QUESTION:
What Chinese industry has been around for at least 30 years; targets children; bleeds over 2 billion $ from the Chinese economy annually; employs more than 1.0 million Chinese and approximately 250,000 foreigners; provides no nutritional value; contributes little or nothing to the development of a better off – harmonious society; and puts more than 5.0 million defective products into the stream of commerce every year?
ANSWER:
No, the correct answer is not McDonald’s.
The correct answer is Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL).
IN THE BEGINNING
It all began when a misguided U.S. President Richard M. Nixon met with Chairman Mao in 1972, for the express purpose of opening China’s vast market of 2 billion plus people to western profit seeking business interests.1 Little did he realize that in actuality, he was opening the west to Chinese Government owned monopolies who would flood the west with cheap Chinese export products and in the process amass great fortunes at the expense of western economies.2 The great U.S.A. came to rely on China to purchase its treasury bonds to finance its wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and to fund the economic recovery stimulus package of 2009.3
In 1978 China officially opened its door to the west. Shortly thereafter the first wave of native English speakers entered China to teach in China’s universities.4 With the 1991 fall of the USSR5 and 1987 recognition of China by the USA’s President Carter;6 ENGLISH FEVER descended upon China like a plague; spreading from east to west, north to south, invading every school from kindergarten to university and spawning a new brand of Joint Venture higher education schools.7
WHY?
Previously, when China believed that the USSR would become the post-WW II economic and military super-power of the world, most Chinese universities taught Russian language. This abruptly changed when China and Russia had a political falling out and the reality of the U.S.A.’s rise to the number one position was foretold by Chairman Mao’s world famous handshake with President Nixon and the subsequent demise of the USSR. Chinese teachers of Russian were retrained to teach English, with Russian language remaining in only a few key universities in Heilongjiang Province and Beijing. English became the rage all over China.
Learning English became a National obsession.
Private EFL/ESL schools (kindergartens, primary, middle, high and college) have proliferated to such an extent that according to statistics from the Education, Science, Culture and Health Committee of the NPC, about 54,000 private schools had been set up in China by the end of 2000, with 6.93 million registered students. (People’s Daily, 5/23/01).
The teaching of English as a Foreign/Second Language (EFL/ESL) in China has become a nationwide endeavor pursued at all academic levels, from the kindergarten to the University. In the past ten years there has been an explosion in the development of public school English programs and private English language schools throughout China. EFL/ESL has become very big business in China (China Daily, HK Edition, October 9, 2002.) Reports show that ESL has become a 10-billion yuan business in China. Of the 37 billion yuan annual book sales, ESL takes up as much as 25% of the market share. And a few ESL teachers in Shanghai command an hourly rate of 1,000 yuan (US$120). Even on average, a student pays 10-20 yuan (US$1.2-2.4) for one hour of ESL training.
China’s reasons for learning English were well summed up twenty years ago by a team from the U.S. International Communication Agency after visiting five cities and many educational institutions in China: “The Chinese view English primarily as a necessary tool which can facilitate access to modern scientific and technological advances, and secondarily as a vehicle to promote commerce and understanding between the People’s Republic of China and countries where English is a major language.”8
At first blush, it may appear admirable that China has so wholeheartedly made such a concerted effort to adopt English, the international language of commerce, as its second language. On October 24, 2002, Zang Xinsheng, Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Education reportedly said: “With China’s accession to the World Trade Organization and the approaching Olympics in 2008 more than ever is it a priority for young Chinese to learn and improve their language skills” (China Daily, 10/25/02). The same article states “Beijing is striving to reach its goal of teaching citizens to speak English to improve its image as an international metropolis.” Beijing wants its 13 million residents to speak English to enhance its image as a cosmopolitan metropolis (China Daily, 10-05-02). China’s Ministry of Education wants all young people of China to learn English due to China’s WTO membership and China’s hosting the 2008 Olympics (China Daily, 10-05-02). Certain municipal governments in China require all of their civil servants to learn some English (China Daily, 10/05/02)
These goals or objectives beg the question, WHY?
