TheLiteratureReviewontheBilingualisminChinafromaSociolinguisticView

康硕

【Abstract】Against the background of globalization， sociolinguists have long been dedicated in the study of bilingualism.The Chinese-English bilingualism is demonstrated through a literature review，and analyzed from a sociolinguistic view in this paper.It explores a number of published articles，analyzes the bilingual education abd the phenomenon of Chinese-English bilingualism in China on the basis of literature review.

【Key Words】literature review； bilingualism； sociolinguistics

The Notion of Bilingualism and Sociolinguistics

Bilingualism is a sort of phenomenon regarding an individual speaker who uses two languages，a community of speakers where languages are used，or between speakers of different languages （Baker，2011）.Owing to the arising phenomena of the English education，the study of Chinese-English bilingualism in China has gradually been brought into focus.Trudgill （2013：13） used to explain the notion of sociolinguistics as a part of linguistics，which was connected with language as a social and cultural phenomenon.

Literature Review

After the analysis on the bilingual phenomenon and definition of sociolinguistics，the relationship between them should be brought into focus.From the article Emphasis on Social Linguistics and Psychological Linguistics Concerning Bilingual Instruction （Xu，2003），the growing tendency of English teaching reflected the global situation，Chinese students had been accepted the English education in an attempt to act on international convention，integrate into the society，and communicate with people from all around the world.Since sociolinguistics emphasizes the relationship between language and social factors，and bilingualism is a sort of product of social development，then the research of bilingualism needs the assistance of sociolinguistic view.Besides that，Chinese sociolinguistics which focused on the study of the native language and culture in China was born in 1983.As far as the discipline is concerned，an ocean of important achievements have been seen in the language situation，culture and also bilingualism （Zhou，2011）.

Furthermore，the development of bilingual education was elaborated in the article by Chen Lan （2003），which mainly emphasized the sociolinguistic study of bilingual education in China，and took city Shanghai as reference.It pointed out the current situation of Chinese-English bilingualism，and the term bilingual education was usually defined in relation to specific goals，designed to encourage bilingual skills among students.The article implies that the English education in China had been impeded by the examination- oriented education system for decades，many students could not communicate with foreigners fluently after studying English for years.Against this trend，the policy of bilingual education was carried out by the Ministry of Education，all primary schools were called on to begin with the English teaching from the third grade （Shen，2012）.

Since the late of last century in China，various top-down and bottom up initiatives had been carried out and promoted to reform education at all levels.One of the recent initiatives implemented which was widely known in China was Chinese-English bilingual education.According to the article By Chen Hong （2007），although a small number of schools in socioeconomically advantaged areas were exploring the use of English as an instructional medium in the 1990s，large-scale government- supported experimentation with Chinese- English bilingual education started in Shanghai only in 2001.Within the next few years，bilingual education in China has gained great publicity at different levels of education from kindergartens to universities and both ordinary people and educationists are involved in this program （Fu，2014）.Many school subjects are also taught in a bilingual way.Some schools have even turned Chinese course and Chinese history into bilingual or multilingual courses.By 2004，there were about 80 million junior and senior secondary students and 50 million primary students learning English in the school system （Jiao，2012）.Along with the expansion of English provision，efforts have also been made to raise the quality of English instruction through a range of reforms carried out in areas of curriculum development，syllabus design，textbook production，teach training，and pedagogy （Chen & Gao，2007）.The above efforts have exerted great significant impacts on students improvement of English skills.

However，according to the article by professor Yang，the bilingual education in China used to develop in the wrong direction for decades，and neglect the practical usage of English as a communicative media （Yang & Zhang，2007）.With the arrival of the global development，bilingual education seems to be a natural outcome.However，whether it is conductible still remains controversial.Though the advantages it brings us have been demonstrated，the problems existed should never be neglected because it affects the development of bilingual education in China.Several limitations with regards to this language policy are analyzed.

Compared to the bilingual education in China，Singapore and European countries had their own advantages in the study of English.From the article by Li Yangxiu，although the official languages of Singapore were Chinese，Malay and Tamil，these languages were only applied into the learning courses and taught as a second language.Nevertheless，it selected English as the first language in the bilingual education，in an attempt to better suit the international situation.European countries implemented the plan of multilingual education in order to raise the skills of foreign languages of all citizens，every student ought to master at least three languages before being admitted by college （Li，2003）.

Conclusions and Further Study

No doubt there is neither lowliness nor nobleness in cultures，but our cultural traditions and cultural gems have nourished China for thousands of tears，which by no means can be replaced by any other cultures.In order to keep the sense of national identity under the trend of bilingualism，the Chinese traditional culture should be permeated into the English teaching，which will stimulate a sense of national pride，the self-respect and responsibility of all citizens in China.international stage effectively，and stimulate the world culture develop harmoniously.

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