Language and political economy

In the current context of globalization and late capitalism, the relationship between language and economy has received renewed interest in sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology. Generally speaking, two inter-related questions have been asked. First, how does the new economy bring about, or require, new functionality of language? Second, to what extent is language used in exchange for material gains? At the risk of providing sweeping answers, we can summarize the current research findings as ‘linguicisation of the economy’ (Pujolar, Reference Pujolar and Heller2007: 73) and ‘commodification of language’ (Heller, Reference Heller2003). On the one hand, with the tertiarization of the world economy (Duchêne and Heller, Reference Duchêne and Heller2011), language and communication have become important aspects of work in this information age. On the other, we witness emerging public discourses which reframe language in its economic instead of demographic senses. In the case of the English language, however, the commodification of this language presents a more complicated picture for socio-historical and political reasons. The issue has been examined from various critical perspectives, most notably with Robert Phillipson's (Reference Phillipson1992) paradigm-shifting Linguistic Imperialism, which aroused keen debate. A glimpse into the literature suggests that perhaps no language evokes such enthusiastic or vehement labeling as the English language – ‘the (an) international language’, ‘killer language’, ‘imperialist/capitalist language’, ‘lingua franca’, ‘a world language’, ‘a global language’, or ‘Englishes’, with each term loaded with different sociopolitical implications. English has historically been associated with capitalist expansion or exploration after the Industrial Revolution in China (Bolton, 2002; Mok, Reference Mok1974). However, in this age of late capitalism, power relations are demonstrated in ways different from the former colonial and neo-colonial discourses, because ‘the national and imperial markets set up in previous centuries still operate, but they are re-framed as collaborative rather than hierarchical and as aimed at economic development and competition rather than at serving the national or the imperial center’ (Heller, Reference Heller2010: 103). Thus, ‘in the neo-neo-colonial project’ the focus needs to be ‘less on the language teaching and translation that was the hallmark of earlier forms of empire (although those remain) than on relegitimizing those activities and constructing new subjectivities’ (Heller, Reference Heller2010: 106).

English as symbolic capital

China is definitely the largest English education market in the world (The Independent, 29 August, 2009). From kindergarten children to office workers, learning English is a national pursuit and practicing spoken English a national exercise. While no precise figure is available on how much China spends on learning English, news reports sometimes provide a glimpse of how lucrative the market is, and, according to some sources, the former English teacher Yu Minhong now boasts a personal fortune of some 121 million US dollars, as the founder of the famous English education chain of schools, the New Oriental chain (Sohu, 11 February, 2009).

While this enthusiastic pursuit of English can often be explained by the clichéd rhetoric of English as the language for international communication, English means much more than a lingua franca. The gatekeeping function of English in China from primary education to professional promotion has made English a barometer of one's potential for future development, which means English not only filters out those ‘unsuccessful’ English learners from valuable opportunities, but stratifies Chinese people through the unequal distribution of social benefits based on one's English competence as they try to move up the social ladder. Thus while the national craze for English is always a topic of debate, leading Han Han, a social critic, to ask 我们 Chinese 总不能拿英语互相问路到长城怎么走吧? [‘Shall we Chinese use English to ask each other which is the way to the Great Wall?’], English as a symbolic capital, loaded with (or promising) social prestige and benefits, cannot be easily deprived of its magic (Bourdieu, Reference Bourdieu1993).

In the national context of contemporary China, where English as a social stratifier is closely linked with social upward mobility and modernist imaginings, two observations can be made: first, the importance of English in personal development boosts the commodification of English and thus the industrialization of English education, contributing to the proliferation of private English education enterprises; second, for the very same reason, English has come to function as a stylistic resource indexing personal social status. This article seeks to illustrate these two points by introducing one case in which the English language has been appropriated to construct an English Corner as part of the local tourism economy, or so-called ‘educational tourism’, in Yangshuo County, southern China. This case thus (1) illuminates attempts at stretching the functionality of language in the new economy, and, more importantly, (2) indicates how English in its current stage of development has somehow retained its hegemonic power, but in a more covert form.

From rural neighborhood to English Corner: a brief history of Yangshuo

West Street (Xi Jie) used to be a small neighborhood in Yangshuo town, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China. Its existence can be traced back to the Song Dynasty, featuring Ming-Qing architecture style houses. It is named geographically after its location on the west bank of the famous Li River, which has long been acclaimed in historical Chinese literature as the ‘top beauty under heaven’. Since the early 1980s, when tourism was revived as part of China's Open-up and Reform policy after the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), Yangshuo started to attract foreign travelers because of its natural beauty, and the County gradually went through economic restructuring from the traditional agriculture to tourism industry. The special natural scenery of Karst mountains and rivers soon started to gain popularity as ‘one of the destinations every backpacker has at least heard of before they set foot on China’ (China Lonely Planet, 1998: 774). Meanwhile, West Street residents also started to run some small family business, like hotels and restaurants, catering to foreign travelers who disembarked on the street from their long journey on the River. Pretty soon, this little street with its convenient food and accommodation became a popular gathering place for backpackers after their exploration of the countryside and villages. As the tourism guidebook Lonely Planet notes, ‘With its western-style cafes, Hollywood movies, Bob Marley tunes and banana pancakes, Yangshuo may not seem like the “real China”, but who cares? It's a great spot to relax, see the scenery and grab a good cup of coffee – the perfect antidote to weeks or months on the road’ (China Lonely Planet, 1998: 774).

