FEI YUAN (HARBIN ENGINEERING UNIVERSITY)

ABOLISHING ENGLISH AS A MAJOR SUBJECT IN CHINA: A SOCIETAL PERSPECTIVE TOWARDS LANGUAGE POLICY : LANGUAGE PLANNING AND LANGUAGE POLICY

This paper delves into the contentious issue of Abolishing English as a Major Subject in China's education system from a societal perspective, particularly focusing on the controversial opinions on its removal-raised questions about its societal impact, educational goals, and international competitiveness. By collecting posts and comments of “Abolishing English as a Major Subject” on Sina Microblog, a hot-spot event related to language policy, this study adopts Bourdieu's capital theory as the analytical framework and investigates how language policies intersect with societal values, economic aspirations, and educational equity. The results show that netizens have mainly adopted social capital, economic capital and educational capital to support or oppose “Abolishing English as a Major Subject”, concerning four major themes: language and culture, education and resources, nation and development, and scientific technology and information. By critically assessing the implications of abolishing English as a major subject, this study contributes to the ongoing discourse on language policy and education reform in China and beyond.

Fei YUAN, associate professor of Harbin Engineering University, focusing on English teaching and foreign language policy study for over 20 years.