Time to Cool Down?

[Randy W]

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This is apparently a fairly serious article - I see it is not an 'Op-Ed' contribution, but is attributed to 'Global Times'

 

Time to cool down nationwide English mania

 

 

Although the plan is still a draft, the reform lowering the importance of English should be applauded.

Gaokao is a prerequisite for entering almost all higher education institutions at the undergraduate level in China. After China reinstituted the gaokao system in 1977, English was soon ranked in the scope of basic courses, having the same status as Chinese and mathematics. English education and training has been given extensive attention. Chinese students, who start to learn English even from kindergarten, might have invested the most time learning English of non-English-speaking countries.

There are benefits to this nationwide mania for English learning. An overall escalation of English proficiency broadens the horizon of Chinese people, enabling them to have an insight into the rest of the world.

However, learning English has already become "too much of a good thing." English education and training has become institutionalized, forcing Chinese people to learn by rote for the sole purpose of passing various exams. Its constructive significance of enlightening and activating the minds of Chinese people has been largely ignored.

The low-end and exam-oriented motivation for English learning has caused another problem, making most English learners dabblers. Although English is popularized in China, many institutions which require that employees have a really good command of English are complaining about the shortage of real talent.

The excessive focus on English learning occupies much of the free time of Chinese students. Compared with their counterparts from other non-English-speaking countries in Europe, Chinese students read fewer books and lack hands-on ability and active minds.

China might have needed to strike in full force to improve its English education at the beginning of reform and opening-up because of the dire shortage of English-language talents. But times have changed, and its English education needs a reshuffle. It is time that we pour some cold water on the mania, reversing the tendency of excessive emphasis on English education and learning at an increasingly young age.

China's process of internationalization will not be frustrated because of the reduction in the fever. It cannot be simply achieved by how proficiently Chinese people can speak English. It is the need for international communication that matters.

 

 

Their assessment of Chinese English-learners as "dabblers" seems to agree completely with my own experience. A fairly thorough English-proficiency exam was required of all students at the University, but only a very few were able to communicate with a Westerner. Those who learned from movies or had been to an English-speaking country, even if only for a month or two, were light-years ahead of the rest.

Edited October 13, 2013 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Mick]

I agree with your assessment, Randy. I taught English majors and graduate Journalism students during my five years in China and, for the most part, they could communicate quite well with native English speakers. Students from other majors, however, even though they had been studying the language since kindergarten, often couldn't get past "Hello, how are you doing?" I found that some of these non-majors, who frequented my bi-weekly "open house," could write very well and could score very high on the nation wide "band" exams. However, their conversational ability was non-existent.

 

The university where I taught the last four years of my stay, Shantou University, was on the cutting edge of revising the entire method of teaching English in China. Founded and funded by Li Ka Shing, a wealthy shipping magnate who lives in Hong Kong, but comes from the Chao Shan area of Shantou, the university instituted a system whereby students studied a western style curriculum and graduated by earning semester hours, just like in the states, rather than a prescribed number of courses. Although they still took the nationwide band exams in English, by the time we left (2003), they were phasing this out. We instituted an annual "English Festival," which featured various venues of using the language such as drama productions, musicals, speech contests, debates, etc. The first year it was only for our students, but the second year it included students from all over Guangdong. Now, it has gone national and is highly regarded. Interestingly, I was given the "Guangdong Friendship Award" by the Provincial Government in Guangzhou in 2001 for my contributions to the advancement of English education in the province. I was truly honored and the crystal globe they gave me sits on a table in our foyer even today. If you go to this link, you can see the various things the program is now doing. I am proud to have been in on the initial development of this:

 

http://elc.stu.edu.cn/Home/

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shantou_University

 

The second article is wikipedia and tells a bit about the school. In addition to the English program, I taught in the School of Journalism.

Edited October 13, 2013 by Mick (see edit history)

[Randy W]

We had a couple of students who advanced in the annual English competition - both were quite good. One was our "California girl" as she was known by the foreign teachers. She could speak like a native. The other had an excellent command of the language, but his accent was quite thick.

[credzba]

Last night I was talking with my wife, and she said .. (I don't remember the sentence) .. but then she stopped and said

"Is that correct English? I think it should be ... (whatever else)."

I laughed at her and told her she had reached a milestone, her verbal English exceeded her learned English.

