Describe Differences Between Chinglish And English

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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 non-native English varieties in the country, preferably Chinglish. However, the adoption of non-native varieties of English may never be possible given that Low (L)-variety code (language register, dialect or language) is discouraged in many societies in favor of High (H)-variety code (Yoong & Chye 1). In this regard, native English is regarded as the High (H)-variety code while Chinglish is regarded as the Low (L)-variety code. As such, individuals who use non-native varieties of English such as Chinglish are frowned upon as corrupting English.
As mentioned earlier, Chinglish refers to an inter-lingua error reflecting the Chinese language’s influence Chinese English learners’ proficiency in speaking and writing English (Fengjie & Yingying 275). This “unnatural English” has not been tolerated in the Chinese schools and learning institutions despite its widespread use in the country. As Wang (28) claims, “Chinglish has for a long time frowned upon in English classes in China.” Learners who use Chinglish are said to have a bad command of native or Standard English. Nevertheless, it is impossible to prevent widespread usage of Chinglish both in the public and English classes. Notably, the majority of English users including instructors of English use Chinglish in their respective speeches (Wang 29). The popular usage of Chinglish in the country has resulted in its widespread acceptability. This popular usage of Chinglish has necessitated both the users of English and teachers alike to rethink on their attitude towards Standard English and Chinglish in the country. Additionally, it has also attracted the interest of various linguistic scholars in the sense that it has created an emerging field of study.
Despite the fact that studies on Chinglish is on their nascent stage, more and more linguistic scholars has developed renewed interests in the subject matter. In universities for instance, learners of English “no longer accepts completely what their teachers teach them” (Wang 29). Despite the fact that these learners have increased access to English and more knowledge regarding English nations and their respective culture than their instructors, they are developing a different attitude towards the use of English in China. They use Chinglish in chatting with fellow students. However, this renewed attitude towards English does not lead to linguistic favor. This is because Chinglish still remains low on the so-called attitudinal scale despite its widespread usage (Wang 29). On the positive note, some linguistic scholars contend that Chinglish is slowly developing into a non-native English variety in China.
Differences between the Two Languages
The major difference between English and Chinglish is that the former is recognized globally while the latter in used among Chinese English learners in English classes and in the public domain. The difference in the popularity of the two languages stems from the fact that English has been used as a lingua franca for several decades while Chinglish is at its nascent stage. Similarly, unlike English which has a huge number of studies focusing on its various aspects, Chinglish has attracted the attention of linguistic scholars within the past few years. The implication of this is that li...