1、China English, Chinglish and the related teaching and learning strategiesByChen SiyuA thesisSubmitted to the English DepartmentCollege of Foreign LanguagesShaoxing UniversityIn partial fulfillment of the requirementsFor the degree of Bachelor of ArtsSupervised byLu XiamiaoApril 20, 2014ContentsAbstr
2、act (1)1. Introduction (2)2. China English and Chinglish (3)2.1China English vs. Chinglish (3)2.2China English (5)2.3Chinglish (6)3. Teaching and Learning Strategies (8)3.1More Informative English Textbooks (8)3.2Training of Qualified Teachers (8)3.3Effective Classes and Discussions (9)3.4Developmen
3、t of Variation Awareness (10)4. Conclusion (10)1China English, Chinglish and the relating teaching and learning strategiesAbstract: The paper attempts to determine the relationships between interlanguage, China English and Chinglish as well as their influences on English learning in China. They are
4、arranged in a comprehensive English languages system to gain an objective and sensible view. With a synthesizing and comparative method, the study draws a clear cut between the latter two and explores their implications to EFL in China. The corresponding teaching and learning strategies are also pro
5、posed in the paper.Key words: China English; Chinglish; distinction; EFL中国的英语，中式英语以及英语学习摘要：我们试图确定中介语、中国的英语、中式英语以及他们对中国英语学习的影响之间的关系。他们被安排在一个全面的英语语言系统以获得一种客观并且明智的观点。本论文以一种合成和比较的方式在中国英语和中式英语之间划分了一条明确的界限，并且探究了他们对中国英语的影响。同时，我们也提出了相应的教学和学习策略。关键词：中国的英语；中式英语；区别；作为外国语的英语2China English, Chinglish and the rela
6、ting teaching and learning strategies1. Introduction With the ever-growing globalization, the use of English has reached far beyond the native speaking countries and has established its new part in the new era the international language. During its spread, the language is also experiencing nativaliz
7、ation, which refers to the combination of local languages. Therefore, geographical English variations are adopted both socially and academically. Up to now, Singapore English, Hong Kong English, Malaysia English and so on have already been well recognized. In China, however, the debate over China En
8、glish and Chinese English is still heated among linguists and EFL teachers. In a country with millions of learners, what is the standard and what to teach is foremost essential.First of all, let us look at the idea of interlanguage proposed by Skliner (1972). It is a term suggesting the half way pos
9、ition it holds between knowing and not knowing the target language (Carl James, 2001, p. 3). It is a continuum, in which the learners are moving closer and closer to the state of a native speaker but never reach it (Carl James, 2001, p. 7). In this case, both China English and Chinese English, even
10、Singapore English, Hong Kong English, involve elements of interlanguage. The difference lies in that the latter ones have been institutionalized as variations of English, and the first two are still regarded as performance or interference variations.In fact, the issue was brought up as early as 1980
11、s when GE Chuan-gui published an essay on translating Chinese special terms and expressions. In 1993, LI Wen-zhong confirmed his definition of China English: the vocabulary, sentences, and discourses cored with Standard English, free from mother tongues interference, with Chinese characteristics tha
12、t enter communication in English by means of transliteration, interpretation and semantic regeneration (1993, p. 19). The clarification was adopted by a number of language specialists; however, we have to notice that there is a paradox. How can the Chinese characteristics maintain while it is free o
13、f mother tongue when the 3mother tongue itself is Chinese? It seems to be out of the question in the light of the transfer theory: language learners do not acquire or learn out of vacuum, they do on the basis of their prior knowledge. That is, mother tongue influences L2 or foreign language learning
14、. The learners tend to transfer the structure or usage from Chinese to English as long as this paper is concerned.Whats more, considering most Chinese learners situation, it is impossible to erase influence of their mother tongue as well as its thinking pattern. Humboldt has put it: an initiative la
15、nguage can even control whatever comes later and assimilate it according to its own rules (2002, p. 36). Sapir Whorf hypothesis has also pointed out mother tongue exerts profound influence on later language learning. Considering the social and psychological distance between English and its culture,
16、it would take years and years of hard work to reach the native speakers level. However, most people fossilize halfway, in other words, they stop developing while still short of target language competence (Rod Ellis, 2000, p. 29). On the other hand, the purpose for most Chinese to use English is for
17、international communication, and it does not demand native-like competence. So, for China English, there is no need and possibility to eliminate Chinese interference. Chinglish, as can be seen from its spelling, is misshapen, hybrid language that is neither English nor Chinese (Joan Pinkham, 2000, p
18、. 1). It is also featured with Chinese characteristics.2. China English and Chinglish 2.1 China English vs. ChinglishWhen a language plays the role as a lingua franca, or common language, it is inevitably subject to linguistic change in unpredictable ways. The spread of English around the world has
