CLT in China has experienced a lot of ups and downs,which has given rise to some skepticism and criticisms from some Chinese ESL/EFL instructors and learners.drawing on the theoretical notions of symbolic violence,and correlations between identity,language and representation,this paper tends to explore the main constrains that result in the failure of using CLT in Chinese ESL/EFL classroom and figure out whether CLT could be a viable approach for ESL/EFL teaching and learning in Chinese higher education. CLT in China has experienced a lot of ups and downs, which has given rise to some skepticism and criticisms from some Chinese ESL / EFL instructors and learners. Drawing on the theoretical notions of symbolic violence, and correlations between identity, language and representation, this paper tends to explore the main constrains that result in the failure of using CLT in Chinese ESL / EFL classroom and figure out whether CLT could be a viable approach for ESL / EFL teaching and learning in Chinese higher education.