The Handbook of World Englishes, 2nd Edition

15English in the People’s Republic of China

WEI ZHANG KINGSLEY BOLTON AND WERNER BOTHA

1 Introduction

In 1995, in the journal World Englishes, Zhao and Campbell published an article on English in mainland China which presented an illuminating account of English in the post‐Mao era from a macro‐sociolinguistic perspective. The authors surveyed the use of English at various levels of education, including junior high, senior high school, and tertiary education, estimating that there were then 400 million language learners (therefore, putative users) in the country, although of these only a minority, possibly 5–17 million, were likely to be advanced learners/users of the language (Zhao & Campbell 1995: 382). The authors also discussed attitudes to the English language, before discussing the uses (or functions) of English for internal and external purposes. Internal purposes included the use of English throughout all levels of education, in medicine and medical education, in the media, and in “English corners” across China. The external uses of English included tourism and international business and science and technology. In the closing section of the article, the authors also raised the issue of a “Chinese variety of English” shaped by the twin forces of acculturation and nativization (Zhao & Campbell 1995: 388).

This current article sets out to revisit and update Zhao and Campbell’s earlier analysis with reference to current research on the status, functions, and features of ...