19、already demonstrated this. Since 1960s, the term “new Englishes” has become a major talking point among linguists. Later, the use of English varieties came to replace it. The US scholar Braj Krachru has suggested that we think of the spread of English as three concentric circles, representing three
20、different ways in which the language has been acquired and is currently used: the inner circle, like the USA, UK, Canada and New Zealand; the outer or extended circle, which involves Singapore, India 4that English has been established as the sec ond language; and the expanding circle, including thos
21、e nations which recognize the importance of the language as an international language such as China, Greece and a number of other states (David Crystal, 2001, p. 54). China English, as a branch of the expanding circle, constitutes a variety of English languages. With its Chinese feature, it enriches
22、 the vocabulary of the language, broadening its range of appliance. As a matter of fact, every language, like culture, is not self-sufficient. On the contrary, it is under the stimuli outside its own domain.Through conflicting, assimilating and absorbing, new and energetic factors enters the old ent
23、ity and change it constantly as the process repeats with time passing by. And actually, some Chinese expressions have become part of English, for example “jiaozi”, “long time no see”, “chop suey”, and “dim sum” and so on. They have been well acknowledged by native speakers and encounter no problem i
24、n everyday use. A definition of China English would be proposed here based on the analysis above, which is the vocabulary, sentences, and discourses cored with Standard English, with Chinese characteristics that enter communication in English by means of transliteration, interpretation and semantic
25、regeneration.Chinglish, however, is different. As is defined by Pinkham, it falls into the category of interlanguage and needs improving. From time to time we can hear English teachers complain that the speech or paper by some students is delivered or made in English but the construction or thinking
26、 clue is typical Chinese. Listeners from another linguistic background would be at loss. Consequently, in an intercultural communication, the construction or clue is most likely to barrier further interaction. Therefore, Chinglish does not belong to appropriate English language and it hence is an ob
27、stacle for the language learning in China.2.2 China English In a time when the raise of international communication continues, China English is a necessity to transmit information mutually between China and the rest of the world. Generally speaking, it plays two important roles.5Firstly, it introduc
28、es China related phenomena effectively. China and English speaking countries share different history and culture, on account of which, there many expressions or items in one setting have no equivalence in the other. We might as well borrow the established expressions in English. But sometimes they d
29、o not work well.Let us take “dumpling” for instance. The word means either small round mass of dough steamed or boiled with meat or vegetables, or baked puddings made of dough with an apple or other fruit inside it (Merrian-Websters Collegiate Dictory, 2000). It is not satisfying enough to tell what
30、 kind of food in China is like and what is different from a Chinese dumpling and a Russian or Czech one. Meanwhile, the borrowed word “jiaozi” transmits the exotic message of the food immediately and there would be little confusion about its origin. And when it comes to terms to refer to the classic
31、al works of Confucianism in ancient time, or Chinese traditional martial art, the Four Books and Kongfu might be the most appropriate.From a practical point of view, China English conveys Chinese peoples identity to a certain extent. Because no matter from UK or USA, there exists too much distance p
32、sychologically, socially and culturally, even a glimmer of hope could hardly be found to talk and write like a native for one who lives in China and receives conventional education. However, this does not necessarily mean that the vast majority of them are not successful in English learning. The Chi
33、nese feature indicates that we have enduring history and unique civilization. When mentioning “one country, two systems” and the return of Hong Kong and Macau, every Chinese would be so much inspired. More examples are listed as following: special economic zone, township enterprise, vegetable projec
34、t and social esthetic.With the deepening of opening-up, China stands big chance for setting its image as one of the key powers in the world. China needs to know the world better. And, what is more urgent now is that the world needs to know China better. Compared with information introduced into the
35、nation, far less has been transmitted outside.Therefore, China English is the media to tell the other peoples what China is like.2.3 Chinglish6Negative transfer of mother tongue accounts for the occurrence of Chinglish. Error analysis reveals that learners prior language is one of the error sources.