Market studies, market analysis and affirmative recommendations from experts in the fields of business, math and linguistics should support each of the forgoing propositions, but do not appear to have been conducted.
What is the mathematical probability that each of Beijing’s 13 million or so residents will need to be able to speak English for an intended or even accidental encounter with a single English speaking foreigner during the 2008 Olympics? Probably not very high.
Does a market study support the proposition that Beijing’s image will be enhanced in the eyes of foreigners if all the residents of Beijing can speak English? Further, would such image enhancement translate into increased economic benefit for Beijing? If so, how much economic benefit will accrue to Beijing and does it offset the social, cultural and political costs that must be paid along the way by the people of Beijing? These questions do not appear to have been addressed by any formal study.
How many bilingual (Chinese-English) jobs will actually be created in China due to China’s World Trade Organization (WTO) membership and hosting the 2008 Olympics? Does the number of new jobs requiring English support the need for all of China’s young people to learn English? Answers to these questions are not readily available. And about the bilingual jobs created by the 2008 Olympics: How long will they last? A few months? Why should someone spend three or four years studying English in College for a job in 2008 that will only last a few months? Post Olympics what becomes of these Chinese English speakers? What is the mathematical probability that all municipal government civil servants, in any particular Chinese municipality, will need to use English in their daily work? Very slim.
THE TEFL CURRICULUM
The entire English curriculum is based upon learning to the exclusion of acquisition.
English is taught in 4 separate, distinct and disconnected courses, i.e. reading, listening, writing .and speaking. The entire emphasis is on memorization; memorizing extensive lists of English words, memorizing extensive set phrases; and memorizing pronunciations.
Not even the slightest attention is paid to Krashen’s 2nd language acquisition theory or immersion, or any other 2nd language acquisition theory.
There is no disagreement that the results are dismal. China produces over 5.0 million college graduates every year. Most of them have learned English for 16 years but are unable to produce comprehensible English output. Those fortunate enough to matriculate to graduate studies are further compelled to engage in additional English study, no matter what their major. This is because their undergraduate English study was only adequate to pass the National English Proficiency examinations but they remain functionally illiterate, unable to produce comprehensible oral or written English. At the post-graduate level, the same pedagogy and methodology that failed for 16 years is utilized for another semester, in the hope that it will work.
Chinese college graduates know more about English than most native speakers. Unfortunately, they can’t use a language that they have studied for 16 years. This is a terrible waste of time and resources. In the west it would amount to a National disgrace.
In China, TEFL employs more than 1.0 million Chinese teachers of English.9 Less than 40,000 of these teachers are accomplished enough in English to teach English using English. Imagine,10 960,000 Chinese teachers of English who teach English in Chinese. UNBELIEVABLE. It is no wonder that the Chinese students can’t produce comprehensible English when their teachers can’t.
REFORM IS ESSENTIAL
The goal of universities and colleges throughout China is to have students pass national English competency examinations such as TEM 4, CET 4 and CET 6. Setting aside, for the moment, the fact that these national English competency examinations bear little or no relationship to comprehensible output, the pass rates have become the exclusive focus of administrative attention and false pride. This is in part due to demands of Chinese employers who are misinformed that passing CET 6 is the evidence of an accomplished English speaker.11 Wang Shugua, President of Harbin Institute of Technology is quoted as saying “I recognize CET as a good tool to promote English studies but I am against the practice of regarding a CET certificate as the prerequisite for graduation, which is totally misleading.” He tried to eliminate the requirement for a CET certificate in order to graduate from HIT, but gave up without success. “I had to reconsider the usefulness of CET certificates in job hunting for our graduates. Almost all employers want their recruits to have a CET certificate, so I had to push my students to pass the CET for their good, although it is against my will.”12
The market need to have graduates who can produce comprehensible English output has been completely ignored. Consequently, foreign employers, Joint Venture employers and Chinese companies doing business abroad are hiring university graduates from India because they are better able to produce comprehensible oral and written English, than their Chinese counterparts. Imagine more than 5 million Chinese university graduates, who have learned English for 16 years, many of whom are being passed over for Chinese jobs in China. This is simply unacceptable! English is one of “the 10 most popular disciplines that saw low rates of employment last year.”13 Chinese universities are under tremendous pressure to change curriculums to meet the needs of the job market. But instead, they are simply reducing enrollments in certain majors.14 “One of the reasons for the difficulty in university graduates finding employment is that they are unable to satisfy the needs of employers,” he said. (Yang Weiguo, associate professor of Beijing-based Renmin University) He said the universities needed to adjust their teaching methods and content quickly to conform to social development and demand.15
Both “in house” and private corporate English training centers are proliferating throughout the business hubs of China. The curriculum is usually industry specific and amounts to ESP (English for a specific purpose), i.e. the teaching of technical language and phrases to meet the perceived need to limit English communication to a standard or formal form of English related to a specific discipline such as medical English, legal English, architecture English, IT English, etc.
