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- Jun 14, 2013
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English-language studies 'destructive' to China's education, says CPPCC deputy
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The head of a national research institute in China said English-language studies were "destructive" to education, which is facing an "unprecedented crisis".
Schools are placing too much emphasis on English, said Zhang Shuhua, head of the Intelligence Research Academy, adding that language studies should be treated as a means for social reform and development, but, instead, they are seen as an end.
He called it putting the cart before the horse. Zhang made the remarks on Monday at a discussion session during an annual gathering of China's political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
Zhang said many students with good academic performance have been blocked from universities because of poor English test scores, government news portal China.com.cn reported on Monday.
He added that recent “English enthusiasm” in China has taken up a large chunk of educational resources, at a high cost but with little gains.
Zhang argued it was “absolutely unnecessary” to impose English-language studies on students who pursue professions in Chinese medicine, ancient Chinese language, Chinese history and others that do not require the use of a foreign language.
In China, children start to learn English as early as kindergarten. In middle school, it is seen as the most important subject next to Chinese and mathematics. University students must pass a language test before they can graduate; some also take a more difficult test to pursue post-graduate studies.
Because students devote more effort into passing English tests, they spend less time studying for courses for their major, dealing a "heavy blow" to overall education, Zhang said.
In any case, Zhang continued, despite their efforts, Chinese students may be mastering useless "mute English", referring to poor oral language skills.
The CPPCC deputy cited a 2010 survey by China Youth Daily that showed 80 per cent of people polled agreed that there is a language crisis and that Chinese skills are deteriorating. Of those, more than half blamed the emphasis on foreign language study.
Zhang suggested elementary and middle schools focus on teaching Chinese and maths and reduce other subjects such as biology and chemistry, which should be non-required courses. He urged that English-language programmes be reformed to move away from exams and adopt more applicable lessons.
Founded in 2011 by national think tank Chinese Academy of Science, the Intelligence Research Institute mainly gathers, arranges and reports on domestic and global academic research and theory.
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8:55pm
11:42am
My thought was neither to excuse those students for their poor performance nor the entire system and aims about learning English in China. I am more thinking that English should be more efficiently used.
For most of Chinese including students, English is a tool to understand what is being spoken or written in that language. They aren’t to speak or write in English. China has plenty academically trained interpreter and translator. It is more efficient to rely on them than one’s own poorly learned English.
Hong Kong in my secondary school days there was a year of English-Chinese translation course which students had to take. No intention to make anyone a professional interpreter or translator but it was an interesting subject for anyone with language inclined ability. Hong Kong University and King’s College in fact were training ground in the beginning of colonial rule for local students to work in government offices to bridge the language gap with its Chinese subjects. So there was no need for everyone to learn English (or Chinese). China should do the same and eliminate the English learning burden.
10:55pm
10:38pm
Have you guys noticed that people from countries speaking same language tend to share similar values, ideologies and cultures? This is because similar values, ideologies and cultures are carried in the media (education, news , general communication etc) with the same language, their people are therefore conditioned to follow such values, ideologies and cultures.
Have you noticed that, although without the endorsement of the UN, the US used the so-called preemptive right to invade Iraq in 2003, those countries which supported the US in the invasion are mostly English speaking countries (UK, Australia etc).
Let us think! These high ranking Chinese officials are not NUTS..
10:55pm
10:34pm
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