that those who study Sino-American relationships far surpass those who study Sino-Arab relationships. There then implies a stereotype, because in fact we aren’t any less intimate with these other countries as we are with the US. In reality, we are closely linked to the Arabs when it comes to oil resources. But why is it that so few people can understand Arabic? I am not

106  Chinese plus global identity saying that all people need to learn Arabic. I am just saying that the gap is very big. Because there are very few people who know it, and the proportion is very small. (9) I think one still needs to choose based on personal interest. If a person, he doesn’t like English, he doesn’t like languages, but you force them to learn, then you are really wasting their time. (10) But for the whole China, I think a portion of people, I’m not sure about the percentage, but I think a portion of people should learn English. In this case, you will be able to exchange with the outside your thinking and know what’s happening, unlike in the past, when the country was closed off and let oneself be stupid. (Q4) Q4 defines self as a part of the collective Chinese whole for Alex. As marked by (8), Alex begins with mentioning the necessity for English and other foreign languages at the national level, as determined by China’s economic and trade relations with other countries. In (9), he moves on to talking about everyone’s personal preference for learning English within the collective Chinese frame constructed by Q4. In (10), however, he shifts back to the collective Chinese frame, drawing upon the history of a “closed door” to illustrate why some Chinese people need to study English. This is seen in the distinctions marked by Alex’s use of “the whole China” and “outside”. As Alex’s responses to Q2–Q4 show, the different frames or selves are significant to him at different times. He can shift between his multiple frames of reference: as an individual Chinese, a part of the Chinese whole in relation to the world and a university student. Throughout Q2–Q4, Alex’s structured responses/ narratives move from one point to another and from one frame to another. The individual, global and collective Chinese selves and the interconnection of these different facets of identities feature prominently for him. This is consistent with the official discourse of Chinese identity. It is interesting that instead of using “I” to identify the subject position in his narratives, Alex, as well as other university student participants, frequently uses “you” in making points. His use of “you” not only refers to Chinese people, including himself, but is also an attempt to distance himself from the narratives about English and the Chinese society. In the university students’ responses, there are 63 instances of “you” and “your” in Q2, 42 in Q3 and 16 in Q4. For high school students, there are 14 instances of “you” and “your” in Q2, eight in Q3 and none in Q4. For parents, there are none in Q2–Q4 and for teachers, there are only three to four instances in Q2–Q4. According to Herman (1994:378), this use of “you” in narrative, termed as “doubly deictic you”, results in “deictic transfer” from “I” to “you” when the first-person character refers to him/herself as “you”. A function of “doubly deictic you” is to generalise a viewpoint, feeling or experience that the speaker considers “general” or the “norm” (Herman 1994; Mildorf 2006). The use of the generic “you” thereby introduces the collective Chinese frame. The differences in the frequency of second-person pronoun use by the four groups cannot be sufficiently explained here, given the relatively short responses provided by the parents. Nevertheless, it can be said that university students, as more “advanced” English learners and users (Kramsch 2009:59), might have more subjective experiences that allow them to evaluate English learning.

Chinese plus global identity  107 The impacts of English learning that students raise in responding to Q7 are a mix of local, national and global-level impacts, when the question frames their self as a “national self”. Presented below are two examples from the high school student participants, with my notes and emphasis in bold: Excerpt (7): …China has closer and more frequent communication and contacts with the outside (global perspective) and in China, many foreign investors come to communicate and exchange with Chinese people (Chinese and global perspective). This is meaningful to China’s development (Chinese perspective). English is now used everyday and integrated into daily life. Everyone, for example, says “thank you” in English and everyone is working hard to learn foreign language and know some English (Chinese perspective). (Q7) Excerpt (8): There are definitely changes. Because for example, if comparing us with the Qing dynasty, the changes should be huge. The Qing dynasty was very hostile to the West. And now we are equal friends with the West, and some people admire these Western countries (Chinese and global perspective). In our daily life, it’s now a bilingual society and everyone celebrates Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, these festivals (Chinese perspective). (Q7) The keywords for high school students in Q7 include “we” (我们), “communicate” (交流), “foreign” (外国), “understand” (了解), “life” (生活), “culture” (文化) and “develop” (发展). As reflected in Excerpt (7), the high school student contends that Chinese people, at the global level, assume the agency to connect and communicate with foreign countries and to play a part in the global community while, at the more local level, they use English in their daily life. In Excerpt (8), Chinese and the West are said to be equal friends. These students make the comments from multiple perspectives: as a part of the global community (through the mention of “we are equal friends with the West” in Excerpt (8)), and as a part of the collective Chinese whole (through the use of “Chinese people” and “we” vs. “the West” in Excerpts (7) and (8)). When asked about the impacts of English on the country in Q7, some university students situate the Chinese self within the global community, portraying the role of English as a connector of China and the world: Excerpt (9): It might be that the way of thinking is no longer so stubborn, and the way we see problems have changed a lot as we use the Western point of view to see China (Chinese and Western perspectives). You’ll be more attentive to each individual country as well as the world after you’ve learnt English. For example, when we learn journalism (individual/student perspective), we point out the positives as well as negatives of other foreign countries to see

108  Chinese plus global identity how foreigners see us (Chinese and Western perspectives). And now Chinese have also started travelling and other business trends, as well as in many other respects…now you won’t, when we see a foreigner in the streets, we are no longer too surprised as if we see a monster. It’s all commonplace now, they are like us as people (Chinese and global perspectives) – this would be a better way to see it. So, it’s one world, one dream, and everyone’s on the same planet (global perspective). This sense of community (global perspective) is something that I’m (Chinese perspective) particularly fond of. (Q7) In illustrating how English has broadened the horizons of the Chinese people (referred to as “we”), this student uses his own experience as a journalism student. The benefits of learning English for Chinese are thereby aligned with the benefits at the personal level. From this student’s perspective, English no longer seems to be an identity and group marker differentiating between China and the world. Rather, it has become a community language of the “one world”. As the Q7 responses of the two student cohorts demonstrate, English has contributed to the development of a global identity of Chinese people, and at the same time, it also appears in common use as a norm in Chinese society, which some students think has become bilingual. More open than ever before, Chinese people can now claim their agency in the reception of English. Global-Chinese perspectives and identities exist side-by-side. In response to Q4 and Q7, which construct a “collective Chinese whole” frame for the students, some draw upon history to make sense of the need of all Chinese to learn English. For instance, Ben, a Grade 8 student born in Beijing, refers to the Qing dynasty and the past idea of “barbarian” in explaining the role of English in current China, in Excerpt (8). When asked in Q7 about the changes English has brought to China, Ben also draws on China’s relations with the world: Excerpt (10): …First, English is a tool for communication and exchange. If you want to exchange successfully with foreigners, there is not a need to recite all grammar very perfectly or to speak very correct sentences, as long as [you] can communicate. So, I think the changes to China include its limitation on people’s potential to develop. But at the same time, I also think that there are many advantages for China. There are not only very extreme effects of English, there are also many positives. For example, people’s thinking has changed, the knowledge about themselves has changed. Because during the Qing dynasty, they thought they were a great civilisation and other places were barbarian. So, I think English has also facilitated the communication between China and the outside. Chinese people know more about themselves, so [they] have awakened. (Q7) Using “they” to refer to the Chinese people of the Qing dynasty, Ben distances himself and today’s China from the earlier period. This is the case in Excerpt (8) where Ben uses “us” and “Qing dynasty” to mark the group distinctions between

Chinese plus global identity  109 today’s China and the past in “if comparing us with the Qing dynasty, the changes should be huge”. He does not attach himself overly to the narrative about English and Chinese society, as though making an objective comment and presenting an evaluation of the English learning situation in the past outside the collective frame. This is obvious when he says, “Chinese people know more about themselves, so [they] have awakened”, where “Chinese people” does not seem to include himself. Even though the history is distant to him as a Chinese living in current China, Ben still looks back at it to regain a sense of how China has come into its current being and to make sense of the integrity of ti. In response to Q2–Q4, Ben tends to retain the frame as part of the Chinese whole: Excerpt (11): When a country is strong and its power is strengthened and recognised by the world, its language will spread. It’s like in a company, you won’t work hard to understand what your colleagues are saying, but when your boss tells you something, [you] will try your utmost to complete the job your boss gives you. When a big country speaks to you, you possibly need to learn from them and understand their development. So you need to learn English. I think if China can become as strong as the US, Chinese will also become the world’s important language. So, at the present time, no matter it’s a social demand or trend, learning English is relatively important. (Q2) Excerpt (12): I think it plays the role of, as a language, a tool for human communication. It provides convenience to mutually communicate, mutually learn. So, I think English now for me is a tool. At the same time, because English proficiency is required in many respects, English is also a personal standard for myself. (Q3) Excerpt (13): For the whole country, it is a standard by which people’s oral ability is assessed. Furthermore, I think that it can also show a country’s strength. We are city dwellers learning English, but people living in the farmers’ village are not. This is because we as city dwellers have sufficient energy and money to learn English, whereas for people in the farmers’ village, they have to get up very early, sleep at night very late, support the family, so they don’t have the energy to learn English, and haven’t even thought about learning English. So when all people in the country can speak English, this shows that the country has a certain status. When people in the country can speak English, Chinese will also become a universal language of the world. (Q4) Ben’s responses provide a few interesting insights into how Chinese language and identity are understood in relation to the globe. As the responses to Q2 and Q4 indicate, there is a perception that a country’s world status increases with the

110  Chinese plus global identity symbolic power of its language internationally. As shown in Excerpt 13, Ben is of the view that if Chinese people can speak English, China’s status will be strengthened and Chinese will also become a world’s language. In this sense, English appears to be able to define a country and give it a ‘world’ status. Ben’s ideas about the world and about language as power were presumably informed by the history of the rise of English as a world language. In response to Q3 in Excerpt (12), although Ben mentions the roles of English for himself as a tool, he states that English is now required in many domains, embedding his own self within the “social self”, as if he learns English for social purposes. Ben, in this case, displays his individual, global and Chinese identities. The following response to Q7 from another university student also points to the coexistence of Chinese and global identities: Excerpt (14): Of course, in the many years of reform and opening up, because we learn English, I think our people can be more open. They are more willing to learn other things. I think this is very important for us…And also because I think more people learning English, for China, can bring China more the rights to speak. In fact, not only English but also other foreign languages. (Q7) As reflected in Excerpt (14), the lack of foreign language knowledge, in the student’s view, would weaken China and deprive it of its “rights to speak”. When asked in Q7 about the changes English has brought to China, most university students refer to the reform and opening up, among the keywords for the question. The discourses about national development and history have influenced how the students understand the roles of English for the Chinese people. From some students’ perspectives, China and the world not only will become more equal, but China may also become even more powerful. In learning English, the collective Chinese self is still guiding their perceptions; and this collective Chinese self coexists with the global identity. The responses of teachers also signify the coexistence of Chinese and global identities. Unlike the two student cohorts, the highest-frequency words in the teachers’ responses to Q2–Q7 do not include any pronouns. To refer to the world, the teachers more frequently use “the world” (世界), “international” (国际) and “global” (全球), instead. There are eight mentions of “world” (世界) in Q2 responses, five in Q3, and 13 in Q4. Teachers commonly view that English is a tool for communicating (with “tool” (工具) and “communicate” (交流) among the highest-frequency words in Q2–Q4) and understanding the world and its culture (with “culture” (文化) also being a high-frequency word in response to the three questions). In Q3, five out of the seven occurrences of “translation” (翻译”) come from one teacher, who perceives that translated work very likely twists original meanings and that knowing English can help a person read original English work and obtain information. For some teachers, English is also important for their “job” (工作), a keyword also for Q2–Q4. All this is illustrated as follows, in the Q2–Q4 responses of a classical Chinese lecturer, a male in his mid-30s:

Chinese plus global identity  111 Excerpt (15): It’s in all levels of our academic careers: from middle school to high school, from university to postgraduate studies, and from then on to becoming a doctorate – it all involves exams on English proficiency. The other thing is job. If one wants to be promoted from a lecturer to an associate professor or from that to a professor, for instance, it’s impossible not to have his or her English ability assessed as an objective requirement (individual/teacher’s perspective). All career opportunities require English ability as a prerequisite, so if you don’t have that in you, then you’re automatically sacrificing all the chances for promotion. Some people find English appealing as a personal interest. Western culture fascinates them and they want to understand more about the culture, to read foreign work and communicate with foreigners, to travel overseas…for them there is a real need. They are not forced to learn (individual Chinese perspective). As for myself having to present my papers and find ways to get myself promoted, I need to communicate, using English, with students who aren’t so good at Chinese (teacher’s perspective) (Q2) Excerpt (16): First of all, for me it is a very important tool, as I study linguistics (teacher’s perspective). Having learned a language, the most critical thing is to grasp how foreign scholars learn. Now because we’re studying the Chinese language, the only way to figure the peculiarities of Chinese is by comparing as well as contrasting it with other languages – without contrast there is no way we could see what sort of advantages the Chinese language holds (collective Chinese perspective). A lot of documentaries are written in English, and the language is extremely important to my academic career (individual/teacher’s perspective). Other than being a tool for learning, it is also a means of communication. For instance, I often need to interact with foreign students, teachers and friends. They don’t know Chinese, so I have to speak English (individual/teacher’s perspective). English is a window through which I can expand my knowledge and broaden horizons. I have read a lot of books in English and absorbed the essence of western culture to enhance my suzhi. It’s a pathway to learn Western culture (individual/collective Chinese perspective) (Q3) Excerpt (17): For Chinese people, it can be considered a bridge. China walks towards the world and the world walks into China. It’s like a bridge that exchanges the civilisations of Chinese and the West (collective Chinese perspective) (Q4) As seen in these responses, this classical Chinese lecturer constructs and shifts between the different facets of his self throughout. While Q2 does not define the frame of self for him, in Excerpt (15), he constructs an individual, teacher identity

112  Chinese plus global identity by describing his own learning experience and the need for English ability for promotion. Additionally, he refers to the experience and purposes of learning English of other Chinese people (e.g. personal interest, interest in Western culture, read foreign work, communicate with foreigners, travel overseas), creating an individual self for Chinese. For Q3, which places him within the frame of “Chinese self” in Excerpt (16), he still responds from a teacher’s perspective, reiterating the importance of English for his career and communicating with foreign teachers and students. English is also personal for him, as he needs it to interact with foreign friends. Towards the end of responding to Q3, this lecturer relates his study of English and its culture to enhancing suzhi. In doing so, the individual, personal aspect of self associated with English learning is embedded with the collective Chinese whole. English does not make this lecturer “less Chinese”. This also manifests in Excerpt (16), where he states that the differences between Chinese and other languages allow him to realise the advantages of the Chinese language. The exposure to other languages makes explicit his “Chineseness”. When Q4 defines his “collective Chinese self”, this lecturer responds within the collective Chinese frame, indicating that English is a bridge for the contacts and exchange of Chinese and the West. Mr Wang is an English university lecturer in his 40s. He retains a “collective Chinese self” and gives the same response to Q3 and Q4: Excerpt (18): I am an English teacher. If I don’t learn English, my English will deteriorate. (Q2) Excerpt (19): After the many years of reform and opening up, when China plays an important role in the world, [one] as a Chinese should have the responsibility to spread the motherland’s language and culture to the world. This is a necessity in globalisation. (Q3&Q4) In making sense of the roles of English, Mr Wang refers to his individual, English lecturer identity when his self is not defined in Q2. In response to Q3 and Q4, which define his self as a “Chinese self” and a part of the “collective Chinese self”, respectively, he refers to the changes China has undergone since the reform and opening up at the international level, thereby constructing a collective Chinese identity. Mr Wang’s mention of globalisation, whereby the Chinese language and culture are spread, indicates his conceptual categorisation of “Chinese” in contrast to “the globe”, further highlighting the collective Chinese identity. From his perspective, the “collective Chinese self” is also situated within the globe of which it is a part. Globalisation has facilitated not just the spread of English, but under globalisation, Chinese people should also promote Chinese language and culture. This constructs the mutually contributory discourse within which the global plus Chinese identities are constructed.

Chinese plus global identity  113 As with the two student cohorts, the discourses about history and national development have also shaped teachers’ perceptions of English. A high school politics teacher makes the following comment in response to Q2: Excerpt (20): It’s a very uncomfortable situation. Our Chinese culture – being one of the four major civilisations of the world – we once had such spectacular epochs (past)! Yet now we are so powerless that we need to learn from the West (present). We don’t have enough time. The things that you can say with their language and the depth of it – it all pales in comparison to the Chinese language. After all, I think that the Chinese language can express so much more – not just in contents but also in depth – than English. A few words from the poems or prose of the Tang and Song dynasties can express such beautiful and subtle meanings, whereas all of that gets wrecked when translated to English. We have such incredible words, and yet we aren’t able to make its beauty known to the world (past and present). On the contrary, we even need to spend such a long time learning English. I think it’s so embarrassing. And yet there’s nothing we can do. We need to connect with the world (present). We’ve been closed-up for many years, went through the revolution, and for a long time we’ve lost contact with the rest of the world (past and present). Now we need a means to re-establish a form of contact with the world, and in this case it is English. If Chinese wants to be heard in the international arena, then we must rely on English. Others would not approve if we use Chinese, not to mention in international assemblies. There’s no other way, so Chinese must be stronger. We must master the tools well (present). (Q2) The role of English for this high school politics teacher is realised through the history of China in relation to the world. He draws on the historical discourses about ancient world civilisations, the Tang-Song dynasties, China’s “closed door” policy and “revolution”. To a certain extent, he appears to blame the loss of contact with the world on internal policy and unrest rather than the wars and unequal treaties initiated by the West. In organising his experience and feelings about English, he alternates between the past and present. The past has led to the need of Chinese to master English to reconnect with the world at the present time. This teacher’s self can be conceived of as extended in time through memories (Kramsch 2009). As for the high school and university students, the reference to the history associated with English and the world provokes the national Chinese identity for this teacher. When the teachers are asked about the impacts of English on the country (Q7), the keywords they use include “culture” (文化), “we/us/our” (我们), “they/ them/their” (他们) and “communicate/communication” (交流). Teachers tend to perceive English as a means to introduce Chinese culture to foreigners whose knowledge of Chinese culture can facilitate communication. Although the group distinctions between Chinese and foreigners are still made with different pronouns, the Chinese self is also situated within the global community, indicating the coexistence of global and Chinese identities.

