The Role of China English in the English Curriculum of Chinese Universities.docx

The Role of China English in the English Curriculum of Chinese Universities According to the two articles Towards the Acceptability of China English at Home and Abroad and Towards a More Appropriate University English Curriculum in China in the context of English as an International Language, English is now a dominant international lingua franca. And also, English is spoken a lot in China. As for universities, English curriculum is often seen. And a very important problem is that all the English curriculums in Chinese universities seem like “English learners in China learn English essentially to communicate with people from the Inner Circle” (Hu & Xi, 2013, p389). And the curriculums set only for understanding American and British cultural values. So what the ideas about this problem are and what these two articles think about the current situation will be discussed in this paper. As Chen and Hu saying, “Consensus already exists throughout the world that English has plural forms” (Chen & Hu, 2006). China has a big English-speaking population, and it has its own style such as pronunciation and special translation in unit words, such as kowtow, tofu, and kung fu. But it is not so easy that China English could be one of the varieties of English. The studies that Chen and Hu, Hu and Xi did show that there are “five major internal factors” (Chen & Xi, 2006) which could be a hindrance to redundant China English being a Standard English. They are “demography, geography, authority, codification and acceptability” (Chen & Xi, 2006). Also, the goal of English teaching in Chinese universities which should be questioned is aim to communicate with Inner Circle countries. According to the survey results in Towards the Acceptability of China English at Home and Abroad and Towards a More Appropriate University English Curriculum in China in the context of English as an International Language, most English curriculums in Chinese universities are related to learn American and British culture, so that students are taught how to communicate with American and British accent English speakers, but once they meet “speakers from non-native-speaking countries” ( Hu & Xi, 2013) who speak English with strange accent it will be hardly to understand what they are saying. The students who were “taught to be the best” (Hu & Xi, 2013) either could understand German English, finally “burst into tears” (Hu & Xi, 2013). Even though the students were taught successfully in learning and using English, they were limited in certain areas to speak because what they had learned was limited, only related to American and British.“Alatis (2005) argues that the purpose of teaching English is never about homogenizing all of society (p.32)” (Chen & Hu, 2006). Students can easily learn Inner Circle culture in classroom, but Chinese culture and Outer and Expanding Circle culture are always ignored. So that students do not have the ability to talk about their own “5,000-year culture” (Chen & Xi, 2006) and other great cultures when English native speakers are a small group which we intend to communicate with. It makes no sense that English learners mainly study American and British culture in universities. English curriculum in Chinese universities should be reconsidered. What could be changed is the goal should be focusing on exposing students to world English not only British-American norm and rather than focus on British and American culture. Just like European English, African English, Asian English, and so on. Teachers should be responsible for avoiding students make “stereotypes and prejudices against other English varieties” (Hu & Xi, 2013) in learning English. English curriculum has to be able to provide chances for exposure to all kinds of English used in the world. Whats more, “encourage universities and schools to employ teachers from the Outer and the Expanding Circle, such as India, Singapore, Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere” ( Hu & Xi, 2013). In the article Towards a More Appropriate University English Curriculum in China in the context of English as an International Language, the authors are more focus on subjective factors. Whats problem of English curriculum in China? What English learners can learn has been limited since they get into universities; no matter how world English changes; American or British English always is the model or the direction of English curriculum development in China. Cultures including writings, readings, history or linguistics are the main English curriculum in Chinese universities. In the article Towards the Acceptability of China English at Home and Abroad, the authors are more focus on objective factors. According to the surveys the authors did, the other English-speaking countries do not really understand all Chinese English. Such as pronunciation and Chinese proverbs which were translated into English. The surveys also show that whats attitude of other English-speaking countries except America and Britain. English as an international lingua franca is not a single term anymore. Many countries think highly of English. Learning English also become a necessary. For China English, it has to be a way to make it become appropriate in world English. But the current situation of English learning in Chinese universities is not good enough. English curriculum is limited to be related to America and Britain. That makes China English hard to reach a higher level which could be a Standard English. “Therefore, a more appropriate curriculum should be urgently created based on the context of English as a lingua franca” (Hu & Xi, 2013). But, it will be a long-term effort to perfect English curriculum and China English. References Hu, X.Q. & Xi, J. (2013). Towards a more appropriate university English curriculum in China in the context of English as an international language. Changing English, 20(4), 388-394. Chen, M. & Hu, X.Q. (2006). Towards the acceptability of China English at home and abroad. Changing English, 13(2), 231-240.