Together with Dr. Alison Edwards from the University of Leiden and Tang Xiaoyan from Beijing Foreign Studies University I am working on a project investigating attitudes to English in China. English has played a limited role on the Chinese mainland since it was dominated by European powers in the 19th century and later as a taught foreign language. Over the last two decades, knowledge of English has become much more important in China, in tandem with the country's rise on the world stage and its economic liberalisation. Knowledge of English also became much more important in centrally administered school exams (the Gaokao) and a government-led drive to encourage the study of English reached a peak with the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
However, English is still much less widely understood and, especially, spoken, than in many non-Anglo Western countries. It can be difficult to ask for directions in English even in downtown Shanghai or Beijing, let alone in less metropolitan areas. We are thus interested in how attitudes to English in China, where knowledge of English spread relatively recently and is still limited, compare to attitudes in Germany and the Netherlands, where knowledge of English is much more entrenched both historically and in the scope of the phenomenon.
Questions of language use and language attitudes often cause controversy. Should English be more widely taught in China or is too much emphasis being placed on it already? Does teaching English imply the spread of Western culture or can the language be rid of its cultural associations? Do enough people in China speak English and do they speak it well enough? Your voice counts in these matters. This survey gives you a chance to share your opinion.
We are interested in when people in China use English and what their attitudes to using English in certain contexts are. If you live in China, no matter your level of English, we invite to share your opinions with us and complete the survey at <link> The survey is available in English and Putonghua.