114  Chinese plus global identity All parent participants were in their late 30s and 40s at the time of the interview. Their responses for some questions are too limited to derive a range of keywords. As the interview questions are aimed to elicit their views of the roles of English for themselves and not their children, in the responses to Q2–Q4, they did not highlight their standpoints as parents. The range of keywords for these questions does not differ from that for the teacher participants, indicating that English for them is a common tool for communication (交流) and an understanding (了解) of “the world” and “the West.” Instead of pronouns, the parents more frequently use “the world” (世界) and “international” (国际) to refer to foreigners. There are 13 instances of “the world” in Q2, five instances in Q3, and four in Q4. While some parents think that English has not brought any changes to the country, some state that English has made China more open. They do associate English with an image of openness, broadened horizons of Chinese and enhanced suzhi. The parents all answer Q2 from a collective perspective when their self is undefined. When the self is defined as “Chinese” in Q3, the roles of English remain to a considerable extent the same as those for Q2. More commonly raised in Q3 and Q4 is the point that English is a “tool” (工具) (as a keyword) useful for different purposes such as accessing information in English and for jobs. As a public servant, Mrs Song adopts the “collective Chinese self” perspective all along: Excerpt (21): Because since the country’s reform and opening up, there have been more contacts with the West. It’s therefore necessary to learn to communicate with them. English as an international universal language naturally has become a prerequisite for understanding the West. (Q2) Excerpt (22): I think English for me represents trendiness. Because after all I am already over 40, my contacts with English since a young age have been more limited than the children nowadays. But if [one] wants to improve with this society, then it’s necessary to at least know a little bit of English. It is a trend that brings me forward. (Q3) Excerpt (23): I think it plays the role of an assistant. As we need to understand Western culture, English is like a patient assistant who helps us out such as for translating foreign literature. (Q4) While the frame of self is not defined in Q2, Mrs Song makes the group distinctions between China and the West, as indicated by her use of “the West” and “them” (referring to “the West”). In learning English, the Chinese national collective frame is clearly significant for her. In response to Q3, English is said to give Mrs Song a sense of “trendiness”. Learning English means that she is taking part

Chinese plus global identity  115 in this social trend and allows her to “improve with this society”. Even though Mrs Song shows a rather strong individual–self focus through the use of “I think”, “my” and “me” in explaining the roles of English for herself, she situates her motives for learning English within the wider society. In response to Q4, Mrs Song shifts back to a collective Chinese frame, as marked by “we” and “us”, embedding her own perspective and self-identity within the collective Chinese frame. Another focal parent, Mrs Zhang, a white-collar worker, also adopts the “smallself–big-self” perspective in response to the three different frames: Excerpt (24): I wish, through learning English, to communicate and learn from people from many different countries, in order to better understand the world’s culture, understand the knowledge in politics, military, and science of other countries. Through communication, the understanding between people of different countries in the world can be enhanced to achieve the integration of the world’s ethnic cultures. (Q2) Excerpt (25): Since the end of my student’s life, basically English has not been necessary. It can be said that English has become a stranger when it used to be familiar. But with the big leap forward of China’s reform and opening up, especially since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, English for us has become more familiar. It will become a language of necessity of our life, a partner for communication. (Q3) Excerpt (26): It’s a second mother tongue. It can be said that all people are now learning English. It will become an important thing in life. (Q4) The “small-self” as part of “big-self” is obvious in Mrs Zhang’s responses. At the beginning of her response to Q2, she expresses her desire to learn English, to communicate with and understand “the world” and “other countries”. This then is said to be beneficial for the integration of people of different countries and cultures. In response to Q3, when the self is defined as “Chinese”. Mrs Zhang identifies herself as a part of “us”/“our” in Excerpt (25), which represents the collective Chinese whole. She relates using English to the two major events of China – the reform and opening up and the 2008 Beijing Olympics – with no mention of the use of English for herself. Responding to Q4, which defines the self as a “collective Chinese self”, Mrs Zhang refers to English as a second mother tongue for all Chinese people, given its growing importance. For the parents, English has been and will continue to be relevant as a part of the development of their Chinese selves, since the past (as indicated by the mention of reform and opening up in Excerpts (21) and (25)), at present (as indicated by the references to the widespread use of English and the Olympics in Excerpts (21), (23) and (25)), and in the future (as indicated by the comments, “It will

116  Chinese plus global identity become a language of necessity of our life, a partner for communication” (Excerpt 25) and, “It will become an important thing in life” (Excerpt 26), with both ‘它’ (it) referring to English). The reference to the national and international events also shows that parents, like the other three participant groups, make sense of English learning through the discourses about history, national development and globalisation, indicating the development of their global and Chinese identities. In the response to Q7 about the impacts of English, this Chinese plus global identity is obvious. The keywords for Q7 include “奥运会” (Olympics) and “开放” (open), indicating that the Olympics and the opening up of China have played an influential role in the construction of the global identity for the parents. Below is the response of Mr Pu, a manager in a company, who is in his 30s: Excerpt (27): Of course, there are [impacts]. Now children can speak English, right? And now more foreigners come to travel in China, [we] do business with foreign friends (global and Chinese perspectives), right? Providing much convenience to foreigners (global and Chinese perspectives). Also, children learn English at a very young age, and elderly people also learn English. Then English is one more way for expression, language expression. (Q7) In explaining how English has facilitated the communication between Chinese and foreigners, Mr Pu creates and maintains the distinction between the two groups. Simultaneously, he also situates Chinese people within the global community simply by mentioning the common day-to-day exchanges between Chinese people and foreigners travelling and doing business in China. Foreigners are said to be accommodated by Chinese people through their knowledge and use of English. This further highlights the agency of Chinese people in the reception of English and the consolidated Chinese identity in interactions with foreigners. The four informant groups, high school students, university students, teachers and parents, have developed global and Chinese perspectives within which they make sense of the roles of English. Although there are mentions of individually oriented motives, and the individual facets of self also manifest, their individual selves demonstrably branch out of their collective Chinese frames and are always embedded within the “big self”, a notion consistent with the official discourse. English also seems to provide participants with a chance to look back at the past and reflect on the present. The re-accentuation of the past constructs the continuity and integrity of Chinese identity, ti, strongly aligning with the official view of China’s development. Despite the group distinctions between Chinese and the world in their viewpoints, the participants emphasise the role of English in facilitating mutually cooperative relationships between the two groups in the age of globalisation. Chinese relations with the world today are characterised by a two-way linguistic and cultural exchange, communication and equal status. These characteristics found in the interviews reflect and support the official discourse of a “pure Chinese and global identity”, where English is a symbol associated with the global facet of Chinese identity which remains intact. Constructed within the mutuality discourse, the national and global identities exist side by side.

Chinese plus global identity  117

Appendix 7.1 Interview keyword tables

High school students Q2 Keywords 交流 (communicate/communication) 他们 (they/them/their) 了解 (understand) 世界 (the world) 我们 (we/us/our) 工作 (job) 工具 (tool) 需要 (need/necessity) 选择 (choose/choice) 知识 (knowledge) 沟通 (exchange)

Frequency 13 10 8 7 7 5 4 4 4 3 3

Q3 Keywords 工具 (tool) 交流 (communicate/communication) 学习 (learn) 世界 (the world) 了解 (understand) 我们 (we/us/our) 考试 (exam) 文化 (culture)

Frequency 13 10 9 6 5 4 3 3

118  Appendix Q4 Keywords

Frequency

世界 (the world) 交流 (communicate/communication) 工具 (tool) 西方 (the West/Western) 我们 (we/us/our) 文化 (culture) 了解 (understand) 沟通 (exchange) 努力 (work hard) 互相 (mutual)

9 8 5 5 5 4 4 3 3 3

Keywords

Frequency

Q5

了解 (understand) 交流 (communicate/communication) 有趣 (interesting) 好玩 (fun) 考试 (exam)

2 2 2 2 2

Q6 Keywords 他们 (they/them/their) 了解 (understand) 我们 (we/us/our) 交流 (communicate/communication) 机会 (opportunity) 思想 (thinking) 沟通 (exchange) (不)现实 (im/practical) 农村 (farmers’ village) 大山里 (mountain) 素质 (suzhi: “essentialised quality”) 人民 (the people) 人民素质 (the people’s suzhi)

Frequency 11 7 6 5 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Appendix  119 Q7 Keywords 我们 (we/us/our) 交流 (communicate/communication) 外国 (foreign (adj.)/foreign countries) 大家 (everyone/everybody) 了解 (understand) 生活 (life) 文化 (culture) 发展 (develop/development) 自己 (oneself) 思想 (thinking) 沟通 (exchange) 世界 (the world) 全世界 (the whole world) 融入 (integrate) 他们 (they/them/their)

Frequency 8 7 7 5 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 2 2

Q8 Keywords 我们 (we/us/our) 中国 (China/Chinese) 他们 (they/them/their) 文化(中国) (Chinese culture) 生活 (life) 学 (learn) 环境 (environment) 交流 (communicate/communication) 中国人 (Chinese people) (“The Last Lesson”) 工具 (tool) 传承 (pass on) 灵魂 (soul) 根本 (root)

Frequency 23 22 8 6 5 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2

Q9 Keywords 学习 (learn) 重视 (emphasise/emphasis) 丢 (give up)

Frequency 6 4 2

120  Appendix Q10 Keywords

Frequency

中国 (China/Chinese) 传统 (tradition) 文化 (culture) 兼/兼顾 (at the same time/take care of at the same time) 传统文化 (traditional culture) 万圣节 (Halloween) 西方 (the West/Western) 圣诞节 (Christmas) 工具 (tool)

18 12 12 6 5 4 4 3 2

Q11 Keywords 文化 (culture) 了解 (understand) 西方 (the West/Western) 文化知识 (cultural knowledge) 更好 (better) 知识 (knowledge) 民族 (ethnicity) 背景 (background) 环境 (environment) 生活 (life) 深入 (in-depth)

Frequency 34 23 22 9 8 4 3 3 3 3 2

University students Q2 Keywords 我 (I/me/myself) 我们 (we/us/our) 了解 (understand) 交流 (communicate/communication) 世界 (the world) 国外 (outside the country) 生活 (life)

Frequency 48 18 14 9 9 8 8

Appendix  121 Keywords 自己 (oneself) 工具 (tool) 外国人 (foreigners) 开放 (open) 翻译 (translation) 发展 (develop/development) 工作 (job) 文化 (culture) 重要 (important) 国际 (international) 通用 (common/universal) 角度 (perspective) 信息 (message/information) 专业 (profession/major)

Frequency 7 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4

Q3 Keywords 工具 (tool) 了解 (understand) 交流 (communicate/communication) 我们 (we/us/our) 文化 (culture) 专业 (profession/major) 他们 (they/them/their) 个人 (personal) 自己 (oneself) 生活 (life) 外国人 (foreigners) 世界 (the world) 翻译 (translation) 书 (book) 开放 (open) 信息 (message/information) 能力 (ability) 英国 (U.K.) 眼界 (horizon) 美国 (U.S.) 沟通 (exchange)

Frequency 23 15 14 14 12 8 8 7 7 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 1 1

122  Appendix Q4 Keywords 我们 (we/us/our) 工具 (tool) 世界 (the world) 外国 (foreign (adj)/foreign countries) 了解 (understand) 交流 (communicate/communication) 改革开放 (reform and opening up) 兴趣 (interest) 开放 (open) 桥梁 (bridge) 媒介 (channel/medium) 生活 (life)

Frequency 26 10 10 9 7 6 5 5 4 3 3 2

Q5 Keywords 他们 (they/them/their) 兴趣 (interest) 考试 (exam) 文化 (culture) 工具 (tool) 交流 (communicate/communication) 外国人 (foreigners) 专业 (profession/major) 美国 (U.S.)

Frequency 12 9 9 7 7 6 5 4 2

Q6 Keywords 他们 (they/them/their) 交流 (communicate/communication) 自己 (oneself) 生活 (life) 我们 (we/us/our) 接触 (contact) 外国人 (foreigners) 没有用 (useless)

Frequency 36 12 11 9 9 6 6 5

Appendix  123 Keywords 一辈子 (entire life) 关系 (relationship) 兴趣 (interest) 发展 (develop/development) 时间 (time) 机会 (opportunity) 条件 (condition) 工作 (job) 现实 (practical) 偏远 (remote) 农村 (farmers’ village) 贫困 (poor)

Frequency 5 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 2 2

Q7 Keywords 我们 (we/us/our) 他们 (they/them/their) 经济 (economy) 世界 (the world) 开放 (open) 技术 (methods/techniques) 改革开放 (reform and opening up) 思想 (thinking) 文化 (culture) 国际 (international) 了解 (understand) 教育 (education) 眼界 (horizon)

Frequency 44 30 21 11 11 7 6 5 4 4 3 3 3

Q8 Keywords 自己 (oneself) 我们 (we/us/our) 中国人 (Chinese people) 文化 (culture) 中国 (China/Chinese) 生活 (life)

Frequency 17 13 12 11 10 7

124  Appendix Keywords

Frequency

环境 (environment) 根 (root)

7 6

Q9 Keywords

Frequency

我们 (we/us/our) 他们 (they/them/their) 思维 (ways of thinking) 文化 (culture) 古文 (literary Chinese) 时间 (time) 重视 (emphasise/emphasis)

24 18 10 8 6 5 4

Q10 Keywords

Frequency

我们 (we/us/our)

24

Keywords

Frequency

Q11

他们 (they/them/their) 单词/词汇(vocabulary) 我们 (we/us/our) 背景 (background) 交流 (communicate/communication) 理解 (understanding) 含 (embedded (meaning of words))

25 16 13 9 8 8 5

Appendix  125

Teachers Q2 Keywords 世界 (the world) 交流 (communicate/communication) 工作 (job) 工具 (tool) 了解 (understand) 文化 (culture) 生活 (life) 升学 (further study) 全球化 (globalisation) 沟通 (exchange) 西方 (the West/Western) 机会 (opportunity) 先进 (advanced) 文明 (civilisation) 国际 (international) 升职 (job promotion) 他们 (they/them/their) 功利 (immediate success) 辅助 (supplementary) 我们 (we/us/our)

Frequency 8 8 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 1

Q3 Keywords 工具 (tool) 文化 (culture) 交流 (communicate/communication) 重要 (important) 翻译 (translation) 生活 (life) 工作 (job) 学习 (learn) 世界 (the world) 外国 (foreign (adj)/foreign countries) 中国人 (Chinese people) 窗口 (channel) 自己 (oneself)

Frequency 12 12 7 7 7 6 5 5 5 4 4 4 4

126  Appendix Keywords 我们 (we/us/our) 传播 (spread) 他们 (they/them/their)

Frequency 3 3 1

Q4 Keywords 世界 (the world) 工具 (tool) 文化 (culture) 交流 (communicate/communication) 我们 (we/us/our) 桥梁 (bridge) 工作 (job) 沟通 (exchange) 了解 (understand) 他们 (we/us/our) 外国人 (foreigners)

Frequency 13 8 8 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 4

Q5 Keywords 文化 (culture)

Frequency 6

Q6 Keywords 需要 (need/necessity) 他们 (they/them/their) 我们 (we/us/our) 个人(personal) 工作 (job) 交流 (communicate/communication) 了解 (understand) 外国人 (foreigners) 一辈子 (entire life) 世界 (the world)

Frequency 21 9 9 7 5 4 4 4 4 1

Appendix  127 Q7 Keywords 文化 (culture) 我们 (we/us/our) 他们 (they/them/their) 交流 (communicate/communication) 工作 (job) 国际 (international) 经济 (economy) 了解 (understand)

Frequency 15 9 7 7 5 5 5 4

Q8 Keywords 中国人 (Chinese people) 翻译 (translation) 生活 (life) 环境 (environment) 我们 (we/us/our)

Frequency 3 3 2 2 1

Q9 Keywords 时间 (time) 我们 (we/us/our) 重视 (emphasise/emphasis)

Frequency 10 7 4

Q10 Keywords 传统 (tradition) 传统文化 (traditional culture) 我们 (we/us/our) 了解 (understand) 中国文化 (Chinese culture) 外国 (foreign (adj)/foreign countries) 西方文化 (Western culture) 互相 (mutual)

Frequency 23 15 9 7 7 6 5 3

128  Appendix Q11 Keywords 西方 (the West) 了解 (understand) 西方文化 (Western culture) 文化知识 (cultural knowledge) 工具 (tool) 掌握 (grasp) 词汇 (vocabulary)

Frequency 19 12 10 10 6 5 4

Parents Q2 Keywords 世界 (the world) 交流 (communicate/communication) 了解 (understand) 国际 (international) 工具 (tool) 我们 (we/us/our) 沟通 (exchange) 西方 (the West/Western) 通用 (common/universal) 走向 (walk towards) 文化 (culture) 他们 (they/them/their)

Frequency 13 12 7 6 5 5 4 4 3 2 2 1

Q3 Keywords 世界 (the world) 工具 (tool) 我们 (we/us/our) 交流 (communicate/communication) 重要 (important) 工作 (job) 资料 (information) 沟通 (exchange) 桥梁 (bridge)

Frequency 5 5 5 5 5 3 3 2 2

Appendix  129 Keywords 了解 (understand) 生活 (life) 文化 (culture)

Frequency 2 2 1

Q4 Keywords 我们 (we/us/our) 工具 (tool) 了解 (understand) 世界 (the world) 交流 (communicate/communication) 重要 (important) 素质 (suzhi: “essentialised quality”) 外国 (foreign (adj)/ foreign countries) 开放 (open) 外语 (foreign languages) 他们 (they/them/their)

Frequency 8 6 5 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 1

Q5 Keywords

Frequency

Nil

Q6 Keywords 我们 (we/us/our) 条件 (condition) 他们 (they/them/their) 对外 (outside/external)

Frequency 5 3 2 2

130  Appendix Q7 Keywords

Frequency

我们 (we/us/our) 开放 (open) 奥运会 (the Olympics) 对外 (outside/external) 了解 (understand) 世界 (the world) 文化 (culture) 交流 (exchange) 提高 (enhance) 素质 (suzhi: “essentialised quality”)

7 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 2

Q8 Keywords

Frequency

(根)本 (root) 我们 (we/us/our) 自己 (oneself) 生活 (life) 中国人 (Chinese people) 文化 (culture) 世界 (the world) 学习 (learn) 基础 (foundation) 民族 (ethnicity)

16 7 7 6 6 5 3 3 3 2

Q9 Keywords

Frequency

时间 (time)

10

Keywords

Frequency

Q10

世界 (the world)

5

Appendix  131 Q11 Keywords

Frequency

我们 (we/us/our) 不可分 (inseparable) 交流 (communicate/communication)

3 2 2

8 “There used to be a thinking that all countries in the world were very hostile towards China, but after you understand more, it turns out that they are not that hostile” “Multiple worlds” and “English-speaking self” Yong (Western learning for utility) in the ti-yong principle has long defined the role of English as a tool in China’s English education and presented the language to Chinese people as culturally neutral. However, it is generally perceived that language and culture are closely connected. Learning the values and thoughts behind a language is almost unavoidable in second language acquisition. An analysis of Phase Two interviews shows that Chinese people today have closer contact with English than in the past, and as a result, their imagination about the Other as well as themselves is different, contesting the currency of the ti-yong distinction.

