From Chinglish to New Chinglish — A Critical Exploration of Chinese ELF

Abstract

Predominant status of English in politics, science, technology and intercultural communications leads to fierce debate over the so-called “ownership” of the English language. Considering the major agent in the spread and development of English around the world, increasing arguments have favoured the position of English as a lingua franca (ELF) shaped more by English’s non-native speakers. This echoes growing advocacy in Chinese academia of legitimatising Chinese ELF and implementing it to the English education. This paper suggests the emergence of an imagined Chinese ELF community in response to the paradox under the Post-Multilingual context that individuals adopt and adapt English for intercultural communication while this may endanger local culture and identity. However, it argues that Chinese ELF is hard to be legitimatised officially and applied to teaching contexts due to its immanent self-contradiction and attitudes of the Chinese public — its aimed recipients — towards embracing and using it formally. Key point lies in the fact that under today’s context of Anglo-hegemony, it is still native speakers who remain arbiters of the form of the English language spread and taught over the globe, essentially preventing Chinese ELF from being recognised.