3. The English Learning History and Development in Taiwan and in China
3.3 The English learning history and development in China
3.3 The English learning history and development in China
In 1861, the Qing dynasty was shocked by the western countries’ ascendant military weapons and became aware of the lack of diplomatic expertise. They opened a school in Beijing (京師同文館: Jin Shi Tong Wen Guan) to cultivate diplomatic expertise. That was the first public school which taught English as a school course.
Some churches also taught English. After 1911, the government allowed schools to teach English. In 1923, the Ministry of Education stipulated English as a required course in schools. But in 1937, during Chinese fought with Japan, English became a selected course. After the Chinese Communists took over the regime in 1949, the government stipulated students had to take either English or Russian as foreign languages in both junior high schools and senior high schools. From 1949 to the middle 1960s, the relationship between China and Russia was intimate; Russian once was the first foreign language
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After the period of The Great Leap political movement in 1958, the foreign languages courses almost were cancelled. During the Culture Revolution in 1966, the foreign language courses almost stopped. It was until the end of the Culture Revolution in 1978, the foreign language courses revived again. Subsequent to the end of Cold War, English is substitute for Russian. After the reform and open period, most junior high schools took English as the first foreign language and as a required subject. After 1981, the government had formal context books for students to study. In 1986, the Chinese government practiced the nine-year obligation education and started to lay stress on English. The Chinese government emphasized that English as a communication tool and pay attention on the four skills of English. In 2001, China decided to make English compulsory in elementary schools from grade three. In practice, rural areas may not meet that target.Currently, in the coastal regions cities like Guangzou, Beijing and Shanghai, students even learn English from grade one. Today, many parents send their children to whole English language kindergartens in order to start learning English earlier. The Course Standard divides the learning standard as nine levels. Students must reach the first level when they finish the fourth grade and the second level when students graduate from elementary schools. Students have to reach the fifth level when they graduate from junior high school and the eighth level when students graduate from senior high schools. The foreign language high schools students must reach the
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ninth level.46 Around the period of Beijing Olympic Game, the English tide reached the peak. Before that, many Taiwanese cram schools (in Mandarin: Bu Shi Ban) see the English learning fever in China and head west without hesitation.
When motioned about today's education system and education strategy, we can not ignore the man - Deng Xiaoping. In order to catch up with advanced countries after the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping first grasped the most important two areas of science and education. He cried out: “Be sure to create an air in the party: to respect knowledge, respect the talents.47” He especially paid attention to basic education.
He said: “People are not able to be trained in one or two days. University students are from high schools, high school students are from elementary schools, therefore, we must pay attention to primary and secondary education.” He instructed that China have to set up key elementary schools, key high schools and key universities at the time. All ranks of key schools accept the most excellent students in certain areas.
That is why there are key schools in every category of education in China today.
It was the recovery period of education from 1977 to 1984. In November in 1977, China restored a unified college entrance examination. In 1978, the resumption of large-scale sending students abroad, sending students to the United States for the first time. 1981 China allowed students to study abroad at their own expenses, this wave expanded since then till today. The trend of studying abroad arouses more people effort to move forward learning English. After decades later, these people come back to China and are regarded and respected as knowledge-rich “returnees.” Thus, the passion of English learning is exaggerated.
From 1985 to 1989, it was a period of comprehensive education reform. China practiced nine years of compulsory education system in 1986. China adjusted the structure of secondary education and vigorously developed vocational and technical
46 Chou, Chungtien (2005). The English teaching in China. Retrieved March 1, 2005 from http://www.cet-taiwan.com/ET/07_ET_show.asp?serno=117
47 www.ce.cn (2007) Deng Xiaoping’s speech about reviving the entrance examination of university in 1977. Retrieved August 23, 2007 from C:\Documents and Settings\Joy\My Documents\1977年鄧 小平關於恢復高考的講話和批示(選載).htm
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education reform slowed the development of education in the doldrums48.After the mid 90s, education has led down a described as the "education industry" of the special development path. As the severe shortage of funds for education, China’s government was keen to expand the use of market mechanisms, school-profit income-generating activities through education. In 2001, China promulgated the
“Basic Education Reform and Development of the State Council on the decision” and implemented weak schools and new public schools could mutate to private schools.
In this period, China implemented the “985 project” to build world-class universities;
privatized the compulsory education system to private property, run "Famous School Runs Private" and the high tuition fees policy. Through the “Education Industry”
strategy, it was indeed effective in expanding the education scale, increased access to education under the government’s serious shortage of educational inputs. Those are the reasons why today there are various choices in China. Students try their best to enter the universities of “985 project” and its next “211 project”. Without any doubt, students have to study English very hard if they want to enter such prestigious top schools. From the second half of 2003, the Ministry of Education high-profile criticized the ideas of “educational industry” and educational equity has become the fundamental values of public education till now.
China's reform and opening up let English-speaking universities, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia soon propaganda in China, and major educational exhibition were held in China. This evoked China's younger generation to make a determined effort to learn English. It was the surging tide of globalization when the occasion of Deng's reform and opening up in 80’s. The international society immediately was aware of the changes in China, and many English learning institutions developed their enterprises in China since then. Now its domestic English learning institutes like New Oriental Institute and Universal IELTS also develop prosperously.
48 Source: Blue Book of Development and Reform 1978~2008. Chapter 24.
Retrieved Octor 8, 2008 from: C:\Documents and Settings\Joy\My Documents\ 改革開放以來教育 發展和改革的進程.htm
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