“While there is a need for specialist terminology, the greatest need of international employers is to have employees who can communicate successfully in English. Thus, communication and accommodation should be emphasized in language instruction; the mastering of perfect grammatical forms is an added bonus that can be reserved for later refinement. Flexibility is just as important as the mastering of prescribed forms, if not more so. In order to communicate across international boundaries, students must learn to adjust to their interlocutor in order to facilitate understanding. Moreover, because of the growing use of English as a global lingua franca, students of the language need to be exposed to a wide range of English accents in order to increase their abilities to understand the people they are likely to encounter in an international career. Furthermore, it is not only formal but informal language skills that should be practiced at university; students should be made aware of the different genres and registers in English, so that they can determine the appropriate use of the language in the various situations in which they are likely to find themselves …. Finally, students should be taught skills that allow them to mediate between languages and cultures. Thus an intercultural approach is needed in language teaching, so that future employees are ‘able to view different cultures from a perspective of informed understanding’.16 An approach that has the goal of successful intercultural communication at its core will prepare students for the relatively unpredictable needs of language use in corporate Europe.”17
REFORM IS IMPOSSIBLE
Wholesale reform of the TEFL curriculum is impossible under current circumstances.
There are simply too many vested interests in English learning. It begins with the National English Proficiency examinations. Graduation and employment decisions rely heavily on passage of these tests. A school’s academic standing depends upon the pass rate for these tests. These examinations primarily test knowledge about English and memorization skills. They do not adequately test functional literacy.18 The authors of these tests have a vested economic interest in residuals every time the tests are used. Although some famous Chinese linguists have criticized the tests19 as inaccurate and irrelevant; the supporters launched a strong defense.20
There are literally thousands of textbooks written by Chinese scholars intended to assist students in passing the National tests. The scholars receive economic royalties on the sale of their books. Some include foreign coauthors or editors but these are mainly window dressing.
Less than a handful of State Owned Publishing Houses, usually attached to a famous university, have a monopoly on publishing texts for English study. They have a great deal invested in publishing English learning texts. They have no motivation to publish English acquisition texts because Chinese scholars have no motivation to write them because they are perceived as useless in passing the National examinations and they would not conform to the curriculum designed to support the tests. The test authors have no motivation to change the tests.
Chinese teachers of English have no time to acquaint themselves with acquisition theory, pedagogy or methodology and they have no incentive to do so. Plus they are limited by the students’ need to pass the National examinations.
When suggesting reform of an industry generating more than 2.0 billion $ a year, one must necessarily tread very lightly.
The native English speaker is utilized as little more than an encourager as opposed to a real language teacher.
http://www.networkesl.com/english/web/48_73.html (accessed 7/15/09)
SOLVING THE CHINESE PUZZLE
For those unfamiliar with China, the obvious answer may be to simply have the National Ministry of Education hand down an edict that acquisition must become a part of the EFL curriculum. Nothing in China is that simple. China is much more complicated than “One China – Two Systems.”
When Beijing speaks, not everyone is required to listen. China has 2 SAR’s, 7 semi-autonomous regions and 4 semi-autonomous municipalities. These areas are basically immune to National mandates. They can take or leave Beijing’s advice with certain limitations. Even the Provinces have a great deal of freedom through their provincial Departments of Education.
