The Globalization of English And Its Consequences In China From A Fresh Perspective Of Sociolinguist.docx
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The Globalization of English And Its Consequences In China From A Fresh Perspective Of Sociolinguist.docx
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TheGlobalizationofEnglishAndItsConsequencesInChinaFromAFreshPerspectiveOfSociolinguist
TheGlobalizationofEnglishAndItsConsequencesInChinaFromAFreshPerspectiveOfSociolinguist
【Abstract】ThispaperisnotontheEnglishlanguageuseinthepast,nowandinthefuture,andthepresent-daysituationinChinabutonthesituationofEnglishlanguagelearningandteachingintheforeignlanguagedomain.ItspurposeistoargueandsaythatEnglishisagloballanguagebutitwillnotbesingleandabsolutegloballanguage,anditisaforeignlanguageinChina.
【Keywords】globallanguageforeignlanguagesecondlanguagelanguagefluxlanguagechange
【中图分类号】G642【文献标识码】A【文章编号】1674-4810(2010)02-0021-03
Introduction
FirstlyIwillgiveabriefoverviewofwhatismeantbytheglobalizationofEnglishbasedCrystal.IthenproposetocomparethepositionofEnglishrelativetolanguagesofwidercommunicationbeforegoingondescribeitsroleincontemporaryChina.Thirdly,IwillanalyzethecausesoflanguagefluxandlanguagechangeasabasisofdeeperanalysisofworldlanguagesinuseatpresenttimeandinitsforeseeablefuturesoastomakeaconclusionthatEnglishisagloballanguagebutitisonlyoneofthegloballanguages,includingChinese,anditisnotasinglegloballanguage.Fourthly,sinceEnglishisnotasinglegloballanguage,Englishhas,onsomecriteriaatleast,alongwayaheadtobecomingasecondlanguageinChina.SoitisnowusedasaforeignlanguagebutnotasasecondlanguageinChina.
WhyisEnglishthemainLWC?
Aseconomicsandtradehaveturnedtheworldinto‘aglobalvillage’,moreandmorepeoplearebecomingconcernedwiththeproblemofforeignlanguagelearningnotinChinabutinGermany,France,Italy,India,AfricaaswellasinRussia.Whatlanguagewewillusetocommunicatewithotherpeopleoftheworldinthefuturehasbecomeahotdebatedproblem.
Crystal’sEnglishasaGlobalLanguage
InCrystal’booknamedasEnglishasaGlobalLanguagetheglobal,helookedbackonthedevelopmentofEnglishhistoryandanalyzeditspresent-daysituationandsaid:
‘Thedrivetomakeprogressinscienceandtechnologyfosteredaninternationalintellectualandresearchenvironment’and‘Anylanguageatthecentreofsuchanexplosionofinternationalactivitieswouldsuddenlyhavefounditselfwithaglobalstatus’(Crystal,2003:
10),‘Englishwasapparentlyintherightplaceatrighttime’(Grystal,2003:
78),and‘AllsignssuggestedthatthisgloballanguagewillbeEnglish’(Crystal,2003:
28).Hesuggested:
‘Governmentswhowishtoplaytheirpartininfluencingtheworld’slinguisticfutureshouldthereforepondercarefully’and‘Theyneedtoadoptlong-termviewandtoplanaheadwhethertheirinterestsaretopromoteEnglishortodeveloptheuseofotherlanguageintheircommunity(or,ofcourse,both)’(Crystal,2003:
28).
Healsoreminded:
‘Iftheymissthislinguisticboat,theremaybenoother’(Crystal,2003:
28).Crystalused‘thissinglegloballanguage’toshowthatEnglishhasbecomeasinglegloballanguageanditwillcontinuetospreadasagloballingualFrancainitsforeseeablefuture.Heimaginedthatin500years,peopleinallpartsoftheworldwillstarttolearnEnglishsincebirth.Doubtlessly,becauseEnglishwillbebecomingsoglobalthatthereisnothinglikelytostopitsspreadingasasingleorgloballanguage.Englishasagloballanguagehasorwillbecomingintoourlifeandwillbeplayinganimportantroleinourdailylife.
EnglishlanguageinChina
Today,peopleinChinahavenolongerarguedaboutwhetherEnglishisasecondlanguage,oraforeignlanguage.SinceChina’sopendoorpolicyadoptedover20yearsago,suchasChinesegovernment’sallowingforeignerstoinvestmoneyineducation,privateenterprises,commercialmalls,jointventuresandhospitals,peoplehavehadsomanyopportunitiesforinternationalinteractionsthattheyhaveopenedtheireyesandwidenedtheirminds.TheydonotmindthesayingofwhetherEnglishisasecondorforeignlanguage.ManyscholarsinforeignlanguagedomainhaveacceptedthistermofEnglishasasecondlanguage.
Theargumentof‘Englishasagloballanguage’or‘Englishasasecondlanguage’inChinaseemstobelessimportant,asthetwotermsareonething.ThemostimportantthingforChinesepeopleistoanalyzewhatroleEnglishplaysinChina’seconomicandeducationaldevelopmentsoastohelpthegovernmenttomakeanappropriatelanguagepolicy,languageplan,andsomeeffectivestrategiesforEnglishlanguagelearningandteachingaccordingtoChina’srealsituation.BecausewhetherEnglishissuedasaforeignlanguageorasecondlanguagewilldirectlyaffectwhatcoursebookshouldbecompiled,whatteachingmodeshouldbeadoptedandwhatoutcomewillbeachievedinEnglishteachinginclassrooms.Agood-understandingofwhatroleEnglishplaysinChina’sdevelopmentwillhelpexpertstostudythetheoryandmethodologyforforeignlanguageteaching.
