Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-01T00:26:24.713Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A comparison of the global status of English and Chinese: towards a new global language?

Will Chinese really replace English as the world's lingua franca?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2011

Jeffrey Gil
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

China's rapid development and growing engagement with the rest of the world have prompted much discussion and debate about the Chinese language, especially its prospects for becoming a global language. A report in China Daily (2004), for example, suggests that:

there may even come a day when learning Chinese, like present day English, becomes compulsory for business, politics and cultural exchanges – a trend that has become increasingly plausible as more foreign students enrol in Chinese courses and China as a nation takes a more prominent role on the international stage.

Type
Original Article
Information
English Today , Volume 27 , Issue 1 , March 2011 , pp. 52 - 59
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Asian Studies Association of Australia. 2002. Maximizing Australia's Asia Knowledge: Repositioning and Renewal of a National Asset. Canberra: Asian Studies Association of Australia.Google Scholar
BBC. 2006a. ‘College makes Chinese compulsory.’ January 16. Online at <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/southern_counties/4616640.stm> (Accessed July 4, 2008).+(Accessed+July+4,+2008).>Google Scholar
BBC. 2006b. ‘British school says, “learn Mandarin”’. January 25. Online at <http://www.bbc.co.uk/china/learningenglish/takeawayenglish/tae/2006/01/060125_learning_mandarin.shtml> (Accessed July 4, 2008).+(Accessed+July+4,+2008).>Google Scholar
BBC. 2007a. ‘Mandarin learning soars outside China.’ January 9. Online at <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6244763.stm> (Accessed July 4, 2008).+(Accessed+July+4,+2008).>Google Scholar
BBC. 2007b. ‘Cantonese if you please!’ February 16. Online at <http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/articles/2007/02/15/wah_sing_feature.shtml> (Accessed July 4, 2008).+(Accessed+July+4,+2008).>Google Scholar
Bolton, K. 2008. ‘English in Asia, Asian Englishes, and the issue of proficiency.’ English Today, 24(2), 3–12.Google Scholar
Bradley, D. 1992. ‘Chinese as a pluricentric language.’ In Clyne, M. (ed.), Pluricentric Languages: Differing Norms in Different Nations. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 305–24.Google Scholar
Bruthiaux, P. 2002. ‘Predicting challenges to English as a global language in the 21st century.’ Language Problems & Language Planning, 26(2), 129–57.Google Scholar
Chen, P. 1999. Modern Chinese: History and Sociolinguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
China Daily. 2004. ‘The legacy and future of the Chinese language.’ September 3. Online at <http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-09/03/content_371457.htm> (Accessed September 4, 2004).+(Accessed+September+4,+2004).>Google Scholar
Crystal, D. 1998. English as a Global Language (Canto edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Crystal, D. 2006. ‘English worldwide.’ In Hogg, R. & Denison, D. (eds.), A History of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 420–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crystal, D. 2008. ‘Two thousand million?.’ English Today, 24(1), 3–6.Google Scholar
Fischer, S. R. 1999. A History of Language. London: Reaktion Books.Google Scholar
Furman, N., Goldberg, D. & Lusin, N. 2007. ‘Enrollments in languages other than English in United States institutions of higher education, Fall 2006.’ Online at <http://www.mla.org/pdf/06enrollmentssurvey-final.pdf> (Accessed June 11, 2009).+(Accessed+June+11,+2009).>Google Scholar
Goddard, C. 2005. The Languages of East and Southeast Asia. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graddol, D. 1997. The Future of English? London: The British Council.Google Scholar
Jenkins, J. 2003. World Englishes: A Resource Book for Students. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Kane, D. 2006. The Chinese Language: Its History and Current Usage. Tokyo: Tuttle.Google Scholar
Kornberg, J. F. & Faust, J. R. 2005. China in World Politics: Policies, Processes, Prospects (2nd edition). Boulder: Lynne Rienner.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kurlantzick, J. 2007. Charm Offensive: How China's Soft Power is Transforming the World. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.Google Scholar
Lampton, D. M. 2008. The Three Faces of Chinese Power: Might, Money and Minds. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Lever-Tracy, C., Ip, D. & Tracy, N. 1996. The Chinese Diaspora and Mainland China: An Emerging Economic Synergy. Houndmills: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Li, C. & Thompson, S. A. 1990. ‘Chinese.’ In Comrie, B. (ed), The Major Languages of East and South-East Asia. London: Routledge, pp. 83–105.Google Scholar