Reforming TEFL in China is a monumental task, sort of like eating an elephant. Of course the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. Possibly the way to reform TEFL in China is one teacher at a time, one classroom at a time, one school at a time, one province at a time. A much quicker way would be to reform or do away with the National English proficiency examinations. Or, find a cure for English fever.
CONCLUSION
QUESTION:
How can TEFL in China be reformed to graduate students who can produce comprehensible oral and written English?
ANSWER:
That is the 2 billion $ question.
If I knew I would surely tell you!
SOLUTIONS FROM THE PUZZLE MASTERS
The following are unedited attributions:
The only magic process I’ve ever seen to work is the total immersion into L2 for at least a year (as I did). I started to seriously learn English at age 18 a few months before I emigrated to Canada. (True, in Austria, we all had English for four years “in der Hauptschule” but with the same dismal success as China has). After arrival in Canada, after a brief survey of what works and what doesn’t, I decided to stay away from all German-spoken people for at least a year, which I did. Actually, I neither called nor wrote home to my family in Austria for almost two years . . . with the result that I learned to sound like a native Canadian, even without going to school. If the Chinese did something similar, meaning working in an English-only environment while living in an English-only community with a native roommate, they would also acquire English the way I did . . . the way natives do . . . through role modeling what they hear.
Can that be done without leaving China? I think it could in a convoluted sort of way, but the easier answer would be to simply have a youngster commit to the use of “English only” for at least a year, somewhere, preferably in an industrial environment–learning some marketable skills, rather than a scholastic one–to acquire more (questionably useful) knowledge.
The second important solution: China needs to put more emphasis on the value of learning skills if she wants to remain a role model to the world. Yes, knowledge, per se, has been the West’s major export over the last fifty years; yet, as valuable as it was a few years ago, with the advent of the Internet, knowledge has become a public commodity . . . it has virtually lost its market value. If Chinese students would start to use the English section of their library more, they would discover this for themselves. In fact, to me, it seemed almost criminal how little research was done by our NCC students here at NJU last year. But this mindset is not likely to change while the powers to be focus on the passing of “knowledge” tests rather than the acquisition of comprehensible output (by both teachers and students).
Joe Anthony Blum, MA TESOL
For those of us who have been around for awhile and have seen the fruits of China’s foreign language program, it is obvious that what the Chinese really want is for the rest of the world to learn Chinese. Absolutely you can quote me. In fact, I just went on record with that position in an article I wrote for EzineArticles.com titled Teaching English in China—Debunking the Myths.
New Oriental as well as English First have both added Chinese language programs for foreigners. One school in Haikou I still consult for, Hainan YuDa, has applied for an educational license to teach Chinese to foreigners. Of course, Chinese universities have been doing this for awhile but now everyone is going to get in on the act. At least it’s honest.
As inefficient as the mainland Chinese government is, if they really wanted their citizenry to speak English, they would be speaking English by now. The whole thing was just for show in preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games, just to prove how “international” China really is (a point you have made numerous times). There was never any real intent. That’s obvious based on the result.
Gregory Mavrides, PhD, Professor Jinan University.
As for the “Puzzle” you mentioned, it is really a puzzle for me, and also for lots of Chinese teachers of English, I think. However, the puzzle stems from a variety of factors, such as economic, military, political, technical , scientific development and the change of the world, I think. CET-4 or CET-6 can not shoulder all the blame and responsibility. In fact, English as a foreign language, has been raised to a higher position because of CET-4 and CET-6, without which many students of science may choose to put more time on their majors though it may not be a bad thing……So, you see, it’s really a puzzle.
Jane Li, Chinese teacher of English
I don’t think any of us can change China. However, we can all change the corner where we work. Each year I train teachers and a whole district has now given me a document that through my effort they have a large pool of good local English teachers and that the level of English in the district has been raised.
