A Study Of University Students' Attitudes Towards China English Within The Framework Of World Englishes

The conceptualization of World Englishes (WE) within a sociolinguistic framework has led to the multiple cultural identities of the English language and gradual attitudinal change of standard and norm of the English language at linguistic and pragmatic levels. With the diversification of the standard of English and the accumulation of descriptive researches of English varieties, the attitudinal studying of WE has become one of the important fields in sociolinguistics. Language attitude is the representation of multi-cultural awareness as well as a part of cultural identification (Garrett,2007). In Outer Circle and Expanding Circle countries, many scholars are gradually carrying out researches of attitude towards English varieties and cultural identity.As a member of WE family, China English (CE) is the localization of English in Chinese socio-cultural context as well as a powerful complement to and enrichment of WE. Up till now, most scholars show positive attitudes towards CE and view it as the developmental necessity of English in Chinese socio-cultural context. It can indicate Chinese cultural identity while accords with the internationalization of English. Recently, the attitudinal researches of CE are gradually implemented and start to jump out of the academic circle and focus on the university learners and users of English to investigate their attitudes towards English varieties including China English and cultural identity of a particular variety.Upon the mobility of language resource and trans-cultural flow under internationalization of education, language attitude and cultural identity become more complex. Glocal identity of regional Englishes is gradually pursued by local English users. Cultivation of trans-cultural citizens is increasingly becoming the objective of ELT. It is especially true for students in multi-cultural and internationalized educational environment. Sino-Foreign cooperative education project integrates the cultural and educational essence of the west and the east to produce world citizens with multi-cultural awareness and intercultural mindsets. Attitude survey of students from Sino-Foreign cooperative education project towards CE and cultural identity is rarely involved, let alone making a comparison with that of students in usual mode of university education in previous researches.Based on previous researches which explore attitudes of domestic university volunteers in international events towards English varieties, this study takes Southeast University (SEU) and Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) as examples and attempts to explore and compare students' attitudes towards CE within the framework of WE. By means of questionnaire survey and interviews, students' awareness of diversity of English and attitudes towards CE and its cultural identity will be explored. Three research questions are thus put forward:(1) How students from XJLTU and SEU are aware of World Englishes, including notion of standard English and English varieties respectively? (2) What are attitudes of students from XJTLU and SEU towards China English and its lexical, potential syntactic and pragmatic features respectively? (3) What are attitudes of students from XJTLU and SEU towards the cultural identity of China English respectively?The findings showed that:(1) students from two universities had different awareness of World Englishes (WE). There were significant cognitive differences of Standard English (SE) and future standardization of varieties among students from two universities. XJLTU students were more aware of the concept of WE and were less likely to acknowledge SE with relatively more awareness of English varieties. They were also more optimistic of future standardization of regional varieties; SEU students more stuck to SE but recognized English varieties. Students from both universities seemed to be unimpressed by the phenomenon of glocalization of English and had strong awareness of cultural diversities of English varieties; (2) students from two universities tended to have different attitudes towards CE. At the macro-level, XJTLU students were slightly positive of CE, while SEU students were relatively negative of CE. As the micro level, students from both universities had strong identification with CE lexis but generally rejected the potential syntactic features of spoken CE. XJTLU students opposed the variation of address term in Chinese socio-cultural context while SEU students slightly supported it. Students were also optimistic of the future of CE due to its large population of English learners and users with XJTLU students showing more confidence; (3) students from SEU and XJTLU held positive attitudes towards Chinese identity of CE and thought that CE helped disseminate Chinese culture. They did not want to sound Chinese while speaking English but supported the teaching of Chinese cultures in ELT to promote cultural self-confidence.Implications of this study are as follows:firstly, it is impending to cultivate students' proper outlook on the factual social and linguistic profile of English and promote their awareness of World Englishes and English varieties to appreciate cultural differences; secondly, the development and use of CE in Chinese socio-cultural context provide users of CE with opportunities for bilingual creativity so as to express unique concepts in Chinese socio-culture and enrich the English language; lastly, the use of CE can help raise China' English learners' and users' awareness of their Chinese identity and enhance Chinese cultural self-confidence.