Chinese Englishes: from Canton jargon to global English

Abstract

This paper argues that one approach to the notion of ‘Chinese Englishes’ may involve the critical re–examination of a rich history of cultural and linguistic contact and language learning and teaching that runs from the early seventeenth century to the present. From a period of ‘first contact’ in 1637, this history includes the era of Chinese pidgin English from the mid–eighteenth century to the recent past, the impact of missionary schools and universities, Nationalist intiatives before 1949, and the Open Door policies of the last two decades. It also involves the consideration of the recent popularity of Li Yang, a celebrity English teacher, whose method of ‘Crazy English’ has recently been marketed to millions of followers throughout the PRC. Li Yang’s message of ‘Make money internationally’ serves to remind us that ‘pidgin’ English (typically glossed as ‘business’ English) arose during an earlier but no less crucial era of world trade and globalisation.