Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
the emergence of english
brief notes on origin of english language
brief notes on origin of english language
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: the emergence of english
Since the 16th century, the language of English, which in theory, stems from a small island between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea has, to an extent, stretched across the world, with as many as 50 countries now using it has their official language (British Council, 2013) in some form or another. This spread was seemingly due to several influential factors; the expansion of the British Empire, Britains leadership in the industrial revolution, American's economic and political ascendancy from the late 19th century and the spread of English through technology like the internet (E. Schneider, 2007: 1). From American English to Australian English, each country has socio-linguistically developed its own variety of English, through undergoing different processes of development and integration. The linguist, Kachru (1922), put forth a model to categorize these varieties of English, although whether the model is deemed Eurocentric or not is debatable, yet it does appear to be one of the more popular models which separates the 'world Englishes' into three concentric circles namely the inner, the outer and the expanding circle. These 'world Englishes', a contentious term to catalogue the varieties of English present are, for some, used in diverse contexts, such as for trade, business and international communication and are often linked to countries in the expanding circle of Kachru's model, like as Russia, Brazil and China (K. Bolton, B. Kachru, 2006: 225). This essay aims to detail a selected variety of English, known as 'China English' (a term first adopted by G. Chuangui, (1980: 2)), (although some may classify the English Language variety developing in China as 'Chinglish' (J. Liu, H. Tao, 2012: 146)), which argumentativel... ... middle of paper ... ...Communication. Bookcraft Ltd. p. 95/ 108 Pride. J and Liu. R., (1988). Some aspects of the spread of English in China since 1949. International Journal of the Sociology of Language. p. 74, 41 Radtke. O., (2007). Chinglish: Found in Translation. Gibbs Smith, Publisher. p. 8 Runqing. D, Yajun. J., (2001). The Review on the Study of China English in Recent 20 Years. Foreign Languages’ Teaching and Research, Vol. 1. p. 40 Xiaohong. J., (2001). China English in Cross-cultural Communication. The Journal of Si Chuan. Foreign Languages’ Institution, Vol. 6. p. 12 Yajun. J., (1995 (a)). Chinglish and China English. English Today, Vol. 41. p. 51 Yamashita. S, Bosco. J, Eades. J., (2004). The Making of Anthropology in East and Southeast Asia. Berghahn Books p. 164 Zhang. F., (2009). China English: Adaptation of English to Chinese Culture. Ludong University Press. p. 93
Prior to immigrating to America, Nicole attended a public school in China where all of her teachers were Chinese natives. At Nicole’s school in China, however, English is a required course of study taught mostly by emphasizing English vocabulary, completing short one-page writing assignments, and practicing spelling. Learning English pronunciations and engaging in realistic English conversation wasn’t the goal for educators in China. The goal in China was to prepare students to pass their post-high school exam, which was their ticket into attending a university. The exam is highly demanding for Chinese students because it requires knowledge of English reading, comprehension, spelling and writing. For Nicole, the most stressful part of this exam was that students taking it
English as a communication tool holds prominent position in Chinese curriculum (Liu, 2012). Learning English as a Second Language (ESL) has seen its boost in China (Qiang & Wolff, 2007). Mastering English is an asset for students in job hunting and further education. As academic achievement is highly valued in Chinese culture, students are expected to achieve high marks in English tests (Liu, 2012). University students need to pass National English proficiency examinations, which are the part of the evaluation for obtaining degrees (Wolff, 2010). Students attend after-school English courses for enhancing their English because of the pressure (Liu, 2012). The majority of ELL students aim at improving the international English proficiency tests results, such as International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and Graduate Record Examinations (GRE). ELL students are more motivated in the after-school English courses because of the high-target learning environment. However, the teacher-centred learning procedure neglects the long-term enhancement of students’ English level. The ignorance of the long-term development is due to less student involvement during the teaching procedure (Mo, 2012). Some Chinese ELL students choose to attend ESL courses abroad. The reasons are that they can have a better language environment (Wolff, 2010) and can engage more in the learning procedure (Smith & Hu, 2013). The aim of the study is to compare the teacher-centred teaching in China and student-centred teaching in Canada and to examine efficient teaching methods for Chinese speaking ELL
In the case study “Adventure English: Experiences with Face-Saving” Cardon, P. W., & Scott, J. C. (n.d) Jackie Wong established a cordial polite and respectful relationship with Cory Wright. This is important since saving Face in Chinese Culture is very important. In other words, reputation, social prestige all while avoiding
Stephen Wuem, “The Silk Road and hybridized languages in north-western China”, Diogenes 43, no. 171 (1995): 57.
