Chinese women professionals’ experiences of English in a changing China: Four stories of English language and cultural development.

This paper presents a longitudinal perspective on the use of English in professional contexts, by exploring the experience of Chinese women professionals working in the medium of English in the UK and in China. The narrative data of the language and study experience were collected from four mainland Chinese graduates recruited against international competition and employed by international companies. Contextualised within the rapid changes in Chinese society that have taken place since the 1980s, stories of their personal journeys – from rural to urban, and from family network to international organisation – are discussed in relation to the insights of how individuals handle key shifts in identity, the development of inter-cultural awareness, and pragmatic and linguistic competence.

The qualitative interview results provide rich insights into themes that appear stable across three decades – the valuing of effort, the influence of formal examinations, the relationship with an inspirational teacher and role models – and those that may reflect the dramatic changes that have taken place in China through the lives of these women. While locating their life story narratives within influential changes in their home country, a particular shift for which some evidence can be seen may be in the attitudes to English overall: from being a marker of independence or rebellion to an accepted tool for global citizenship.

This paper, instead of putting a preselected attributes of success in language learning and use ‘under the microscope’, draws on a longitudinal approach to focusing on the gradual process of attaining advanced second language and literacy competencies and orienting the debate towards the relationship between language competence and academic/career pathways. It is suggested that the development of English language skills are seen not simply as levels of proficiency, but as embedded within the social, practical, and effective factors that the narrative approach is particularly able to probe.