8.1 English dimension of self in a “glocalising” world The following excerpts are taken from the participants’ responses to Q2–Q4 and Q10–Q11, about whether they have developed a self associated with English and whether their perceptions of the cultures associated with the Chinese and English languages can be clearly identified. Sara, a Grade 8 student, was born outside of Beijing and moved to the capital with her parents when she was in Grade 1. When the self is not defined in Q2, Sara responds from a student and Chinese perspective: Excerpt (28): I think for most of the majors, say, for university, it’s a standard. When I enter university, there will possibly be over 90% of majors which require English as a prerequisite (student perspective). But I think for example, for those who study Chinese, their area of research is Chinese (“other Chinese” perspective), and English can only play a supplementary role. It’s very important to learn English because after the reform and opening up, we need to first learn their language to communicate with foreign countries. There will be no barriers to communication (Chinese perspective). (Q2) In constructing herself as a student, Sara describes English as a prerequisite at the university. She then shifts to comment on the need for English of other

“Multiple worlds” and “English-speaking self”  133 Chinese people, using third person pronouns “those” and “their” in “for those who study Chinese, their area of research is Chinese”, thereby constructing an individual Chinese self among the collective whole. This is clear in her perception that “the Chinese people” are diversified. At the end of the response, Sara’s use of “we” as opposed to “their” in “after the reform and opening up, we need to first learn their language to communicate with foreign countries” positions herself as part of the Chinese whole in relation to foreigners. In responding to Q3, when her self is defined as an “individual Chinese”, Sara notes that English has increased her confidence, while a more general role of English is mentioned in response to Q4, when she is defined as part of the Chinese whole: Excerpt (29): Because I didn’t learn English well when [I] first entered high school. But when I spent more time, [my] English improved and it has given me confidence about my study, especially in this school full of genius. [It] gives me a lot of confidence. (Q3) Excerpt (30): For all Chinese people, it plays a supplementary role. I think it’s the most important point. Second, it serves as a bridge for professional research. (Q4) Sara is the only high school student to mention her enhanced confidence from learning English, an attribute of an individual self and a sign of self-identity change illustrated by Gao and her associates (Gao et al. 2005, 2007; Zhou & Gao 2009). While English, from her perspective, is supplementary for the Chinese whole, as shown in Excerpt (30), the language plays a self-defining role for Sara. Her English ability gives her subjective experience of a sense of self-worth and self-confidence (Kramsch 2009). Under different frames, the multiple facets of Chinese identity are manifested in her responses. She positions herself as a Chinese in relation to other Chinese and in relation to foreign countries, but also constructs a self associated with English. In responding to Q5, which explores reasons for liking or disliking English study, the high school students do not mention English being a “tool” for communication and understanding the world, as they did in responding to Q2–Q4. Some students learn English avidly because of an interest in the language and culture or because “it is fun to learn English”. Some admire the “beauty” and “charm” of the language. It also gives them perceptions of a different aesthetic and feeling: Excerpt (31): I quite like learning English because English has a rhythm. When saying it, it’s quite catchy. So, I quite like English. (Q5)

134  “Multiple worlds” and “English-speaking self” According to Kramsch (2009), emotions, feelings and memories are the embodied aspects of a socialised self. English affects the student’s feelings and life in a foreign language, which in turn influences their embodied self. As English evokes feelings (for example, beauty, charm, rhythm, catchiness) and emotions (for example, Sara’s enhanced self-confidence) of some high school students, it has become a part of their socialised self as well as their social identity. This, clearly, differs from the official discourse of ti-yong. While the ti-yong discourse prescribes that Chinese culture is deeply consolidated and that Western culture should be a separate entity, some high school students show an interest in “understand(ing)” (了解) the “life” (生活) and “background” (背景) of “the West” (西方) in order to “better” (更好) (as the common words in Q11) learn English. This is illustrated by Ben, a high school student mentioned in the previous chapter, who states, Excerpt (32): I think understanding Western culture is very important, because that’s why I learn English. It’s for understanding the current situation of the West, Western culture and even their advanced technology and for learning and bringing them into China. So, understanding western culture not only can fulfil the learning purpose, at the same time, it can also let you better remember English. For example, through knowing the culture and history, the vocabulary or knowledge can be better memorised. So, the purpose can be fulfilled and English can be better learnt. (Q11) Some high school students contend that it is necessary to learn the culture(s) associated with English, because the cultures associated with the Chinese and English languages can be hybridised to enrich Chinese culture. When asked about the impact of English study on traditional Chinese culture, a majority of high school students think that the two, which have no negative impacts or contradictions, can be simultaneously “take(n) care of” (兼/兼顾) (as a keyword in Q10). Even if there are contradictions, they are minor and even beneficial for traditional Chinese culture. As a high school student states, Excerpt (33): There are contradictions, but I don’t think they are big, because in traditional Chinese culture, there are things more conservative and English represents innovation. It then provides traditional Chinese culture a positive supplement. (Q10) For various reasons (e.g. to better learn English and enrich Chinese culture), all high school students emphasise the importance of learning the culture(s) embedded within English. Like the high school students, the motives of some university students for learning English are associated with a pure interest in the language and its associated culture(s). One such individual is a first-year journalism postgraduate,

“Multiple worlds” and “English-speaking self”  135 William, who is in his early 20s and moved from Shanxi to study in Beijing in 2005. He speaks his dialect in his home town, and once in Beijing, he started to speak Mandarin, which he calls his mother tongue. He has passed the Band-6 College English Test. While William mentions that English is the common language of the “global village” within a collective frame in Q2, he responds to Q3 with more personal motives: Excerpt (34): Because the world is a global village and becoming ever more integrated, you need to first understand their language if you need to understand others. Thus, we must learn English as it’s the universal language. (Q2) Excerpt (35): Personally – this may not be so for other Chinese people – I like the chemistry that you get between two cultures in contact. I think these interactions are very interesting, and that’s why English for me is very charming. I’m very happy when learning the language, because I can sense the logic behind English when I do so. Not only are their values very interesting, but I also feel that all this will somehow be useful in the future. Learning English is more of my personal preference. (Q3) For William and the collective whole, the benefits of English are clear-cut but not contradictory. At the national level, English is necessary for communicating and integrating with the world, as shown in Excerpt (34), whereas at the personal level, William shows a clear intrinsic interest. As shown in Excerpt (35), he is conscious that he is going beyond the “collective Chinese frame”: “personally – this may not be so for other Chinese people”, and that learning English is his “personal preference”. He has found a sense of happiness as he comes to understand more about the values behind this “charming” language. Issac is a third-year journalism student in his early 20s, who moved from Hunan to Beijing in 2007. He has passed the Band-4 College English Test and is preparing for the Band-6 test. In 2005, he participated in a national English singing contest, performing a song from the band Westlife. He likes Western music very much, and the Black Eyed Peas is a favourite band. For Issac, his home town dialect is his mother tongue; Mandarin is a tool to communicate with people outside his home town, and English seems to have become a part of his life outside of his studies: Excerpt (36): Because first of all, for me, learning English isn’t just for complying with the society or the wider environment. I think my life is in a sense invaded by English in so many respects that there’d be so much inconvenience if I don’t learn the language. For example, I wouldn’t be able to watch movies, browse

136  “Multiple worlds” and “English-speaking self” the Internet or even just play all those computer games. If I don’t learn English, this all cannot be done. (Q2) Excerpt (37): In the past I could remember vocabulary very quickly, and I would never forget what I had remembered. But now, the vocabulary are just there themselves. You simply remember them without you putting them into context. For example, you don’t have a text, a sentence, and you simply remember the vocabulary. You may remember it but when you need to use it, you don’t know how. Gradually, you will forget it. For example, I am annoyed that I can’t use it after learning or it’s useless. I feel very annoyed. But say when I watch the NBA match, watch movie, watch online TV, and then discover I can understand its meanings, I will feel very happy. Now I am still practicing my listening skill. The teacher teaches us the methods of practicing. That is, you listen to a few passages, then you write them down, listen to a few passages again, and write them down. This is said to be quite useful. I go to the VOA (Voice of America) website to download ordinary English speech. Sometimes, there is a French accent if the speaker is a French reporter. Sometimes, when there is breaking news, he reports very quickly and I can’t understand. I then feel like defeated. But sometimes, I feel more relaxed and can understand a whole text. When I can understand 70%–80%, I will feel very happy. (Q3) For Issac, English has become a tool that provides convenience to his life and even a sense of success, satisfaction as well as failure, which can affect the formation of his self-image. At different points, learning English can lead Issac to “feel very annoyed”, “feel like defeated”, “feel more relaxed” and “feel very happy”. He is highly capable of mapping English learning onto his daily life experience and feelings. For both William and Issac, learning English confirms “the representation of (their) primary happy sense of self” (Kramsch 2009:54) as well as the different feelings that influence their self-perceptions. Since the use of English is so widespread that it is involved in almost all aspects of life, the boundary between the “local” and “global”/“international”, as indicated in Excerpt (36), has become less clear-cut. In China, although English is used predominantly in trade, business and tourism, Chinese people, especially the younger generation, also use it in their daily life. The fluidity of the “local” and “global” (Pennycook 2007a, 2010) somehow eliminates the distinction between Chinese and the world. Apart from influencing their daily life experience and feelings, English can also present to the students another “world” of thinking. This is highlighted in the response of Alex, a university student who appeared in the previous chapter: Excerpt (38): I think there should be some changes. For example, in terms of journalism, not everyone now only trusts Chinese media. Many people, they discover

“Multiple worlds” and “English-speaking self”  137 why foreign media and our media give hugely different and opposing reports on the same issue. This is the way of seeing many other things. In the past we thought that China was very powerful, but after you learn English, you would discover that China is actually very backward. There used to be a thinking that all countries in the world were very hostile towards China, but after you understand more, it turns out that they are not that hostile. There are many other countries which are not as evil as we describe. I think this is for me the greatest change to thinking. (Q7) For journalism students such as Alex, foreign countries such as the United States are the ideal places for the journalism profession. Exposure to the outside world can provide him with different ways of seeing China and the world, unedited information and open-mindedness. This is the fantasy about the West and America that Rofel (2007) discusses in her interviews with young Chinese women who have had their own imaginations about foreign countries. As Gao et al. (2007) point out, if students learn English to go abroad or are very sensitive to learning results, they might get lost and feel the conflict between the two languages and cultures. English appears to have exposed Alex, who longs to study in the United States, to a different “world” which presents conflicting views and values (for example, “powerful” China and a “hostile” West) and has challenged how Chinese people perceive themselves in relation to the world. University students’ responses to Q11 indicate their view that one must learn about the “background” (背景) (as a keyword in Q11) associated with English. Students perceive the need to learn about the background of English to memorise “vocabulary” (单词/词汇) (as a keyword) more easily. Issac sees learning about the culture(s) embedded within English as an important means to successfully acquire English: Excerpt (39): I think it is very essential to learn Western cultural knowledge. For example, we started to learn English when we were young. You sometimes feel that when you have some knowledge of a particular aspect, you feel that learning English in this aspect is under control and easy. But when there are things you have never dealt with, you will feel it’s hard to understand such as the customs and traditions of Halloween in the West, and the customs and traditions of Thanksgiving. If you come across a text that introduces these things, and sometimes you don’t even understand a bit of it, you feel very strange, very hard to understand. But when you understand the local culture, you will feel “oh it’s actually like this. I can understand it.” Take an example from sports. The US President Obama and Brazilian president are both football fans. In summer this year, there was a united league match in which Brazil won over the US in the final. And in the G20 Summit not long ago, when they saw each other, the Brazilian president gave Obama a jersey of the Brazilian team, on which the scores of the match Brazil won were printed. Obama was then very gloomy. This became a piece of news. When we practice our

138  “Multiple worlds” and “English-speaking self” listening skills and reading, if I know of this football culture and the relations of these two countries, and when I do the reading and listening, I will feel it’s very easy to understand. (Q11) Despite the university students’ interest in the culture(s) embodied in English, they are acutely aware of the contradictions between Chinese and English cultures. As Issac explains: Excerpt (40): There’re definitely going to be conflicts. Like I said, the spread of English would be accompanied by the spread of Western cultures. And there are definitely clashes between the two. Take the concept of divorce as an example. Divorces were very uncommon in China before. But it has become more common after the reform and opening up, and especially after the ‘90s. The spread of English also came with the notion of sexual liberation and the rise of feminism, raising the awareness of the female population. There’s also more of a sense of protecting oneself and of maintaining the rights of the individual. Take euthanasia for example. Euthanasia is definitely prohibited in China and in many European countries, it is sanctioned. In Chinese we have a saying that the body is given by one’s parents, and that one’s life not only belongs to him or her but that he or she must also consider others’ feelings. But in foreign cultures, life itself is controlled and belongs to the individual as long as it does not affect others. Controversies like these are typical conflicts between the two cultures. Others like cohabiting and single mothers are also classic examples. There’s another saying which emphasises the notion of filial piety. You have to take care of the elders as well as your children. As your parents get older and when you have the ability to take care of them, you should do so with all your ability. But in Western countries, they get rid of their kids at a young age and let them live their own lives. Sometimes they’re even against the concept of sons and daughters being over-caring of the elders. They take this as interference to personal lives. It’s like, OK, I’ve raised you and my job is done. Now you’ve got your own family and work, just go on and live your life and there’s no need for you to come and manage mine; and even up to the point where they say, “I don’t want to let you take control”. This is also a great conflict for traditional Chinese culture. (Q10) Most of the university students’ responses to Q10 are too short to generate a range of meaningful keywords. For many, however, the cultures associated with Chinese and English are not contradictory. For those who think they are, this is very likely because English has presented to them different ways of conceiving of the world, their own culture and themselves. It exposes them to another “world” of practices and values which are very different or even contradict traditional Chinese culture.

“Multiple worlds” and “English-speaking self”  139 Jessica is an English teacher and research assistant in the English department of a Beijing university. Born in Beijing, Jessica is in her early 20s, has a master’s degree in English literature, and can only speak Mandarin. In answering Q2–Q4, “frame-shifting” occurs, where she constructs different orientations of herself: Excerpt (41): First of all, I very much like learning English. I have liked learning English since I was young. Before even attending English lessons in primary school, I started to learn English. Then, since I started, I have felt that English is very interesting, so I chose English as a major in university. (Q2) Excerpt (42): To me English is a very important device to communicate and to absorb Western culture. English has also become a part of my life. I don’t know whether this is a function for me as a Chinese, but I sometimes sense a contradiction between the two. Occasionally I find myself a little unfamiliar with Chinese, and sometimes people might think that the reason I learn English is because I’m not patriotic. (Q3) Excerpt (43): For ordinary Chinese people, learning English can provide convenience to their job, especially now there are many jobs that involve dealing with foreigners or people who work in multinational corporations. So English is needed and, for ordinary Chinese people, English is a very important communication tool. (Q4) In Jessica’s responses, there is a clear identifying subject indicated by the use of “I” or “me”. For instance, in response to Q2, when the self is not defined, there are seven uses of “I” to explain how she came to like English and find English “interesting”. Jessica watches a lot of American movies, listens to English music and reads English books because she really likes the language, which has become a part of her life. The comment: “I don’t know whether this is a function for me as a Chinese” in Q3 is remarkable. Similar to the journalism student, William, she is acutely conscious that she is thinking beyond the “Chinese frame”. Jessica associates English with a deteriorating sense of patriotism, possibly drawing on her knowledge about the historical association of English with foreigners. From Q2–Q4, Jessica’s frame of reference is consistently an “individual-­ oriented” one. In elucidating the roles of English for the Chinese people in Q4, Jessica uses “their” to refer to “ordinary Chinese people”, from whom she tries to distinguish herself. The roles of English for herself (as indicated in Q2 and Q3 responses) and for “ordinary Chinese people” (as indicated in Q4 response) are somehow different. For her, the motivation to learn English is more intrinsic (interest in culture and sense of likeness) whereas for the Chinese people, it is

140  “Multiple worlds” and “English-speaking self” more instrumental (communication tool and job prospects). Jessica has seemingly developed an individual self associated with English. Presumably because of the importance of English for Jessica, in her response to Q8, there is not a definite answer as to which language is more important: Excerpt (44): It depends on how and from what perspective you interpret it. In terms of identity, I think Chinese isn’t all that important to me, because I won’t forget it no matter what. So, I can’t tell you which language is more important, but I think that Chinese must be mastered no matter what. When you learn a language, you should learn it well, and this applies both to Chinese and English. (Q8) Jessica does not consider the importance of Chinese as the mother tongue from an identity perspective. Chinese is taken to resemble English, as if it also needs to be learnt, like other languages. Q10 responses do not yield any meaningful keywords, but for many teachers, English provides a window into looking at their own traditional Chinese culture. For instance, the classical Chinese lecturer previously introduced explains, Excerpt (45): Not only do I think that learning English has no contradictions against traditional culture, but it might even be a mutual symbiosis where one can compensate the other and where interaction between the two can take place. One thing beautiful about the Chinese culture is that we’re more modest. Chinese culture is more inner-oriented, and this is reflected in the construction of the Great Wall, the intention of which was to defend ourselves instead of attacking others. But Western culture has its positives as well. Most English speakers take on a more direct approach. They speak without having to go in circles. Sometimes that appears more candid and honest, which I think is a positive attitude worth learning. So, by learning English we’re also learning the cultural tradition and quality that’ll compensate for what is lacking in our own culture, while simultaneously exporting the good things about it. (Q10) In the teachers’ perceptions, Chinese culture will not be jeopardised but will even be enhanced by the importation of Western culture(s). The classical Chinese lecturer appreciates the beauty of Chinese culture but simultaneously thinks that English culture(s) have positives that can “compensate” for the shortcomings of Chinese culture. English and its associated culture(s) have led some teachers to reflect upon Chinese culture and how English can contribute to its development. As with the student cohorts, the teachers all agree with the need to learn the culture(s) embedded within English. How a language is formed and used is determined by one’s tradition. Learning the cultural knowledge of English, in all teachers’ opinions, can therefore facilitate English acquisition and communication, and in turn, enhance an “understanding” (了解) of “the West” (西方)

“Multiple worlds” and “English-speaking self”  141 (as keywords in Q11). The idea of incorporating English culture(s) into Chinese culture contradicts the official discourse that emphasises the Chinese plus global identity, as well as the ti-yong principle, which discourages the learning of English culture(s). Compared to the student and teacher cohorts, the parents do not display as much orientation of the self associated with English learning. However, their attitude towards English and its associated culture(s) are positive. Like the teachers, some parents hold that Chinese culture can be enriched and further developed by incorporating the positives of English culture(s). The parents’ responses for Q10 do not yield any meaningful keywords. Mrs Zhang and Mr Pu respectively express the following views: Excerpt (46): I think at the beginning there are conflicts and contradictions. But as English is studied more in depth, the conflicts and contradictions between English and traditional Chinese culture can be solved. We can more precisely spread traditional Chinese culture to the people of other countries in the world through English, in order to achieve the hybridity of Chinese and Western cultures. (Q10) Excerpt (47): Maybe there will be some changes and development as a result of the influences of Western culture on traditional culture. It’s not like before. For example, traditional festivals also influence the West. Now for example, foreigners also eat our dumplings, right? Time is evolving and tradition cannot remain unchanged. Tradition also has time imprinted on it. (Q10) Although some contradictions between Chinese and English cultures exist, the parents overall are positive about the coexistence of the two cultures, which can further develop and be hybridised through their learning from each other. There are no prominent keywords in Q11, but consistent with the view that English culture(s) can enhance Chinese culture, all parents agree with the need to learn the culture(s) embodied in English. As Mrs Zhang mentions: Excerpt (48): I think it’s necessary to learn some Western cultural knowledge. English should be like the salt in our cooking. It’s necessary. But only if it is integrated into Western cultural knowledge, its tastiness will manifest, not only the taste of being salty. So, it is still necessary to learn some Western culture to help learn English. (Q11) English culture(s) are said to contribute to better acquisition of the language. To some extent, they add to the fun of studying English.

142  “Multiple worlds” and “English-speaking self” As the foregoing discussion has shown, for some participants in the student and teacher cohorts, the experience, feelings and ways of thinking they encountered when studying and using English have developed their socialised selves associated with the language (Kramsch 2009). This allows them to start to imagine the “world” associated with English, a “glocalising” world with a less distinctive boundary between the “local” and the “global”, which can be further exacerbated by the hybridity of Chinese and Western cultures that some participants welcomed. Although the parents do not display their “individual selves” throughout the interviews, they support the learning of English culture(s).

