The Linguist

18 The Linguist Vol/60 No/5 2021 thelinguist.uberflip.com FEATURES Jie Zhang considers language policy and planning for the Beijing T he Modern Olympic Games, especially those held in the 21st century, are linguistically complex events, in which communication is conducted across hundreds of countries and languages. Organisers of such events need to make important language policy and planning decisions to ensure a quality experience for athletes and visitors. The organisers of many past Games have gone beyond the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) minimum requirement of two official languages (French and English) and staged multilingual events. From translating all official documents, linguistic signs, media reports and tourist information to interpreting at official ceremonies, competition venues and press conferences, and providing instant information to foreign athletes, coaches, officials, visitors and journalists in their own languages, language services are embedded in all facets of the preparations for the Games. They play a crucial role in making the sporting events truly global celebrations. Despite extensive scholarly research on the Olympics, there is a scarcity of literature exploring the language aspects. To address this gap, I examined language policies, ideologies, practices and services in the context of China's social, economic and political changes. My focus was on the period that began with Beijing bidding for the 2008 Games to its preparation for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Studying data such as policy documents, media reports, English language learning textbooks, signage in Beijing's linguistic landscape and interviews with policymakers and Olympic volunteers, I found profound ideological, social, political and economic factors behind the development of China's Olympic language services. A focus on English The 2008 Olympics came to Beijing at a critical juncture in world history, representing both increasing globalisation and significant socio-economic transformation in China. Following Tokyo (1964) and Seoul (1988), Beijing was the third Asian city to host the event. Many Olympics have been in host countries where the national language is one of the official IOC languages (French and English) or a related Indo-European language. These countries often have a large number of immigrants from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. However, Beijing did not possess either of these linguistic advantages. Facing greater challenges in terms of language services, the Beijing Organising Committee had to make greater efforts in bridging the language gap than its Western counterparts. The forces that propelled China towards its biggest ever sporting event also gave impetus to an English-centric foreign language popularisation campaign in China in the first decade of the 21st century. An instrumentalist view of English prevailed that advocates English proficiency as a valuable asset for the individual, as well as a cornerstone of further development of the nation. This language ideology fits well with the socio-politics of the 2008 Olympics. It left a number of tangible and intangible language service legacies for the Olympic movement and for China. These include the establishment of 'language training services supplier' as an independent sponsorship category, the Beijing Speaks Foreign Languages Programme, the Beijing Olympic Multilingual Service Center, the volunteer service and language services industry in China, and a pool of English-speaking citizens. In 2015, Beijing was chosen to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, becoming the first city

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