Overview
- Offers an analysis of the macro-acquisition of Chinese and its implications for the future of English as a global language
- Draws together a wide range of existing and original data, including interviews with language learners
- Places the current interest in Chinese language learning within the changing geopolitical context of today’s world
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About this book
This book investigates the macroacquisition of Chinese – its large-scale acquisition and adoption for various purposes by individuals, governments and organisations – and the implications of this process for the future of English as a global language. The author contextualises the macroacquisition of Chinese within the global ecology of languages, then analyses the factors responsible for the macroacquisition of Chinese, showing, in contrast to most academic and popular commentary, that a character-based writing system will not stop Chinese from becoming a global language. He then articulates three possible future scenarios: English remaining a dominant global language, English and Chinese both being global languages, and Chinese becoming a global language instead of English. The book concludes by outlining directions for further research on the acquisition and use of Chinese around the world. It will be of interest to students and scholars with an interest in English as a global language, Chinese as a second/foreign language, language education policy, and applied linguistics more generally.
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Keywords
- English as a Lingua Franca (ELF)
- Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
- English as a Second Language (ESL)
- English as a Foreign Language (EFL)
- Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (TCSOL)
- language education policy
- Belt and Road Initiative
- macroacquisition
- soft power
- intercultural communication
- english
- chinese
Table of contents (8 chapters)
Reviews
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Jeffrey Gil is a Senior Lecturer in ESOL/TESOL at Flinders University, Australia. He has also taught at universities in China. Jeffrey has published widely on applied linguistics topics and is the author of Soft Power and the Worldwide Promotion of Chinese Language Learning: The Confucius Institute Project (2017).
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The Rise of Chinese as a Global Language
Book Subtitle: Prospects and Obstacles
Authors: Jeffrey Gil
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76171-4
Publisher: Palgrave Pivot Cham
eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-76170-7Published: 08 June 2021
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-76171-4Published: 07 June 2021
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIII, 186
Number of Illustrations: 2 b/w illustrations, 8 illustrations in colour
Topics: Applied Linguistics, English, Chinese, Language Teaching, Globalization