International Knowledge Network and
Global English Language in China’s
Higher Education
By: Roy Chan
Date: September 20, 2010
E-mail: roy.chan@rychan.com
Overview Agenda
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Why Study English?
English Language in China’s HE
Globalization and English
English as a Global Language
China’s Response to English
Language as Global Language
• English, Identity, and Culture
• English Majors in China
Readings
• Chang, Junyue (2006). Globalization and
English in Chinese Higher Education.
World Englishes, Vol. 25, No. 3-4, p.
513-525.
• Yang, Rui (2001). An Obstacle or a
Useful Tool? The Role of the English
Language in Internationalizing Chinese
Universities. Journal of Studies in
International Education, Vol. 5 No. 4, p.
341-358.
Introduction
Why Study English?
FACTS:
• The number of speakers of English
as a first or second language has
reached 2,213,507,500, making up
over a third of the world’s
population (Crystal, 2003).
David Crystal
• Founding Fellow of the Learning
Society of Wales
• Patron of the International
Association of Teachers of English
as a Foreign Language (IATEFL)
FACTS:
• 75 territories have officially
recognizes English as a primary or
secondary language (Crystal, 2003)
• 80% of all information stored in
electronic retrieval systems is in
English (Crystal, 2003).
Why Study English?
• English is either the single or an
official language of every major
international organization, and 80%
of all information stored in the
world’s electronic retrieval systems
is English (Altbach, 1998).
Philip G. Altbach
Professor of Higher Education and
Director of the Center for
International Higher Education at
the Boston College, Lynch School
of Education.
Why Study English?
• English is the language that people
from different language groups and
cultures use to communicate with
each other (Yang, 2001).
• It is the world’s lingua franca, or in
Fishman’s (1977) terms, the
world’s principal language of wider
communication.
Joshau Fisherman
Fishman, J. A.
Visiting Professor and Visiting
Scholar in Applied Linguistics at
Stanford University School of
Education
Why Study English?
• The English language learner has
nowadays indisputably become the
language of international
communication (Crystal, 1997).
English Language in China’s
Higher Education
English Language in HE
• Learning foreign languages has
been one of the basic means for
China’s survivor (Yang, 2001, p.
341).
English Language in HE
• A range of international studies has
shown that great importance has
been given to teaching foreign
languages and that this is only
likely to increase (Yang, 2001, p.
342).
• “The global market for English
language teaching and learning will
increase over the next 25 years”;
more than 93% agreed or strongly
agreed (Crystal, 1997).
English language in HE
• Foreign language learning in China
reflects China’s history,
perceptions of international
scholarly relations, and
assessment of the world situation
(Yang, 2001, p. 342).
• The proliferation of English
learning materials has been
overwhelming and English
teaching has become a thriving
business (Yang, 2001, p. 345).
Globalization and English
• Growing English competence has
speeded up globalization by
facilitating political understanding,
economic activities, and cultural
exchange; meanwhile globalization
has been functioning as a driving
force to strengthen the position of
English as a global language
(Chang, 2006).
Junyue Chang
• Professor of English Language at
Dalian University of Foreign
Languages in the School of English
• The development of “globalization”
has been associated with the
dominance of the English language
(Bottery, 2000).
• Globalization was connected with
the development of English as a
global language (Short, 2001).
John Rennie Short
• Professor of Public Policy at the
University of Maryland
English as a Global
Language
So why is English seen as a
Global Language?
• Two Factors Why English is a
Global Language:
– 1) The dominance of England at
the end of the 19th century
– 2) The rise of America in the 20th
century
• The reason for a language’s
becoming a global language has
little to do with the number of
people who speak it. It has much
more to do with who these
speakers are. When they succeed
on the international stage, their
language succeeds with them
(Yang, 2001, p. 345).
• The present day world status of
English, therefore, is primarily the
result of two factors: the expansion
of British colonial power, which
peaked toward the end of the 19th
century, and the emergence of the
United States as the world’s
leading economic power
throughout most of the 20th century
(Yang, 2001, p. 345).
• Huntington (1996) acknowledged
that English has now become the
world’s global way of
communicating interculturally.
• “The world’s language is English.”
• English is the language that people
from different language groups and
cultures use to communicate with
each other (Huntington 1996).
