Describe Differences Between Chinglish And English

Name:
Institution:
Course Title:
Instructor:
Date:
The Differences between Chinglish and English
Introduction
Language is an important tool for communication. There are various languages that are currently being used worldwide. English is among these languages used in many countries across the world. According to Fengjie and Yingying (275), Chinglish refers to an inter-lingua error reflecting the Chinese language’s influence Chinese English learners’ proficiency in speaking and writing English. As such, these learners are influenced by Chinese mother tongue in their thinking patterns. In other words, the Chinese English learners adopt the Chinese language’s thinking patters while speaking and writing English. The influence of their mother tongue has a negative influence on acquiring skills in reading, writing and speaking English. As Fengjie and Yingying (275) argues, the Chinese English learners often apply the Chinese habits and rules resulting in inadequate passages and sentences or “twisted English that violates the English cultural backgrounds” (Fengjie & Yingying 275). This means that Chinglish is not a language in itself but rather it is the twisted English resulting from the influence of Chinese on English learners. It refers to interfering language variants that are used in inter-cultural communication. Linguistic scholars have identified such interference in almost all aspects of words as reflected in the English learners English words as well as cultures and thoughts (Fengjie & Yingying 275). To this end, it is evident that Chinglish is “unnatural English” resulting from the Chinese thinking and verbal patterns. This phenomenon is most common among beginners in the study of English. Wang (28) asserts that studies on English learning in China have been largely focused on the native-speaker Englishes while paying little attention to English language’s non-native varieties. In an attempt to bridge this gap in literature, this review examines the key differences between English language and Chinglish.
Background Information Relating to English and Chinglish
English is regarded as a global language as it is used by nearly all countries across the world. It is used and learned in China in order to fulfill international the needs relating to international communication (Wang, 28). Moreover, English is also used widely over the Internet and in multinational companies and international conferences. English is also regarded as a lingua franca. According to Brosch (71), “the term of lingua franca “has been subject to a continually inconsistent and changing usage in sociological and linguistic literature” (p. 71). Lingua franca refers to a contact language used by people in order to overcome the challenges associated with communication barrier (Majanen, 2008). As such, English as a lingua franca refers to the use of English as a common communication language among people whose native first languages are different.
However, some scholars contend that the native-English variety’s roles may not function properly within the Chinese socio-cultural network (Wang 28). This observation by linguistic scholars signals the need to adopt other n...