36、 In that case, the influence that the first language exerts over the second or foreign language acquisition is negative transfer.A detailed study shows that Chinglish is represented on various linguistic levels, including semantic, syntactic, discourse ones. On word level, many Chinese cling themsel
37、ves closely to the belief that every word or phrase in one language has an exact equivalent in another. This, however, is not true. When they try to translatesomething word for word, failure occurs. The reason is that sometimes words or terms in Chinese and English appear to refer to the same object
38、 or subject but actually are not. Just take “Hei Yan Jing”for example, a large number of them use “black eyes”by literal translation instead of “dark eyes”which result in an unintelligible expression in the target language.On sentence level, learners who commit errors usually confine themselves to C
39、hinese ways of constructing sentences. They tend to pile clauses together without any conjunctives, use relative clause much less compared with native speakers and get confused about which is the subject among several nouns or noun phrases.On discourse level, Chinglish often follows an indirect patt
40、ern and puts forward the theme at the end of the speech. Statistics show that Chinese tend to present idea in the indirect manner. English, on the contrary, is much more often made up with three steps: firstly, say what you are going to say; secondly, say it; and finally, say what you have said. It
41、is called linear thinking pattern.Two major points about Chinglish are to be stated here. The first is that to reduce it to minimum is the goal of English acquisition. The learners interlanguage is transitional. They construct a series of mental interlanguages as they gradually increase the complexi
42、ty of their knowledge. That is, they start with simple grammar and limited vocabulary, but over time they put more and more rules, words and associations into their mind. In their performance they sort out proper forms. During the process, they gradually approach target language and abandon the inte
43、rference from Chinese.The second is that no matter how hard we endeavor, it is impossible to eliminate Chinglish. First language and first culture are intertwined. And the thinking pattern 7predominance shadows its influence over whatever comes later in mind. In China nowadays, English is a foreign
44、language. Social distance which concerns the extent to which individual learners become members of a target language group and therefore achieve contact with them is too significant to perform as part of psychological motivation. In addition, Chinglish occurs in different levels of language performa
45、nce. Some may be overt if it happens on vocabulary level. For the presence on level of discourse or pragmatics, it is difficult to diagnose from a Chinese speakers point of view. So there is a long way to go fighting with Chinglish. 3. Teaching and Learning StrategiesThis section offers some suggest
46、ions and methods to enhance the intelligibility of learners output and overcome barriers in communicating with English speakers from other countries.3.1 More Informative English TextbooksPeople from every corner of the world take up English as a global language. Learners are much more likely to deal
47、 with users of non-native speakers. Consequently, a broader view of the world civilizations is indispensable for a successful user of English. With the development of ELT reform, a more culture oriented syllabus has been adopted. But this is not enough. To keep up with the tendency of globalization,
48、 the students are supposed to be more open-minded to embrace the variations of English. If they keep themselves in the fantasy of following the monolithic suit all the time, it is very much likely to be futile and pointless.On one hand, it is beneficial to expose them to a variety of cultures and a
49、variety of English variations so that they will be more prepared when confronted with not so standard English. On the other hand, they have to be better facilitated for introducing Chinese culture outwards. Beforehand, the foreign language learners should know their first culture to a full extent. Then they learn how to express the special phenomenon in another andperform the role of a bridge connecting the mother country and the world.3.2 Training of Qualified teachers8
