The Impact of Global English in Xinjiang, China: Linguistic Capital and Identity Negotiation among the Ethnic Minority and Han Chinese Students Ge Jian A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Washington 2016 Reading Committee: Laada Bilaniuk, Chair Ann Anagnost, Chair Stevan Harrell Program Authorized to Offer Degree: Anthropology © Copyright 2016 Ge Jian University of Washington Abstract The Impact of Global English in Xinjiang, China: Linguistic Capital and Identity Negotiation among the Ethnic Minority and Han Chinese Students Ge Jian Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Professor Laada Bilaniuk Professor Ann Anagnost Department of Anthropology My dissertation is an ethnographic study of the language politics and practices of college- age English language learners in Xinjiang at the historical juncture of China’s capitalist development. In Xinjiang the international lingua franca English, the national official language Mandarin Chinese, and major Turkic languages such as Uyghur and Kazakh interact and compete for linguistic prestige in different social scenarios. The power relations between the Turkic languages, including the Uyghur language, and Mandarin Chinese is one in which minority languages are surrounded by a dominant state language supported through various institutions such as school and mass media. The much greater symbolic capital that the “legitimate language” Mandarin Chinese carries enables its native speakers to have easier access than the native Turkic speakers to jobs in the labor market. Therefore, many Uyghur parents face the dilemma of choosing between maintaining their cultural and linguistic identity and making their children more socioeconomically mobile. The entry of the global language English and the recent capitalist development in China has led to English education becoming market-oriented and commodified, which has further complicated the linguistic picture in Xinjiang. Despite the fact that the majority of the Turkic speaking students did not start their English education until college due to the language policy that requires them to learn Mandarin Chinese first, they do better in spoken English than their Han Chinese counterparts who probably have learned English for a much longer time. Uyghur students frequently stood out as the champions in various English-speaking contests at the provincial and national levels and became the enviable idols to emulate and symbols of ethnic pride for fellow Uyghur students. Their success has in turn boosted the business of the Uyghur- run private English training centers in Xinjiang. English seems to have become a “counter- hegemonic” language to the dominant national language Mandarin Chinese. Proficiency in the English language has not only granted Uyghurs access to jobs in the private sector, but also symbolic prestige through outdoing the Han Chinese students. However, Turkic-speaking students’ pursuit of the symbolic power of the English language is often interrupted by political events and changing state policies in Xinjiang. Furthermore, although the private English education market provides a safe learning space for Turkic students, it is a raced, classed and gendered site to which not everyone has equal access. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES..................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..........................................................................................iii INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1.................................................................................................................22 CHAPTER 2.................................................................................................................63 CHAPTER 3.................................................................................................................116 CHAPTER 4.................................................................................................................155 EPILOGUE...................................................................................................................195 APPENDICES..............................................................................................................207 BIBLIOGRAPHY.........................................................................................................240 i LIST OF FIGURES Figure Number Page 1. Kaplan (1966) “Cultural Thought Pattern” diagram...............................................47 2. English First print advertisment on a billboard ......................................................56 above a subway entrance in Beijing 3. Another advertisement by EF in a subway in Beijing.............................................57 4. Sociolinguistic Status of Languages in China ........................................................85 5. A prank on a Chinese website to demonstrate ......................................................114 the “Second Generation” ID Card ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the members of my reading committee: Professor Laada Bilaniuk, Professor Ann Anagnost and Professor Stevan Harrell, for being my mentors and friends for so many years. I feel very lucky to have such a committee that each member is interested in my research project in a different way and together they have provided me with unique perspectives that help me explore such a complex question. I have always told my parents that I made the right choice by coming to the University of Washington because of my committee members. I thank you for your trust and patience in me through the long evolution of this work. Laada’s cheerful and positive attitude towards life, Ann’s quiet wisdom, and Steve’s witty remarks have made intellectual discussions enjoyable, and never intimidating. I am especially grateful for your wonderful support in the last stage of my dissertation writing. I appreciate your insightful comments and painstaking editing. I thank you for your advice and emotional support when I learned of my hearing loss and felt stressed. Without your guidance I could not have finished this project. I am grateful to Professor Yomi Braester from Comparative Literature who agreed to be my GSR the last minute and the thought provoking questions that he asked at my defense. I thank Yomi for bringing me to the study of Sinophone films and literature in my first year at UW, which added a humanist perspective to my research. It was a pity that my previous GSR Professor Stephen Sumida from American Ethnic Studies could not see through this project due to his retirement. I am grateful to your support to my graduate study. It was so much fun being your teaching assistant and we all loved your cooking! I thank you, Professor Rick Bonus, and Dr. Connie So from AES for introducing me to ethnic studies in the U.S. Professor Dong Yue from history is a strict teacher as well as a kind-hearted friend to me. I thank her for pushing me to write and check my hearing and for providing straightforward suggestions about research and life. I admire her braveness and hope I can be as brave as her in the future. I am grateful to the staff in anthropology, who have worked so hard to maintain the smooth functioning of the department. I thank John Cady, Michael Caputi, Rick Aguilar and David Nicoles for helping me in different aspects. My hearty thanks go to Catherine Zeigler, who has helped me in so many ways and caring about me over these years. Catherine made the final stage of my graduation much less stressful. Bureaucratic rules were much easier to understand with her help. Thank you Catherine for cheering me on. I thank Professor Miriam Kahn, Professor Celia Lowe, Professor Daniel Hoffman, and Professor Devon Peña for introducing me to the department and providing me with a broad horizon in anthropology. I enjoyed intellectual discussions with Professor Michael Perez, Professor Sareeta Amrute, and Professor Sasha Welland and thank them for their belief that I would finish. iii I made so many friends both within the anthropology department and in other departments over the years. The most recent group I got to know is the China Anthropology Collective. I thank Zeng Xiaoshun, Luo Juan, Tian Xiameng, He Qian, Zhou Shuxuan, Li Jie, Dai Hui, Xu Jing, Chu Yiting, He Xiang, Li Bin, Aga, Chen Muyang, Tian Yiyu, Xiao Jiade, Haiyi, Sarala, and Lillian for their warm friendship and lively discussion about life, theory, politics and everything in between. I miss my cohort and thank them for the laughter and tears, and the opportunities to grow together as young anthropologists. I especially thank Bonnie Tilland for her kind support all these years. I thank Evi Sutrisno, Tapoja Chaudhuri, Roxanne Brame, Mariana Markova, Huang Yu, Cheryl Alipio, Trang Ta, Tseng Hsun-Hui, Cheng Hsiao- wen, Cade Cannon, Nicole Torres, Sam Yum, Matt Hale, Jason Chan, Baishakhi Basu and Zuo Wei for their friendship. I am grateful to three friends who have supported me selflessly in my final stage of writing. Duan Xiaolin had been a good listener when I was down and a problem solver when I was in trouble even in the last minute before my dissertation submission. Wang Zhuoyi has supported me as my best friend all these years. I treasure his friendship and his great intellect. Dick Birnbaum, my friend from the P-Patch, showed great interest in my research.