abriefhistoryofenglishteachinginchina.docx

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abriefhistoryofenglishteachinginchina

ABriefHistoryofEnglishTeachinginChina

PartI.Introduction

ThelearningofEnglishinChina,however,hasalongerhistoryandnowoccupiestheattentionofmillionsofitspeople.Howmanymillionishardtosay,sincemuchdependsonthelevelofproficiencyonetakesasthenorm.ButthereareprobablythreehundredmillionactivelyengagedinthejoboflearningEnglish.

Thispaperincludesfourbigparts,thebeginningisabriefintroductionforchinaEnglishlearning.ParttwoistheactualityofEnglishlearninginchina.PartthreeisthereasonthatEnglishintroductionandlearningwidelyinchina.LastonepartisabriefintroductionofEnglishteachinginchinafromChingdynastyuntilnow.

PartII.TheActualityofEnglishLearninginResentChina

ChinaOriginallyFeltNoNeedofTheWest

ChinaoriginallyfeltnoneedoftheWest,infactdeliberatelyavoidedallcontact,forfearofculturalcontamination.ThebombingoftheChineseembassyduringtheKosovowarwasaterriblesetbackinrelationswhichhadbeensteadilyimproving.

FormalTraininginInterpretationBeganastheDesireforJoiningWTO

However,despitethis,partlybecauseofitsdesiretojointheWorldTradeOrganization（WTO）,ChinahaswelcomedandlistenedpolitelytoleadersofWesterncountriesastheygavetheirviewsondemocracyandhumanrights.ThelanguageinwhichPresidentClintonspoke,duringhisVisittoChina,wasofcourseEnglish.PresidentJiangZeminmadehisrepliesinChinese.Buteachwasbackedupbyateamoffirst-classinterpreters,whomadesmoothcommunicationpossible.

FormaltrainingininterpretationiscomparativelyrecentinChina.Itwasonlyin1978thatthefirstobjectforTranslatorsandInterpretersstartedattheBeijingForeignLanguageInstitute.TheobjectsubsequentlydevelopedintotheprestigiousschooloftranslationintheBeijingForeignStudiesUniversity.

PartIII.TheReasonthatWhyWeLearnEnglish

China'sreasonsforlearningEnglishwerewellsummeduptwentyyearsagobyateamfromthe.InternationalCommunicationAgencyaftervisitingfivecitiesandmanyeducationalinstitutionsinChina:

"TheChineseviewEnglishprimarilyasanecessarytoolwhichcanfacilitateaccesstomodemscientificandtechnologicaladvances,andsecondarilyasavehicletopromotecommerceandunderstandingbetweenthePeople'sRepublicofChinaandcountrieswhereEnglishisamajorlanguage".

Thisbasicmotivationhasnotchanged,ascanbeseenfromthereportoftheEnglish2000ConferenceinBeijing,sponsoredjointlybytheBritishCouncilandtheStateEducationCommissionofthePeople'sRepublicofChina,inwhichreasonsforthelearningofEnglishbyChineseweresummarised:

"TheylearnEnglishbecauseitisthelanguageofscience,specificallyperhapsofthemajorityofresearchjournals.Theylearnitbecauseitistheneutrallanguageofcommerce,thestandardcurrencyofinternationaltravelandcommunication.TheylearnitbecauseyoufindmoresoftwareinEnglishthaninallotherlanguagesputtogether".

PartIV.BriefIntroductionofEnglishTeachinginChinafromChingDynastyuntilNow.

EnglishLanguageLearningIsNotUniformThroughoutChina

ThestoryofEnglishlanguagelearningisnotuniformthroughoutChina.MaleywarnsanyoneembarkingonastudyofcontemporaryChinaaboutthedifficultyof"makingsensiblegeneralisationaboutit,sinceChinaisnotoneplacegeographically,Butmany".ThelearningofEnglishintheMountainousprovincesnearTibetisverydifferentfromthewayitisstudiedinthecitiesofNanjing,ShanghaiorBeijing.

Nevertheless,therearesufficientgeneralcharacteristicsaboutthehistoryofthelearningofEnglishindifferentpartsofChinatojustifyabriefreview,ifonlytoremindusofthependulumswingsofChina'shistorythiscentury.ThosewhowishtofindthestorymorefullytoldmayconsultDzauandCortazziandJin.

EnglishTeachingFirstFiguredin1902andLearnedfromJapan

AlthoughthereismentionofEnglishlanguageteaching（ELT）inChinainthemidnineteenthcenturyduringtheChingDynasty,itfirstfiguredinthesyllabusofschoolsin1902in"HisMajesty'sTeachingStandardsforPrimaryandSecondaryInstitutions".InthoseearlydaysthemodelforeducationinChinawasthatofJapan.ThemethodofELTwastraditional,withemphasisonreadingandtranslation.Therewasmuchgrammarandvocabularylearning,withpronunciationlearnedbyimitationandrepetition.Thiswasthenormforaboutthefirsttwentyyearsofthecentury.

