China English in the world: Media and China English (I): print media and the movie industry

According to Jin (2002), the definition of China English being put forward is that it builds around the core of 'normative English' while aims at facilitating transmission of Chinese-specific cultures, linguistics expressions and ideologies in traditional setting by means of transliteration, borrowing and semantic transfer. In order words, it refers to a continuum or interference variety of English used by Chinese people to express content ideas specific to the Chinese culture.

China Daily and Beijing Weekend are two renowned English newspapers with a national and international circulation in China. While important issues such as visits of Chinese leaders for diplomatic purposes, policies implementation in the country, wars and natural disasters are being covered by China Daily, Beijing Weekend reports shopping, travel, art, entertainment and other various aspects of the privileged life in Beijing to foreigners and visitors. In a research (Yang, 2005) where 84 copies of these two newspapers were studied, it was found that loanwords (lexical item imported in the form of 'pinyin' from one language to another without substitution) such as "pipa" (traditional Chinese music instrument), "mantou" (steamed bun) and "mingong" (rural workers) also loan translations (direct translation of Chinese terms) such as "red envelops" and "dumpling" and "mother country" are the most common types of lexical innovations.

The phrase "mingong" (rural workers), now appearing almost daily in various English media in China, made its first appearence in China Daily on Ocbober 2, 2004. (Yang, 2005)

Moreover, Chinese values being upheld in the movie industry helped China English lexical items gets infiltrated into English vocabularies of foreign media. For example, "Mulan" was introduced to the West by Disney Studio's making of its movie in the U.S. in 2004 and Gong Li's movie, "Raise the Red Lantern" in 1991.

Along with the "kung fu" craze, words such "shifu" (master), "qi" (energy) with reference to Chinese culture in actions movie series like "Rush Hour" and "Matrix" gained the chance to meet the West. In the following clip extracted from Kill Bill Vol.2 (2004), though the character "Pai Mei" (the master) spoke in Cantonese, terms like "swordmanship" (values of the person versed in the art of sword), "Tiger's Crane", "Eagle's Craw" (two types of martial art) appeared in the subtitles are made known to the West by the popularity of the film.

Academic References

Cui, X. (2006). An understanding of ‘China English’ and the learning and use of the English language in China. English Today, 22, 40-13. Cambridge University Press.
Eaves, M. (2011). English, Chinglish or China English? Analyzing Chinglish, Chinese English and China English. English Today, 27, 64-70. Cambridge University Press.
Fang, X. (2011) Glocalizing ELT: From Chinglish to China English. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2(2), 377-381.
He, D. & Li, C.S. (2009). Language attitudes and linguistics features in the 'China English' debate. World Englishes, 28(1), 70-89. Blackwell Publishing.
Hu, X. (2005). China English, at home and in the world. English Today, 23, 28-38. Cambridge University Press.
Jin, H. (2002). China English in Chinese-English translation in intercultural communication. Journal of Guangdong institute for nationalities, (2), 72-78.
Pieterse, J. N. (1996). Globalisation and Culture: Three Paradigms. Economic and Political Weekly, 31(23) , 1389-1393.
Qiang, N. & Wolff, M. (2003). China and Chinese, or Chingland and Chinglish?. English Today, 19, 9-11. Cambridge University Press.
Yang, J. (2005). Lexical innovations in China English. World Englishes, 24(4), 425-436. Blackwell Publishing.
Zhang, M. (2008). Cultural identity in China English as a variety of English. Asian Social Science, 4(9), 99-102.

1. FUNG Yanessa:

" In the face of geographical, language and cultural differences with the West, China strives to bridge the communication in between by adopting English, a well-established lingua franca. In the era of globalization, local features are sometimes diminished or vanish to suit the global trend. However, it is remarkable that China English appears to be combining the standard English with Chinese cultural features and manifests the signs of glocalization.

The spread of China English is also contributed to the West. The western media pay much more attention to China’s political, economic and social development than in the past as they are now increasingly aware of her leading role in the globalized economy. The exclusive description of Chinese conditions in China English shows the recognition of Chinese status and this variety.With the support of Chinese government and western countries, China English is believed to prevail in the world. "

2. LEE Alice:

" Globalization is the process of describing the transformation of local or regional phenomenon into global ones, which does not limit to economic scope, but also political, cultural and every aspect of life. In the age of globalization, together with the rise of China, China English has been widely spread over the world. Western media are keeping up with different issues in China and they even absorb some Chinese phrases into English so as to reflect what is happening in China, at the same time respecting such an important country. Thanks to globalization and technological advancement, local news and culture can spread quickly throughout the world. In this sense, globalization greatly fostered the use of China English. Nowadays, the use of new Chinese terms and phrases does not only restricted in China but soon becomes hot issues on everyone's lips. With China's rising power in the world and the increasing extent of globalization, the gaining popularity of China English can be predicted. "

3. PAU Haley:

" In my opinion, globalization will foster the growth of China English. China English represents things that are unique to China and the Chinese way of thinking so it acts as a bridge for the world to discover the uniqueness of China and for China to know more about the world. Since China is gaining economic and political influence in the world and taking part in various kinds of international cooperation, more people in other countries are interested to learn Chinese culture. If people from abroad understand Chinese culture, they will be able to interpret the meanings of China English’s lexical items which make it easier for users to communicate with the outside world. Furthermore, the rapid flow of information in the Internet facilitates the growth of this variety of world English. In conclusion, I think China English will play a significant role in communication in China and abroad and it will continue to flourish. "

4. WONG Samson:

" While some views with reference to the hagemony of English under globalization posit that based on our pursuit toward speaking normative standard English then China English as a sociolect continnum will be gradually restricted in the future, I think this may be a mistaken piece of opinion.

In LCOM2005 lecture we were shown a case that in a Thai airline which flight attendants were asked so speak more "Ching Mai", going against the prediction that people are going to sound more 'alike' in the face of globalization. It reminds me of the cooking TV show "Yan Can Cook" hosted by Martin Yan who became famous in Canada Food Network due to his unique Canto-stressed English pronunciations.

I tend to agree with the view that even after people are taught proper and standard English, China English can still be retained because people are active users of linguistics resources (degree of Chineseness) around them. "