Li, D. C. S. 2006. ‘Chinese as a lingua franca in Greater China.’ Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 26, 149–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, D. C. S. & Lee, S. 2004. ‘Bilingualism in East Asia.’ In Bhatia, T. K. & Ritchie, W. C. (eds.), The Handbook of Bilingualism. Malden: Blackwell, pp. 742–79.Google Scholar
Lin, H. 2001. A Grammar of Mandarin Chinese. Munich: Lincom Europa.Google Scholar
Lo Bianco, J. 2007. ‘Emergent China and Chinese: Language planning categories.’ Language Policy, 6(1), 3–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lyovin, A. V. 1997. An Introduction to the Languages of the World. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mackey, W. F. 2003. ‘Forecasting the fate of languages.’ In Maurais, J. & Morris, M. A. (eds.), Languages in a Globalising World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 64–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McArthur, T. 2002. The Oxford Guide to World English. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
McArthur, T. 2005a. Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
McArthur, T. 2005b. ‘Chinese, English, Spanish – and the Rest.’ English Today, 21(3), 55–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDougall, D. 2007. Asia Pacific in World Politics. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers.Google Scholar
Moser, L. J. 1985. The Chinese Mosaic: The Peoples and Provinces of China. Boulder: Westview Press.Google Scholar
New Zealand Asian Studies Society. 2004. Knowing Asia: The Challenge for New Zealand's Tertiary Education Sector. Wellington: New Zealand Asian Studies Society.Google Scholar
Norman, J. 1988. Chinese. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ostler, N. 2005. Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World. New York: Harper Collins Publishers.Google Scholar
People's Daily Online. 2006a. ‘Chinese language teaching heats up in US.’ May 12. Online at <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200605/12/print20060512_265106.html> (Accessed May 15, 2006). (Accessed May 15, 2006).' href=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=People's+Daily+Online.+2006a.+‘Chinese+language+teaching+heats+up+in+US.’+May+12.+Online+at++(Accessed+May+15,+2006).>Google Scholar
People's Daily Online. 2006b. ‘Chinese language fever brings opportunities and harmony to the world’. July 13. Online at <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200607/13/print20060713_282787.html> (Accessed July 19, 2006). (Accessed July 19, 2006).' href=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=People's+Daily+Online.+2006b.+‘Chinese+language+fever+brings+opportunities+and+harmony+to+the+world’.+July+13.+Online+at++(Accessed+July+19,+2006).>Google Scholar
People's Daily Online. 2009. ‘40m foreigners learning Chinese.’ March 13. Online at <http://english.people.com.cn/90001/6613116.html> (Accessed March 21, 2009). (Accessed March 21, 2009).' href=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=People's+Daily+Online.+2009.+‘40m+foreigners+learning+Chinese.’+March+13.+Online+at++(Accessed+March+21,+2009).>Google Scholar
Romaine, S. 2006. ‘Global English: From island tongue to world language.’ In van Kemenade, A. & Los, B. (eds.), The Handbook of the History of English. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 589–608.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sutter, R. G. 2008. Chinese Foreign Relations: Power and Policy Since the Cold War. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.Google Scholar
Svartvik, J. & Leech, G. 2006. English: One Tongue, Many Voices. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
The Chosun Ilbo. 2007. ‘Wanted: Chinese graduates to babysit children.’ October 2. Online at <http://english.chosun.com/cgi-bin/printNews?id=200710020012> (Accessed August 11, 2008).+(Accessed+August+11,+2008).>Google Scholar
Trudgill, P. & Hannah, J. 2002. International English: A Guide to the Varieties of Standard English (4th edition). London: Arnold.Google Scholar
Tsui, A. B. M. & Tollefson, J. W. 2007. ‘Language policy and the construction of national cultural identity.’ In Tsui, A. B. M. & Tollefson, J. W. (eds.), Language Policy, Culture, and Identity in Asian Contexts. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 1–21.Google Scholar
Yang, J. 2006. ‘Learners and users of English in China.’ English Today, 22(2), 3–10.Google Scholar
Zhang, Y. 2005. ‘Hanguo daxue zhongwen jiaoxue xiankuang tansuo (An exploration of the present situation of Chinese language teaching in South Korean universities).’ Guoji Hanyu Jiaoxue Dongtai Yu Yanjiu (Trends and Research in International Chinese Language Teaching), 1, 46–51.Google Scholar
Zhao, Y. & Campbell, K. P. 1995. ‘English in China’. World Englishes, 14(3), 377–90.Google Scholar
Zou, J. & You, R. 2001. Hanyu yu Huaren Shehui (The Chinese Language and Chinese Society). Shanghai: Fudan Daxue Chuban She (Fudan University Press).Google Scholar