Chinese College Students’ Views on Native English and Non-native English in EFL Classrooms

Qian Yang ,Liu Jing-Xia

doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.4p.84

Abstract

With the development of globalization, English is clearly spoken by many more non-native than native speakers, which raises the discussion of English varieties and the debate regarding the conformity to Standard English. Although a large number of studies have shown scholars’ attitudes towards native English and non-native English, little research is conducted from the point of college students until recently. This paper focuses on Chinese college students’ perceptions of native English and non-native English in order to offer insights into the mainstream English language teaching in terms of its exclusive reference to English as a native language in China. This paper draws on the data contributed by 50 Chinese university students through questionnaires. The questionnaire responses displayed a superficial preference for native English and a potential inclination for non-native English in EFL classrooms. The article argues that factors behind the attitude point to the need of changing mainstream English teaching. Keywords : Native English, Non-native English, Chinese college students’ attitudes, mainstream English teaching

Highlights

With the development of globalization, English has within a relatively short time become a language used by far more bilingual and multilingual speakers than monolinguals
Kachru’s (1992 in Murray 2003) principle of three concentric circles defines that Native English-Spoken countries belong to inner circle, second English language pertains to outer circle including countries where English is used as an additional institutionalized language, though not a mother tongue, e.g. in India or Nigeria and expanding circle including countries where English is widely studied as a foreign language, e.g. in China or Korea
Students are almost evenly divided in terms of pro and con responses, showing that there are still many students who consider the grammar and pronunciation of non-native English valid

Summary

Introduction

With the development of globalization, English has within a relatively short time become a language used by far more bilingual and multilingual speakers than monolinguals. The long and widespread use of English has led to non-native varieties such as Japanese English, Indian English or China English. Kachru’s (1992 in Murray 2003) principle of three concentric circles defines that Native English-Spoken countries belong to inner circle (for countries where English is spoken as the main first language, e.g. in the U.S or Britain), second English language pertains to outer circle including countries where English is used as an additional institutionalized language, though not a mother tongue, e.g. in India or Nigeria and expanding circle including countries where English is widely studied as a foreign language, e.g. in China or Korea. British English and American English are regarded as the mainstream languages in China. In this paper, native English refers to British English and American English. Non-native English includes Englishes which are used differently from American English and British English

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