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Zhang, Jie. (2011). Language Policy and Planning for the 2008 Beijing

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Zhang, Jie. (2011). Language Policy and Planning for the 2008 Beijing LANGUAGE POLICY AND PLANNING FOR THE 2008 BEIJING OLYMPICS: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION OF AN OLYMPIC CITY AND A GLOBAL POPULATION Jie Zhang BA, Central China Normal University, 2001 MLitt, University of Sydney, 2004 Department of Linguistics Faculty of Human Sciences Macquarie University June 2011 This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Table of Contents Chapter One: Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 The Beginning .................................................................................................................. 1 1.1.1 “One billion dollar English” ...................................................................................... 1 1.1.2 My English learning trajectory and English desire .................................................... 2 1.1.3 English fever in China’s opening-up ......................................................................... 3 1.2 The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games ................................................................................... 4 1.2.1 The Modern Olympic Games .................................................................................... 5 1.2.2 The award of the 2008 Olympics to Beijing .............................................................. 7 1.2.3 Remaking China in the Olympic spotlight ................................................................ 8 1.2.3.1 Fading glory and lost identity ............................................................................. 8 1.2.3.2 China’s identity crisis in the modernization process ........................................ 10 1.2.3.3 China’s image crisis in a globalizing world ...................................................... 12 1.3 The Sociolinguistics of the Olympic Games .................................................................. 15 1.3.1 Social sciences perspectives on the Olympics ......................................................... 15 1.3.2 The role of English in the Beijing Olympic Games ................................................. 17 1.4 Research Questions ......................................................................................................... 19 1.5 Overview of the Thesis ................................................................................................... 21 Chapter Two: Identity Dilemmas and English Language Education in China ......................... 24 2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 24 2.2 ELT in China as an Object of Academic Inquiry ........................................................... 24 2.2.1 Language education policy and language ideologies .............................................. 25 2.2.2 The history of Chinese English language education ................................................ 27 2.3 ELT and the Confucian Education Tradition .................................................................. 29 2.4 ELT and Colonization ..................................................................................................... 31 2.4.1 Phase one: The closed-door policy (1757-1839) ..................................................... 32 2.4.2 Phase two: Semi-feudal and semi-colonial state (1840-1911) ................................. 34 2.5 ELT and Nationalism ...................................................................................................... 38 2.5.1 Phase three: The New Cultural Movement (1912-1921) ......................................... 38 i 2.5.2 Phase four: Seeking support from the West (1922-1949) ........................................ 40 2.6 ELT and Communism ..................................................................................................... 41 2.6.1 Phase five: The Sino-Soviet Alliance (1949-1956) ................................................. 42 2.6.2 Phase six: Reviving English education (1956-1966) ............................................... 43 2.5.3 Phase seven: The Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) ................................................ 45 2.7 ELT and Market Reform ................................................................................................. 46 2.7.1 Phase eight: The modernization drive (1977-2000) ................................................ 46 2.7.2 Phase nine: The internationalization drive (2000 onwards) .................................... 50 2.8 Summary ......................................................................................................................... 56 Chapter Three: Methodology .................................................................................................... 59 3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 59 3.2 Rationale for a Qualitative Approach ............................................................................. 59 3.3 Rationale for a Social Constructionist Epistemology ..................................................... 62 3.4 Rationale for a Multi-Method Approach ........................................................................ 64 3.4.1 An expanded view of language policy ..................................................................... 64 3.4.2 Triangulation as a multi-method qualitative approach ............................................ 66 3.4.3 Multiple methods of data collection ........................................................................ 68 3.5 Research Design ............................................................................................................. 69 3.5.1 Data collection methods ........................................................................................... 70 3.5.1.1 Naturally-occurring data ................................................................................... 70 3.5.1.2 Fieldwork .......................................................................................................... 72 3.5.2 Data analysis methods ............................................................................................. 78 3.5.2.1 A critical discourse analysis perspective .......................................................... 78 3.5.2.2 Data analysis procedure .................................................................................... 80 3.6 Ethical Considerations .................................................................................................... 84 3.7 Limitations of the Study ................................................................................................. 86 Chapter Four: The Olympic English Popularization Campaign ............................................... 88 4.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 88 4.2 Beijing’s Commitment: International Language Environment ...................................... 88 4.3 The Olympic English Popularization Campaign ............................................................ 90 4.3.1 The Beijing Speaks Foreign Languages Program (2002 onwards) ......................... 91 ii 4.3.2 The Beijing English Testing System (2006 onwards) ............................................. 95 4.3.3 Official Language Training Services Suppliers ....................................................... 98 4.3.3.1 EF English First: “Native speaker superiority” ................................................ 99 4.3.3.2 Aifly: the Crazy English method .................................................................... 102 4.3.4 ELLT celebrities: Patriotism and symbolic capital ................................................ 105 4.3.4.1 Crazy English founder Li Yang ...................................................................... 106 4.3.4.2 Multilingual policeman Liu Wenli ................................................................. 110 4.4 Outcomes ...................................................................................................................... 113 4.4.1 Foreign language speaking population .................................................................. 113 4.4.2 Olympic English training ....................................................................................... 116 4.4.3 The ti-yong tension ................................................................................................ 119 4.5 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 121 Chapter Five: Imagined Communities and Identity Options in Beijing Olympic English Textbooks ............................................................................................................................... 125 5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 125 5.2 Identity Options in Language Textbooks................................ ...................................... 125 5.3 A Conversational English Reader ................................................................................ 128 5.4 Imbalanced Gender Distribution ................................................................................... 132 5.5 Imagined Communities ................................................................................................
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