Samuel P. Huntington
• Professor at Harvard University,
Department of Government
• Director of Harvard University,
Center for International Affairs
• Member of the National Academy
of Sciences
China’s Response to English
as Global Language
• There is a widespread of
acknowledgement among the
Chinese academics that English is
becoming a global language of
international communication in
politics, economy, culture, and
science and technology (Yang,
2001, p. 350).
• The Chinese have started of
learning or improving their English
more than ever because the
expansion of the Internet has
further strengthened the leading
status of English (Yang, 2001, P.
351).
Goal
• To train more English teachers
and to build up more quality
language instructors to teach
English in mainland higher
education institutions
English, Identity, and Culture
FACT:
• It is no longer true that to learn
English one must learn the culture
(Hamp-Lyons’s, 1983).
• The language (English) belongs
increasingly to anyone who can
use it (Smith, 1985).
• To learn English in China does not
necessarily lead to total
acceptance of the culture of
English-speaking countries (Yang,
2001, p. 349).
• Languages have inherent qualities
and values and if you acquire one,
you necessarily adopt to other
(Fanon).
Frantz Fanon
• A French philosopher,
revolutionary and a Marxist
• English is a tool for communication,
not a source of identity and
community (Yang, 2001).
• Singapore believe “yes” to English
and “no” to Western cultural values
(Johnson, 1997)
• The use of English for intercultural
communication helps to maintain,
and indeed reinforces, peoples’
separate cultural identities,
precisely because people want to
preserve their own culture and use
English to communicate with
peoples of other cultures (Yang,
2001, p. 348).
English Majors in China
Purpose of English majors in China
• To help China maintain its contact
with the outside world
• To help China prepare for the
challenges of globalization
• To help China participate actively
in the process of globalization
• The education of English majors
was promoted by increasing
exchanges with the outside world,
and by increasing demand for
English teachers with the official
incorporation of English into
national curriculum for middle
schools in 1902 (Hu, 1999: 55)
Timeline of English majors in China
• Prior to 1949: 7,000 students were
English majors
• 1952: English was replaced by
Russian as the preferred foreign
language
– Only 8 institutions taught English
• 1956: MOE seek to revive the
education of English majors. Only
545 teachers of English
• 1964: MOE made English as the
first foreign language in school
• 2002: 150,000 majored in English
– About 420 institutions taught English
Challenges and Problems
• English major graduates cannot
meet the changing demands and
tasks demanding other knowledge
• English major students have
poorer academic background as a
result of lack of quality teachers
caused by demands
• English major graduates are losing
their previous advantages in
seeking deployment
• English major are seen as less
competitive in the job market today
because of inadequate language
teaching
WHAT SHOULD BE DONE?
Six New Training Models
• 1) English major plus courses in
other specialisms
• 2) English major plus an orientation
towards other disciplines
• 3) English major plus a minor
• 4) A major plus English language
• 5) English language plus another
foreign language
• 6) Dual degree: BA degree of
English language and literature
plus another BA degree
What should be done?
Also, there needs to be a:
• Curriculum Revision
• Textbook Updates and
Diversification
• Intensify Research
Overview and Summary
The Benefits of Learning and
Teaching English
• 1) The English language is widely
spoken across the world
• 2) The ability to communicate and
study other people’s culture
• 3) The advantage to read most
information on The Internet
• 4) Allow Asian societies to
research and publish articles and
journals from Western societies
• 5) Encourage scholars to interact
with Western scholars, and viceversa
The Benefits of Learning and
Teaching English
• 6) To maintain its contact with the
outside world
• 7) To help China prepare for the
challenges of globalization
• 8) To help China participate
actively in the process of
globalization
• 9) Better job prospects
• 10) To travel around the world
The Disadvantages of Learning
and Teaching English
• 1) English reduce the amount of
foreign language teachers teaching
other than English (e.g., French,
Italian, Spanish, etc.)
• 2) The possible extinction of
countries cultural language
• 3) Creates competition in work
place between native English
speakers and non-native English
speakers
• 4) Less jobs available for English
language majors
The Disadvantages of Learning
and Teaching English
• 5) Does not guarantee ethnic
harmony
• 6) English may make all other
languages look unnecessary.
• 7) May make more people lazy
about learning other languages
• 8) May make the elite class to think
that English is the only language to
learn
• 9) Possibility of undergoing
Westernization
• 10) Creates winners and losers
Questions?
E-mail(s): rychan@hku.hk / rychan@uci.edu
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