From Promotion to Criticism: Shifting Attitudes towards English Language Teaching in Chinese Official Media

Since the 1980s, English language proficiency has been considered as a crucial tool for China’s modernization and economic development and has been actively promoted within the country’s educational system. However, the status enjoyed by the English language has become a debated topic within Chinese society in recent years, with even representatives openly suggesting a reduction of the importance attached to it. This topic has therefore been discussed also in Chinese official media, and, ever since 2013, significant space has been given to voices who are critical towards English and its supposed dreaded negative effects on Chinese society. This contribution analyzes the representation of the public debate about English language teaching in Chinese official media. The aim is to reveal a substantial shift in public sentiment towards it. Relying on the qualitative analysis based on critical discourse analysis of a corpus of articles published between 2013 and 2023, this contribution particularly examines how social meanings and attitudes towards the English language are produced and promoted in them. In doing so, it attempts to contribute to the academic discussion on the relationship between education policies, public consensus, and media in China.