ItisnecessarytomakeacorrectpredictionforwhatroleofEnglishasagloballanguagewillbeplayinginChina.Withoutacorrectprediction,EnglishlanguageteachingwillbemoredifficultforChinese-EnglishteachersandstudentsinclassroomsbecausetheycannotseetheroleofEnglishlanguageteachingandlearningwillbeplayingintheirfuturelife.
Crystal’sEnglishasagloballanguage
Intheprefaceofhisbook,CrystalsaythatwritingthisbookistosupportthecampaignforEnglishtobemadetheofficiallanguageofUSA.ThebookistellingastoryofhowEnglishcameintoAmerica,Canada,extendedtoAustralia,NewZealand,andspreadoverSouthAfrica,SouthAsia,SoutheastAfrica,someBritishcoloniesinAfricaandSoutheastAsiaandevenspreadallovertheworld.CrystalmakesanamelistwhichshowsthatEnglishhasspreadover77countries.Amongthese77countries,by2002,atotalof329millionpeoplewereestimatedtohavelearnedEnglishasafirstlanguageandatotalof430millionpeoplewereestimatedtouseEnglishasasecondlanguage.
Obviously,somebigcountries,suchasChina,France,Russia,Germany,JapanandsomeothercountriesofSouthAmericawereexcludedinthisnamelist.SoitiseasytoseethatCrystaljusttakethesideoftheEnglish-speakingcountriestodiscusstheissueofEnglishasagloballanguagebyjudgingfromthenumberofpeoplewhospeakEnglishintheworldandmissedgivinganobjectiveoverviewtotheissueofEnglishasagloballanguage.AlthoughhealsomentionedthatChinahasanincreasingnumberofpeoplelearningEnglish,hefailsinanalyzingitsfuturepotentialdevelopment.Infact,heneglectedthefactorthathasastronginfluenceonlanguageuseineverypartoftheworldisitscultureanditsforeseeablefuturedevelopment.
Languagefluxandlanguagechange
Manyfactorscancauselanguageflowandlanguagechange.PeopletendtoexplainlanguageflowandlanguagechangearetheresultsofitspoliticalandmilitarypowerandpowerfulscienceandtechnologybecauseEnglishhistorywasfullofhegemonyandmilitarypower.Atthebeginningof20thcentury,Englishspreadsowidelythatitbecameamajorlanguageinmanypartsoftheworld.WhyEnglishissowidelyusedhasareasonofthejointoutcomeofBritishcolonialexpansionandthemorerecentactivitiesoftheUSA(Gaddol,2000:
9).TodayEnglishisusedasamajorlanguageininternationalbusinessandtrade,internationalscienceandtechnologyexchangingandinternationalconference.Thus,thereasonofwhyEnglishhasspreadsowidelycanbeexplainedastwocountries’(BritishandUSA)politicalpowerandmilitarypowerandtheiradvancedscienceandtechnology.
Whentheworldenteredthe21stcentury,causesforlanguageflowandlanguagechangebecometheattractivenessofitscountry’spowerfuleconomyandcultureratherthanitshegemonyandmilitarypower.Fromthecornerofanthropology,languagechangeandlanguageflowisareflectionofhuman’spsychologicalinteractions.Acountrywithpowerfuleconomicsandgreatculturehasattractivenessforagrowingnumberofpeople’sinterestsinlearningitslanguage.Inthedailylife,peoplehaveastrongdesiretocommandthelanguagewithworldstatus.Forexample,inrecentyears,AmericanandBritishhi-techhavepushedforwardtheindustrialdevelopmentsoftheworld.Thedevelopmentofcomputertechnologyisatypicalexample.Itisawell-knownfactthatInternetdevelopmentcannotseparatefromEnglish.Americanfilms,music,dress,massmedia,fastfoodandsportsactivitiesareallfactorsofEnglishspreadovertheworld.
Whendiscussingtheattractivenessoflanguage,wecanfindthattherearesomeothercountriesandregionswhichhavetheireconomicpotentialandculturalattractivenessintheworld,excludingthosecountrieswhereEnglishusedasafirstorsecondlanguage.AsinthecaseofthelanguageofChinese,China’seconomicsisdevelopingatanalarmingspeed.In2000,WorldBankestimatedthatChinawillbecomeabigeconomiccountryby2050aswellasacountrywithlargemarketing(on?
Cline10-9-2000).Chinesewritteninstructionsforproductsareseenonthepackageboxes.Forexample,IboughtaprinterfromArgosinLondontwomonthsagoandIwassurprisedtodiscovertheinstructionswritteninEnglishandChinese.
Inrecentyears,amassiveincreasingnumberofChinesepeopletravelabroadandChinesetourguidancehasemergedinmanyplacesintheworld.ThereisalsoanincreasingtendencytolearningChineseintheworldandasaresult,Chinesehasthebiggestpopulationtouse.Chinese-speakingoverseasspreadovermanycountries.However,wecannotjudgealanguagewheth
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