Hostname: page-component-6bb9c88b65-spzww Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-07-25T04:03:35.091Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Review of English as a medium of instruction in Chinese universities today: current trends and future directions

New language policies to promote multilingualism and language support for EMI will be needed in Chinese tertiary contexts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 August 2017

Fan (Gabriel) Fang
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The use of the English language in China, and especially in Chinese education has been increasing for several decades, despite various attitudes towards its use (Hu, 2009; Niu & Wolff, 2003; Wang, 2015). In the traditional perspective of world Englishes (Kachru, 1992), China lies in the expanding circle, where English is regarded as a foreign language. However, since China's implementation of the opening-up policy, the teaching of the English language has gained momentum by becoming a key subject in China's education system. Currently, policies in China make English a subject of study from grade three at primary school and as one of the three compulsory subjects in the national university entrance exam (Gaokao), and a compulsory course for university students of all majors (Hu, 2003; Li, 2016).

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
English Today , Volume 34 , Issue 1 , March 2018 , pp. 32 - 37
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Adamson, B. 2004. China's English: A History of English in Chinese Education. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.Google Scholar
Baker, W. 2015. Culture and Identity through English as a Lingua Franca: Rethinking Concepts and Goals in Intercultural Communication. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bolton, K. & Botha, W. 2015. ‘English in China's universities: Past and present.’ World Englishes, 34(2), 190–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Botha, W. 2014. ‘English in China's universities today.’ English Today, 30(1), 3–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Botha, W. 2016. ‘English and international students in China today.’ English Today, 32(1), 41–47.Google Scholar
Canagarajah, S. 1999. Resisting Linguistic Imperialism in English Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Fang, F. 2017. ‘World Englishes or English as a lingua franca: Where does English in China Stand.’ English Today, 33(1), 19–24.Google Scholar
Fang, F. & Xie, X. forthcoming. ‘Linguistic diversity on a Chinese university campus: Myths of language policy and means of practice.’ In Jenkins, J., & Mauranen, A. (eds.), Linguistic Diversity on the International Campus: Insider accounts of the use of English and other languages in ten universities within Asia, Australasia and Europe. Abingdon, New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Graddol, D. 2006. English Next. London: British Council.Google Scholar
Guo, Y. & Beckett, G. H. 2007. ‘The hegemony of English as a global language: Reclaiming local knowledge and culture in China.’ Convergence, XL(1–2), 117–31.Google Scholar
Hu, G. 2003. ‘English language teaching in China: Regional differences and contributing factors.’ Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 24(4), 290–318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hu, G. 2009. ‘The craze for English-medium education in China: Driving forces and looming consequences.’ English Today, 25(4), 47–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hu, G. & Alsagoff, L. 2010. ‘A public policy perspective on English medium instruction in China.’ Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 31(4), 365–82.Google Scholar
Hu, G. & McKay, S. L. 2012. ‘English language education in East Asia: Some recent developments.’ Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 33(4), 345–62.Google Scholar
Hu, G. & Lei, J. 2014. ‘English-medium instruction in Chinese higher education: A case study.’ Higher Education, 67(5), 551–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hu, G., Li, L. & Lei, J. 2014. ‘English-medium instruction at a Chinese University: Rhetoric and reality.’ Language Policy, 13, 21–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenkins, J. 2014. English as a Lingua Franca in the International University: The Politics of Academic English Language Policy. Abingdon, New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Jenkins, J. 2015. ‘Repositioning English and multilingualism in English as a Lingua Franca.’ Englishes in Practice, 2(3), 49–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kachru, B. B. (ed.). 1992. The Other Tongue: English Across Cultures. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar
Kirkpatrick, A. 2014. ‘The language(s) of HE: EMI and/or ELF and/or multilingualism?’The Asian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1(1), 4–15.Google Scholar
Kumaravadivelu, B. 2016. ‘The decolonial option in English teaching: Can the subaltern act?’ TESOL Quarterly, 50(1), 66–85.Google Scholar
Lei, J. & Hu, G. 2014. ‘Is English-medium instruction effective in improving Chinese undergraduate students’ English competence?’ International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 52(2), 99–126.Google Scholar
Li, W. 2016. ‘New Chinglish and the post-multilingualism challenge: Translanguaging ELF in China.’ Journal of English as a Lingua Franca, 5(1), 1–25.Google Scholar
Liu, J. & Fang, F. 2017. ‘Perceptions, awareness and perceived effects of home culture on intercultural communication: Perspectives of university students in China.’ System, 67, 25–37.Google Scholar
Niu, Q. & Wolff, M. 2003. ‘China and Chinese, or Chingland and Chinglish?’ English Today, 19(2), 9–11.Google Scholar
Phillipson, R. 1992. Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Seidlhofer, B. 2011. Understanding English as a Lingua Franca. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Shohamy, E. 2013. ‘A critical perspective on the use of English as a medium of instruction at universities.’ In Doiz, A., Lasagabaster, D. & Sierra, J. M. (eds), English-Medium Instruction at Universities: Global Challenges. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, pp. 196–210.Google Scholar
Tollefson, J. W. & Tsui, A. B. M. 2004. Medium of Instruction Policies: Which Agenda? Whose Agenda? Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Wang, W. 2015. ‘Teaching English as an international language in China: Investigating university teachers' and students' attitudes towards China English.’ System, 53, 60–72.Google Scholar