Role of Learner Autonomy and Students’ Perception in Legitimizing China English as A Variety of English

Abstract

Background/Objectives: China English, distinct from Chinese English or Chinglish, is struggling to get legitimized as a variety of the English language, despite many its users globally.  The current study investigated the moderating effect of learner autonomy on the relationship between learner’s attitude and learner’s perception and China English (CE) as a variety of the English language. Methods/Statistical analysis: A questionnaire-based research design and utilized Pearson correlation analysis to test the hypotheses and SPSS-20 to analyze the data. The sample size was 120 Chinese EFL students who had studied at least one English course. Findings: The findings revealed that learner autonomy is enhanced due to the use of CE in classroom. This positive phenomenon was also noticed in the correlation between learner’s attitude and learner’s perception resulting in a high acceptance of CE as a variety of the English language. Improvements/Applications: This finding will give a positive thrust to the legitimizing issue of China English as a member of World Englishers. It may also contribute to the critical debate that is ongoing to change CE’s status from a foreign language to China’s own language and its users as Native speakers.  Future studies can explore teachers’ attitude towards CE and its influence on L2 teaching in China.