8.2 Emphasis on English over Chinese As discussed in Chapter 1, the Chinese language, Mandarin, is promoted as a Chinese identity marker to fill an identity and cultural vacuum and unite the Chinese people. Nevertheless, the spread of English appears to have negatively impacted the status and use of the Chinese language. Q9 is set up to investigate participants’ viewpoints regarding the relative statuses of English and Chinese. With no significant keywords found in their responses, high school students generally perceive that the Chinese language is not seriously affected by English study for various reasons: Excerpt (49): I think theoretically there should not be any [contradictions]. But now for the students, they have to learn many things. Maybe you don’t have that much energy to learn everything well, so there maybe some impacts. But it (mother tongue Chinese)’s used everyday, so you shouldn’t not be able to learn it well. (Q9) Excerpt (50): There are a few impacts but not that serious. Some people emphasise more English, say, in our school, there are exams on English, Maths and Commerce, but there is more emphasis on the results of English and Maths. It feels like it’s okay to just do well with Chinese. (Q9) While some students think that it is impossible for Chinese people not to be able to master Chinese well since they use it on a daily basis, some students are of the view that Chinese people place more emphasis on English and neglect Chinese in schools. For some university students, there are contradictions between learning English and learning Chinese. One unique keyword for Q9 found only among university students is “literary Chinese” (古文), which occurs six times, indicating the impact of studying English on the “time” (时间) (also as a keyword) available to learn classical Chinese. The pronouns “we/us/our” (我们) and “they/them/ their” (他们), “ways of thinking” (思维) and “culture” (文化) are also the main

“Multiple worlds” and “English-speaking self”  143 keywords in the Q9 responses of university students. They perceive that English has mainly influenced their ways of thinking: Excerpt (51): There are some [impacts]. Westerners have their ways of thinking and cultures. Learning language and culture are inseparable. English to some extent influences how we think. (Q9) Teachers also think that English has negatively affected the Chinese language. “Time” (时间) is a keyword in Q9. This is due to the common view that learning English takes up much time from studying Chinese, and thus students’ Chinese proficiency is declining. In response to Q8 and Q9, a teacher states, Excerpt (52): It’s not necessary to say. Of course, the mother tongue is more important. You say which is more important, breastfeeding or milk from cows? We are human and so need to be breastfed. (Q8) Excerpt (53): Of course, there are impacts, great impacts. For example, we don’t have enough time to learn mother tongue now, and still haven’t yet fully realised the beauty of the mother tongue. I think there are of course impacts, especially when English is popular among the young people. This trend has some impacts on the mother tongue. (Q9) For this teacher, contradictions exist between learning English and learning Chinese. People are too occupied with learning English, resulting in negligence towards the mother tongue. Although in Q2 he explains the necessity of learning English: “in terms of what is called globalisation and internationalisation, I think the motives behind learning English nowadays are all for materialistic gains” (“ 是从那个什么全球化国际桥梁的角度去讲 我觉得就实际而言 现在英语学 习的功利性太强”), the use of “what is called” (“那个什么”) appears to distance him from “globalisation and internationalisation”, as if recalling this long chuck of words from memory that are irrelevant to him. Another view shared among the teachers is that English has penetrated into the Chinese language, which has been more “Englishised” or “Europeanised”. As the classical Chinese lecturer remarks: Excerpt (54): Firstly, we have adopted many English grammars. Our language has been Europeanised to the point where bizarre sentences are starting to pop up as a by-product. We’ve emphasised English and neglected the learning and enhancement of our native language. For instance, some people can now speak superb English, yet their ability to master their native language has

144  “Multiple worlds” and “English-speaking self” suffered. However, the spread of English also has its benefits. That is to know the ways of learning a language. (Q9) As with the teachers, the parents state that students nowadays spend too much “time” (时间) (as a keyword in Q9) on learning English and consequently cannot master the Chinese language. In some cases, they will not be good at both languages: Excerpt (55): Theoretically, I think there should be no impacts. The impacts should be positive, meaningful and facilitative. Because mutual communication is fruitful. I think the popularity [of English] is a bit too extreme. Sometimes when you see the preschool and primary school students, his time spent on learning English is more than that on learning the mother tongue. When he still hasn’t yet grasped the mother tongue, he goes and learns another language. In the end, it’s possible that [he] won’t be good at both. (Q9) In general, however, parents perceive no contradictions between learning English and learning Chinese. As Mr Pu mentions, Excerpt (56): Contradictions for China? Don’t exist! The Chinese people means the world, the world is also the people (the Chinese people). (Q9) In his view, the English language belongs to the world, of which the Chinese people are also a part. Thus, studying the two languages is not contradictory. English provides Chinese people with different ways of experiencing the world and presents different world views to them. From the West, they can learn about another “world” and its “good things”. The student, teacher and parent cohorts share the view that the culture(s) associated with English play(s) a facilitative role in the successful acquisition of English and that Chinese culture needs to learn from Western culture to further evolve. Not only so, the preceding discussion demonstrates that learning English and exposure to its culture(s) also construct a self-identity associated with English, alongside the global Chinese identity, especially for students and teachers. The implications of the emphasis found in the society on English over Chinese are twofold. First, if the status and integrity of the Chinese language deteriorate because of the growing importance and “penetration” of English, its role as an identity marker of Chinese may become questionable. Second, for those showing a strong personal and intrinsic interest in English, their English-speaking selves may gradually develop and override their Chinese sense of self as more dominant. English, apparently, is more than a language and a tool for some participants. This brings the ti-yong distinction into question.

9 Mandarin and the plurality of “being Chinese”

The official discourse promotes Mandarin as the Chinese mother tongue both within and outside China, with a view to providing a foundation on which Chinese identity and culture can be defined. This discourse of “one unified identity”, however, does not seem to hold in the popular discourses. The growing importance of English in China has led to changes in the education and job markets and has implications for the social structure. Chinese respondents perceive the Chinese mother tongue to be more important than English, yet the ideas of “mother tongue” and “English for all Chinese” evoke other ways of identification. The participants’ responses to Q6 and Q8, in particular, reveal their views on “the Chinese people” and the “mother tongue”. These include what it means to “be Chinese”, and the relative importance of the Chinese and English languages and cultures.

9.1 “If one was born in China, raised in China, as for myself, the mother tongue is more important because everyone around you uses your mother tongue”: Mandarin as the mother tongue and a tool for convenience All high school students who were born in Beijing state that Mandarin is their mother tongue. Of the three students not born in Beijing, one states that her mother tongue is both Mandarin and the local dialect, while the other two choose Mandarin only. In fact, most students at first acknowledge “Chinese” or “Hanyu”, which is an all-inclusive term for Chinese dialects, as their mother tongue. When I asked them whether this meant Mandarin, they all confirmed this. For the students, the Chinese mother tongue is a national Chinese symbol. Alphonse Daudet’s short story, “The Last Lesson” (La Dernière Classe), is coincidentally referred to by three high school students, including Ben, to illustrate why their mother tongue is important: Excerpt (57): I think the mother tongue is still more important. Although English is undeniably also important, it is important for communication with the outside,

146  Mandarin and the plurality of “being Chinese” whereas the mother tongue is a culture. I remember today just now in the class, Daudet’s “The Last Lesson” mentions a saying that is unforgettable to me. He said, “In a nation, effort must be devoted to remember solidly its mother tongue”. (Q8) It is in fact a rather common view among high school students that even though the mother tongue is more important, English is also important in different domains, such as business and commerce. Some students are of the view that the mother tongue is naturally more important for them as Chinese, since it embraces Chinese culture, which needs to be passed on to future generations. While the Chinese mother tongue is an important identity marker in the official discourse, this is not the only factor determining the importance of the language for the students. They also consider the living environment, which explains why “生活” (life) and “环境” (environment) appear rather commonly in Q8, as in the following response: Excerpt (58): I think it depends on the environment. If one was born in China, raised in China, as for myself, mother tongue is more important because everyone around you uses your mother tongue and if you want to communicate with them, you need to learn mother tongue. The nature of language is for communication and exchange with others. Mother tongue is still more important in China. (Q8) The student’s response indicates that the Chinese language is important, not so much due to its being the mother tongue of the Chinese people but rather because of the convenience of communication in their living environment. In comparison to the other groups, university students have more diverse views on their mother tongue. All university students were born outside Beijing and moved to the capital to pursue undergraduate or postgraduate degrees. They generally perceive that because they are Chinese, the Chinese mother tongue is more important than English (with “Chinese people” (中国人), “culture” (文 化), “we” (我们) and “self” (自己) as the keywords in Q8). For the students, the mother tongue represents Chinese culture, so they need to learn it well before studying other languages and cultures. Daudet’s “The Last Lesson” is cited by one English major to illustrate the importance of the mother tongue: Excerpt (59): Of course, it’s the native language. First of all, we are Chinese. Like I said just now, all languages in the world carry some cultural legacies with them, and this is one of the roots where the possibility of a nation’s renaissance stems from. I recall the words from Daudet when I was studying his “La Dernière Classe”. He said, of course, he is a French but he said: “there’s

Mandarin and the plurality of “being Chinese”  147 nothing comparable to the French language. I am French”. Because I’m Chinese, to me there’s also no other language comparable to Chinese. It’s something irreplaceable deep in your soul. And even if you speak superb English, there are still many things that can’t be expressed in that language. There is an ancient prose in Chinese, “zong shi ju an qi mei, dao di yi nan ping” (originated from The Dream of the Red Chamber, this prose depicts the deep distress felt by Bao-Chai, the woman who married Bao-Yu, but knew that her husband was still in love with another woman.) I don’t think you can convey such a feeling if you try to say it in English. (Q8) In considering the relative status of the mother tongue and English, this student takes into account his own Chinese identity and its relationship with the mother tongue. From his perspective, language and its identity representation are inseparable, and therefore, for him as a Chinese, the Chinese mother tongue is irreplaceable. While the mother tongue is, on the whole, perceived as more important for Chinese people, another English major believes that Chinese and English are equally important: Excerpt (60): Based on the current situation, both are important. Learning mother tongue is, like I said previously, not simply about speaking mother tongue and Chinese, you need to understand [your] own country, [your] own country’s culture. As for learning English, because after all, the society is undergoing reform and opening up, learning English is still needed. That is, [they] are equally important. (Q8) Despite this perceived equal importance of both languages, this student’s view is still consistent with the ti-yong principle. The mother tongue represents Chinese culture and the country, while English is important because of its roles in the reform and opening up of the country. In other words, the Chinese language remains the essence of the Chinese people, and English is important for modernising the nation, for its practicality. While Mandarin is promoted as the official identity symbol of the Chinese people, some university students also raise reasons other than identification in considering the importance of the language. Below is the response of another English major: Excerpt (61): Of course, the mother tongue is more important. Because as a Chinese, at least we, people of China, ethnic Chinese people, have the world’s largest population. Although English is used widely, as a Chinese – not only for Chinese people, I think for everyone – the mother tongue is the most important. Foreign language is only a tool, a tool for communication. For myself, in my

148  Mandarin and the plurality of “being Chinese” home town, I think the dialect is the most important because when I am in my own home town, I never speak Mandarin. But outside, I need to use Mandarin because if I use dialect, others will not understand and misunderstanding will occur. It’s like if I go overseas in the future, I can’t speak Chinese and must speak English. (Q8) In addressing the question of the importance of Chinese as the mother tongue, this English major considers both the collective Chinese whole and personal factors. For identification reasons, the student perceives that the mother tongue is the most important for all Chinese people. However, the importance of each language or dialect for her is also determined by the living environment and practicality. She uses her dialect in her home town, Mandarin “outside” of her home town and English overseas. Similar to the high school students, the fact that “生活” (life) and “环境” (environment) are the keywords in the responses to Q8 indicates that it is a rather commonly held view. Across the four participant groups, “中国” (China) is also a high-frequency word. This is attributable to its use in “born in China”, “raised in China” and “live in China”. In particular, the high frequency of “中国” (China) in the university students’ responses also results from their use of “China’s/Chinese history”, “China’s/Chinese language”, “China’s roots” and “modern China”, as in the following excerpt: Excerpt (62): I think the native language is still more important. Most of the Chinese that we come into contact with in our society nowadays are mostly those who don’t speak English. It’s still Chinese that is more valuable for all of our communication about traditional Chinese culture, Chinese history, Chinese books, the logic behind modern Chinese thinking, our society, our values etc. We still absorb a lot of information and form concepts mainly through Chinese. So Chinese is still more important than English. By the way, when I say Chinese I mean Mandarin. (Q8) From this student’s comment, the Chinese language is more important in that it plays a role in facilitating communication among Chinese people about the past (“traditional Chinese culture” and “Chinese history”) and the present (“modern Chinese thinking”). Although all of the Chinese elements the student raises, including “culture” “history”, “books”, “thinking”, “society” and “values”, evolve from the past, they still have relevance and impacts on the Chinese people today. This idea of the link between the past and present of Chinese elements is very much in line with the discourse about Chinese culture and identity as consolidated and continuous. The Chinese mother tongue – Mandarin – is the major medium by which these Chinese elements are transmitted and by which Chinese identity is represented.

Mandarin and the plurality of “being Chinese”  149 While only two teachers were born in Beijing and reported that they could speak Mandarin only, two born outside Beijing stated that their dialect was their mother tongue. One had moved to Beijing from Nanjing for six years at the time of the interview and only used Mandarin with “non-Nanjingers”. Another had lived in Beijing for seven years and only started using Mandarin every day after her arrival. Although no significant keywords are identified for Q8, some teachers, as with the high school and university students, not only consider the importance of the mother tongue from the perspective of identification, but also the living environment: Excerpt (63): Because you’re living in an environment where everything is in your native language, and where much of the knowledge is absorbed via that language. On the other hand, English provides a way of thinking and makes you realise what advantages are available in the expressions of your native language. So, they’re reciprocal. But it’s really hard for me to say which one is more important. Being a Chinese, my native language, after all, enables me to enhance my knowledge and my social network and English increases my ability to compete. (Q8) For this teacher, English and Chinese seem to serve different and reciprocal functions, making the two languages equally important. The native language is needed for living in China, and English is essential for increasing competitiveness and, notably, for providing greater knowledge about his native language – a view consistent with the “reciprocal learning” of Chinese and Western cultures discussed in Chapter 8. Similarly, for some other teachers, Chinese and English are equally important: Excerpt (64): This depends on who you ask. For me, both are important because my work involves a lot of interpreting and translating and strengthening the relationship and communication between people. But for some people, it might be unnecessary to learn so much English, since Chinese might be the most important for them. This is indeed the case in my home town, for instance, where there are basically no foreigners. Then Chinese is definitely important and English is not really important. (Q8) Excerpt (65): I think both are important. It’s definitely more important for my work, because I teach. But my native language isn’t only useful as a communicating device when I communicate with friends and family within the country. Because I also work as a translator and interpreter, if my Chinese isn’t good enough, I can’t do my job. So, for me they’re equally important. (Q8)

150  Mandarin and the plurality of “being Chinese” In the views of these teachers, both Chinese and English are important for their employment, and Chinese is the tool for communication in the country. The two languages are important and useful in different domains. Before the interviews began, each parent was asked to provide information about their mother tongue and place of birth, but some parents did not consent to disclose the information. One parent states that her mother tongue is the dialect spoken in her home town, Xian. The word “root” (根) has the highest frequency in Q8 responses, illustrating the common view among the parents that the mother tongue is the root of the Chinese people, and hence, more important. “We/our” ( 我们) is also a keyword. As Mrs Zhang states, Excerpt (66): Even though I think that learning English is very important, I still think that the mother tongue is more important. Because as a Chinese, it is necessary to learn well the language of [our] own ethnicity and own country. Because Chinese is the soul of Chinese people, the root of Chinese people. The purpose of learning English is to understand better the world, and also let the world better understand us. (Q8) In elucidating the importance of the mother tongue, similar to the other participant groups, the perspective on practicality and the living environment is also raised by some parents, which explains why “生活” (life) also appears rather commonly in Q8. For instance, Excerpt (67): The mother tongue is more important because living in China, life cannot be separated from communicating in the mother tongue. (Q8) Across the four groups, most participants identify Mandarin as their mother tongue. Mandarin and English are seen to serve different and sometimes equally important functions. It is clear that the mother tongue is valuable not only due to its being an identity marker and “root” of Chinese, but like English, also due to its practicality and the particular functions it serves in day-to-day life for individuals.

9.2 “But those farmers on the farm, they don’t need English and still lead a good life. Different people also have different levels”: “Being Chinese” as multifaceted While for various reasons Mandarin is demonstrably regarded by the participants as more important, the language is not these participants’ sole defining feature. In the responses to Q6, which asks the participants whether all Chinese people should learn English, “they/them/their (他们) and “we/us/our” (我们) are among the highest-frequency words for the high school students. Of the 11 occurrences, two uses of “they/them/their” refer to foreigners, and the rest all refer to Chinese people. Below are examples of the use of the pronouns to refer to other Chinese people:

Mandarin and the plurality of “being Chinese”  151 Excerpt (68): It’s not necessary for all people to learn English. Because we are students, there is a demand for us. It’s the first point. The second point is we need to enhance people’s suzhi. But those farmers on the farm, they don’t need English and still lead a good life. Different people also have different levels. (Q6) Excerpt (69): Not all Chinese people need English. I think if Chinese people, including in the valleys in Tibet, and those living on the grassland, they have their own ethnic languages as well as Chinese. If they forget their own language because of learning English, I think it’s not worth it. Furthermore, those people they probably don’t have the chance to communicate with other people in the entire life. I think they should just be themselves, and for people like us, I think learning English is essential. (Q6) From these responses, it is obvious that group distinctions among “the Chinese people” are made on the basis of living place and the languages/dialects spoken, as well as the opportunity to communicate with the outside. English is perceived as unnecessary for “those” from valleys or grasslands who would never have an opportunity to be in contact with foreigners. The student asks “those” people to “be yourself”, where the “self”, as reflected in the response, is defined by the ethnic language of “those” people. The use of “I”, “us” and “they/them(selves)” separates ethnic minorities from “people like us” who live in the city. Indeed, there is a total of four occurrences of the words “farmers’ village” (农村) and “valleys” (大山里) in Q6 responses. The classification among “the Chinese people” is also made by the high school students, based on their knowledge of the Chinese language and the country: Excerpt (70): I think it’s impractical for all Chinese people to learn English, because there are too many people. In some places, the Chinese language is not even learnt well. So, it’s not necessary for all people to learn English. The major reason is that English is in fact not very important for the remote areas. (Q6) The university students, both English and non-English majors, make classifications among the Chinese whole that resemble those of their high school counterparts. Among the university students, the act of learning English evokes the conception of “the Chinese people” as diversified: Excerpt (71): I don’t think all Chinese need to learn English. Take me, for example. I come from Henan, and it’s only because you’re in a big metropolis like Beijing or some large cities, but once you go to regions of the centre or the inner west,

152  Mandarin and the plurality of “being Chinese” in reality there is a lot of people who don’t know how to speak English. They may not even get in contact with anything that has to do with English in their entire life, let alone come in contact with foreigners. It’s really hard to say for sure for the future, but at the moment it’s not necessary for absolutely everyone to learn English. Some people may not have been to universities after graduating from high school, or if some went straight to work, they might not be in great need of English. So, I don’t think all Chinese people should learn English. (Q6) The comments about the differences between the home town, “big metropolis” and “regions of the centre or the inner west” and about people with different educational levels reflect how this student perceives the Chinese whole. Chinese identity seems to be defined by factors such as locality, educational qualifications and jobs. When these are considered, the “otherness” of some Chinese is salient. In Q6, the outsider identity marker “they/them/their” (他们) is the highest-frequency word for the university students, with all occurrences but one referring to Chinese people. The following are two examples: Excerpt (72): I don’t think this is necessary. Everyone plays their own part in this society, and everyone comes from different backgrounds. If your goal or lifestyle requires you to be very open and communicative to the outside world, then yes, learning English would be vital. However – and may I be frank and sound a bit nasty with this – for those in the more remote and poorer regions of China, first it’s impractical for them to learn English, and second, there’s no point since there’s no one to communicate in English to. They don’t even have access to the Internet. So even if they learn how to speak English, I don’t think it’ll be of any use. (Q6) Excerpt (73): I don’t think so. Let me raise an example of my parents. They needn’t learn English in their generation, and they’re doing pretty well right now. They’re also outstanding in their positions. So, I think it’s pretty much up to oneself. For example, you are a technician, you need to repair something everyday and don’t need to use English. Right? (Q6) University students, as with the high school students, think that some Chinese people do not need to learn English because they have no opportunity to communicate with foreigners (with “communicate” (交流) as the second highest-frequency word). As seen in the preceding excerpts, “I”, “those”, “them” and “they” separate those who need English to communicate with the outside world, including the student, from “those in the more remote and poorer regions of China”, who do not need English. The students also differentiate among the Chinese

Mandarin and the plurality of “being Chinese”  153 people by generations and occupations, as well as individual preference (as indicated in “I think it’s pretty much up to oneself”) (with “oneself” (自己) as a keyword). The comment, “may I be frank and sound a bit nasty”, preceding the student’s explanation in Excerpt (72), cautions the researcher that his thought is not a popular and accepted one. In his intuition, the idea of “English for all” is in general more accepted as the “norm”. Similarly, the highest frequency words for teachers in Q6 also include the pronouns “they/them/their” (他们) and “we/us/our” (我们). Out of the nine instances of “they/them/their”, seven refer to other Chinese people and only two refer to foreigners. The following are examples: Excerpt (74): I don’t think that all Chinese people need to learn English. First of all, those in the cities might need to because they have more chance to encounter foreigners. But for the peasants – and after all 70% of the Chinese population were peasants, now it’s probably 50% – they won’t have a strong incentive to learn English. Another important problem is the issue of the older generation. We now use English as something to get promotions; it’s a very critical assessment in our career life. But for a lot of people, English isn’t necessary for what they do, and they’ve also passed the best age for learning the language. They learn English only so that they can pass exams instead of applying English to real life. It’s all competition for the sake of competition. (Q6) Excerpt (75): I don’t think that all Chinese people need to learn English. Some people for example won’t need to deal with foreigners in their entire lives. But it also depends on one’s needs. In the remote mountainous areas of China, for instance, peasants would remain peasants throughout their lives, so it’s possible that they won’t need to learn English. It’s just like it isn’t necessary for us to farm. Everyone learns or not depending on their needs. Then again, those who study ancient Chinese literature might just learn English according to their personal preferences, or they might be happy just learning Chinese. (Q6) To clarify the lack of necessity for all Chinese people to learn English, the teachers, as with the student cohorts, make classifications among “the Chinese people”. They differentiate city dwellers from peasants and those living in “very remote mountainous areas”; between the young and old generations; and those whose study and jobs require English and those whose do not. In the teachers’ opinion, to study English or not is also a “personal” (个人) (as a keyword) preference. Interestingly, one teacher presents a counter-discourse to the classifications of “the Chinese people”. He points out that the idea that some people do not need to learn English divides “the Chinese people”:

154  Mandarin and the plurality of “being Chinese” Excerpt (76): Well, if not everyone needs to learn English, then in other words we’re categorising among the population: who is to say that some people need to learn English and others don’t? (Q6) After graduating with a postgraduate degree, this teacher became a university English lecturer. He is in his mid-20s, was born in Nanjing and moved to Beijing in 2003. Showing a strong affinity with his home town, he states that he uses his mother tongue, which is his dialect, with people in his home town, while Mandarin is for conversing with “non-Nanjing people”. In response to Q2, he does perceive English to be essential for everyone, as it benefits suzhi and can broaden horizons through exposure to Western culture. His response to Q6 demonstrates his strong collective Chinese footing, within which he makes sense of learning English as a collective act. Contrary to the other groups, there are no significant keywords for the parents in Q6. They do not differentiate among “the Chinese people”, and some parents perceive that Chinese do need to learn some English to enhance suzhi and the international posture of the country. Nevertheless, according to some parents, China has a large population, with varying levels of suzhi, which can make “English for all” difficult to achieve: Excerpt (77): It’s in fact not practical and essential for all Chinese to learn English and not practical to see learning English as a necessity. This is because English is just a language tool or about whether or not [you] have this skill. There are also other ways to communicate and exchange with the outside. There are many Chinese people and there is a large discrepancy in suzhi. It’s not practical for all to learn English. (Q6) Excerpt (78): I don’t see the point [of English for all]. Because there is discrepancy in personal educational levels and conditions. (Q6) From the official perspective, suzhi, an idea underpinned by the ideology of a unified Chinese whole, is expected to be the outcome of education. However, as seen in Excerpt (77), suzhi is itself taken as a factor determining who can learn English, rather than an outcome, contesting the unified self and the interconnection between the collective and individual self prescribed by the suzhi discourse. From the parent’s perspectives, the Chinese whole can be segregated based on education levels, occupations, regions and even suzhi levels.

Mandarin and the plurality of “being Chinese”  155 As the foregoing discussion has demonstrated, “being Chinese” is not solely defined by the ability to speak Chinese. This is further exemplified by an English major pursuing postgraduate studies: Excerpt (79): From the perspective of my major for myself (personal), for example, [English] is beneficial for finding a job, further study and personal development in the future (personal). From an international perspective (international/ global), now that China has joined the WTO (Chinese national) and connected with the world, you need to introduce [your] own culture to other countries, then you need a tool to get the message across. It’s now impossible for everyone to learn Chinese in a short period of time. So, I think that learning English is necessary in the short period of time. When everyone has understood and accepted Chinese culture to some extent, we can then promote Chinese. In fact, foreigners are all like you, being able to speak very fluent Chinese. (Q2) This student displays his personal, global and Chinese national perspectives and the interconnection between his individual, Chinese national and global selves. Noteworthy in the preceding response is the comment on my Mandarin proficiency and identity. Even though he knows that I am a Hong Kong-born Australian and can speak fluent Mandarin, he still considers me a foreigner. My fluent Mandarin notably does not characterise “being Chinese”, nor do my place of birth, appearance or Chinese ethnicity. Chinese people have an excessive tendency to use “family logic” to talk about ethnicity and society, which explains the impacts of “motherisation” (Sun 1995:101) on Mandarin Chinese. However, as Dai and He (1997) state, the concept of “native language” not only entails a concrete language/dialect, but also a language that is the practical medium of communication. This apparently applies to the students, teachers and parents, who seem to be more influenced by the practicality of language in determining the importance of Mandarin. The “family logic” is not always adhered to. The mother tongue status ascribed to the language does not necessarily give it more prominence. The foregoing discussion has shown that local dialects and their associated home town identity are prominent for some participants. Home town refers to the local place and relatives living in the same local place. Ye (2004) illustrates the distinction between “zijiren” (insider) and “wairen” (outsider) that Chinese makes. As she mentions, a psychological affinity with people living in the same place whom one regards as zijiren (insiders) is predetermined by shared traits such as blood or place relations and is often stable, deeply rooted and resistant to change. In China, non-local people usually feel they are wairen (outsiders) in “waidi” (outside/other-place) (Chen 2003), even though they share the same “motherland”. “Wairen” from “waidi” comes from the same motherland, but not necessarily from the same “home”. The sense of being a wairen in Beijing is

156  Mandarin and the plurality of “being Chinese” evident in the responses of some university students for whom the local dialect is their mother tongue attached to the land regarded as their home town. In the encounter with English, participants in the four groups still position themselves as Chinese, but in contrast to the “one-language-one-identity” discourse, English elicits the plurality of “being Chinese” among the Chinese people, whose identities are multifaceted and diversified: city dweller, peasants, villagers and people in different localities and with different occupations, educational qualifications and suzhi levels. The classification among “the Chinese people” contests the single dominant Chinese identity prescribed in ti.

10 “Being Chinese” in the global world

History has always played a role in defining “being Chinese” and influenced Chinese views of “self” and “the world”, which in turn determines the status and roles of English. This includes the sense of being the “middle kingdom”, historical relations with the West and the current pledge to revive the nation. At present, globalisation is taken as a “two-way exchange”, where every country contributes and learns from the other. In this context, English is portrayed as a sub-discourse about globalisation in China, whereby it is reinterpreted as something “new”, “modern” and “neutral”, essential for integrating into the world. There have been attempts at “a total reconstruction of the past” to begin a new history in China (Barmé 1999:344). In turning English as a historical “barbaric” and “capitalist” language into a Chinese characteristic, the language is aligned with other elements known to the Chinese public, including the Chinese culture of learning, the discourse of national development and suzhi discourse, as well as other modern skills which portray English as a sub-discourse of China’s modernisation. The life of Chinese people is transforming under the influence of global forces. While China’s relations with the world in this global era may make significant demands on the Chinese identity, they also call for the scrutiny of the identity within the country. The ti-yong principle (Chinese as essence, Western learning for utility), which has been guiding English education in China, has served as a reference point for the investigation of “being Chinese” in relation to English. In light of this principle, Table 10.1 summarises the official and popular discourses about English and Chinese identity. A diverse range of official and public views exists on English and Chinese identity. From both the official and popular perspectives, Mandarin is a core element of the ti of the Chinese whole. There is only one dominant identity in China, as implicated in the mother tongue ideology and standard language ideology: Mandarin as an important identity marker of the motherland. Contrary to the monolingual identity Chinese people are expected to develop, respondents’ identification with their home towns and with their dialects as mother tongues show that “native place identity” (Goodman 1995:389), which is very much concealed by the monoglot ideology, is still significant among Chinese people. Mandarin is not the only language Chinese people embrace as a mother tongue. However, while the university students, teachers and some parents in this study switched to

158  “Being Chinese” in the global world Table 10.1  Summary of official and popular discourses about ti-yong Perspectives Role of Mandarin

Motivation for learning English Role of English

Official

Popular Ti

• Mandarin Chinese is the mother tongue of all Chinese and a representation  of Chinese identity

• The dialect/Mandarin is/are the mother tongue(s) • Mandarin is a marker of Chinese identity • For some, the dialect represents their home town identity Yong • Group-oriented • Group-oriented and individually-oriented • English is a • For some, Mandarin and “group tool” for English are both tools communication and • English is not just a “tool” but a means to promote also a culture, for some China • English is as important as Mandarin, with each serving different purposes

Mandarin only after migrating to Beijing, the high school students do not have such a strong sense of “localness”, as they were born and/or raised in the country’s capital. From the official perspective, the motivation to learn English, which is a “group tool” for communication and for promoting China, should be group-oriented. The official discourse expects English to bring complementary individual and national benefits, but learners, especially the younger generation, also study English for individually oriented motives, such as for better study and job prospects, leisure and overseas travel. While English education is a form of suzhi education to enhance one’s quality to strengthen the country, there are participants who do not see the need for some to learn the language. Asked about the relative importance of English and Chinese, some participants claim that English is just a tool and Mandarin an identity marker, but the two languages for some are incomparable, non-contradictory and useful in different life domains. There are also those who perceive both Mandarin and English as tools. To make learning easier and for more effective communication with foreigners, respondents generally contend that cultural learning needs to happen in concert with English learning. For some, English is not just a tool for utility, but it also embodies different cultural values which they think can supplement the Chinese culture. There is no argument against the knowledge of Western culture among high school and university students, parents and teachers. In both the official and popular discourses, China and the world are invariably distinguished on the basis of the levels of technology and development, and historical relations between the two. However, the distinctions between China and the world seem to become increasingly illegitimate, as English is gradually

“Being Chinese” in the global world  159 losing its group categorisation function. Chinese people are also acquiring the language as a symbol of an international/global identity. Instead of being Western-dominant, global movements of languages and ideas, considered as a twoway exchange (China «» the world), have drawn Chinese and the world into a new relationship, characterised by equality and mutuality. From both the official and popular perspectives, English is a lever for change in China’s intergroup relations (Tajfel 1978) with the world and, as the status of the country advances, Mandarin will also become a global language. Although Mandarin and English have been manipulated from the top down to create a monolingual/monocultural and modern Chinese identity and project it to the world, the popular discourses reflect differently on the idea of “being Chinese”, which takes on different meanings at the personal, national and global levels. Living in an era with much more global outreach, Chinese people are less constrained by previous ideologies about learning English. On the personal level, English provides visions of and access to another “world” and evokes new ways of thinking, identifying and imagining, especially for the younger generation. The students have already been socialised in their native Chinese language and culture, while their imagination in English is at work constructing different experiences and feelings and hence, identities (Kramsch 2009). They resonate with Mandarin, other Chinese dialects and English relative to one another and have an acute awareness of the social, cultural and emotional contexts in which they speak and learn them, as well as the life experiences these languages and dialects raise. Studying English apparently does not weaken the mother tongue identity and affiliation with Chinese culture for the majority of participants. Instead, the encounter with the outside world makes Chineseness more salient, and they still have a strong sense of “being Chinese”. Knowledge of English even enhances an appreciation of Chinese language and culture, echoing Gao’s (Gao et al. 2005, 2007) notion of “productive bilingualism”. Many Chinese respondents perceive the coexistence of traditional and global perspectives as a sign of hybridity. This hybridity discourse is an attempt that Chinese people, especially from the younger generation, make towards an ideal bilingual environment. English provides a space for them to explore and perform the modern, multicultural and “cosmopolitan Chinese” identity (Rofel 2007). Just as Pennycook (2010) examines, practice involving English is now an everyday social activity integrated with other social practices that constitute the meanings of “modern Chinese life”. English is necessary for access to information, TV games and English popular culture, as well as for communication. It has become/is becoming part of the local and provides a place where people can engage with the global world. As Essary (2007:512) remarks: a global frame establishes the world as the point of orientation by incorporating supranational discourse into the interpretation of an event or issue.” [It also] locate[s] an event in terms of world instead of national history. Younger students are comparatively more influenced by their perceptions and imaginations of China’s being a part of the global community. The “global frame”

160  “Being Chinese” in the global world has led them also to focus on world/global issues and contexts within which English is seen as an international language and used as a universal skill. Their awareness of the “global-ness” of English transcends their local concerns and ideologies about “self” and “English”. The “individual self” (+global perspective) involved in learning English can become more salient than the traditional “collective self”. While retaining their sense of Chinese identity and exhibiting loyalty to Chinese culture, university students demonstrably have also developed an internationalist perspective. Seeing my experience as a template – a Chinese educated and residing overseas – they desire to live as Chinese in foreign countries, not being satisfied with experiencing the world from home. It appears that it is not so much Western culture which can undermine their Chinese affinity, but their global mindset and perspective. According to Chun (1996:121), when the Chinese diaspora identify themselves as “Chinese”, they are referring more to their “ethnicity” than to their “identity”. Chun also quotes in his paper Wang Gungwu’s remark: “the Chinese have never had a concept of identity, only a concept of Chineseness, of being Chinese and of becoming un-Chinese” (Wang 1988:1, cited in Chun 1996:22). The concept of Chinese identity is treated as a sense of belonging to the “ethnic homeland” rather than to a group that shares the same traditions and culture (Chun 1996:122). An ethnicity is constituted by the “beliefs and practices of everyday people”, but the cultural traits and traditions that shape those beliefs and practices may vary with the core culture (Chun 1996:125). In this context, one’s language ability is not necessarily reflected in his/her nationality and ethnicity. The promotion of Mandarin and Confucianism both inside and outside of China as a representation of being Chinese is a means by which the Chinese whole is constructed, and by which all ethnicities are forced into the centralised idea of “being Chinese”. The present research has shown that the idealised nativeness of speakers of Mandarin, which assumes a direct “one-nation-one-language-one-culture-one-self view” (Train 2002, March 9), does not work. There is not one rigid way of “being Chinese”, and English provides a culture-free space for exploration and imagination. The idea of “homeland” applies not only to the Chinese diaspora but also to Chinese people on the mainland. When people keep their Chinese ethnicity, they also develop multiple identities. This research shows the different facets of the Chinese identity of English learners, namely, students, teachers, city-dwellers, farmers, Nanjingers, global citizens and modern Chinese, each of which has different weights in different contexts. There are various perceptions of “self”, especially among high school and university students, who can shift between speaking for themselves and for the Chinese whole, revealing the dynamicity and multiplicity of the sense of self. For Chinese people, the Chinese identity, i.e. ti, is much more diverse and multifaceted. This study supports the previous studies (for example, Yum 2008), discussed in Chapter 3, that suggest Chinese learners of English maintain their own mother-tongue cultural identity, while developing to varying degrees an identity associated with English. Nevertheless, the current study did not find that university English majors tend to affiliate more with English culture(s) than non-English

“Being Chinese” in the global world  161 majors do. In fact, some English majors dislike English and are learning the language just for practicality and better job prospects. As Gao and her associates mention (2003, 2007), knowing more about English-speaking culture(s) might arouse an awareness of native cultural identity for English majors, better motivating them to work for the prosperity of their families and country. This also applies to non-English majors and high school students. Besides their intrinsic interest in the target culture(s), they exhibit a desire to present their native culture to the world by using English as an instrument. How do people belong to “China”? What does it mean to belong? These are questions related to the various ways people are attached and attach themselves to a place, to China, to the world. As this book has shown, “native speaker”, “native language” and “mother tongue” are more the socio-political products of the “one-language-one-culture-one-identity” ideology in China. Discrepancies between the official and learner perspectives on English learning and Chinese identity can be attributed to the tensions created by the expectations from the standard language, culture and identity. In the face of modernisation and globalisation, official China has attempted to construct and maintain “pure modern Chineseness”. This has not taken into account people’s aspirations in defining what being Chinese means in a modern/global China and does not match the imagination of Chinese people for whom identity is not contained and homogenous but dynamic and multifaceted. While the official discourse bridges homogeneity, the people define what is Chinese themselves, reintroducing their diversity and vision for China. The nature of yong, as triggered by exposure to the outside world, is changing among learners, whose sense of identity changes and diversifies. The integrity of ti has become questionable. Research on English and Chinese identity cannot simply view Chinese identity as rigid and fixed, because within China, English can further expand the already multiple Chinese identities by opening up Chinese people to other knowledge and values with which they also identify. This is a stage when both ti and yong are changing and developing among English learners and users, but it is likely that neither of them will be “pure” Chinese.

Epilogue

Ten years after the 2009 study, I revisited China to investigate the status of the English language, people’s use of it and their attitudes towards it. I did so in October 2019, a period that marked the seventieth anniversary of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, a year after the country’s celebration of the fortieth anniversary of its reform and opening up. This time I went to Shanghai, with a view to glimpsing a different first-tier urban city in China. As a result of the First Opium War, Shanghai was among the treaty ports forced to open to foreigners in the nineteenth century. Since then, it has ­flourished as a trade and financial centre. This long history of Western contact has made ­Shanghai an international metropolis, hybridised with Chinese traditions and Western ­influences. The Huangpu and Hongkou districts, which house many ­previous foreign settlements, are the best-known for this hybridity. A walk along the waterfront of the Bund and the adjacent streets goes past European, Renaissance and art-deco style buildings erected in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A plethora of boutiques and cafés are located within these converted commercial buildings, celebrating the East-meets-West memorabilia that characterise the city (Figures E1 to E5).

Figure E1  Zhongshan Lu (opposite the Bund). Source: Photo provided by S. Cheung.

Epilogue  163

Figure E2 and E3 The Press (a café in the building of the former Shun Pao Daily Newspaper, established in 1872). Source: Photos provided by S. Cheung.

Figure E4  An English luxury brand shop in an old European-style building. Source: Photo provided by S. Cheung.

164  Epilogue

Figure E5  An advertisement promoting reading as a habit, at a bus stop in a residential area.

Within the city, English appears on shops, in brand names and in restaurants. The advertisement at a bus stop in a residential area seemingly targets local Chinese, but has an English translation of the slogan. To investigate the views of Chinese people on the Chinese and English language, during my trip in 2019, I administered a survey to a total of 32 university students in Shanghai. The students were in Year 1–Year 4, and majored in such fields as Chinese language education, Chinese literary studies, music, art and physics. There were no English majors. They answered the following nine questions, which were asked in Chinese:

1. 2. 3. 4.



5. 6.



7.



8.



9.

Do you like learning English? Please explain. Do you think it is essential to learn English? Please explain. What is the role of English for you? Do you use English in your day-to-day life? In what situations do you use it? What is the role of English for China? What impacts do you think English has in the country, for example, on traditional Chinese culture and the mother tongue? Please explain. Do you think it is essential for all Chinese to learn English? Please explain. Which one is more important, English or your mother tongue? Please explain. Do you think it is necessary to learn the culture behind English in order to learn the language well? Please explain.

Similar to the 2009 Beijing study, these questions were set up to frame the self for the students, and to investigate the motives for learning English and the relative importance of Chinese and English from the students’ perspectives.