As for, why teach English? Some of the respondents seem to have over looked the fact that Russian was universally taught in China for many years. When there was the fallout with Russia, Russian had to be replaced, and so, long before Nixon came to China, the teaching of the “international language” had already begun. For proof of this, read WILD SWANS.
There weren’t any English teachers then, so the Russian teachers were told to use the international phonetic symbols to learn the English and teach it. All of today’s teachers still copy their teacher’s method even though they know it is ineffective.
It is possible to turn a country around one degree at a time. You will not move people 180 or even 90 degrees by just being adamant. Now when you apply that to a conglomerate like China, it becomes even more obvious, that is the way an egoistic nation like China is.
That is why I only train teachers with the total backing of the Education Authorities in the area where I am working and go back to see how it is implemented. Great changes have taken place and I make it clear that this is a work in progress, not that my training is the last they will need in their lifetime.
In our lifetime we will not see a total change, but from 1992 until now I have seen a lot of change and I know this will continue. Stop looking at what is not, but start implementing the change you can. Maybe my training is so successful because it is done without any gain to me, except the satisfaction that I am making a little difference in one corner of this great land.
Ria Smit, China Foreign Expert, Zhengzhou, China
Just think of the puzzle game. A puzzle game consists of many pieces which are “locked” to each other in a special way. One piece doesn’t make any sense. The key to solving the puzzle is to start from the edge, first make a line, then a small area, a big area, finally the whole picture will show up.
An old saying in China: “The outsider sees the most of the game”. Chinese students and teachers are the pieces of the puzzle. Foreign experts are the outsider. For this reason, you can see the situation objectively. English is a foreign language in China. The government should invite foreign experts to design the English curriculum, course and textbooks, and to train teachers. This can also avoid the problem of vested interests.
Yu Yi, Chinese teacher of English
http://japanese.china.org.cn/english/2006/Apr/165139.htm accessed July 7, 2009
http://china.org.cn/business/2008-09/19/content_16505870.htm
http://mdjnkj.china.com.cn/english/2002/Mar/28035.htm (accessed July 1, 2009)
Beijing-based survey company Mycos HR (accessed May 1, 2009)
The Issues In The Current College English Test
Niu Qiang
Foreign Language Teaching and Research (bimonthly)
Mar. 2001 Vol. 33 No. 2
Gu Xiangdong, (2002) Suspicion and Misunderstanding -A Review of the article “To the Quality or the Test” in Wen Wei Po, Foreign Language World, No. 6 2002 (General Serial No.92)
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Even the schools hire foreigners to teach English, their students have little time to talk with the teacher, and they do not have the incentive to enhance oral. As a result, that seems meaningless~
Ivy – Zhongshan University
Reading this article broke my heart. I try to be a part of the solution, however tiny. Impossible? As long as money is the motivation for people to do anything (or nothing), it’s a battle that will outlive me. When there’s no money left, will people finally take an interest in progress?
Well, after reading this article I was really lost in this big puzzle.
How to say, there are so many years that I have tried to find the facts why I should learn English. And as you can see, it is just for a better education and a better job in the future. Honestly speaking, I have no talent in learning languages, because I am often disrupted by the grammer and the localized English usage. At the very begining, I was interested in English, but that didn’t last for a long time. Because I had to learn the grammer and a lot of platitudes, that almost drove me crazy.
Those years, I have come to realize that a language is a tool for people to communication rather than a rigid rule. However, it seems to be absolutely ignored in our education, so teaching and learning English become utilitarian things in China.
Do we just need an English-only environment? I don’t know. What a puzzle!
“When Beijing speaks, not everyone is required to listen.”Who dares.Although we think some policy are bullshit,especially in education.But the only thing you can do is to obey and run.In some respect,China is not a democracy. We are used to obeying.
The day before yesterday,minister of National Ministry of Education is fired.I hope there will be reforms in the future.And some of your hopes will not be magics or dreams any more.
