Doctoral Thesis
Tertiary Students of English in Greater China: Stories and Interpretations of Language and Identity
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Murdoch University
2025
Abstract
In the late 1970s, China adopted the policy of Reform and Opening up after decades of isolation from the rest of the world. Since then, College English (CE) teaching to non-English major undergraduates has shouldered the responsibility of producing personnel capable of communicating with the international community. However, CE teaching has been increasingly criticised as producing what is commonly referred to in China as ‘deaf and dumb’ English, and English learners suffer in the areas of listening and speaking. Although multiple CE reforms have been implemented, little progress has been achieved. Inspired by the researcher’ s own experiences of English learning and English use, this qualitative study takes a personal perspective and investigates the engagement of non-English major participants with English, in terms of how they learn and use English at university and beyond.
The project examines the development of participants’ identities as English language users (both undergraduate and postgraduate). Adopting a multiple narrative design, the study recounts stories of the researcher and the researched, against a backdrop of China’s grand narrative of modernisation and global connectedness. Data were collected via co-constructed narrative conversations between participants and the researcher. Through Reflexive Thematic Analysis and Short Story Analysis, the study finds that Western pedagogical approaches that CE teachers wished to apply collided with the Chinese culture of learning due to epistemological differences. Participants were generally disconnected from the concepts of English use, identity and interculturality. Participants viewed CE learning as pointless and commented that they had learned ‘dead’ English, merely aiming to increase exam scores fast, over short periods of time. The reliance of participants on translation software further hindered them from using English for meaningful purposes.
Details
- Title
- Tertiary Students of English in Greater China: Stories and Interpretations of Language and Identity
- Authors/Creators
- Min Cao
- Contributors
- Wendy Cumming-Potvin (Supervisor) - Murdoch University, School of EducationLindy Norris (Supervisor)Anne Price (Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Murdoch University; Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Identifiers
- 991005795471907891
- Murdoch Affiliation
- School of Education
- Resource Type
- Doctoral Thesis
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