中国改革开放三十多年来的现代化进程中，英语教育激发了各种强烈的情绪情感，包括: 以八九十年代为代表的“多快好省”激情与亢奋，与其相联系的是经济腾飞、发财致富的强国强己之梦; 九十年代中后期开始变得突出的“费时低效”焦虑与沮丧，因英语的学习成就与期待目标相差甚远; 世纪之交开始，在包括近期“英语退出高考”政策酝酿等事件中凸显出的担忧与恐惧，与其相联系的是母语和母语文化认同被蚕食的威胁。这些不无矛盾的情绪情感体现于语言教育政策制定者、教育机构、学习者诸多层面的话语之中; 蕴涵在矛盾之中的是国人持久的心理情结，即对文化认同的维持与扩展、对西方文化的崇拜与憎恨。英语教育像是一块屏幕，在其两面投射着我们的爱与恨。这一心理情结植根于鸦片战争以来的社会历史情境，同时也通过话语不断被再生产和自我固化。在当今全球化的情境中，这块屏幕或许应该转变为一面镜子，供我们反观矛盾的认同需求。在清晰的觉察之下，我们应能放下一些忽冷忽热的“疯狂”和二元对立的思维方式，用开放性、对话性、创造性的心态对待外语与母语教育，达到“1 + 1 ＞ 2”的“生产性”效果。

This paper examines intense emotions regarding China's English education in the past 30 years，since the beginning of the economic reforms. These emotions include: 1) euphoria or“craziness”associated with a dream of becoming rich and prosperous，typical of the 1980s and 1990s; 2) anxiety and frustration due to the disparity between expected and actual achievement，prominent after the mid-1990s; 3) fear and anger，related to perceived threat to the native language and cultural identity，foregrounded in the new millennium，typically in the on-going national reform of entrance exam policies. These conflicting feelings are embedded in discourses of language policy makers，educational institutions，and individual learners． Behind such changing moods is a psychological complex of the Chinese，i. e . ，the maintenance and development of Chinese cultural identity，and ambivalent attitudes towards the West． English education is like a screen，onto which are projected contradictory emotions. Such a psychological complex is deeply rooted in the sociohistorical reality of China since the Opium Wars． Yet it is also a result of self-perpetuation through discourse.In the contemporary context of globalization，this screen of projection can be changed to a mirror of reflection，which helps to self-examine our conflicting identity needs． Such selfawareness will free us from fluctuating“craziness”and lead to more dialogical and creative approaches to foreign and native language education.