Epilogue  165

English in China English for self and the country For students, learning English is not always enjoyable, since it is a prerequisite for their studies and employment. The views held by the 2019 cohort of university students do not differ remarkably from those of the informant groups in 2009. Students need English knowledge to obtain first-hand information that is not readily available or always accurate in the Chinese language, to watch American and British movies and TV dramas, to listen to foreign music and to travel overseas. English can also increase their chance of success in education and employment and provide a sense of satisfaction. A number of informants also regard English as a new ability/talent that is required in this era of globalisation, especially in Shanghai. Due to its being a tool, they cannot comment on whether they enjoy learning English. As one student says: I only see it as a tool, so I can’t say whether I like it or not. Would you like (or hate) the chopsticks or cutlery you use to eat everyday? The 2019 cohort identify similar roles for English used at the national and international levels. It is essential for modernisation, integration into the global community and facilitating Chinese understanding of the world, and vice versa. English is also an important tool for communicating with the world. As more foreigners move to study, work and live in China, Chinese people need English to communicate with them. This point, which was not raised by the 2009 respondents, reflects the more recent trend of the influx of foreigners into China. According to the Ministry of Education, there were more than 490,000 overseas students in China in 2018. In 1978, there were only about 1,236 students (Ministry of Education 2019e). Also, as of the end of 2018, there were more than 900,000 foreign workers in China, with approximately 24% of the national total living in Shanghai (Xing 2019). Despite this difference, the 2019 group shares similar individual and collective motives for learning English with the 2009 cohort. English for all The responses to the question on the necessity for all Chinese to study English identified a number of categories among the 2019 university student cohort. While some students agree that “English for all” is necessary, because the language has become a global basic skill, a number state that the nine years of basic education, which include compulsory English education, are sufficient to provide Chinese people with basic English skills. The decision whether or not to pursue the language further should be determined by individual necessity and choice. Those forced to learn would not enjoy acquiring a language. Students also explain that some people do not need to learn English, including rural and village residents and construction workers, since English does not help with their “survival”. A few students point out that family financial circumstances also determine the need to acquire English.

166  Epilogue I don’t think all Chinese should learn English. English learning requires a lot of time, effort and even money. Not every family can afford it. Given that Chinese is the dominant language in China, some students think that there is more need to learn Chinese. A number of students believe that if China’s international status grows further, Chinese people will not need to learn English, and foreigners will wish to learn Chinese. The idea of language as a symbolic power that appeared in the 2009 study still stands, in this more recent study. “English for all”, as this book demonstrates, has evoked the multiplicity of “being Chinese”, and the 2019 cohort shares this idea. In their view, English is not necessary for people living in remote areas or those whose jobs do not require a command of English. Impacts of English The impacts of English in China, as perceived by the university students, can be divided into two categories: impacts on the Chinese language and culture, and an overemphasis by parents on English education. Some students see code-mixing and new Internet English terms used by the young generation as the penetration of English into Chinese. The students also noted the influences of English on Chinese culture, including an emphasis on Western festivals and an admiration for Western culture: When people come into contact with Western culture, some would look down on Chinese culture and would not be willing to pass it on. They prefer to follow Western trends. While the majority of students contend that elements of English culture(s) which are not detrimental to Chinese culture should be learned as part of their English education, in order to promote expertise in the language, two students perceive otherwise. One takes English as just a tool and an ability, in which case, culture is irrelevant. The other states that English specialists should learn about English culture. For those whose fields of study are other than English, learning the language would suffice. These two students cannot see how English has influenced Chinese culture and society. Students in the cohort quite commonly address the impact of the emphasis their parents placed on English education. Students state that parents, especially those born in the 1980s and 1990s, tend to ascribe more importance to English than to Chinese and enroll their children in English classes at a very young age. In terms of the status of dialect, the survey intentionally asks the participants to specify their mother tongue and what dialects they speak. All of the students except two identify Mandarin as their mother tongue. This again demonstrates that there are different ways of “being Chinese” and that the mother tongue is a concept that unites the people.

Epilogue  167

Chinese in China Although students in the cohort generally agree that Chinese is more important than English, they disgree as to why that is the case. Two broad discourses can be identified: Chinese for practical purposes and Chinese as an identity and cultural marker, similar to the reasons given in the 2009 study. Some students perceive the Chinese language as important for “survival” as they live in China. If a person prefers to stay in China, the mother tongue is more important for day-to-day life and communication. But if someone decides to live overseas, English is more important. Another strand of thinking posits that the Chinese language is the core of Chinese culture and is essential for passing on cultural heritage and tradition. It is, after all, the root and identity of the Chinese people. As one student puts it: I love my mother tongue dearly. It makes me proud as it embeds so many culturally profound things. English is just a tool. I can learn and protect it but I don’t love it. Indicating an emotional attachment to the Chinese language, some students state that the mother tongue moulds their way of thinking and personality and forms their Chinese roots. A number of students think that Chinese and English are equally important, in that while Chinese is a reflection of the Chinese tradition, English is a tool for learning. As in the 2009 study, “Chineseness”, or the sense of belonging, is not the only factor determining the status of the Chinese language for the 2019 students.

Chinese in the world Since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, China has continued to build its international posture and global identity through foreign policy. It has hosted a series of international events, including the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai and Asian Games in Guangzhou. In 2013, China introduced the Belt and Road (一带一路) initiative, which is also known as the Silk Road Economic Belt. It aims to build trade relationships between Asia and Europe, via Chinese-invested projects (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of PRC 2013). As of January 2020, 138 countries and 30 international organisations had signed 200 agreements with China under the initiative (Belt and Road Portal 2020). At that time, China’s economy was double that in 2010 (Jacques 2020). Within China and beyond, the popularisation of the Chinese language persists through promotional efforts, academic education, the recognition of mother tongue status and the Confucius Institutes across the globe. In 2016, approximately 2.1 million students were learning Chinese in Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms (Hanban 2017). The Belt and Road initiative has provided further channels through which the Chinese language and culture can be spread. Since the initiative was first introduced in 2013, 27 more institutes have been established. Of the partnering countries, 52 have already set up a total

168  Epilogue of 138 Confucius Institutes (Liu and Zhang 2019). To effectively collaborate with China on trade, infrastructure and other economic and cultural projects under the initiative, more Confucius Institutes will be built and expanded in partner countries, to teach Chinese and meet the intensifying demand for Chinese language education (Liu and Zhang 2019; Ministry of Education 2016). Just as China emphasises “English +” composite degrees inside the country, “Chinese +” courses have been developed at the tertiary and vocational education levels for students at Confucius Institutes worldwide. Like the English language within China, the Chinese language is promoted as a global skill in the rest of the world. While the two languages will keep evolving in China and the world, it remains to be seen how the linguistic and cultural impacts will unfold and whether the presence of English in China and Chinese in the world will improve China’s image, both within the nation and beyond. Regardless of how these situations play out, the development of the two languages to date will inform us how people become more or less “Chinese”, however they themselves define that.

References

Adamson, B. (2002). Barbarian as a foreign language: English in China’s schools. World Englishes, 21(2), 231–243. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-971X.00244 Adamson, B. (2004). China’s English: A history of English in Chinese education. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. Ager, D. (2001). Motivation in language planning and language policy. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd. Ager, D. (2005). Image and prestige planning. Current Issues in Language Planning, 6(1), 1–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/14664200508668271 Anderson, B. (1991). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. London: Verso. Arnett, J.J. (2002). The psychology of globalization. American Psychologist, 57(10), 774– 783. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.57.10.774 Bakhtin, M.M. [1930s] (1981). The dialogic imagination: Four essays. Ed. Michael Holquist. [Trans. Caryl Emerson and Michael Holquist]. Austin and London: University of Texas Press. Bakhtin, M.M. (1986). Speech genres and other late essays. [Trans. Vern W. McGee]. Austin: University of Texas Press. Barmé, G. (1999). In the Red: On contemporary Chinese culture. New York: Columbia University Press. Barmé, G. (2009). China’s flat Earth: History and 8 August 2008. The China Quarterly, 197(1), 64–86. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305741009000046 Barmé, G. (2010a). China’s promise. China Heritage Quarterly, 21, viewed 9 June 2020, http://www.chinaheritagequarterly.org/articles.php?searchterm=021_promise. inc&issue=021 Barmé, G. (2010b, June 8). Red allure and the crimson blindfold: Historiography and “China’s story.” [Seminar]. Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. BBC. (2017, 3 April). China sets target for 80% of citizens to speak Mandarin by 2020. BBC, viewed 24 September 2019, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39484655 Bell, D. (2008). China’s new Confucianism: Politics and everyday life in a changing society. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Belt and Road Portal. (2020). List of countries who signed the agreement with China on the “One Belt One Road” initiative [in Chinese: 已同中国签订共建“一带一路” 合作文件的国家一览]. Belt and Road Portal, Government of the People’s Republic of China, viewed 23 July 2020, https://www.yidaiyilu.gov.cn/gbjg/gbgk/77073.htm Benedict, R. (1946). The chrysanthemum and the sword: Patterns of Japanese culture. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

170  References BOCOG (Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games). (2007). Manual for Beijing Olympic volunteers. Beijing: China Renmin University Press. Bolton, K. (2003). Chinese Englishes: A sociolinguistic history. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power. UK: Polity Press. Brown, S. (1980). Political subjectivity: Applications of Q methodology in political science. New Haven: Yale University Press. Brown, S. (1986). Q technique and method: Principles and procedures. In W.D. Berry and M.S. Lewis-Beck (Eds.), New tools for social scientists (pp. 57–76). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Brownell, S. (2008). Beijing's games: What the Olympics mean to China. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Cai, J.G. (2019, 17 July). Reasons for learning English of Chinese people. [in Chinese: 中国人学习 英语的目的是什么]. China Science Daily, viewed 21 April 2020, http:// news.sciencenet.cn/htmlnews/2019/7/428457.shtm Canagarajah, S. (2006). Negotiating the local in English as a lingua franca. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 26, 197–218. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190506000109 Cargill, M. (2006). Teaching English as a foreign language in China: Reflections on the relevance of identity issues. TESOL in Context, 16(special edition),164–173. CCTV China. (2019, 16 September). Opening of the 22nd Putonghua Week. (in Chinese: 第22届全国推普 周开幕), CCTV China, viewed 24 September 2020, http://news.cctv. com/2019/09/16/ARTIP4tgk166drT6BvGT1Qdw190916.shtml Cha, S.H. (2003). Modern Chinese Confucianism: The contemporary neo-Confucian movement and its cultural significance. Social Compass, 50(4), 481–491. https://doi. org/10.1177/0037768603504007 Chan, E. (2019, 25 March). China’s private tutoring industry is booming despite economic slowdown. South China Morning Post, viewed 19 April 2020, https:// www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3003163/education-education​ -education-chinas-private-tutoring Chen, P. (1999). Modern Chinese: History and sociolinguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chen, S.X. (2002). Language law bewilders bilingual educators. [Trans. Chen Chao for china.org.cn] China.org.cn, viewed 19 June 2020, http://www.china.org.cn/english/2002/Apr/31210.htm Chen, X.R. (2008). Foreign language education and national identity in the context of globalisation [in Chinese: 全球化语境下外语教育与民族认同]. Beijing: Higher Education Press. Chen, Y.F. (2003). Migrating to Shanghai: A faithful oral recording of 52 migrants [in Chinese: 移民上海--52人的口述实录]. Shanghai: Shanghai Xuelin Chubanshe. Chen, C., & Li, H.B. (2008, 9 August). Let China be proud, Let the world be shocked [in Chinese: 让中国骄傲 让世界震撼]. Renmin Ribao, Renmin Ribao database. China Confucius Foundation. (2010). Introduction: China Confucius Foundation [in Chinese: 中国孔子基金会简介]. China Confucius Foundation, viewed 27 January 2020, http://www.chinakongzi.org/zgkzjjh/ China IELTS. (2020). Grade equivalents of IELTS and China’s Standards of English Language Ability. China IELTS, viewed 9 May 2020, https://www.chinaielts.org/about_ ielts/communicative_test.html Chinese Association for Suzhi Education. (2017, 31 March). An initiative of using Suzhi education for “素质教育” in English, Chinese Association for Suzhi Education, viewed 5 June 2020, http://case.bit.edu.cn/tpxw/97847.htm

References  171 Chun, A. (1996). Fuck Chineseness: On the ambiguities of ethnicity as culture as identity. Boundary 2, 23(2), 111–138. https://doi.org/10.2307/303809 Collins, S. (2008). The fragility of Asian national identity in the Olympic Games. In M.E. Price and D. Dayan (Eds.), Owning the Olympics: Narratives of the new China (pp. 185–209). Michigan: The University of Michigan Press. https://doi.org/10.3998/ nmw.5646196.0001.001 Crozet, C. (2010). Centrality of text, and discourse strategies in French political songs. Australian Journal of Linguistics, 30(1), 131–140. https://doi. org/10.1080/07268600903134095 Crystal, D. (2001). Language and the Internet. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139164771 Crystal, D. (2003). English as a global language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511486999 Csizér, K., & Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The internal structure of language learning motivation and its relationship with language choice and learning effort. The Modern Language Journal, 89(1), 19–36. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0026-7902.2005.00263.x Cui, G. (2010, 26 February). “Being hotpotted”: What does this mean? [in Chinese: “被 火锅了” 说明什 么?]. Renmin Ribao, viewed on 19 May 2020, http://opinion.people. com.cn/GB/40604/11032862.html Cull, N.J. (2008). The public diplomacy of the modern Olympic Games: China's soft power strategy. In M.E. Price and D. Dayan (Eds.), Owning the Olympics: Narratives of the new China (pp. 117–144). Michigan: The University of Michigan Press. https://doi. org/10.3998/nmw.5646196.0001.001 Dai, Q.X., & He, J.F. (1997). On the mother tongue [in Chinese: 论母语]. Ethnic Research [in Chinese: 民族研究], 2, 59–64. Davis, T. (1997) Patterns of identity: Basques and the Basque nation. Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, 3(1), 61–88. https://doi.org/10.1080/13537119708428493 Dawson, K.C. (2010, 23 April). Confucius Institutes enhance China’s int’l image, China Daily, viewed 23 June 2020, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-04/23/content_9766116.htm Donald, S.H., & Zheng, Y. (2008). Richer than before – The cultivation of middle class taste: Education choices in urban China. In D. Goodman (Ed.), The new rich in China: Future rulers, Present Lives (pp. 71–82), New York: Routledge. Dong, J., & Blommaert, J. (2009). Space, scale and accents: Constructing migrant identity in Beijing. Multilingua, 28(1), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1515/mult.2009.001 Dryzek, J.S. (1994). Australian discourses of democracy. Australian Journal of Political Science, 29, 221–223. https://doi.org/10.1080/00323269408402291 Dryzek, J.S., & Berejikian, J. (1993). Reconstructive democratic theory. American Political Science Review, 87, 48–60, https://doi.org/10.2307/2938955 Essary, E. (2007). Speaking of globalization: Frame analysis and the world society. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 48(6), 509–526. https://doi. org/10.1177/0020715207083341 Fairclough, N. (1989). Language and power. London: Longman. Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and social change. Cambridge: Polity Press. Fairclough, N. (1993). Critical discourse analysis and the commodification of public discourse. Discourse and Society, 4(2), 133–168. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926593 004002002 Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language. Harlow: Longman. Fairclough, N. (2001). Language and Power (2nd edition). London: Longman.

172  References Feng, A.W. (2005). Bilingualism for the minor or for the major? An evaluative analysis of parallel conceptions in China. International Journal of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education, 8(6), 529–551. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050508669067 Feng, A.W. (2006). Contested notions of citizenship and citizenship education: The Chinese case. In G. Alfred, M. Byram and M. Fleming (Eds.), Education for intercultural citizenship: Concepts and comparisons (pp. 86–105). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853599200 Feng, A.W. (2009). English in China: Convergence and divergence in policy and practice. AILA Review, 22, 85–102. Feng, J.W., & Wu, D. (2007). Cultural value change in Mainland China’s commercial discourse. In S. Xu (Ed.), Discourse as cultural struggle (pp. 73–90). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. https://doi.org/10.5790/hongkong/9789622098114.001.0001 Fishman, J.A. (1972). The impact of nationalism on language planning. In J. A. Fishman (Ed.), Language in sociocultural change: Essays by Joshua A. Fishman (pp. 224–243). Stanford: Stanford University Press. Fong, E.T.Y. (2009). English in China: Some thoughts after the Beijing Olympics. English Today, 25(1), 44–49. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266078409000078 Fong, V. (2004). Filial nationalism among Chinese teenagers with global identities. American Ethnologist, 31(4), 631–648. https://doi.org/10.1525/ae.2004.31.4.631 Foucault, M. (1972). The archaeology of knowledge. [Trans. A.M. Sheridan Smith]. New York: Harper & Row. Foucault, M. (1978). The history of sexuality. Volume I: An introduction. [Trans. Robert Hurley]. New York: Vintage Books. Foucault, M. (1980). Power/knowledge: Selected interviews and other writings: 1972– 1977. Ed. Colin Gordon. [Trans. Colin Gordon et al.]. New York: Pantheon Books. Foucault, M. (1984). The order of discourse. In M. Shapiro (Ed.), Language and Politics (pp. 108–138). New York: New York University Press. Gangyao (Gongmin Daode Jianshe Shishi Gangyao). (2001, 24 October). The implementation guidelines to construct civic morals of citizens [in Chinese: 《公民道德建设实 施纲要》]. Renmin Ribao, Renmin Ribao database. Gao, X.S. (2007). A tale of Blue Rain Café: A study on the online narrative construction about a community of English learners on the Chinese mainland. System, 35(2), 259– 270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2006.12.004 Gao, Y.H. (2009). Sociocultural contexts and English in China: Retaining and reforming the cultural habitus. In J. Lo Bianco, J. Orton and Y.H. Gao (Eds.), China and English: Globalisation and the dilemmas of identity (pp. 56–78). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847692306 Gao, Y.H., Cheng, Y., Zhao, Y., & Zhou, Y. (2005). Self-identity changes and English learning among Chinese undergraduates. World Englishes, 24(1), 39–51. https://doi. org/10.1111/j.0883-2919.2005.00386.x Gao, Y.H., Zhao, Y., Cheng, Y., & Zhou, Y. (2003). Motivation types of Chinese college undergraduates [in Chinese: 中国大学本科生英语学习动机类型]. Modern Foreign Languages [in Chinese: 现代外语], 26(1), 29–38. Gao, Y.H., Zhao, Y., Cheng, Y., & Zhou, Y. (2007). Relationship between English learning motivation types and self-identity changes among Chinese students. TESOL Quarterly, 41(1), 133–155. https://doi.org/10.2307/40264334 Gee, J.P. (1999). An introduction to discourse analysis: Theory and method. London and New York: Routledge. Gelber, H. (2007). The dragon and the foreign devils: China and the world, 1100 B.C. to the present. New York: Walker & Company.

