| Summary: | As English has spread around the world, it has been localized under the influence of local cultures and local languages. As a result, new varieties of English which are linguistically different from one another have emerged. Due to the divergences between them, mutual intelligibility is now an issue so English can function as a lingua franca around the world. At the same time, out of the divergences between perceived ‘nonstandard varieties’ and ‘standard varieties’ of English, a discussion about people’s attitudes towards ‘nonstandard varieties’ of English has also arisen. After many decades of contact with the Chinese culture, there is no doubt that English in China has developed typically Chinese characteristics which make it different from any other variety of the language. This survey is a contribution to the study of this recent form of English, aiming(i) to trace the present image of ChE in the world; and (ii) to examine to what extent ChE in its present form can be understood well by other speakers of English and thus accomplish its mission as a lingua franca. To this purpose, a questionnaire was presented to a sample of 35 speakers of English with different first languages (henceforward L1). And the results suggested that, firstly, Chinese English has high level of intelligibility especially when it is spoken in a language context; secondly, Chinese English has achieved recognition as a variety of English, being no longer considered as merely improperly spoken English. However, Chinese English is not considered a pleasant and accurate variety and most respondents consider that it is still not systematic enough to be regarded equally with other more established varieties of English, or at least with native English varieties.
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