English in China in the 2020s-2030s: Potential changes in attitudes and practices?

As China continues to develop, how might its relationship with the English language continue to develop? This presentation tries to conduct an initial theoretical exploration of dimensions in which China’s attitudes and practices relating to the English language may develop in the near future, considering a range of issues including the following. First, the amount of time and resource allocated to English language learning in the education system may reduce. Second, the importance allocated to scores from English language assessments among decision-makers (at schools, universities, and employers) may reduce. Third, the style of assessments used for English language assessments may become more “communicative”, thus leading to improvements in speaking, writing, and general communicative competence. Fourth, the criteria used for evaluating use of English – both in formal English language assessments and in informal decisions by employers – may change so as to de-emphasize “native speaker” norms derived from North American and British varieties of English. Fifth, other changes in society – domestically and overseas – may lead to a change in the types of motivation most common among China’s English language learners. Sixth, China’s leadership in the so-called “fourth industrial revolution” may lead to significantly greater use of computer-mediated communication as relates to English.