References  173 Goodman, B. (1995). The locality as microcosm of the nation? Native place networks and early urban nationalism in China. Modern China, 21(4), 387–419. https://doi. org/10.1177/009770049502100401 Graddol, D. (2006). English next. Plymouth: British Council. Halliday, M.A.K. (1978). Language as social semiotic: The social interpretation of language and meaning. London: Edward Arnold. Halliday, M.A.K., & Hasan, R. (1976). Cohesion in English. London: Longman. Hanban. (2017). An encouraging 5 years of leap forward: Statistics on Confucius Institute (2012–2017) [in Chinese: 砥砺奋进的五年: 数据看孔院 (2012–2017)], Hanban, viewed 5 January 2020, http://www.hanban.org/article/2017-10/23/content_702594. htm. Hanban. (2019). About Chinese examinations, Hanban, viewed 5 January 2020, http:// www.hanban.org/tests/node_7475.htm Hanban. (2020). About Confucius Institutes/Classrooms, Hanban, viewed 31 July 2020, http://www.hanban.org/confuciousinstitutes/node_10961.htm Haugen, H. (2008). A very natural choice: The construction of Beijing as an Olympic city during the bid period. In M.E. Price and D. Dayan (Eds.), Owning the Olympics: Narratives of the new China (pp. 145–162). Michigan: The University of Michigan Press. https://doi.org/10.3998/nmw.5646196.0001.001 He, D.Y., & Li, D.C.S. (2009). Language attitudes and linguistic features in the “China English” debate. World Englishes, 28(1), 70–89. https://doi. org/10.1111/j.1467-971X.2008.01570.x Herman, D. (1994). Textual you and double deixis in Edna O’Brien’s A Pagan Place. Style, 28(3), 378–410. Hong, Y.Y., Ip, G., Chiu, C., Morris, M.W., & Menon, T. (2001). Cultural identity and dynamic construction of the self: Collective duties and individual rights in Chinese and American cultures. Social Cognition, 19, 251–268. https://doi.org/10.1521/ soco.19.3.251.21473 Hong, Y.Y., Morris, M.W., Chiu, C.Y., & Benet-Martinez, V. (2000). Multicultural minds: A dynamic constructivist approach to culture and cognition. American Psychologist, 55, 709–720. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.7.709 Hooks, B. (1989). Talking back: Thinking feminist, thinking black. Boston: South End Press. Hu, Y.Y. (2007). China’s foreign language policy on primary English education: What’s behind it? Language Policy, 6, 359–376. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-007-9052-9 Ives, D. (2008). Silence begets silence: An investigation into the sources of inattention to the distinctive educational needs of English language learners in mainstream primary classrooms. Unpublished PhD, University of Melbourne, Melbourne. Jacques, M. (2020, 1 January). This decade belonged to China. So will the next one. The Guardian, viewed 5 January 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/ dec/31/decade-china-west-china-ascent Ji, F.Y. (2004). Linguistic engineering in Mao’s China: The case of English language teaching. New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies, 6(1), 83–99. Jiang, C.F. (2008, 7 August). The power of language communication [in Chinese: 语言交 流的力量 (心有所动)]. Renmin Ribao, Renmin Ribao database. Jiang, R., & Ding, D. (2004, 8 November). Emotional but sophisticated; passionate but mature. This comment not only applies to career consultants, but it is also an evaluation of his personal quality – Mr Tian: “I am a ‘career doctor’” (People. New career forum (1)) [in Chinese: 既感性、又理性；既热情、又成熟。这样的评价，不仅适用于职

174  References 业指导师这个职业，也像是对他个人素质的评价——田光哲: 我是 “职业医生” (人物·新职业系列 (1))]. Renmin Ribao, Renmin Ribao database. Kachru, B. (1982). The other tongue: English across cultures. Oxford: Pergamon Press. Kipnis, A. (2006). Suzhi: A keyword approach. The China Quarterly, 186, 295–313. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305741006000166 Kramsch, C. (2009). The multilingual subject: What language learners say about their experience and why it matters. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kristeva, J. (1980). Desire in language: A semiotic approach to literature and art. New York: Columbia University Press. Kristeva, J. (1986). Word, dialogue, and the novel. In T. Moi (Ed.), The Kristeva reader (pp. 35–61). New York: Columbia University Press. Lai, E. (2001). Teaching English as a private enterprise in China. English Today, 17(2), 32–36. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266078401002048 Lam, A.S.L. (2005). Language education in China: Policy and experience from 1949. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. https://doi.org/10.5790/ hongkong/9789622097506.001.0001 Li, G.F. (2006). Study on the primal problems and resolutions of education in patriotism to university students in a new period. Journal of the graduates of Sun Yat Sen University, 27(1), 155–159. Li, J. (2001). Chinese conceptualisation of learning. Ethos, 29(2), 111–137. https://doi. org/10.1525/eth.2001.29.2.111 Li, J.N. (2000). Discussing the fundamental meaning of modernizing people’s quality [in Chinese: 论现代化人口素质的基本内涵]. China Population Science [in Chinese: 中 国人口科学], 1(76), 56–58. Li, M. (2015). Citizenship education and migrant youth in China: Pathways to the urban underclass. New York: Routledge. Li, X.P. (2019, 30 December). Our role in the revitalisation of countryside – “the best grass-root high school graduate” in 2019 [in Chinese: 乡村振兴, 有我们!—二〇一九 “最美基层高校毕业生” 先进事迹]. Renmin Ribao, viewed on 4 May 2020, http:// country.people.com.cn/n1/2019/1230/c419842-31528405.html Li, C.N., & Thompson, S.A. (1978). An exploration of Mandarin Chinese. In W. P. Lehmann (Ed.), Syntactic typology: Studies in the phenomenology of language (pp. 223–266). Austin and London: University of Texas Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/ S0022226700006460 Li, H., & Deng, Z.T. (2004). The impacts of economic globalisation on implementing patriotism education in higher education [in Chinese: 经济全球化对高校爱国主义教 育的影响及对策]. Journal of Southwest University for Nationalities – Humanities and Social Sciences [in Chinese: 西南民族大学学报(人文社科版)], 25(4), 341–344. Li, H.B., & Chen, C. (2008, 9 August). Let the world see the dream of Chinese people [in Chinese: 让全世界看到中国人的梦想]. Renmin Ribao, Renmin Ribao database. Li, H.Z., Zhang, Z., Bhatt, G., & Yum, Y.O. (2006). Rethinking culture and self-construal: China as a middle land. The Journal of Social Psychology, 146(5), 591–610. https://doi. org/10.3200/SOCP.146.5.591-610 Lin, Y.T. (2008). My country and my people [in Chinese: 吾国与吾民]. Shanxi: Shanxi Normal University Press. Liu, Y.G. (2008, 25 May). Rescuers become teachers [in Chinese: 救援人员当老师]. Renmin Ribao, Renmin Ribao database. Liu, B.C., & Zhang, Y.J. (2019). Research on the status quo, problems and reform path of Confucius Institutes in the background of the Belt and Road Initiative. Journal of Southwest University Social Science Edition, 45(2), 74–80.

References  175 Liu, Y.H., & Li, Y.J. (2004). Language, culture and some thoughts on China's "English fever" [in Chinese: 语言、文化以及中国的 “英语热” 之思考]. Journal of Beijing International Studies University [in Chinese: 北京第二外国语学院院報], 2, 20–30. Lo, A.H. (2009, 1 June). Controversy over the need of civil servants under the age of 35 to take English exams in Guangzhou [in Chinese: 广州干部培训意见引热议35岁以下 公务员统考英语]. Renmin Ribao, viewed on 4 May 2020, http://politics.people.com. cn/GB/14562/9385421.html Lo Bianco, J. (2009). Intercultural encounters and deep cultural beliefs. In J. Lo Bianco, J. Orton and Y.H. Gao (Eds.), China and English: Globalisation and the dilemmas of identity (pp. 23–55). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847692306 Lo Bianco, J. (2015). Exploring Language Problems through Q-Sorting. In F. M. Hult and D. Cassels Johnson (Eds.), Research Methods in Language Policy and Planning: A Practical Guide (1st edition, pp. 69–80). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. https:// doi.org/10.1002/9781118340349 Löfstedt, J.I. (1980). Chinese educational policy. Changes and contradictions 1949–79. Stockholm: Amqvist & Wiksell International. Lou, J.Y., & Wu, Q.H. (2000, 13 April). The training of judges in Beijing Courts [in Chinese: 北 京法院着力培养涉外审案人才]. Renmin Ribao, Renmin Ribao database. Lundberg, A. (2019). Teachers’ beliefs about multilingualism: Findings from Q method research. Current Issues in Language Planning, 20(3), 266–283. https://doi.org/10.108 0/14664208.2018.1495373 Martin, P.Y., & Turner, B.A. (1986). Grounded theory and organizational research. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 22(2), 141–157. https://doi. org/10.1177/002188638602200207 McAfee, N. (2000). Habermas, Kristeva and citizenship. New York: Cornell University Press. McArthur, T. (1999). On the origin and nature of Standard English. World Englishes, 18(2), 161–169. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-971X.00131 McKeown, B.F., & Thomas, D.B. (1988). Q methodology (Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences series, Vol. 66). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Mildorf, J. (2006). Sociolinguistic implications of narratology: Focalization and “double deixis” in conversational storytelling. Studies across Disciplines in the Humanities and Social Sciences 1, 42–59. Milroy, J. (2001). Language ideologies and the consequences of standardization. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 5(4), 530–555. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9481.00163 Ministry of Education. (1950). Draft foreign language teaching plan for tertiary institutions [in Chinese: 高等外语教学计划草案]. Beijing: Ministry of Education. Ministry of Education. (2000, 31 October). Law on the standard spoken and written Chinese language of the People’s Republic of China [in Chinese: 中华人民共和国国 家通用语言文字法]. Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, viewed 12 March 2020, http://www.gov.cn/ziliao/flfg/2005-08/31/content_27920.htm Ministry of Education. (2006, 31 August). An outline and slogan to promote Putonghua [in Chinese: 推广普通话宣传提纲和宣传口号]. Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, viewed 24 September 2019, http://www.moe.gov.cn/s78/A18/yys_ left/moe_804/s3136/201001/t20100127_78716.html Ministry of Education. (2009, 28 September). The 12th National Putonghua Week programs [in Chinese: 第12届全国推广普通话宣传周各项活动精彩纷呈]. Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, viewed 27 March 2020, http://www.moe. gov.cn/s78/A18/yys_left/moe_804/s3136/201001/t20100127_78670.html

176  References Ministry of Education. (2010, 6 January). 60 years of Chinese language development for New China Exhibition held by the National Language Working Committee [in Chinese: 国家语委举办新中国语言文字工作60年成就展]. Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, viewed 27 March 2020, http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_sjzl/ s3165/201004/t20100419_84643.html Ministry of Education. (2016, 15 July). On “Implementing and establishing ‘One Belt One Road’” [in Chinese: 教育部关于印发《推进共建 “一带一路” 教育行动》的通知]. Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, viewed 6 January 2020, http:// www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A20/s7068/201608/t20160811_274679.html Ministry of Education. (2018a, 12 February). National language standard: China’s standards of English language ability. Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China and National Language Commission of the People’s Republic of China, viewed 13 April 2020, http://cse.neea.edu.cn/res/ceedu/1811/6bdc26c323d188948fca8048833f151a.pdf Ministry of Education. (2018b, 18 December). 40 years of forging ahead and achievement made history [in Chinese: 40载砥砺奋进成就辉煌载史册]. Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, viewed 6 January 2020, http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_ xwfb/s5147/201812/t20181218_363911.html Ministry of Education. (2019a, 21 February). A response to item 3921 of a meeting of the 13th People’s Congress (Summary) [in Chinese: 对十三届全国人大一次会议第3921 号建议的答复(摘要)]. Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, viewed 14 September 2019, http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xxgk/xxgk_jyta/jyta_ghs/201902/ t20190220_370348.html Ministry of Education. (2019b, 1 September). Celebrating the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China: The flourishing development of China’s Education in 70 years [in Chinese: 壯丽七十年教育奋进新征程 - 热烈庆 祝中华人民共和国成立70周年]. Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, viewed 7 January 2020, http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xwfb/xw_zt/moe_357/ jyzt_2019n/2019_zt24/#chronicle Ministry of Education. (2019c, 10 June). Notice on the opening of the 2019 “Promoting Mandarin to fiercely alleviate poverty” social activities for university students during summer break [in Chinese: 关于开展2019年 “推普脱贫攻坚” 全国大学生暑期社 会实践专项活动的通知]. Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, viewed 28 October 2019, http://www.moe.gov.cn/s78/A18/A18_gggs/s8477/201906/ t20190612_385573.html Ministry of Education. (2019d, 17 September). Opening of the 22nd Putonghua Week: Showcasing classical reading to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the PRC [in Chinese: 第22届全国推普周开幕庆祝新中国成立70周年经典诵读展示活动同时举办]. Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, viewed 24 September 2019, http://www.moe.gov.cn/s78/A18/moe_807/201909/t20190917_399416.html Ministry of Education. (2019e). 70 years of educational achievements (1949–2019) [in Chinese: 70年教育事业发展成就 (1949–2019)]. Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, viewed 6 January 2020, http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xwfb/xw_zt/ moe_357/jyzt_2019n/2019_zt24/szkjy/201909/t20190929_401719.html Ministry of Foreign Affairs of PRC. (2013, 7 September). President Xi Jinping delivers important speech and proposes to build a Silk Road economic belt with Central Asian Countries. Belt and Road Portal, Government of the People’s Republic of China, viewed 6 January 2020, https://eng.yidaiyilu.gov.cn/qwyw/hyygd/1849.htm Mitter, R. (2017). Presentism and China’s changing wartime past. Past and Present, 234(1), 263–274. https://doi.org/10.1093/pastj/gtw060

References  177 Mitter, R., & Moore, A. (2011). China in World War II, 1937–1945: Experience, memory, and legacy. Modern Asian Studies, 45(2), 225–240. https://doi.org/10.1017/ S0026749X10000387 Murphy, R. (2004). Turning peasants into modern Chinese citizens: “Population quality” discourse, demographic transition and primary education, The China Quarterly, 177, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305741004000025 New Oriental Corporation. (2020a). Oral English immersion (Super Talk Level 5). New Oriental Corporation, viewed 15 April 2020, http://souke.xdf.cn/Class/2-3853779.html New Oriental Corporation. (2020b). Shanghai Study Camp (Junior high school summer camp, 25 students). New Oriental Corporation, viewed 15 April 2020, http://souke.xdf. cn/Class/2-5476793.html#classlist Nitcavic, R.G., & Dowling, R.E. (1990). American perceptions of terrorism: A Q- methodological analysis of types. Political Communication and Persuasion, 7, 147–166. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.1990.9962894 Norton, B. (1997). Language, identity and the ownership of English. TESOL Quarterly, 31(3), 409–429. https://doi.org/10.2307/3587831 Orton, J. (2007). “Just a Tool?” The identity of English in the textbooks of Chinese secondary schools. Journal of Chinese Sociolinguistics, 3(2), 76–94. Orton, J. (2009a). East goes West. In J. Lo Bianco, J. Orton and Y.H. Gao (Eds.), China and English: Globalisation and the dilemmas of identity (pp. 271–293). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847692306 Orton, J. (2009b). “Just a Tool”: The role of English in the curriculum. In J. Lo Bianco, J. Orton and Y.H. Gao (Eds.), China and English: Globalisation and the dilemmas of identity (pp. 137–154). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/ 9781847692306 Paradice, R. (2001). An investigation into the social construction of dyslexia. Educational Psychology in Practice, 17, 213–225. https://doi.org/10.1080/02667360120072747 Pennycook, A. (1994). The cultural politics of English as an international language. London: Longman. Pennycook, A. (2007a). Global Englishes and transcultural flows. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203088807 Pennycook, A. (2007b). “The rotation gets thick. The constraints get thin”: Creativity, recontextualization, and difference. Applied Linguistics, 28(4), 579–596. https://doi. org/10.1093/applin/amm043 Pennycook, A. (2010). Language as a local practice. London: Routledge. https://doi. org/10.4324/9780203846223 People.cn. (2019, 4 July). My best wishes to the motherland mother –celebration of the motherland’s birthday activity [in Chinese: 我对祖国母亲说句话 为祖国华诞献祝 福活动], People.cn, viewed 15 September 2019, http://v.people.cn/n1/2019/0704/ c421419-31214557.html Price, M.E. (2008). Introduction. In M.E. Price and D. Dayan (Eds.), Owning the Olympics: Narratives of the new China (pp. 1–13). Michigan: The University of Michigan Press. https://doi.org/10.3998/nmw.5646196.0001.001 Qun, Y., & Li, Q.T. (1991). Research into foreign language education development strategies [in Chinese: 外語教育發展策略研究]. Sichuan: Sichuan Education Press. Reisigl, M., & Wodak, R. (2005). Discourse and discrimination: Rhetorics of racism and antisemitism. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203993712 Ricci, M. (1953). China in the sixteenth century: The journals of Matthew Ricci: 1583– 1610. [Translated by Louis J. Gallagher, S.J.]. New York: Random House.

178  References Robertson, R. (1995). Glocalization: Time-space and homogeneity-heterogeneity. In M. Featherstone, S. Lash and R. Robertson (Eds.), Global modernities (pp. 25–44). London: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446250563 Rofel, L. (2007). Desiring China: Experiments in neoliberalism, sexuality, and public culture. Durham: Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822389903 Ryckmans, P. (2008). The Chinese attitude towards the past. China Heritage Quarterly, 14, viewed 2 August 2019, http://www.chinaheritagequarterly.org/articles.php?searchterm=014_chineseAttitude.inc&issue=014 Schmolck, P. (2002). PQMethod 2.35 with PQROT 2.0 [Computer Software], viewed 20 September 2019, http://schmolck.org/qmethod/downpqwin.htm Sen, A. (2005). The argumentative Indian. London: Allen Lane. Stephenson, W. (1953). The study of behavior: Q technique and its methodology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Stephenson, W. (1978). Concourse theory of communication. Communication, 3, 21–40. Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (2nd edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Stubbe, M., Lane, C., Hilder, J., Vine, E., Vine, B., Marra, M., … Weatherall, A. (2003). Multiple discourse analyses of a workplace interaction. Discourse Studies, 5(3), 351– 388. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614456030053004 Stubbs, M. (1997). Whorf's children: Critical comments on critical discourse analysis. In A. Ryan and A. Wray (Eds.), Evolving models of language: British studies in applied linguistics 12 (pp. 100–116). Clevedon: BAAL/Multilingual Matters. Subject English Education Research Academy. (2016, 13 May). White Paper on current English education and trend of teenagers and children in China [in Chinese: 中国少 年儿童英语学习现状及趋势白皮书]. Subject English Education Research Academy, viewed 5 June 2020, http://www.seerabj.org/seera/xuehuihuodongtuwen/182.jhtml Sun, K. (2018, 4 September). Taiping Life Insurance Company Hubei Branch alleviating poverty through education: an enterprise’s effort for children in the mountain areas [in Chinese: 太平人寿湖北分公司大力推动教育扶贫: 为山区孩子倾注企业爱 心]. Renmin Ribao, viewed on 13 April 2020, http://hb.people.com.cn/n2/2018/0904/ c194063-32013548.html Sun, L.J. (1995). Unweaned nation [in Chinese: 未斷奶的民族]. Taipei: Chuliu. Sun, X. (2003, 5 July). Report [in Chinese: 报告]. Renmin Ribao, Renmin Ribao database. Syed, Z. (2001). Notions of self in foreign language learning: A qualitative analysis. In Z. Dornyei and R. Schmidt (Eds.), Motivation and second language acquisition. Technical report (University of Hawaii at Manoa. Second Language Teaching & Curriculum Center) (pp. 127–148). Manoa: Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center, University of Hawaii. Tajfel, H. (1978). Interindividual behaviour and intergroup behaviour. In H. Tajfel (Ed.), Differentiation between social groups: Studies in the social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 27–60). London: Academic Press. Tajfel, H. (1981). Human groups and social categories. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Tang, L.X. (1983). TEFL in China: Methods and techniques. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Press. Tannen, D. (1993). What’s in a frame? Surface evidence for underlying expectations. In D. Tannen (Ed.), Framing in discourse (pp. 14–56). New York: Oxford University Press.