ChangeofDirectionandMoretowardsWesternModels

In1922therewasachangeofdirection,withaswingawayfromtheJapanesesystemofeducation,andtowardsmoreWesternmodels.Schoolswereobligedtofollowthe"OutlinesforSchoolSyllabusesoftheNewTeachingSystem".Theseputmoreemphasisonlisteningandspeakingskills.

Therewasmoreuseofthetargetlanguageandofthenewteachingresourcesofferedbythemassmedia.ThebestschoolstendedtobeChristianmissionaryschools,whichgavemoreclass-hourstoEnglishthanotherschools.

China-theFoundingStopEnglishTeachinginThere

1949wasacrucialdateinthehistoryofChina-thefoundingofthePeople'sRepublicofChina.Educationhadnowtoservetheproletarianpurpose.Alltextbooksbecamevehiclesforgovernmentpropaganda,loadedwithmessagesofservicetothepeopleandthemotherland.TheMinistryofEducationissuedanew"SchemeforEnglishInstructioninSecondarySchools"inwhichthegoalofEnglishlanguagelearningwasclearlystatedasbeingtoservetheNewRepublic.

Allcapitalistthinking,especiallyeducationalideasfromtheUnitedStatesandBritain,werecondemnedasunpatriotic.

TheplaceofEnglishwastakeninschoolsyllabuses（大纲）byRussianandby1954RussianhadbecometheonlyforeignlanguagetaughtinChineseschools.Thisphasedidnotlastlong,however,sinceChinawasalreadytryingtoextendhermarketsthroughouttheworldandimmediatelyfeltitslackofEnglish.

EnglishTeachingRestartedinSecondarySchools.

Accordingly,in1955theMinistryofEducationannouncedthatEnglishteachingshouldberestartedinsecondaryschools.Inbigcities,likeShanghai,itwasalsoreintroducedatprimarylevel.InitiallythetextbookswerebasedontheformerRussianmodels,which,liketheirJapanesepredecessors,wereverytraditional.Methodologytoowasbackward:

theteacherwasseenastheproviderofknowledgeandthestudentsdutifullyassimilatedtheteacher'swordsofwisdom,workingtheirwayploddinglythroughthetextbook.

However,inthelate1950sandearly1960s,aminorrevolutionineducationtookplaceinChina,astheneedtoopenuptotheinternationalscenebecamemoreurgent.TheimportanceofEnglishwasacceptedandasignificantstepwastakenin1962whenEnglishbecamepartoftheentranceexaminationforcollegesanduniversities.

Newteachingmaterialsappeared,withlisteningandspeakingagaingivenprominence.TheMinistryofEducationissuedguidelinesfortextbookwriters,recommendingthatEnglishtextbooksshouldincludematerialonthecultureoftheEnglishspeakingcountries.ItbegantolookasthoughbetterdayshadcomeforELTinChina.

SweptAsidebytheCulturalRevolution

Butitwasnottobe.Withdistressinginevitability.TheChinesependulumswung,andtheprogressmadeintheearly1960swassweptasidebytheCulturalRevolution,whichbeganin1966andlastedfortendreadfulyears.

Englishwas.againbannedfromschools.Foreignlanguageteacherswerebrandedasspies.Someuniversitieswereclosed,othersweresubjectedtore-educationvisits.Dowdescribesthesituationthus:

"DuringtheCulturalRevolution,whenworkers'propagandateamsforthespreadingofMaoTse-Tung'sthoughtscametoChina'scolleges,classeswerestoppedaltogether,andthestudentstravelledinsteadalloverthecountryinordertotakepartincriticismanddebateandtoexchangerevolutionaryexperiences".

HappierTimeswereAheadforChinaandforELTinChinaAftertheCulturalRevolution

By1977theCulturalRevolutionhadexhausteditselfandthecountrywithit.ThereisanoldYorkshiresaying:

"There'snotlikereligionwhenit'sbent".ThosewholivedthroughtheCulturalRevolutioninChinawouldchallengethatsaying,maintainingthatdistortedpoliticalideologycanbemuchworsethanbentreligion.

However,happiertimeswereaheadforChinaandforELTinChina.In1978theMinistryofEducationheldanimportantconferenceonforeignlanguageteaching.Englishwasgivenprominenceagaininschools,onaparwithChineseandMaths.

Bytheearly1980sithadbeenrestoredasacompulsorysubjectinthecollegeentranceexam.IthasnotlookedbacksincethenandthefervorforlearningEnglishhasbeenfannedbyTeachYourselfEnglishprogrammeontelevision,watchedbyhundredsofmillionsofpeople.

TheNeedforBothSocialandAcademicEnglishBecameApparent

AsChinaopenedupmoreandChinesescholarswereallowedabroad,theneedforbothsocialandacademicEnglishbecameapparent.Asmarketsalsoopenedupandmoreforeignerswereallowedintothecountrytodobusiness,theappetiteforBusinessEnglishamongalllevelsofChinesepeoplehasbecomeinsatiable.TheChineseareadiligentandintelligentraceandaresurelydestinedtomakeasignificantmarkonthehistoryofthetwenty-firstcentury.

Bibliography：

Baiduthehistoryofenglishlanguage

Baiduthehistoryofenglishlanguagelearninginchina

SogouTheActualityofEnglishLearninginResentChina

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