China English And Cultural Empathy

With the globalization of economy and the popularization of Internet, interculturalcommunication between nations is becoming more and more frequent. As the common languageof international exchange, English will be inevitable collided with and even merged with thelocal languages and cultures. So the phenomenon of globalization and localization of Englishcoexist, and then the phenomenon of multiculturalism against cultural imperialism is subsequent.Globalization of English has brought English varieties. Meanwhile, with the improvementof China’s international position, the influence of Chinese language and culture in the world isgrowing increasingly. In the context of Chinese culture, the phenomenon of EnglishGlobalization naturally existed. Chinese English and China English might be the product of it inChinese cultural background. Although the dispute that whether or not China English is anEnglish variety is still continuing, this English form with Chinese specific language and culturecharacteristics are gradually accepted by the world community, and more and more people payattention to it.China English plays an irreplaceable role in intercultural communication. It offers acommunicational platform for crossing the English-Chinese cultural gap and vacancy. ChinaEnglish transmits specific Chinese cultures, notions and phenomenon with the help of thetranslation means—transliteration, loan translation, semantic regeneration and paraphrase to theworld through mass media. Meanwhile, the communicational barriers come along with itbecause of the cultural differences. There arrived some critical and necessary questions such as,how to make China English play an active role in intercultural communication and how to makeit take the responsibility of both transmitting typical Chinese culture and letting the outsideworld know more about intercultural communication successfully. Moreover, for the purpose ofanother important thing is the active and positive attitude i.e. the tolerance and acceptance of theEnglish natives towards China English. Thus, how to answer these questions? For language users,the pivotal issue is to find out the effective strategies and nurture the competence of interculturalcommunication that can benefit both the communicational partners.In consideration of the specific functions that China English plays in internationalcommunication, this thesis mainly focuses on the analysis of the Chinese cultural elements thatimplied in China English and the related ambiguous phenomenon that appeared in translating the Chinese particular cultures by examples. In addition, the negative effects of China English inintercultural communication are also mentioned. And then, some suggestions are provided fordealing with the cultural barriers caused by China English, that is, to cultivate multiculturalideology and develop cultural empathy. The purpose of this thesis is much but not miscellaneous.One of it is to help redress the improper English teaching phenomenon which just emphasizes onthe English native’s cultures ignoring the education of Chinese cultures in China. And the secondis to help Chinese learners of English develop the ability to identify the different characteristicsof cultures and languages. The last but not least one is to urge English users in China and in theEnglish native countries to improve cultural empathy in intercultural communication and take adetached attitude to China English so as to serve for the achievement of interdirectional andequal communication between China and the outside world.To some extent, China English, especially the part accepted by the international community,is the product of cultural empathy. And cultural empathy will maximize the role of China Englishin intercultural communication.Nowadays, in the environment of multiculturalism, the Globalization of English shouldembrace tolerance and respect, just as one proverb in China says‘The vast ocean which admitshundreds of rivers’. It is no denied that the disputes about the Chinese English and China Englishare still continuing but the fact cannot be neglected China English and some of the used-to-beChinese English have been accepted by the English natives and non-natives speakers. It isbelieved that more related researches on China English will push forward the systematization ofChina English and its position in world language will be gradually established.