References  179 Train, R. (2002, March 9). Foreign language standards, standard language and the culture of standardization: Some implications for foreign language and heritage language education. [Paper presentation]. UC Language Consortium Conference on Language Learning and Teaching: Theoretical and Pedagogical Perspectives. University of California, Irvine, USA. Tu, W.M. (1993). Introduction: Cultural perspectives. Daedalus, 122(2), VII–XXIV. Turner, J.C. (1982). Towards a cognitive redefinition of the social group. In H. Tajfel (Ed.), Social identity and intergroup relations (pp. 15–40). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. van Dijk, T.A. (1993). Elite discourse and racism. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. https://doi. org/10.4135/9781483326184 van Dijk, T.A. (1999). Critical discourse analysis and conversation analysis. Discourse and Society, 10(4), 459–460. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926599010004001 van Dijk, T.A. (2001). Multidisciplinary CDA: A plea for diversity. In R. Wodak and M. Meyer (Eds.), Methods of critical discourse analysis (pp. 95–120). London: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9780857028020 Wang, C.H. (2001). Social identification of second-generation rural population and its relation with urban migration [in Chinese: 新生代农村流动人口的社会认同与城乡 融合的关系]. Sociological Research [in Chinese: 社会学研究], 3, 63–76. Wang, G.W. (1988). The study of Chinese identities in Southeast Asia. In J. Cushman and G.W. Wang (Eds.), Changing identities of the Southeast Asian Chinese since World War II (pp. 1–22). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. Wang, Q. (1999a). Thoughts and suggestions on the foreign language curriculum reform in compulsory education in the 21st century [in Chinese: 面向21世纪义务教育阶段外 语课程改革的思考与意见]. Foreign Language Teaching Research in Basic Education [in Chinese: 基础教育外语教学研究], 2, 46–50. Wang, Q. (1999b). A summary of the fourth national symposium on primary school English teaching and research [in Chinese: 全国第四次小学英语教学教研工作研讨 会]. English Teaching and Research Notes [in Chinese: 中小学英语教学与研究], 2, 14. Wang, H., & Yuan, Z. (2013). The promotion of Putonghua (Mandarin Chinese): An overview. In Y. Li & W. Li (Eds.), The language situation in China (Vol. 1) (pp. 27–40). The Hague: Mouton De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614512530 Wasserstrom, J. (2010, 13 April). The myth of one China. Foreign Policy, viewed 17 June 2010, http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/04/13/the_myth_of_one_china Watts, S., & Stenner, P. (2005). Doing Q methodology: Theory, method and interpretation. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 2, 67–91. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088705qp 022oa Watts, S., & Stenner, P. (2012). Doing Q methodological research: Theory, method & interpretation. London: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446251911 Wierzbicka, A. (1997). Understanding cultures through their key words: English, Russian, Polish, German, and Japanese. New York: Oxford University Press. Wodak, R. (1989). Language, power, and ideology (Studies in Political Discourse). Philadelphia: J. Benjamins Pub. Co. https://doi.org/10.1075/ct.7 Wodak, R. (2001). The discourse-historical approach. In R. Wodak and M. Meyer (Eds.), Methods of critical discourse analysis (pp. 63–94). London: Sage. https://doi. org/10.4135/9780857028020 Wu, G.Y. (2007). Peace: The roots of the cultural tradition and values of the Chinese people. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press.

180  References Wu, J. (2014, 18 May). Reform of higher education is still under planning [in Chinese: 高考改革方 案仍在研究制定完善中]. The State Council of the People’s Republic of China, viewed 13 May 2020, http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2014-05/18/content_2681679. htm Wu, Y.Y. (2010, 2 February). English without Chinese at exams “traitorous”. China Daily, viewed 23 August 2010, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2010-02/02/content_9411061.htm Xie, B.X. (2003). On cultural identification of modern college students [in Chinese 论当 代大学生的文化身份认同]. Journal of Hunan Business College [in Chinese: 湖南商 学院学报], 10(1), 121–124. Xin, M. (2019, 25 October). The key to achieving the revitalisation of the Chinese nation [in Chinese: 实现中华民族伟大复兴的关键一步]. Renmin Ribao, viewed 27 July 2020, http://opinion.people.com.cn/n1/2019/1025/c1003-31419272.html Xing, Y. (2019, 16 January). Shanghai home to largest foreign worker population in China. China Daily, viewed 6 January 2020, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201901/16/ WS5c3ed0a9a3106c65c34e4d2a.htm Xinhua. (2019, 13 November). China unveils outline for strengthening patriotic education. The State Council of the People’s Republic of China, viewed 13 April 2020, http://english.www.gov.cn/policies/latestreleases/201911/13/content_ WS5dcb3985c6d0bcf8c4c16fa2.html Xinhua News Agency. (2005, 21 January). Council of the State of China approves the global promotion of “Chinese Bridge” project [in Chinese: 中国国务院批准 “汉语桥” 工程向全球推广]. Xinhua News Agency, viewed 29 June 2020, http://news.xinhuanet. com/overseas/2005-01/21/content_2491491.htm Xinhua News Agency. (2012, 30 November). Xi pledges “great renewal of Chinese nation”, Beijing Review, viewed 2 August 2019, http://www.bjreview.com.cn/headline/ txt/2012-11/30/content_504306.htm Xinhua News Agency. (2019, 27 October). The State Council introduced the implementation guidelines to construct civic morals of citizens in the new Age [in Chinese: 中共中 央国务院印发《新时代公民道德建设实施纲要》]. The State Council of the People’s Republic of China, viewed 29 May 2020, http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2019-10/27/content_5445556.htm Xinhuanet. (2019, 30 April). President Xi Jiping: Speech for the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the May Fourth Movement [in Chinese: 习近平: 在纪念五四运 动100周年大会上的讲话]. Xinhuanet, viewed 13 April 2020, http://www.xinhuanet. com/politics/leaders/2019-04/30/c_1124436427.htm Xu, Z. (2010). Chinese English: A future power? In A. Kirkpatrick (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of World Englishes (pp. 282–298). London: Routledge. Xu, W., & Case, R. (2015). Age-related differences in motivation in learning English among Mainland Chinese students. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 25(1), 67–82. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijal.12050 Xu, L.T., Zhao, Z.Y., & Wen, X.F. (1981). The five thousand years of China [in Chinese: 中华五千年]. Jilin: Jilin People Press. Xu, Z., He, D., & Deterding, D. (2017). Researching Chinese English: The state of the art. Cham Switzerland: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53110-6 Yan, Y.T. (2006, 18 October). CPC promotes “core value system” to lay moral foundation for social harmony. Xinhua News Agency, viewed 4 May 2020, http://en.people. cn/200610/19/print20061019_313207.html

References  181 Yang, C.M. (2000, 8 April). Poetry, ferry ticket and quality – after reading “Rain and Sail.” [in Chinese: 诗词·船票与素质——《雨帆集》读后]. Renmin Ribao, Renmin Ribao database. Yao, X.D. (2019, 24 December). The future of English examinations [in Chinese: 未来英 语考试什么 样], people.com.cn, viewed on 7 January 2020, http://edu.people.com.cn/ n1/2019/1224/c1053-31519780.html Yao, X.J. (2013, 14 July). What are you doing after graduation? [in Chinese: “毕业季, 你在 忙什 么”]. Renmin Ribao, viewed 7 May 2020, http://edu.people.com.cn/n/2013/0714/ c1006-22190024.html Ye, Z.D. (2004). Chinese categorization of interpersonal relationships and the cultural logic of Chinese social interaction: An indigenous perspective. Intercultural Pragmatics, 1(2), 211–230. https://doi.org/10.1515/iprg.2004.1.2.211 Yue, D.Y., & Wakeman, C. (1985). To the storm: The odyssey of a revolutionary Chinese woman. Berkeley: University of California Press. Yuen, L. (2007). On the consumption on English language learning [in Chinese: 中学生 “英语语言消费”]. Foreign Languages and Teaching [in Chinese: 外国语言与教导], 6, 31–34. Yum, Y.X. (2008). A study of the cultural identification of university English learners in China [in Chinese: 中国大学英语学习者文化身份的调查与分析]. Foreign Languages and Literatures [in Chinese: 外国语言文学], 1, 46–52. Zhang, L.H. (2007). From “Radisson Hotel & Resort” to “Radisson Hotel Shanghai New World”: English imperialism in China [in Chinese: 从 “雷迪森” 到 “丽笙” 看英语在 中国的霸权现象], Journal of Yichun University (Social Science) [in Chinese: 宜春学 院学报], 29(5), 161–163. Zhang, R.L. (2001). Economic globalisation and the issue of cultural identity [in Chinese: “经济全球化和文化认同”]. Philosophical Research [in Chinese: 哲学研究] 2, 17–24. Zhang, S. (2012). A study on the relations between China and the Byzantine Empire [in Chinese: 中国与拜占庭帝国关系研究]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. Zhang, X.G., & Bai, B. (2018). Deng Xiao Ping’s “Three orientations” and its meanings for the era [in Chinese: 邓小平 “三个面向” 思想及其时代意义]. Journal of Liaoning Daoxue (Philosophy and Social Sciences) [in Chinese: 辽宁大学学报(哲学 社会科学版)], 1, viewed 19 April 2020, http://www.cnki.com.cn/Article/CJFDTotalLLBZ201801003.htm Zhang, S., & Kulich, S. (2008). Analyzing Chinese identity today: New insights into identity rankings of young adults in urban China. In D.D. Wu (Ed.), Discourses of cultural China in the globalizing age (pp.203–230). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. Zhang, T., & Schwartz, B. (1997). Confucius and the Cultural Revolution: A study in collective memory. International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society, 11(2), 189–212. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025187406580 Zheng, H.O. (2017, 28 December). Civilisation as a result of mutual learning (cultural exchange) [in Chinese: 文明因互鉴而精彩(文化进行时)]. Renmin Ribao, viewed 4 May 2020, http://world.people.com.cn/n1/2017/1228/c1002-29733278.html Zheng, W. (2014). Never forgetnNational humiliation: Historical memory in Chinese politics and foreign relations. New York: Columbia University Press. Zhou, Q.S. (2009). Language, ethnicity and identity in China. In J. Lo Bianco, J. Orton and Y.H. Gao (Eds.), China and English: Globalisation and the dilemmas of identity (pp. 169–180). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847692306 Zhou, R. (2010, 29 January). Confucius loses his way. China Daily, viewed 13 May 2020, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2010-01/29/content_9395429.htm

182  References Zhou, Y., & Gao, Y.H. (2009). The development of English learning motivation among Chinese students in the first two years of study: Findings from a longitudinal study in five universities [in Chinese: 大学基础阶段英语学习动机的发展-对五所高校的 跟踪研究]. Foreign Language Teaching and Research [in Chinese: 外语教学与研究], 41(2), 113–118. Zhu, X.S., & Zhou, D.J. (2016, 20 January). Nurturing sentiment and emphasis on the mother tongue and culture [in Chinese: 培育母语情感 重视母语文化]. China Social Sciences, viewed 12 May 2020, http://www.cssn.cn/yyx/yyx_tpxw/201601/ t20160120_2834643.html

Index

Bakhtin, M. 93, 95–97 Barmé, G. 4, 9, 12, 21, 157 Beijing Olympics 1–3, 6, 8–9, 15, 24, 45, 57, 67, 69–72, 73, 80, 115, 167 being Chinese 1–4, 6, 9, 15, 27, 33, 45, 98, 145, 150, 155–157, 159–162, 166 Belt and Road initiative 167 bicultural identity 39, 45–46, 101 bilingualism 24, 40, 42, 159; bilingual Chinese 18, 23–25, 45, 107–108; bilingual education 24, 29 Bourdieu, P. 12, 97 Brown, S. 49–52, 56–58, 60–61 Chinese culture of learning 33–34, 37–38, 42, 155, 157 Chinese dialects 9, 11, 13, 33, 47, 55–56, 103, 135, 145, 148–149, 150–151, 155–160, 166 Chinese historical discourse about foreigners and English 3–9, 15, 18–23, 33, 37, 106, 108–110, 113, 116, 157 Chinese identity: characteristics of 7–8, 15, 32, 41; crisis and tensions 1, 10, 18, 20–21, 32–33, 45, 161; multifaceted, multiplicity of 46–47, 106–107, 116, 133, 144, 150, 152, 156, 159–161; vacuum 10, 33, 47 Chinese language: composite courses 169; as an identity and cultural marker 16, 38, 89, 144, 146–147, 148, 150, 157–158, 167; practicality of 147, 148, 150–151, 167; promotion of 10–12, 14, 160, 167; as a skill 169; standardisation of 10–12; as a tool 135, 145, 150; as a world language 55, 68, 70, 81, 82, 89, 159 Chinese traditions 7–8, 10, 13, 15, 21, 31, 37–38, 40–41, 47, 54, 65–66, 72–73, 77, 88–89, 120, 127, 134, 138, 140–141, 148, 160, 162, 167

collectivism 34, 37, 42, 103, 106, 110–112, 114–116; see also self, Chinese cultural conception of communication concourse 51–52 Confucianism 4, 6, 8–10, 14–15, 31, 33–34, 38, 47, 160 Confucius Institute 15, 167–168 contextuality 50, 58, 61 Corbin, J. 90–92 critical discourse analysis 90, 96–98; discourse-historical approach 98–99 Cultural Revolution 10, 20–21, 33, 41 Deng Xiaoping 8, 22 dialogism 93, 95–97 English for utility 18; see also ti-yong principle English: access to 19, 23, 25, 32–33; assessment of 22, 30; in Chinese education and job markets 29–31; for communication with foreigners 22, 28, 43, 53, 63–64, 66, 71, 75, 78, 80, 83–84, 88–89, 102, 108–116, 132–133, 135, 139, 146, 148, 152, 158–159, 165; composite course 24; curriculum for 19, 21–23, 29; for enriching Chinese language and culture 94, 134, 140–141, 144, 158; extracurricular activities 32; for integration with the world 1, 28, 101, 135, 157, 165; as a medium of instruction 23–24, 54; as a modern skill 1, 26, 28, 32, 37, 157; for science and technology 1, 19–20, 22; for selfstrengthening 74, 83–84, 89; for understanding about China and Chinese culture 28, 38, 113; for understanding the world 53, 63, 69, 74, 79, 84, 110, 115, 133 Europe 5–6; see also European European 4, 5–6, 143, 162

184  Index Fairclough, N. 96–100 family: Chinese conception of 10, 13–14, 34, 37–38, 155 Foucault, M. 96–98 Gao Y.H. 24, 33, 37–38, 40–42, 45, 133, 137, 159, 161 Gelber, H. 3–5, 32 global English 43–45, 98 globalisation 1, 24, 39, 43, 44, 46, 47, 53, 64, 65, 73, 75, 87, 88–89, 93, 94, 102–103, 112, 116, 125, 143, 157, 161, 165 glocalisation 44, 132, 142 Greece 4, 5 grounded theory 90–93 Halliday, M. 93 high school students 2, 32, 39, 55–56, 70–77, 89, 102–103, 106–107, 113, 116, 117–120, 133–134, 142, 145–146, 148, 150–152, 158, 160–161 home town 53, 63, 76, 77, 78, 83, 87, 88, 103, 135, 148, 149–150, 152, 155–158 Hong, Y.Y. 46, 101 Hu Jintao 9, 15, 35 hybridity 28, 43–44, 46, 134, 141–142, 159, 162 India 4, 5 individual self 34–35, 42, 45–46, 91, 94, 103, 106, 110–112, 115–116, 133, 139–140, 142, 153, 154–155, 159, 161, 165 instrumental motivation/motives 38–39, 47, 104, 140 integrative motivation/motives 39, 47 intertextuality 93, 95–97, 99 intrinsic interest in English 38–40, 91, 133, 135, 139, 144, 161 isolation 6, 18–20; see also self-isolation Japan 4, 5–10 Jiang Zemin 8, 35 Kachru, B. 43 keywords approach 90, 92 Korea 4, 5, 8–9, 15 Kramsch, C. 45–46, 106, 113, 133–134, 136, 142, 159 Kristeva, J. 93, 95–97 language and cultural equality 55, 67, 69, 71, 73, 76, 77–82, 84, 85–86, 88, 159 language as symbolic power 12, 33, 97, 110, 166

language learning, subjective experience 107, 113, 133–134, 136, 142, 144, 159 “The Last Lesson” 119, 145–146 linguistic and cultural exchange 94, 106–107, 111–112, 116, 157, 159 Mandarin see Chinese language Mao Zedong 7–8, 10, 13, 16, 21, 23, 36 McKeown, B.F. 49, 51, 57–59, 61 middle kingdom 1, 3, 4, 6, 18–19, 32–33, 157 Ming dynasty 4, 5–6 Mitter, R. 4, 7 modernisation 1, 3, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20–22, 26, 28, 33, 36–37, 42, 47, 161, 165; with Chinese characteristics 7–9, 44; discourse of 36, 44, 157 mother tongue: education 54, 68, 69, 71, 72, 78, 79, 83; as identity foundation 14, 69, 145–146, 149, 167; ideology of 10, 13–14, 158, 158, 161 motivation for learning English 38–40, 45, 158; see also instrumental motivation/ motives; integrative motivation/motives national development, discourse of 37, 94, 110, 113, 116, 157 national unity 2, 10, 13, 145, 154 nationalism 14, 35, 47, 54, 66, 73, 76, 77, 81, 82, 86, 88–89 open-mindedness 53, 63, 64, 65–68, 69, 71–72, 73, 76, 77–79, 80, 82, 83, 84, 86, 87, 88–89, 137 operant subjectivity 49–50, 60–61 Opium War 3, 4, 6–7, 19, 162 orders of discourse 96–97 Orton, J. 10, 27–28, 40, 47 parents 10, 14, 23, 24, 29, 31–33, 38, 50, 53, 55–56, 65, 68, 69, 76, 77, 83–84, 85–87, 88–89, 106, 114–116, 128–131, 138, 141–142, 144, 149–150, 152, 154–155, 157–158, 166 patriotism 34, 42, 47, 139; patriotic education 35 Pennycook, A. 28, 37, 43–45, 136, 159 People’s Daily 8, 26–28, 30, 50–52 Putonghua see Chinese language Q methodology 49–62 Q sample statements 50–55, 61 Q sorting 57–61 Qing dynasty 4, 6, 19, 107–109

Index  185 reform and opening up 1, 3, 18, 21–22, 24, 27, 36, 41–42, 110, 112, 114–115, 122–123, 132–133, 138, 147, 162 relations with the West 1–4, 6–7, 19–21, 27, 41, 45, 89, 94, 105–106, 108, 113, 116, 157, 159, 167 Renmin Ribao see People’s Daily Ricci, M. 5–6 Rofel, L. 3, 7–8, 137, 159 Rome 4, 5 self, Chinese cultural conception of 33–36, 91, 104, 160 self-confidence 39, 41, 63, 77–78, 133–134 self-image: of China 1, 5–6, 10, 19; of learner of English 136 self-isolation 3–4, 18–19 The Silk Road 4, 5, 167 socialism 7–8, 12, 20–21, 54, 66, 73, 76, 81, 86 Song dynasty 4, 5, 113 standard language 13–14, 161; ideology of 10–14, 157 status of English and Chinese: contradictory relations 82, 138–139, 141–143; non-contradictory relations and equal status 54, 64, 69, 77, 88–89, 134–135, 138, 140, 144, 158 Stephenson, W. 49, 51, 57 Strauss, A. 90–92 subject position 37, 43, 93, 95, 98, 106, 139; and agency 93, 97–98, 99, 107–108, 116 suzhi 36, 40, 42, 102, 104–105, 111–112, 114, 118, 129–130, 151, 154, 156; education 36–37, 42, 158

Tang dynasty 4, 5, 113 teachers 11–12, 14–15, 20–23, 30–31, 41, 53, 55–56, 64, 65, 68, 70, 71, 77–83, 86, 88–89, 106, 110–113, 116, 125–128, 140, 143–144, 149–150, 153, 155, 157–158, 160 Thomas, D.B. 49, 51, 57–59, 61 ti-yong principle 1, 2, 18–20, 37–38, 42, 132, 134, 141, 144, 147, 157, 158; ti 25, 32–33, 35, 42, 109, 116, 158, 161; yong 18, 25, 32, 35, 42, 132, 158, 161 United Kingdom 3, 6, 20, 43, 53, 64, 65, 71, 73, 75, 87, 88 United States 3, 6, 19, 20, 43, 53, 64, 65, 71, 73, 75, 87, 88, 103, 137 university students 39, 41, 55–56, 63–64, 65–68, 69, 101–103, 106–107, 110, 113, 116, 120–124, 134, 137–138, 142–143, 146–149, 151–152, 156–158, 160, 164–166 Van Dijk 90, 98, 100 voice 1, 27–28, 95–98, 101 Western culture 88, 91, 111–112, 114, 127–128, 134, 137–142, 144, 149, 154, 158, 160, 166 Western knowledge 4, 5, 7, 18–19, 21, 111 Western values 1, 6, 10, 28, 37, 135, 137–138, 158, 161 Wodak, R. 98–100 World Englishes Paradigm 43 Xi Jinping 7, 12, 35 Zhou Enlai 20