Soft Power and the Worldwide Promotion of Chinese Language Learning

Reviews / Votes

Jeffrey Gil's critical review of China's attempt to gain further influence on the world's politico-economic stage through promoting Chinese as a global language is a timely contribution that has wide-ranging implications for policy and practice. Its international perspective in particular marks it out among the emerging body of literature on the proliferation of Confucius Institutes worldwide. * Li Wei, UCL Institute of Education, UK * The rapid expansion of Confucius Institutes promoting the learning of Chinese language and culture around the world mirrors the meteoric rise of China in recent times. In his thoughtful, balanced and accessible book, Jeffrey Gil skillfully evaluates the impact of these Institutes as a conduit for the development of China's soft power. * Bob Adamson, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong * The mere mention of the Confucius Institute raises polarised reactions. This book presents a balanced, informative and highly readable overview of the Institute since its inception, in the context of the particularities of China's soft-power initiatives. This is an essential resource for those wanting to know what the Institute is all about. * Susana Eisenchlas, Griffith University, Australia * Gil's survey of the CI project succeeds as a concise primer, providing a foundation for understanding the project's current state and complexities of the issues it faces at a critical time in its growth. -- Shelby J. Lake, Georgetown University, USA * Journal of Language and Politics 17:6 * This book is an ambitious attempt to map and evaluate a global language

promotion project. Serving as a model for future studies, it provides a welcome

degree of conceptual analysis that offers practical directions for bettering language

promotion programs and language policy-making efforts. -- Citing Li, Shanghai International Studies University, China * Language Policy (2018) *