You see, her verbal, first take sentence was correct, and her learned grammar correction was wrong.

 

I think it is very difficult to learn a language from books, but living in the country rapidly accelerates the education.

[Mick]

Last night I was talking with my wife, and she said .. (I don't remember the sentence) .. but then she stopped and said

"Is that correct English? I think it should be ... (whatever else)."

I laughed at her and told her she had reached a milestone, her verbal English exceeded her learned English.

You see, her verbal, first take sentence was correct, and her learned grammar correction was wrong.

 

I think it is very difficult to learn a language from books, but living in the country rapidly accelerates the education.

 

You are so right about that....when I lived in China my constant exposure to the language, as well as my feeble attempts at using it, made my learning curve much faster. Also, I lived in Miami for fifteen years and hardly spoke a word of Spanish beyond "Que Pasa?" before I moved there. When I left there and moved to China, my Spanish was much improved. Miami is pretty much a bilingual city.

[Randy W]

It's that reinforcement you get by responses to what you say, along with exposure to actual native English speakers. I've heard that Chinese people can speak English quite well - with other Chinese people.

 

Unfortunately, most of the popular English language movies and shows on TV are over-dubbed in Chinese. What a unfortunate waste. There are only a few cable channels that broadcast mainly subtitled English-language shows

 

With movies, you don't get the feedback to your own speaking, but imitation can bring big improvements to your speaking ability, as I saw with a number of students at the university.

Edited October 14, 2013 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Another article today

 

Language barrier

 

Wu has been mounting a longstanding campaign to either cancel English elements of the gaokao or reduce its importance, because he believes a majority of Chinese students spend numerous hours studying it, but in practice rarely use it.

"English occupies as many class hours as Chinese language. There is no other country that emphasizes a foreign language in the same way China does," Wu said.

"Both the country and individuals invest too much energy and money in it, but many Chinese can't learn it very well and have few chances to use it in their daily lives," Wu added.

Loathing the language

In a recent online survey, 90 percent of Net users agreed that English tests should be removed from gaokao. In addition, 75 percent of the respondents said they would have more interest in learning English if there were not so many tests, the People's Daily reported Saturday.

 

. . .

 

The pressure to learn English also affects students in primary and middle schools. Last month, Wang Xuming, a former spokesperson of the MOE, suggested canceling English for primary school students and increasing lessons in Chinese literature, claiming that children's Chinese language abilities have declined because they are too busy studying English.

 

[Doug]

I think the problem is they speak Chinese.

[Guest ExChinaExpat]

Chinese people are great test-takers, but fail miserably when it comes to the practical problem-solving skills needed in today's business marketplace. 99 out of 100 educated Chinese are not capable of managing non-Chinese workers. They are making more a nation of 'followers' rather than a nation of 'leaders' and innovators.

Edited October 16, 2013 by GuangDongExpat (see edit history)

[Doug]

I can say that Chinese aerospace engineers are able to make decisions, something the Japanese have had to relearn, or have they ever got out of the forever committee decision making?

[Guest ExChinaExpat]

I can say that Chinese aerospace engineers are able to make decisions, something the Japanese have had to relearn, or have they ever got out of the forever committee decision making?

 

There are many sharp engineers in China, but it's the politics of the workplace that cause most to follow rather than lead. For example, I attended an engineering summit in China few years ago, where there were several speakers; both from the West and China. During one of the speaker breaks, the engineers were assigned a task in which the objective was to break into groups of 8-12 and discuss a solution to a presented problem. The groups created PowerPoint presentations from the discussion to later present to the audience of over 2000. Now, having worked as an engineer in the US for more than 20-years, I brought to the table that experience. I planned to mostly observe the effort, and not push a point of view. I expected the groups to interact and collaborate, but, it never happened.

 

Everyone knew their group hierarchy, as those who had the boss' ear. Group members all chose to lay back and allow the unspoken leaders to ram-rod their ideas while the others did their best to follow. It was obvious they knew better than to assert their point of view, but equally obvious they didn't like doing it. When all finished, the groups presented their PPTs, which were largely disjointed and lacking focus on topic.

Edited October 20, 2013 by GuangDongExpat (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Another article today in the People's Daily from China Daily

 

Exam change won't dampen English fever

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/203691/8437666.html

 

As part of a nationwide drive to overhaul the gaokao system, Beijing said on Monday that starting 2016, the score of English would drop from 150 to 100 on its plan, while the total marks for Chinese would be raised from 150 to 180. Currently, gaokao weighs English, Chinese and math equally.

