Abstract
China has a long history in its contact with English. With the increasingly influence of China expands in the worldwide stage, ‘China English’ has emerged correspondingly to satisfy her need to communicate its stories to the audiences around the world. And the situation has developed to the extent that some scholars and English learners are so confident in ‘China English’ as to conclude that it is a member of the ‘World Englishes’, varieties of English that developed in other parts of the globe outside native English-speaking countries. This conclusion goes too far when it is testified against different factors both at home and abroad. This article firstly introduces the background of the proposal of the concept “China English”, and then discusses the validity of the concept against Butler’s criteria, what standard English is from the Chinese English learners’ eye, the situation of China English in China, other elements preventing the popularity of China English, and in the end, by referring to relevant figures, the authors point out that standard English is a necessity for Chinese English learners and it is suggested that Standard English, instead of China English, still has its place in English teaching and learning in China.
Highlights
The concept of ‘China English’ has been put forward for decades and essays [4] about this issue can be found at home and abroad
Essays [8, 11] published believe that China English falls into the second phase, an expanding variety, of Kachru’s three phases of the development of non-native varieties of English [7], and argue that it will come to the third phase, and will be accepted as a member of world Englishes in the future
China English has not arrived at the place where it can replace the study of Standard English, nor does it gain the equivalent position as an official language as in Singapore, India, Africa
Summary
The concept of ‘China English’ has been put forward for decades and essays [4] about this issue can be found at home and abroad. It firstly evaluates China English against Butler’s five criteria [8] to see to what degree China English has developed It discusses China English’s popularity in mainland China, including the actual usage of it and its acceptability among Chinese English learners. Based on what have been discussed, it argues that there is a lack of solid foundation or favorable environment for the completely national and international recognition of China English. Following that it suggests that Standard English is necessary both for Chinese English learners and international communication at the moment. Feng Minghui and Huo Dongming: China English, Not a Legitimate Variety of English
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