As can be expected, the development of international tourism has made it necessary for the locals to know some English for business services. Most of them actually were able to pick up the language during their interaction with foreign travelers. However, while this use of English in tourism sites can be a quite commonplace observation among non-English speaking tourism sites, Yangshuo is actually quite special in its economic strategies during its later development. Since the early 1990s, as China's English education underwent privatization and marketization in this national craze towards English mentioned earlier, learning English has become more of a personal investment instead of just being a school subject. Under this national ideological environment, Yangshuo with its large number of international tourists and English-speaking locals started a process of re-positioning, transforming and integrating itself into the larger English market. Thus from the late 1990s, the instrumental function of the English language as a tool of communication with international tourists started to be reframed in a more pragmatic sense by utilizing it for constructing an ‘English Corner’ in China. One popular joke widely circulating there helps testify to some extent how such a presumably authentic English learning environment could possibly improve one's English competence significantly:

In 1998 the first English Summer Camp was initiated as a strategy to attract Chinese tourists as English learners. Its fame as an English Corner, however, only started to be established when Crazy English, an already famous English teaching and training brand nationally, joined in the organization of the Summer Camp the next year. The Camp was supposed to be a collective English learning activity during the summer holiday, aimed at Chinese people from all over China. It needs to be mentioned that as a private English education brand in China, Crazy English is fairly unusual, and actually popular, in its teaching philosophy by encouraging students to speak, if not shout, English without the fear of losing face (see Bolton, Reference Bolton2003). The publicity drive with Crazy English thus helped Yangshuo gain its fame overnight as the largest English Corner in China, attracting thousands of English learners from all over China.

During the English Summer Camp of 1999, students were encouraged to practice English by seizing every interactional opportunity: the local restaurants, bars, cafés frequented by foreign travelers were put to their fullest use, promoted as places where people could practice their English in an authentic setting. It was seen that language education could be a profitable enterprise, and the local government started to support the industrialization of English education on a larger scale as an important part of the local tourism economy. The so-called ‘education tourism’ thus became a new tourism attraction, targeted at middle class Chinese with a tuition fee far beyond the average income of the local residents. English-language learning actually became such a profitable industry that by 2003 there were 26 foreign language schools in the area. Statistics show that, from 2004 to 2009, Yangshuo attracted a total of more than 50,000 English learners, along with whom came more than 200,000 friends and relatives as tourists (Jiang, Reference Jiang, Tang and Xianzhong2009: 59). What differentiates Yangshuo from other English learning environments is its emphasis on developing communicative competence in a presumably authentic learning environment, facilitated by English-speaking locals, international tourists, western cafés and bars, as well as a locally-organized Christmas Party and Beer Festival every year.

English educational tourism

As indicated earlier, one important factor in authentic English learning as promoted is the opportunity to speak with foreigners. Thus one way in which the schools attract students is to recruit tourists as foreign teachers, as illustrated by Figure 2. In contrast to many other job advertisements, teaching positions are usually advertised in a popular location for tourists, or in some popular travel websites like Couchsurfing. For foreign travelers, teaching at Yangshuo can be a convenient choice for free accommodation and meals, visa extension, and in some cases extra money. It is noticeable that native speakers from Inner Circle countries (Kachru, Reference Kachru1986) are the preferred teachers, though foreign tourists from outer circles are also considered on a case-by-case basis.

Figure 1.

Geographical location of Yangshuo County, Guilin City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, P. R. China (Accessed from Google Maps, June 7, 2012)

Figure 2.

A school recruitment advertisement on the street (Photo courtesy Shuang Gao)

As to pedagogical practices, while there must be specific variations at different schools, all the schools actually hold a similar teaching philosophy by promoting interaction with foreigners as an effective learning strategy. Thus in their advertisement to potential students, this interactional opportunity is emphasized:

The importance of English is justified by a short yet quite striking slogan right on the school's front window, which says ‘Success in English, Success in Life’, reflecting the Chinese mentality which links English to a promise of upward social mobility (Figure 3).

Figure 3.

‘Success in English, Success in Life’. Photo by Gao Shuang ©

Actually, at the school district of Yangshuo, where quite a number of English language schools are located, huge eye-catching slogans are painted on the wall alongside the streets, for example, ‘Enjoy speaking English all the time’ (as in Figure 4); ‘You're always stronger than you think, remember to stand tall and never lose confidence’. These slogans not only help reproduce an image of an English-speaking town, but also to some extent encourage participation.

Figure 4.

‘Enjoy speaking English all the time’. Photo by Gao Shuang ©

Thus Chinese tourists, even those not registered at local schools, actually help live up to the reputation of Yangshuo as a large English Corner by trying to strike up an English conversation with foreign travelers they happen to meet on the street. During the summer season in particular, it is quite easy to spot a group of Chinese people approaching foreigners in order to talk in English, as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5.

Talking with foreigners in the street

Mama Moon: A language celebrity

The image of English Corner is further strengthened by constructing what can be called a ‘language celebrity’. A local woman in her 60s, nicknamed Mama Moon, has been made an icon of an English-speaking Yangshuo. Various media, locally and nationally, have reported on her achievement in learning English, and her competence in the language was also used to valorize the effectiveness of the English Corner, so that even less educated grannies from rural villages could successfully master the language. Her photo has even appeared in one local school's advertisement to help promote its courses, as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6.

Mama Moon

This projected image has great appeal for Chinese tourists, who treat Mama Moon as a celebrity and are eager to meet her, as shown in the following story about her that was recently published on the Internet: