EnglishinChineseSociety

In spite of the colonialist history of Great Britain， which can be the reason to explain why English is widely used in many countries， nowadays， English is also widely used in numerous of decolonized countries， because this language plays a significant role in international economic and technical communication and political diplomacy （Jenkins， 2009：38-39）.

In general， there are three main roles that English acts in Chinese society：the international communicative tool， a course in school， and one of the basic qualities that a person should have in order to apply a good job or academic degree. In fact， they are not three isolated roles that English has， but mutually influenced each other in China.

Firstly， as the author mentioned before， English is used as an international language among different countries， while China also belongs to one of these countries. In order to establish trade relations with foreign countries especially with those who cannot speak Chinese， Chinese businessmen or diplomats will use English to communicate with them. In 2017， the share of Chinas export in global market had risen 10.8% and reached to 27.79 trillion RMB （Plas.hc360.com， 2018）， which means that China does more and more business with different oversea countries. Under this situation， the status of English as an international communicative tool in Chinese society will inevitably become more and more important. Although， there are also many foreign languages used as international commercial and political communicative tools in China， yet， English is still the widely used language.

It is because English has been acting the significant role in global trade and affairs between China and other countries that the government pays more attention to the English learning in the school （Adamson， 2002：231-232）. Gradually， English becomes a compulsory course in China. Recently， not only in university， students in primary， secondary， and high school have to learn English； however， different with other countries where English is their second language， English is only a pure subject in Chinese school， which means mandarin is the only medium language in majority of the courses taught in China. While English is only used in English class， and in most of the cases teachers will also used Chinese to teach English， such as， grammar translation. This situation does not only exist in mainland China， but also in Hong Kong， the British pre-colonial area. Chinese and Cantonese are the predominant languages， even though English is frequently used in some enterprises and academic institutions （Kirkpatrick， 2007：138-140）. From the above two main roles of English， it may get conclusion that in China， English is widely externally used instead of internally.

The third role of English is a basic quality for applying good job and academic degree. On one hand， the communication between China and other countries becomes frequently； on the other hand， English is a compulsory course in majority of the school in China. Under those circumstances， more and more Chinese people can speak English. Gradually， English competence becomes a requirement for most of enterprises， especially the foreign-funded enterprises， to recruit staffs. In addition， it is also a requirement for students who want to apply master degree in China or who want to study abroad. Interestingly， most of time， English is not the medium communicative language in these institutions， while their candidates are still required to have English competence.

It is obviously to face the fact that English learning becomes a hot topic of discussion， for English is more and more important and valued in Chinese society. Different people have different opinions on this language； however， in this paper， the writer tends to concentrate on Chinese linguists attitudes. For one thing， they are authorities on language； for another， they could represent majority of Chinese peoples attitudes depending on their investigations.

With the increasing contact between China and other countries， English was considered significance for the modernization of China， as well as， establish the relationships with foreign countries （Kirkpatrick， 2007：145）. As the author mentioned before， for these reasons， English learning is compulsory in most of schools. However， some of the linguists （bbs.people.cn， 2016） believe that it is laid too much stress on English learning. On one hand， English competence gradually becomes one of the most essential selecting principles for most of enterprises to recruit staffs. Under this situation， many skilled people cannot find jobs only because they do not understand English. On the other hand， in school， students pay much attention on learning English that other courses are abandoned in some way.

In spite of some negative attitudes to English， there are also many merits of English appreciated by Chinese linguists. First， as translation plays a significant role in human interaction， it is better for people to master as many languages as possible in order to communicate with and learn new knowledge from other who share different mother tongue with them； however， it is very difficult for a person to master too many languages， at that time， English acts as a widely used lingua franca （Crystal， 1997：8-9）. In other words， for China， English is important in importing advanced techniques from western countries， in international trade communication， and in diplomacy. Second， with the increasing of Chinas national strength， the phenomenon of Chinese English has appeared. Many Chinese words become alien words existing in English dictionaries （Baidu， 2010）. For example， tofu which means bean curd is already well-known by most of the foreigners. Some linguists believe that English can not only be used for China to communicate with overseas countries， but also to propagate Chinese culture towards the world （ibid）.

From above content， we can see there are three mains roles of English， which are communicative tool， compulsory course and job requirement in this society； and also peoples attitude towards it， may be positive or negative. Additionally， people may know that although English is not the main medium language used in China， yet it still widely used in number of areas， such as， global trade， technique exchange， and diplomacy. However， English is not the only foreign language used in China in those areas. There are also many other foreign language being used， such as， German， Japanese and Portuguese. Furthermore， In the early 20th century， Japanese was recognized as a popular minority language by Chinese people， and more and more students choose to learn Japanese for it is similar to Chinese （Fu， 2011：65）.

Circumstances like this will also and already happened on many other foreign languages in Chinese society nowadays. But at least in recently， it is hard for those languages used widely as English even they may play same roles. In other words， they are all communicative tools in China， while English can be used to communicate with almost all the foreigners， but other languages might be only can used to communicate with international friends from the original regions.

References：

[1]Adamson，B.（2002）‘Barbarian as foreign language：English in Chinas school，World Englishes，21（2）：231-243.

[2]Baidu（2010）‘The status and development tendency of Chinese English（中国英语的现状和发展趋势）Retrieved from http：//www.51lunwen.org/languagethesis/org201001151046561928.html[Accessed 15 January 2018].

[3]Bbs.people.cn（2016）‘Compulsory English learning harms the country and brings calamities on the people（要求全民學英语的现状，不仅是在害人，而且也是在误国）Retrieved from http：//bbs1.people.com.cn/post/2/1/2/159550098.html[Accessed 15 January 2018].

[4]Crystal，D.（1997）English as a Global Language，Cambridge： Cambridge University Press.

[5]Fu，X.L.（2011）‘The discussion on the advantage and disadvantage of Japanese as a second foreign language learned by students whose major is English（浅析日语作为英语专业第二外语的利弊），Article World（群文天地），16：65-67.

[6]Jenkins，J.（2009）World English—a resource book for students，New York：Routledge.

[7]Kirkpatrick，A.（2007）World Englishes—implications for international communication and English language teaching，Cambridge：Cambridge University Press.

[8]Plas.hc360.com（2018）‘2017 total export value of China is 27.79 trillion which raised 10.8%（2017年中国出口总额27.29万亿元 增长10.8%）Retrieved from http：//info.plas.hc360.com/2018/01/150958651284.shtml[Accessed 15 January 2018].

【作者简介】祝帆（1989- ），女，汉族，江西南昌人，硕士研究生，江西科技学院，研究方向：英语语言教育。

【基金项目】课题名称：“一带一路”教育多元合作发展与研究，课题编号：2017092905。