Interactional straining and the neoliberal self: Learning English in the biggest English corner in China

Shuang Gao

doi:10.1017/s0047404516000075

Abstract

AbstractThis article proposes the terminteractional strainingfor the strategic manipulation of interaction as grounded in neoliberal governmentality. The interactional practice was observed among adult English learners in Yangshuo, which, through mobilizing English-speaking foreigners and commodifying English, has been attracting Chinese nationals seeking to improve their English, the gate-keeping language in global workplaces in China. Based on ethnographic observations and interviews, it is shown that what appears to be naturally occurring interactions with foreigners actually involves reflexive thinking at the backstage (Goffman 1959), which is aimed at the strategic manipulation of interactional contents and/or structure so as to establish oneself as (pass for) a legitimate interlocutor. This study shows that interaction constitutes a key site where the contradictions and tensions of neoliberalism are lived out. It also argues that as reflexivity becomes a key morality under neoliberal globalization, metadiscourses provide important insights for our critique of neoliberalism. (English, language ideology, interaction, neoliberalism, work, globalization, China)*

Highlights

In the famous Harvard Business Review, a recent article entitled ‘Global business speaks English’ begins: ‘Ready or not, English is the global language of business’
On the other side of the globe, writing from a different linguistic background and social perspective, a commentary article published in the Chinese online news media Guānchá ‘Observer’ reports that English has become the most widely used language in global workplaces in China
Careful attention needs to be paid to the sociopolitical embeddedness of interactions due to the tendency to naturalize interactions in both popular and academic discourses (Gaudio 2003). When it comes to users of English as a second/foreign language, these issues have been rarely explored

Summary

Introduction

In the famous Harvard Business Review, a recent article entitled ‘Global business speaks English’ begins: ‘Ready or not, English is the global language of business’. Zhang 2005), but facing great pressures, especially among the lower middle class, to make rational choices and practise ‘self-enterprise and self-reflexivity in the face of market uncertainty’ (Ong 2008:184), including quitting jobs to improve English, the language that is defining what personal success means in globalizing China.

Results

Conclusion