By juxtaposing both the English and Mandarin language, Wong is effectively showcasing and questioning the institutional dominance the English language may possesses over both worldwide linguistics as well as individual’s freedom of expression; Stating we may need to break free from the constraining borders English may pose on an individual, and instead write or speak in any way we wish in hopes of effectively getting our point across. The narrator wants herself and others to break free from the strict dominant borders, empowering others to live a life filled with full freedom of expression regardless of one’s style of writing or minority
My parents had great influence on my learning of language. They were both born and grown up in Liaoning Province but not Tianjin (respectively in Dalian countryside and Yingkou countryside). After the graduation of local high schools they went to Harbin for college which also belongs to Northeast China. Throughout their first 22 years my parents spoke very rural “东北话” (Northeast dialect) according to my interviews. Until they were distributed to work in Tianjin, chances appeared to become government officers. D...
Chinese is one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages. It is said that there are seven major languages in Chinese languages (Joseph 2004:7) . They are Cantonese (Yue), Fukiense (min), Gan, Hakka, hunanese (Hsiang), Mandarin, and Wu. Basically, there are three stages in the development of the Chinese language. They are Old Chinese, Middle Chinese and Modern Chinese . For each stage, it can be further divided into different intervals (Fig 1). Within different intervals, varieties mentioned above occur. However may be some of the bones and tortoise shells were not perfectly preserved that inadequate information was available for analysis, there is discrepancy between different references concerning time and therefore no exact boundary could be made between each development stage. There is only a rough estimation made by those who studied the history of Chinese Language. Besides, Joseph (2004:16) also said that due to the lack of data, most descriptions of family relationship among Chinese languages are based on impression.
...of both Chinese and English can be interpreted as a situation of diglossia with bilingualism, but as one where the H variety is not necessarily used in positions of authority, but is used for writing and indexing prestige. It makes sense that this dichotomy, where both English and Chinese are both high and low prestige at the same time, exist in a situation where the concept of language and its execution were carried out by writers and creators who may not be trained in linguistic theory, bu for whom the mixing of English and Chinese was used to signal the Sino-American hegemony, and where the dialogue had to be accessible to an English speaking audience. But then again, perhaps a language interaction similar to the one illustrated in Firefly might occur hundreds of years from now and a new category of diglossia will be added to the scholarly discourse of the future.
Mollin, S., 2006. “English as a Lingua Franca: A New Variety in the New Expanding Circle?”, The Nordic Journal of English Studies 5(2), pp. 41-57. Available from
This growing community is also prone to many challenges. One of the biggest challenges they have is language barrier. As compared to other communities, Most of the Chinese people cannot speak Chinese. in order to know the reason I asked this question to many Chinese people. Chung, 28 years old, a grocery store worker said “In china we don’t have English language education except some big institutes. We prefer our own language in our country and people also don’t like to learn English. Because of this, when we come here, we face many problem regarding communication.”
This paper will deal with the topic of request strategies used by speakers of the People’s Republic of China and the terms of address in Chinese and English. Besides, it will focus on request strategies across societal structures and social groups. In addition, it will discuss the concept of limao, the traditional concept of politeness in China. This paper will not allow to cover all important issues concerning this topic, but it shall give a rough overview and should give the reader an incentive to have a closer look at this field of study.
[2] Y. Ran, “Dialects endangered by modernization,” 17 03 2011. [Online]. Available: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-03/17/content_12183431.htm. [Accessed 08 11 2013].
Contrary to what the early detractors of the American English language used to say, American English is not an offensive offshoot of real English, but has over the centuries made its own mark in the world of language and communication, and is also poised at this juncture in human history to actually slowly become the main dialect of English the world over due to the America-centric communication and technological advances made over the past few decades. It is hoped that this essay has given but a glimpse of not only what American English has become, but what it can yet become should America remain a social, cultural, and technological leader in years to come.
In the essay, I set the English as a foreign language (EFL) context with a group of Chinese middle school students aged from fifteen to eighteen who mostly have an intermediate level of English proficiency.
The continuation and influence of English as global language soon makes its way to Asia. In most of the Asian countries, English is seen as necessity of a second language. It breaks the barriers between the world countries and allow relationships to be built for better businesses, education and social class for its people. The influence of English in Asia creates global modernization. English has become the language of the sky and sea.