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SUMMARY:The Great Wall of China is Moving away: the Social Construction of
  Ideas about English in China - Jin He \, Faculty of Education\, Cambridge
DTSTART:20100201T170000Z
DTEND:20100201T183000Z
UID:TALK22069@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Ewa Illakowicz
DESCRIPTION:In this presentation\, I will talk about my PhD project on the
  social construction of ideas about English in China\, which aimed to gain
  a grounded understanding of the complex mechanisms whereby economic\, pol
 itical and social constraints filter through to Chinese peoples’ concept
 ualisations of the values of learning English\; and to provide an insight 
 into the ways individuals orientate themselves to the learning and use of 
 English given such conceptualisations. My research approach is an integrat
 ion of Bourdieu’s theory from a network and historical perspective throu
 gh ethnographic investigation. It allows me to do full justice to the ongo
 ing\, contingent and practical dimension of ideologically framed concepts 
 of language and language learning. In this way\, my study explores ideas a
 bout English in China as the product of a long history of ideological buil
 d-up and economic dynamics both locally and on a nation-wide scale. It doc
 uments the transformative change in the conceptualisation of English in Ch
 ina from distancing it away as a barbarian/ foreign language towards embra
 cing it as a second language. Such social processes result in four myths a
 bout English which derive from the historical image of English established
  by successive governments as a practical tool/skill and as superiority\, 
 reinforced in contemporary China through the selectivity of the education 
 system as distinction and upward mobility\, and thus attract individuals t
 o the learning of English. They serve as four ‘pillars’ supporting the
  construction of English in China today as a must in life – a necessary 
 second language rather than an inessential foreign language. Such a change
  results from the shifting educational policies from a functional view of 
 English to cultural integration at two levels: collectively\, English is c
 onsidered to be international literacy which helps to guarantee social and
  economic development of Chinese society\; individually\, English is one a
 ttribute which is necessary to self-improvement\, spiritually and economic
 ally. This tendency of cultural integration constitutes a boundary-crossin
 g effect and produces the possibility of a transformative change towards b
 ilingualism and biculturalism in China. In other words\, it is likely to r
 esult\, over time\, in a restructuring of the socio-cultural\, sociologica
 l and sociolinguistic landscape of China and a reconstruction of the relat
 ionship between China and the rest of the world.
LOCATION:Faculty of Education\, 184 Hills Road\, Cambridge\, room GS5
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