Integrating China English into College English Teaching

LI Yongxian

【Abstract】China English does exist， which is reconfirmed by salient linguistic features illustrated and documented by many research scholars. This paper explores some pedagogical implications addressing the issue of integrating China English into college English teaching to enhance learners confidence and competence in cross-cultural communication.

【Key words】China English； college English teaching； pedagogical implications

1. Introduction

China English does exist， which is reconfirmed by salient linguistic features illustrated and documented by many research scholars. China English is an emerging performance variety of English spoken by a large number of Chinese people more often to communicate with other English speakers in other Asian countries than to have face-to-face interactions with English speakers in Inner-Circle countries. However， there seems to be a disjuncture of the existing linguistic features of China English and English teaching in China.

He & Miller's （2011） empirical study shows that 75.4% of the questionnaire respondents think what they are using in classroom are mainly British English and American English （p.434）. From Kumaravadivelu's （2001） perspective of post-method pedagogy， a successful teaching should be context-sensitive； therefore， an integration of China English into College English teaching is necessary and beneficial. This paper explores some pedagogical implications in order to address the issue of integrating China English into college English teaching， which might empower both English teachers and learners of the English variety they are using.

2. Teaching Phonology of Dominant Varieties and Non-dominant Varieties

China English in terms of phonology refers to the English variety taking RP （Receptive Pronunciation） or/and GA （General American） as its core and influenced by Mandarin Chinese pronunciation. However， as language is fluid and changing， RP and GA will not be the only norms. On the other hand， Mandarin Chinese has seven major dialect regions that are characteristic of some distinctive phonological features. This may result in regional China English varieties. Thus， in the current teaching context， teachers have to take into account the phonological features of RP & GA （dominant varieties）， China English and other English varieties （non-dominant varieties）.

College English teachers should expose learners to phonological features of RP and GA， and meanwhile offer them opportunities to identify and learn China English. Noticing differences between different varieties of English， learners will develop awareness of linguistic diversity and build up self-confidence of the English they are speaking： it is just natural that everyone speaks with an accent. Teachers should encourage learners from different areas of China to share the unique phonological features of their mother tongue dialects and to value the ability of code switching among language varieties. By sharing the differences， learners are more willing to embrace linguistic diversity and understand their language/language varieties better， and they will be proud of their capability of switching from dialect to Mandarin Chinese， from regional China English to “standard” China English， and from China English to American/British English or other English varieties.

It will be of great importance to ensure learners of the function of China English and regional dialects as a marker of identity that tells them from others， while at the same time it is necessary to remind them of their responsibility for making adjustment for successful communication. That means language varieties should range at the continuum from identity side to communication side. Code switching in terms of pronunciation is a valuable language faculty that everyone should cherish.

3. Teaching Transliterations and Loan Translations

According to Yang （2005）， transliterations， which are written in pinyin， are not foreign to Chinese speakers neither in form nor in meaning. While， loan translations， which are translated from Chinese into English words， are foreign to Chinese speakers in form， but it is easier to infer meanings counting on their background knowledge. It is neither impossible nor necessary for teachers to teach every transliteration and loan translation due to the large number of these two categories of vocabulary. Instead， it is better to teach learners strategies of learning and using these vocabularies to improve their communicative competence.

An inductive approach might be helpful for teachers to acquaint learners with transliteration and loan translation. Yang's （2005） research method implies a practical approach to encourage learners to work in a group to identify words and phrases written in pinyin in different newspapers and magazines in English issued in China， such as China Daily， Beijing Weekly， China & the World Cultural Exchange， etc. After that， teachers could ask students to discuss the registers of these vocabularies： politics， economy， sports， food， musical instrument， current event， festival， etc. Yang （2005） reports that in the field of “food”， “medicine”， and “Chinese cultural heritage” like music， transliterations outnumber loan translations， whereas， there are more loan translations in“politics and current affairs”（pp. 431-32）. This categorization gives learners a rough guideline on whether to deal with a concept of Chinese characteristics as a transliteration or as a loan translation in communication.

As mentioned by Yang （2005）， another principle of dealing with vocabularies expressing things of China is “economy”， which means using the least words to express the most comprehensive meaning. In other words， a monosyllabic or disyllabic Chinese word is more likely to be borrowed into English as a transliteration， while a polysyllabic Chinese compound or a phrase are more likely to be borrowed as a loan translation （p. 433）. Learners can compare transliteration with loan translation and negotiate the expressiveness respectively. For some words that are the same expressive based on the principle of economy， such as dumpling/jiaozi， teachers can ask learners to negotiate in what situation it will be better to use transliteration/loan translation or how to use them interchangeably for clarification.

