THE PLACE OF CHINESE LANGUAGE IN GLOBALIZATION ORDER

Abstract

The Chinese language belongs to a separate branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. It has many dialect groups which include Mandarin, Wu, Min, Cantonese, Hsiang, and Hakka. The standard variety of Chinese is Mandarin Chinese, popularly called ‘Putonghua’ literally meaning ‘common speech’. The Mandarin Chinese, like other languages across the globe, has criticized the global dominance of English for suppressing other languages and monopolizing the world’s information. English language was promoted in 19th and 20th centuries by Britain and United States. In 21st century, China is seriously promoting Chinese language to contend with the English language. This study is aimed at the promotion of Chinese language in the present globalization order. This research adopts a qualitative research method and secondary source for data collection. This study concludes in agreement with Zheng (2019) that the promotion of Chinese language (and culture) learning by Confucius Institute has been successful in creating a positive image of China and attracting learners despite the challenges and criticisms. The researchers see Mandarin Chinese as the language of the 21st century and recommend it to all and sundry.