Translating China: Ideopolitical Shift in College English Tests

Drawing on perspectives of critical ideology and language testing, this study examines the elements and ideopolitical motivations underlying the translation section of the College English Tests (CET) in the past decade against the backdrop of the ideopolitical drive of “telling China’s story well.” Findings show that (1) translating China’s culture focuses on the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) items, aiming to establish cultural assertiveness; (2) translating China’s modernization highlights China’s enhanced infrastructure capabilities, thereby boosting its political system assertiveness; (3) translating China’s geography incorporates the spatial dimension of ideology, effectively reinforcing reunification consensus and territorial integrity assertiveness; and (4) translating China’s history connects the country’s illustrious past to the CCP’s historic centenary, intending to bolster historical assertiveness and justify the CCP’s leadership as the historical imperative. The study establishes that translating China in CET serves two interconnected purposes. First, it constructs the discourse of Chinese assertiveness and reinforces the CCP’s political legitimacy domestically. Second, it develops the undergraduates’ storytelling capabilities in communicating China narratives in English to amplify China’s cultural dissemination and influence internationally. Moreover, the study has implications for recent and forthcoming changes to college English textbooks’ contents and elements in China.