 

. . .

 

English has become an apparent target of reform because of a famous classroom teaching tradition that encourages memorizing textbooks rather than communication skills. However, the downgrade may also be the consequence of a growing controversy over the enthusiasm for English, as critics worry about its usefulness for most college graduates as well as a potential erosion of Chinese language, culture and identity.

But parents who want to give their children the best may have found some opponents' rhetoric hollow and even hypocritical. For instance, it's increasingly difficult to find a successful Chinese figure who hasn't given or planned to give, his/her child an all-English education.

It doesn't take Zhu's wisdom to realize why students will continue to be motivated to learn English, even for fewer points at gaokao.

 

 

My own opinion is that they simply need to place a greater emphasis on verbal skills - and more exposure to native English speakers. Those who are the easiest to communicate with have either spent time in an English speaking country (one as little as a month in England), or studied English-language movies for exposure to various speech patterns.

 

Lowering the weighting on the English portion of the exam seems to make sense.

[Mick]

Part of what Li does in her business is arrange enrollment and placement for Chinese university students in intensive English programs at universities here in the States. These programs usually run about two months and are fairly expensive. She expanded her business into this market about a year ago and it has been quite fruitful. She has no shortage of clients. Just recently she placed several students at the University of Alabama and at University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia). It is remarkable how much better these kids speak English after two months intensive study, plus living in an English speaking environment.

[Randy W]

Part of what Li does in her business is arrange enrollment and placement for Chinese university students in intensive English programs at universities here in the States. These programs usually run about two months and are fairly expensive. She expanded her business into this market about a year ago and it has been quite fruitful. She has no shortage of clients. Just recently she placed several students at the University of Alabama and at University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia). It is remarkable how much better these kids speak English after two months intensive study, plus living in an English speaking environment.

 

One of the teachers at the University here had spent just 5 or 6 weeks in England for a friend's wedding - her communication skills were very noticeably better than most others. By the time they graduate high school, they have the English skills needed - it's just a matter of gelling the verbal brain cells with Western voices and thought.

[Randy W]

This is not entirely a trend-spotting article, but may be of interest for some of the things it says about China's education system - from the Global Times

. . . and it's not exactly earth-shattering material, but it comes from the state-run media.

 

Charting a foreign course

While Chinese educational authorities are planning to cut English classes and reduce English score weighting in college admission exams, lessons taught completely in English are growing in popularity, especially among secondary school students.

These classes offer foreign curriculums and examinations that are recognized by most of the world's noted universities. The students' aims are very clear: to study abroad.

Previously, these schools or classes were set up in China mainly for the children of expatriates. But in recent years, more and more native students have applied for enrolment, creating a boom in such classes across the country.

Experts say that the growing demand for such classes, which charge up to 100 times more than ordinary ones, shows that the worship of foreign-style education is getting stronger instead of fading away, and China's education system urgently needs reform.

 

. . .

While most students sign up on a voluntary basis, some say the current system forces them to do so.

"My son cannot join ordinary high schools or gaokao (national college entrance examinations) here as we don't have Beijing hukou (household registration)," Li Guo, a father from Chongqing who moved to Beijing 13 years ago, told the Global Times.

His 15-year-old son is a freshman at the AP program at Beijing No.35 High School. After graduating from junior high school in July in Beijing, faced with the option of sending him back to his home city or continue studying in Beijing, they chose the latter, as international classes enroll students without hukou restrictions. According to Li, the annual tuition fee is 90,000 yuan ($14,820) and the school opened nine classes this year with around 25 students in each class. The average tuition fee for ordinary secondary schools is 1,000 yuan.

 

. . .

 

"In the traditional exam-oriented education, the teacher prevails and the student's individuality is always suppressed. This is a kind of twist of human nature," Sheng Guoyou, headmaster at the Tongdu Bilingual School, told the Global Times.

Zhu Jianmin, headmaster from Beijing No.35 High School, agreed.

"Foreign countries define secondary education as State security, but we consider it as preparation for higher learning education," Zhu was quoted as saying by China Education Daily.

If the gaokao system, which emphasizes rote learning and stifles creativity, remains, other reforms will get nowhere, he said.

Edited December 13, 2013 by Randy W (see edit history)