Before college, I was busy myself preparing my diversified exam. During my college years, I was busy myself experiment. I was always too busy to practice my poor oral English. But if someone told me if I couldn’t speak English well, I shouldn’t enter and graduate from the Sun Yat-Sen University, I would try my best, and there was no longer “busy”. The key is attitude, not ability. Maybe an oral English exam will change everything. But now in China, that cat won’t jump.
In this summer, I got acquainted with some little friends from Hong Kong. They are about 12 years old, while they speak English well. At that moment, an idea struck me: maybe we could find some solutions from Hong Kong.
As a post-graduate in China，I think I have no qualification to evaluate the political system in China. Now we Chinese people accept it，and benefit from our system，as the old saying：“the best one is the most suitable one.” However，as to the English study，we students will try our best to be NO.1，if we have the interest and it is necessary under the acceptable circumstance. On the other hand，if we have the environment created by the government to do better，that would be fine.
In China, nobody can change the current situation except Chinese Communist Party. So what I can change is just myself. Until I have power and superior social status, I have the abilities to change the China!
For many years, since I realize the unreasonable English teaching manner in China, I was puzzled with this problem, complained, think of solution, but now, the only thing remained is groan. As a student, if you want to join in the better universities, you must obey the policy of exams. No matter how unreasonable the policy is. It is true that you have the right to air your opinions to the ministry of education, but ignore your voices is their right too. Even if the students, teachers and the whole world think of the solution, the official can also turn their back upon it. This is Chinese educational system, not only in English, but also other areas.
Why we discuss this topic? We need to acquire English. Why we face this English puzzle? We face our disadvantage. Just think, after the reform and opening up, there are more and more Chinese acquire English, this is a great improvement. Although we have learn English for more than ten years, we didn’t devote all to English. Beside English, there are mathematics, Chinese, politics, history, geography and so on. So how much time you focus on English during the last ten year? When you realize it, you may know why your English is not good. The only way is your attitude and time.
As we know, our education system has many problems, our students are limited by the students’ need to pass every kinds of examinations and we waste time and resources for we have learned English for many years but are unable to produce comprehensible English output. We know we should change it, but no one know how to change it, it’s very difficult. Our country are trying.
Yes, China has 2 SAR’s, 7 semi-autonomous regions and 4 semi-autonomous municipalities. But I don’t agree the idea that “When Beijing speaks, not everyone is required to listen.” May be Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau will have some freedom, but the other provinces are still totally under the control of Beijing. If Beijing says that English speaking is very important, who dares to forget the oral English?
I would like say that it’s very important that we students make an English-speaking environment for ourselves. But if the government give more attention and money on the English-speaking environment construction, the “Puzzle” can be solved easier.
It’s true that learning English has became a national obsession, more and more people begin to study English, not only the young but also the old, not only the students but also the workers, especially when the Olympics held in Beijing in 2008. I believe it is a good social phenomenon rather than a bad phenomenon, because this phenomenon may presuppose that the quality of our country’s population is improved gradually.
However there are also many problems and puzzlements need to be deal with, as mentioned above. It is a long process to solve these puzzlements, and also needs everyone of us to make joint efforts. I think as Chinese graduate students, what we should do now is to take a correct attitude toward our studies, and use appropriate methods to study, especially the English study.
Although we started to study English since more than 10 years ago, all we study are mainly used to pass the exam, so when we face a foreigner, we become mute. Although we spend a lot of tine on studying English, we forget it totally after the exam, so still we cannot acquire English. I am confused that why China Minister of Education require all students to study English, no matter the student s like to study English or not. And I am confused if English is so hard to acquire that we cannot make the comprehensible output after a long time English study.
Actually, we Chinese students have very few chances to contact English after. We are compelled to study English without interest And We even fell shamed of our bad English.
We are lost in a puzzle, but if we see out of the game, we can see more and find out the proper way to access the exit.
In fact, education in China is not quality education, but examination-based education. We have no choice but just study hard to get a high score. This is the only one chance to have further education. We have learnt English for 16 years, not considering how to use it but just thinking about a high score, that we can get the entrance to a better college. In the education system of China, we should obey the rules that is set by the government. It is unacceptable in China that you fail in the English test even though you declare that you can use English fluently. So if there is no reformation in the education system, if the attitude to knowledge and capacity does not change, Chinese puzzle will exist.
