 The Role of English in China’s Matchmaking MarketDan Zhao and Qi Shen SAGE Open, 2024, vol. 14, issue 2, 21582440241241376 Abstract: Research has focused on how English proficiency influences Chinese people’s education and occupational opportunities and choices. However, little is known about how it impacts the matchmaking practice in such context. Drawing on Bourdieu’s theory of capital, this study examines the role of English in the biggest matchmaking market in Shanghai, China. Field study was conducted in People’s park in Shanghai. Information regarding marriage candidates’ English competence as presented on matrimonial posters was collected and subjected to further grounded-theory based thematic analysis. The results reveal that English competence is primarily advertised as a form of institutionalized cultural capital (e.g., the possession of particular jobs, certificates, degrees, or citizenship) to boost candidates’ socioeconomic status, and used as a gatekeeper to weed out “disqualified†candidates, meaning that non-English speaking candidates may be rejected as ineligible for matchmaking opportunities. Issues related to the commodification of English competence in the matchmaking context are discussed at the end of the paper. Keywords: English proficiency; cultural capital; matchmaking market; matrimonial poster; commodification of English (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:sagope:v:14:y:2024:i:2:p:21582440241241376 DOI: 10.1177/21582440241241376 Access Statistics for this article More articles in SAGE Open |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.