Between Native-Speaker Ideology and Local Linguistic Identity: Chinese Students’ Attitudes towards Standard English and Chinese English in the Context of English as a Lingua Franca

Abstract Book of the 10th International Conference on Advanced Research in Education

Year: 2026

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Between Native-Speaker Ideology and Local Linguistic Identity: Chinese Students’ Attitudes towards Standard English and Chinese English in the Context of English as a Lingua Franca

Mingjie Ye

ABSTRACT:

The global spread of English has challenged the assumption that native-speaker English should be the only legitimate model for English language teaching. In China, however, Standard English, often associated with British or American English, continues to influence classroom materials, assessment practices, and learners’ beliefs about proficiency. This study investigates Chinese postgraduate students’ attitudes towards Standard English and Chinese English within an English as a lingua franca (ELF) context. Drawing on a mixed-methods design, the study analysed 76 questionnaire responses and five semi-structured interviews with Chinese students studying in the United Kingdom who had completed their undergraduate education in mainland China. The findings show that participants continued to regard native-speaker English as a desirable model, especially in relation to accent, grammar, and perceived linguistic authority. At the same time, they displayed increasing recognition of Chinese English as familiar, meaningful, and communicatively useful. Nevertheless, many remained reluctant to be identified as Chinese English speakers, suggesting an unresolved tension between intelligibility, identity, and Standard English ideology. By foregrounding this tension, the study contributes to discussions of language attitudes and cross-cultural English communication. The paper argues that English language teaching in China should adopt a more ELF-aware orientation by retaining the pedagogical usefulness of Standard English while broadening learners’ exposure to diverse Englishes, local identity, and communicative effectiveness.

Keywords: English As A Lingua Franca; Standard English Ideology; Chinese English; Language Attitudes; English Language Teaching