Feature

The Development of Englishes in

Asia: Chinese English to Join the
Family?
By Andy Kirkpatrick

Andy Kirkpatrick is Professor in the Department of Languages and Linguistics at Griffith

University, Brisbane, Australia. He has lived and worked in many countries in East and
Southeast Asia, including China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Myanmar and Singapore. He is the
author of English as a Lingua Franca in ASEAN: a multilingual model (Hong Kong University
Press). He is the editor of the Routledge Handbook of World Englishes. His most recent books
are English as an Asian Language: implications for language education, co-edited with Roly
Sussex and published by Springer, and Chinese Rhetoric and Writing, co-authored with Xu
Zhichang and published by Parlor Press. He is founding and chief editor of the journal and book
series Multilingual Education, published by Springer, and has recently been appointed editor-in-
chief of the Asia Journal of TEFL.
a.kirkpatrick@griffith.edu.au
Join the Family? English Teaching in China, 5,1-6
KiKirkpatrick, A. (2014). The Development of Englishes in Asia: Chinese English to

English has been spoken in Asia for several

hundred years, with trade being the main
Canton pidgin Meaning
vehicle for the introduction of English to the Chop-chop very quickly
region. For example, when in December 1600, Chow-chow food, to eat
Queen Elizabeth the 1st of England awarded a
Cow-cow to be noisy and
trade monopoly with India to a group of English
merchants, The East India Company, they angry; an uproar
naturally brought English with them to India Fan kwei foreign devil
(Ferguson, 1996). Trade also brought English to
China. The first recorded contact between made an important distinction between types
British and Chinese traders was recalled by one of colonies, differentiating between settlement
of the British traders, Peter Mundy in his and trade/exploitation colonies. Settlement
account, The Travels of Peter Mundy (Bolton, colonies were typically characterised by small
2003). As trade developed, so did contact indigenous populations, and the British sent
between English speaking traders and their out people from their own shores to settle
Chinese counterparts and from this contact these lands. Australia is a good example of
developed a form of Chinese pidgin English what was a settlement colony. Trade/
(with ‘pidgin’ a local realisation of ‘business’). exploitation colonies were typically countries
Bolton (2003, p. 154ff) provides a fascinating which had a thriving local population, but
account of the history of English in China and which were also rich in natural resources which
records several examples of early Chinese the British Empire needed to fund its expansion
pidgin English, including : and create wealth. India is a good example of
The real stimulus for the development of what was a trade/exploitation colony. Although
varieties of English across Asia was however, varieties of English naturally developed in
colonisation. As the British Empire increased its these colonies, following similar stages and
colonial holdings, so did the English language phases (Schneider, 2007), there were some
spread to these colonies. Mufwene (2001) has differences created by the relative numbers of

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settlers/colonists and the indigenous The nativisation phase – when the local

Kirkpatrick: Development of Englishes in Asia

population. Where the indigenous population varieties of English mix with the settlers/
was relatively small and the number of settlers colonists’ varieties to produce a locally shaped
high, then local languages had less influence variety of English.
upon the new varieties of English that
developed. But this is not to say that the local The endonormative stabilisation phase –
languages and their speakers had no influence. when the new local variety gradually becomes
Australian English, for example, is replete with accepted as the local norm or model (and can
words taken from Aboriginal languages. Indeed be used as a classroom model, for example).
the three items most commonly associated
with Australia – koalas, kangaroos and The differentiation phase – when the new
boomerangs – are all words from local variety, reflecting local identities and cultures
Aboriginal languages. has emerged and when more local varieties
On the other hand, where the local develop.
population represented the great majority and
the colonists a tiny minority, then local If we briefly look at some examples of
languages and their speakers had more Indian English, we can see how its speakers
influence upon the varieties of English that have adopted and then adapted the language
developed. India is one of the most densely to suit their own cultural needs and
populated nations in the world, and its rich experiences. As Raja Rao, the Indian writer and
linguistic diversity has been described as a poet, (cited in Srivastava & Sharma, 1991)
baffling mosaic of multilingualism (Mehrotra, pointed out more than 50 years ago:
1998). It is not surprising then that it is possible
to talk about varieties of Indian English, rather We shall have English with us and
than a single Indian English. But as both amongst us, and not as our guest or
Mufwene (2001) and Schneider (2007) have friend, but as one of our own, of our
argued, “postcolonial Englishes follow a castes, our creed, our sect and our
fundamentally uniform developmental tradition (p. 190). We cannot write like
process” (Schneider 2010, p. 380-381). These the English. We should not. We can only
postcolonial Englishes typically pass though the write as Indians (p. 205).
following phases:
The examples below of Indian English
The foundation phase – when English is illustrate a range from vernacular ill-educated
introduced. to highly formal written varieties (see
Kirkpatrick, 2007, p. 85ff for a full discussion).
The exonormative stabilisation phase – the The first example is taken from a teenager’s
local variety of English is closely modelled on journal and shows how code-mixing between
the variety spoken by the English speaking local languages and English becomes a natural
settlers. part of a new variety in certain contexts.
Dhamal is a Sanskrit word which meant a
traditional type of dance, but now means
dance more generally. Beechara bakra is Hindi
for ‘poor goat’.

Two rival groups are out to have fun…you

know, generally indulge in dhamal and
pass time. So what do they do? They pick
on a beechara bakra who has entered
college (D’Souza, 2001, p. 152).

The second example is taken from an Indian

novel and shows the traditional use of Sikh
greetings. Sat Sri Akal means ‘God is truth’.
`Live in plenty. Live a long age’ is also a

English Teaching in China • Issue 5 • August 2014 • 2

Feature
traditional wish. English has been made the sole official working
language of the ASEAN group. Thus Asian
She bent her head to receive her mother multilinguals from ASEAN countries which were
-in-law’s blessing. ‘Sat Sri Akal’. once British or American colonies (Brunei,
‘Sat Sri Akal’ replied Sabhrai lightly Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines and
touching Champak’s shoulder. Singapore) now use English alongside
‘Sat Sri Akal’ said Sher Singh. multilinguals from countries which were
‘Live in plenty, live a long age’ replied colonies or dependencies of France and The
Sabhrai taking her son’s hand and kissing Netherlands (Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and
it. Indonesia), and from Thailand, the only one of
‘Sleep well’ (From I Shall Not Hear the the ten ASEAN nations never to have been
Nightingale Sing, quoted in Kachru, colonised. There is not space here to consider
1991, p. 301). this question in any depth, but recent findings
from the Asian Corpus of English, a corpus of
The final example is taken from an academic some one million words of naturally occurring
text, a book reviewing and describing the English used as a lingua franca among Asian
literature published in English in India over a multilinguals, suggest similar developmental
twenty year period. This excerpt itself patterns (see Kirkpatrick, 2010, Kirkpatrick and
describes the development of English in India, Sussex, 2012 for detailed discussion). Here I
and is characterised by the use of extended move on to consider the question in the
metaphor, a highly respected Indian rhetorical context of the development of English in China.
style. Adamson (2002, 2004) has given a useful
summary of the history of English teaching in
Years ago, a slender sapling from a China, and of the government’s and people’s
foreign field was grafted by ‘pale hands’ changing attitudes towards English. While
on the mighty and many-branched Indian there have been times in the past where
banyan tree. It has kept growing English and English speakers were viewed with
vigorously and now, an organic part of its suspicion, today the demand for English means
parent tree, it has spread its own probing that there are probably more learners of
roots into the brown soil below. Its young English in China than there are native speakers
leaves rustle energetically in the strong of it. Indeed, Bolton and Graddol (2012)
winds that blow from the western suggest that there may be as many as 400
horizon, but the sunshine that warms it million English learners in China, but also
and the rain that cools it are from Indian caution that ‘English learners’ include all those
skies; and it continues to draw its vital learning English in school, and that we have no
sap from ‘this earth, this realm, this reliable figures of the number of Chinese who
India’ (Naik & Narayan, 2004, p. 253). actually use English as part of their working
lives. Nevertheless, that there are currently
The presence of Indian varieties of English is many millions of Chinese learning and using
not in doubt. It is possible to argue, indeed, English is beyond doubt. The rapid growth of
that the use of English in India has reached kindergartens which teach English is further
Schneider’s differentiation stage with the evidence of the exponential increase in
emergence of different varieties. Established demand for English in China, especially in the
varieties of English have also emerged in other wealthier urban areas (Bolton and Graddol,
Asian settings, typically in post-colonial 2012, p. 5). This demand has taken place over a
situations. Thus Bruneian, Malaysian, Filipino relatively short period of time, with the first
and Singaporean English have all been new push for English being seen in the late
grammatically described. The question that is 1970s and early 1980s. At around this time,
now being debated is whether Englishes in Chinese scholars started to debate the
countries that were not colonised, or were not existence of a Chinese variety of English (Du
colonies of English speaking empires, are and Jiang, 2001). An early pioneer into the
developing in the same way. The Association of study of Chinese English was Wang Rongpei,
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) provides an and he offered this definition of Chinese
excellent opportunity to study this, now that English as, “the English used by the Chinese

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 Kirkpatrick: Development of Englishes in Asia
people in China, being based on standard be too busy”). He also identifies the frequent
English and having Chinese use of complex nominalisations in Chinese
characteristics” (1994, p. 7). English with examples such as “A just
Since then, many scholars have debated the concluded two-day rural work conference….”
existence of Chinese English. For example, and “Hu’s remarks demonstrate a down-to-
Jiang (2003) has proposed that “English is earth evaluation of the current generally bright
indeed becoming a Chinese language” and that picture for the nation’s development”.
“the Chinese variety of English will become Xu also considers the discourse and
more and more distinctive as an independent pragmatic features of Chinese English. Again
member of the family of world using real and authentic data, he shows how
Englishes” (2003, p. 7). These studies have Chinese cultural values such as ‘politeness’,
been supported by research into the distinctive ‘face’ and ‘hierarchy’ are realised in Chinese
linguistic features of Chinese English. The most English. He discusses in-depth the concept of
complete and first book-length account of guanxi, and illustrates how the desire to zhao
Chinese English is Xu (2010), from which the guanxi (seek relations), la guanxi (pull
following examples are taken. It is one of the relations) and gao guanxi (manipulate
great strengths of Xu’s book, that his examples relations) are reflected in a short story of Ha
are all drawn from ‘real’ data. Jin, the Chinese writer who writes in English.
The most fruitful source of data for Chinese Xu also notes that, on first meeting, Chinese,
English comes from vocabulary items. Xu unlike the English, who tend to make
identifies categories of Chinese English lexis, comments about the weather, ask and answer
using Kachru’s classification of inner and outer questions on their home towns. He calls this
circles of English as an analogy (see Hilmarsson “ancestral hometown discourse” (2010, p. 127-
-Dunn, 2013, p. 17-18). Inner circle Chinese 133) and gives a series of examples of how this
English words comprise Chinese loanwords and is managed in Chinese English.
loan translations. Examples of loanwords Xu’s work provides strong evidence that it is
include: yamen; dazibao; fengshui; ganbei; possible to talk sensibly about the existence of
Pinyin; pi-pa; and Putonghua. Examples of loan a Chinese variety of English. In addition to
transliterations include: birds’ nest; dragon linguistic features of the type illustrated above,
boat; Cultural Revolution; the reform and a key feature of varieties of English is their
opening up; and the Four Books and Five frequent use of code-mixing, as we saw in the
Classics. examples of Indian English above. In this,
‘Outer circle’ words of Chinese English Chinese English proves no exception. Wei
comprise words whose original meanings have Zhang shows how a “mixed code variety of
shifted to reflect Chinese culture and society. Chinese English” (2012, p. 40) is becoming
Examples include the concept of ‘face’, which increasingly popular, especially among users of
has a very specific meaning in Chinese English. social media. Indeed she even cites one on-line
Further examples of words that have shifted in group who insists that every sentence posted
meaning are Puke, meaning card games in on the site “should be mixed with
general in Chinese English, but a specific card English” (2012, p. 42). This use of mixing by
game in American English, and ‘migrant speakers of Chinese English reflects the
workers’, which, in Chinese English, refers to development of multicultural identities by
people who have migrated from the these speakers. Similar uses of mixed codes,
countryside to the town, but which in British especially in popular culture and the social
English, means workers who have come from media, can be seen in the English used by Asian
overseas. multilinguals across the region.
Xu also identifies and describes in detail a At the same time, however, as China is
number of syntactic constructions which are seeing the rapid rise in the use of English and
representative of Chinese English (2010, p. 60- the simultaneous development of Chinese
106). These include the co-occurrence of English, one scholar has sounded the alarm
connective pairs (“though I’ve been busy for a concerning the apparently paradoxical demise
long time, but I got no time”), subject-pronoun of English departments in Chinese universities.
copying (“one of my roommates, he found it”…) Even as more and more people are learning
and a preference for topic-comment sentence and using English, there has been a steep
structure (“I think being a teacher, the life will decline in students taking English as a major at
English Teaching in China • Issue 5 • August 2014 • 4
Feature
university level (Qu, 2012). The demand from with native speakers” (2014, p. 9). But as the
students has shifted away from traditional Chinese themselves have adequately proved,
aspects of English study, such as literature. there are now many more multilinguals using
Students now see English as a tool that they English for whom English is a learned or
need “in order to facilitate their participation in additional language, than there are native
international business activities” (Qu, 2012, p. speakers of it. The majority of those foreigners
16). As a consequence, the Ministry of in Shanghai are likely to be multilinguals for
Education has revised the syllabus for English whom English is an additional language, and
majors to ensure it meets the “demands of the who use English as a lingua franca. As such,
socialist market economy” (2012, p. 17). As Qu they represent excellent opportunities for
notes, few academics in English departments speakers of Chinese English to engage in
are either interested in or qualified in teaching intercultural communication and develop their
professional English, and he thus predicts an use of English as a lingua franca (ELF). Chinese
unhappy future for English departments in learners of English do not need to rely solely on
Chinese universities, despite the increasing native speakers for their practice. The major
demand for the language. use of English in today’s world is as a lingua
As noted above, the development of English franca and speakers of Chinese English are
in post-colonial societies tends to follow likely to become a vital and vibrant part of the
similarly sequenced phases. As Schneider international ELF community. Chinese English is
(2007, 2010) points out, it is not until phase 4 – here to stay.
the endonormative stage – that the local
indigenous variety becomes accepted as the
norm and classroom model. While it is beyond
the scope of this article to consider whether References
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