English education in China

The emphasis of English education only emerged after 1979 when the Cultural Revolution ended, China adopted the Open Door Policy, and the United States and China established strong diplomatic ties. An estimate of the number of English speakers in China is over 200 million and rising, with 50 million secondary schoolchildren now studying the language.[1]

In China, most schoolchildren are taught their first English lesson at the age of third grade in primary school. Despite the early learning of English, there is some criticism of the teaching and learning of the language. Schools in China are evaluated and financed based on the grade and your personal ability. This causes teaching to be geared towards the skills tested. Therefore, the skill such as learning grammar rule becomes more focus on memorization. However, creativity part such as writing is still an important part of English education in China. The methods, which focus on testing student’s memorization on grammar rules and vocabularies, have been criticized as fundamentally flawed by Western educationalists and linguists.)[2] Furthermore, students can seldom put newly learned words into use. This arises because the Mandarin is the official and dominant language in China and English is perceived to be of little use in the country. This is further reinforced through the national Band 4 examination where 80% of the test was the writing component, 20% was devoted to listening, and speaking was only required for the English major student. However, Guangdong provinces start reinforced all the students taking the English speaking exam for National College Entrance Examination since 2010. According to a national survey, only half of the teachers consider that vocabulary should be learned through conversation or communication. A far smaller percentage support activities such as role playing or vocabulary games.[2]

History

China's first contact with the English language occurred between the Chinese and English traders, and the first missionary schools to teach English were established in Macau in the 1630s.[1] After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Russian was originally the primary foreign language.[3] English began to be transitioned into the education system during the 1960s as a result of the Sino-Soviet split. Because of the condemnation of the English language during the Cultural Revolution, English education did not return until Richard Nixon visited China in 1971. The only textbooks for English instructions were translations of Mao Zedong's works until the Cutural Revolution ended in 1976 and the Gaokao was restored in 1978.[4]

Testing

The College English Test (CET) is the primary English language test of China. As of 2011 employers made scores in the CET 4 and 6 requirements for employment, and The Lowdown on China’s Higher Education stated that in China "CET 4 and CET 6 National English examinations have become the symbol of English proficiency in reading and writing."[5]

There is also the Public English Test System (PETS).

See also

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 Qu, Bo (December 2007), Changing English: Studies in Culture & Education, Routledge, ISSN 1358-684X
  2. 1 2 Qing Ma and Peter Kelly (December 2009), Overcoming Hurdles to Chinese Students' Learning of English Lexis, Routledge, ISSN 1358-684X
  3. ↑ Fu, Shiyi, p. 28-29
  4. ↑ Fu, Shiyi, p. 29.
  5. ↑ Editorial Note.

Further reading

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