Furthermore， instructions on how to learn and use transliterations and loan translations in cross-cultural communication are needed. Since transliteration is foreign for other English speakers in both form and meaning， an explanation is necessary. For example， in spoken discourse， learners can use such discourse markers as “namely” or “it means” to paraphrase a transliteration. To do so， it is required learners to have a good master of both Chinese and English and also to develop communication skills， such as making clarification， giving response， and back channeling， etc. In written discourse， learners can use punctuations like “colon”， “comma”， “dash” or “parenthesis” to explain meaning. As for learning loan translations， learners can infer meanings from word analysis， because most of loan translations are compound or lexical phrases. Word analysis together with prior knowledge makes it easier for learners to acquire and produce loan translations.

4. Teaching Basic Syntactic Features of Mandarin Chinese and Englishes

According to Chomsky， there is a set of principles shared by all languages in the world and some principles contain parameters that allow a specific language to make a limited choice from these parameters. These principles and parameters are known as Universal Grammar， which result in similarities among languages， and the limited choice of a specific language make it distinctive from others （Saville-Troike， p.47）. Like English， there are many SVO sentences in Chinese， while Null-subject is a unique Chinese syntactic feature. However， L1 grammar is usually not taught explicitly because principles and parameters are assumed to be innate. Therefore， in order for learners to understand syntax of both Mandarin Chinese and learned Englishes （dominant varieties and China English）， it is essential to teach basic syntactic features. It should be suitable to compare different syntactic features and to use metalinguistic terms since adult learners are cognitively prepared for analytical learning and for abstract concepts as well.

When encountering a syntactic structure in dominant English variety， teachers should explicitly explain the structure to introduce grammatical terms， such as “modifier”， “past tense”， “present continuous tense”， “conditional clauses”， etc. After that， teachers could guide learners to think about these terms in Mandarin Chinese， and they will be amazed to find distinctive features that they have never noticed before. Last but not least， teachers should encourage students to negotiate boundaries between China English and “Chinglish” by reading and discuss their writing pieces. In other words， what features should be included in China English and what may be seen as errors？ One basic principle is that syntactic features of China English may deviate from that of dominant English variety but they should be characteristics of Mandarin Chinese.

5. Teaching Discourse and Pragmatics： Contrastive Rhetoric

Learning a language is learning its culture and social conventions. Teaching discourse and pragmatics is not to teach learners one certain norm of a language， but is to teach strategies for shifting from one discourse and pragmatic norm to another according to the context and their interlocutors/readers. Comparative learning of pragmatics is beneficial for learners to learn how to make the best use of their linguistic repertories to achieve communicative goals appropriately. Create friendly learning environment for learners to discuss such topic as greeting in dominant English varieties， China English， Mandarin Chinese and their mother tongue dialects to inform them of the appropriateness of language used in a specific context. The risk of sticking to certain pragmatic norms beyond the context may lead to misunderstanding or even more negative feelings.

Writing as a means of information transmission and communication is convention-based. It is neither impossible nor necessary for teachers to teach all kinds of rhetoric patterns in a language. Therefore， instead of teaching various writing conventions， teachers should help learners to develop cultural awareness and write for real world readers by modeling what contrastive rhetoric means and how writing patterns differ from one language to another. For example， when teaching writing a personal letter in American English， teachers should introduce its general format to learners with examples. Then ask learners to discuss the basic format of personal letter in Mandarin Chinese. Knowing the similarities and differences enables learners to understand better why readership determines writing conventions including format and the choice of vocabulary.

In cross-cultural communication in both spoken discourse and written discourse， a certain code of conduct is required for mutual communication and good interpersonal relationship. It is required that writers make it a good habit to keep context in mind and to check rhetoric patterns before writing. The ability of using different discourse and pragmatic norms appropriately in various context should be the goal of second language teaching and learning.

6. Conclusion

China English， though at its early stage of development， does exist. It is mainly based on dominant English varieties like British English and American English “but is colored with characteristics of Chinese phonology， lexis， syntax and discourse pragmatics， and which is particularly suited for expressing content ideas specific to Chinese culture through such means as transliteration and loan translation”（He and Li， 2009， p. 83）. Developing learners awareness of World Englishes and integrating China English into College English teaching is significant to improve learners linguistic ability and strategic competence in inter-cultural communication. Once learners are familiar with diversified linguistic and pragmatic features of different English varieties， they will be more prepared and willing to make adjustment to cross-cultural communication.

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作者簡(jiǎn)介：李永仙（1980-），女，云南耿馬人，文山學(xué)院外國(guó)語(yǔ)學(xué)院講師，TESOL碩士，研究方向：英語(yǔ)教學(xué)、二語(yǔ)習(xí)得。