Introduction
China Footnote 1 has 56 ethnic nationalities, but the overwhelming majority of its 1.3 billion population are Han nationality. The other 55 ethnic minorities have a combined population of slightly more than 100 million, or less than 10% of the total ( http://news.xinhuanet.com/ziliao/2003‐01/18/content_695284.htm). There are more than 80 languages and over 30 of them have written forms. The language of Han, which is generally known as “ Chinese” Footnote 2, is the only official language in China.
English education took roots in China as early as the mid‐nineteenth century and in 1902 English was stipulated as a required course in high schools (Fu, 1986). Although China has undergone tremendous political and social changes in the following hundred years and more, having transformed itself from a monarchy into a republic, the status of English as a required course in the Chinese educational system has basically remained unchanged. Technically speaking, however, English is a...
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Notes
- 1.
The English-Chinese bilingual education under review in this chapter applies to all the provinces and regions in China excepting Hong Kong Special Administration Region, Macao, and Taiwan, Hence “China” as used in this chapter refers to Mainland China.
- 2.
Traditionally, Han language has been translated as Mandarin or Mandarin Chinese.
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Yu, L. (2008). English–Chinese Bilingual Education in China. In: Hornberger, N.H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Language and Education. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30424-3_124
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