History of teaching English in China: the path from Chinese English to China English

Abstract

The article aims to review briefly the sociolinguistic history of the language contact between Chinese languages and English, presents an overview of basic English language education in the Chinese education system during different periods of Chinese history. The study traces the emergence and development of English as a variety in China, in the form of China English, Chinese English, and Chinglish. This study could be of important scholarly significance for World Englishes researchers in the context of considering the English speech of native Chinese speakers. Attention is paid to English education in the country, focused on the rules of the functioning of this language as a native language for representatives of the Anglo-Saxon culture, and to the situation in which, from the middle of the last century, an exonomative model of language teaching was formed in the PRC and has been actively operating until recently. The paper highlights the increased attention of researchers to the issues of revising the policy of foreign language education in the PRC, which is explained by the ideological need that dictates the attempts of Chinese scholars to secure for China English the status of one of the varieties of World Englishes.

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