It is a long time when we have faced this English puzzle.We constantly complain our country’s deficient education system and teaching skills of Chinese teacher of English .At the same time,our reform is on and on,but there is no remarkable effects.When the environment can not have huge variation in the short run,I think,the only way you can change is changing yourself. Changing our attitude in learning English by ourselves.Maybe,there will be a magnification effect to change our country.
The first time, I know that the government cost so much money on English teaching. But it doesn’t seem useful. Because students don’t pay much attention on it. Most of them learn English just for the test. Government want that every student can be good at English so that they can make great values for country after graduation. So they pay so much money on it. And some people catch the chance to open some schools which are teaching English, they can earn money. And for students, they only see that the teacher, school and society force them to learn English, they don’t know English is important by their hearts. So I think government should pay more attention to show the importance, not always use money to hire English teacher. If students want to learn English, even there aren’t foreign teachers, they will learn English well.
Indeed it is a puzzle, but it can be solved as long as it’s a puzzle. How to learn English well is a question throughout my study from junior school to post-graduate. Motivation, I think, is a very important thing. As a popular saying goes,’ interests is the best teacher’, somebody study English just because he/she really loves it, but not every one gets the same opinion. However English is an important tool especially to do a research——most of the latest reports of scientific achievement are written in English. And the purpose of CET is to give students a motivation of learning English. It should not be criticized from this aspect. The root is the mechanism which is not changed with the time. So in my opinion, what we need is an improvement, not reform. Find that, and we will get the solution.
The puzzle is really existed and it is not a simple question to solve in a short time. My former English teacher used to tell us the fact that the English may become seldom necessity after we graduate because most of us won’t go out for foreign countries while we should learn it for many years. It seems paradoxical but it is true fact. I believe that many Chinese English know that they should teach English but they will puzzle that why many students should be taught. Most of the Chinese students like to purchase high marks in the exam and regard high marks as good master of English, as I feel now silly and shy because it may just be a way to happy and fool ourselves only. It is useless when it is not acceptable by others. I don’t uglify the English education section but it do have problem in our present English teaching system. Our government takes so much effort to improve the English level of the whole country, which implies that the importance role English plays today. But the problem is that the aim of learning English pays too much attention in the exam rather than ability in use and overstates the evaluation of English and is not quit reasonable and full of senses. I believe that it is normal to experience the stage of improper way towards English learning and the puzzle I hope will be gradually solved one day with the endeavor of our people and help of friendly foreign people.
I was also puzzled by this big question.as you ask,What Chinese industry has been around for at least 30 years?What they have done had no effect on our society,it is very amazed to know what they did and how huge the resources they waste.But what shall we do?How can we do to change these situation?As people say,With greater power, comes greater responsibility.If I am a person in important position,I will appel all the people around me to change these phenomenons.But in reality,I am only a normal student in Sun Yat-sen University,what I can do is studing English and do better in future.
Martin Wolff who is my first foreign teacher teaches me oral English, I am overjoyed. However, I just have two lessons, ninty minutes every two weeks, and I don’t have one minutes to talk with him. I complained about that why didn’t the university spend more money employing more foreign teacher. After carefull consideration, if the university did this, so what? I can have two or three lessons per weeks?
So it is not a matter of money, how to solve the puzzle? You, me, all of us know we should reform the TEFL. However, how? One bite at a time, HEFL reform starts from me.
In China, foreign language teaching is mainly the teaching of English. Over the past decades China has built up a fairly complete, gigantic system of teaching English on the secongary and tertiary levels, despite her culture and geographical distance and, worst of all, her quater-of-a-century total isolation from the English-speaking world.
Nevertheless, China’s present language teaching approach also has many weaknesses which have been made obvious sa China opens up the outside world and launches into the Four Modernizations. Foreign language teaching in China has long been criticized by many for being too rigid, old-fashioned, and divorced from the needs of society.
Every coin has two sides. I wish we could consider this matter with reason.
