Across 40 Years: A Bibliometric Analysis of the Chinese English Scholarship (1980–2020)

Abstract

This study documents the dynamic evolution of Chinese English Scholarship spanning 40 years from its birth to the present. In an attempt to investigate the current status (synchronically) and developmental trajectory (diachronically) of Chinese English scholarship in 1980 to 2020, this study surveyed the bibliographical, theoretical, methodological, and thematic state of Chinese English literature manifested in an analytical framework of six parameters (geographic distribution, publication outlets, citations, research approaches, research methods and research strands) by adopting a thorough bibliometric analysis subsequent to careful and meticulous coding in terms of the six parameters of Chinese English scholarship. The results showed that Chinese English scholarship has displayed distinctive distribution patterns and chronological trends in the bibliographical, theoretical, methodological, and thematic dimensions of literature, based on which, the study sketched a few directions for advancement of future research agendas such as a more globalized researcher profile, a wider range of hosting disciplines, greater heterogeneity of theoretical approaches, stronger methodological rigor and a much balanced scenario of research strands. The study is useful in portraying an overarching disciplinary landscape for Chinese English research and providing the basic reference statistics for possible comparisons to be conducted across regionalized varieties and for more general conclusions to be made about the state of scholarship on world Englishes.