English Language Ideologies in Olympic Beijing

Abstract

In this chapter, I focus on the English language learning context in China and use data collected during the period when Beijing was preparing for and hosting the 2008 Olympic Games (2006–2008) to examine how English and the study of English are perceived and accessed by learners engaged in teaching and learning English outside formal educational institutions, namely, Olympic community English classes and English corners. In particular, I will explore, via interviews and group discussions, the reasons underlying learners’ voluntary choice of English learning, their perceptions of the status of English relative to Chinese in a globalising context, the potential influence English imposes on Chinese language and culture and the significance of English to Chinese society. My research findings show that my informants associate English (learning) with multiple benefits to life and career; they express a strong confidence that English will not be a threat to the Chinese language and culture, and they claim that English is useful to the development of China now and in the long run. Besides presenting and interpreting the prevailing English language ideologies as captured in the discourse of my research respondents, in the last section of the chapter, I will explore the possible social, cultural and political factors which caused the ideologies of language to emerge and the implications borne by these ideologies in the context of China’s ongoing globalisation.