Since the reform and opening up, more and more Chinese began to learn English. But the learning styles is not correct, many English teachers who teach English in Chinese and they pay much attention to pass the National English proficiency examinations, but little to speak English. so many people who master English well but can’t speak English. The TEFL methods should be changed .Firstly, the teachers should change their teaching points, let students speak more. Secondly, student should take the initiative to learn English and speak more with the native English.
As you know, Chinese students have so many courses, so many exams, so much homework. English is just one of the required courses. Most students learn English for good mark and passing the National exams. So they don’t really acquire English. Maybe it’s a waste of time and money for the students who can’t produce comprehensible oral and written English. We do need reform. Reforming TEFL in China is a monumental task. It needs a long time at present.
The reasons of the Chinese puzzle’s happening are really complicated. As far as I’m concerned, the main reason is that we learned English with a good motivation but in the wrong way.
China wants to be more civilized, it needs to communicate with the developed countries and learn from them. Accordingly, Chinese education system set the goal of mastering English for the youths. But it did not make the success as expectation. As the focus of learning English diverted from the capability of communication to the pass rates of the national English competency examinations. Besides that, there is no need to speak English in China most of the time. Lacking ESE(English speaking environment) will lead to the neglect of oral English.The main reasons root in the education system.
It is hard to do the beginning things. China is a developing country so that it has many problems to deal with . The education system is one of problem that is eager to deal with. You know that many people in society criticize the education system. Such as being educated equally. The educate system reform is imperative. TEFL in China is a experiment because it is has a short history in china ,it need time to improve teaching method .I think the teacher should take the students to place. In different places you can learn much .
Reforming TEFL in China is a monumental task, sort of like eating an elephant. Of course the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. I love this sentence. Considering complicated situation here, it’s certain that one will be nominated for Nobel Price for Peace as long as he can cure English fever in China. Everyone learning English or other languages should be awared that a foreign language is a tool for better understanding the world outside, not a 100% ensurence for a better job or status.
For about ten years, in our country since I realize the unreasonable teaching manner, I was puzzled with this problem.I always think of solution, but i can get none.There are more and more peoples beginning to study English, not only the young but also the old.In our education system, we should obey the rules that is set by the government.It is a long process to solve these puzzlements, and also needs everyone of us to make joint efforts.For me maybe studying abroad is a better one.
To be honest, it is really a big puzzle for me. I, as a postgraduate student, unexpectedly can’t speak English fluently. I have been study English for about eight years. I have been thinking this problem for a long time. I even doubted about my ability. How can I organize the sentence in the daily communication correctly? Nobody tell me. Speed is important while understandable is more important. I can read fast, but I can’t speak in a fast speed. How can I improve my oral English? I tried to read fast, but in fact I still can’t speak English fluently. You may tell me to communicate with other students in English. But actually that is impossible in such a putonghua atmosphere. Somebody helps me! I am sorry that I can’t pose any suggestion for solution, because I am just in the puzzle myself.
The new Chinese puzzle makes me feel sad. It is really a good thing that many people in China are learning English because English is a necessary tool for further study and communication, but the outcome is just too terrible. As it points out in the puzzle, we spend lots of resources only to produce 5.0 million defective products. In my opinion, the terrible result comes from the improper education system and the teaching methods. We must change the education system! We must change the teaching methods! It is easier said than done. From the article we know the vested interests will protect their interests and launch strong defense to make the reform impossible. It is a tough task and we have a long way to go.
After reading the first question in this article,the answer appeared in my head is just McDonald’s.But I was totally wrong.
Actually,not everyone in their lives use English.But in my opinion,learning English is good to everyone,just like the courses learnt in the college,you will not know when you require English in your work.But why we have learnt English for so many years and can not produce comprehensible oral and written English?I think this is related to the environment of English learning.If we treat learning English as a hobby,but not something to pass the exams,I think we can learn it better.So the English examination system is acquired to be reformed.
This new Chinese puzzle reflects some contradiction after our “reform and opening to the outside world”, which gets most of the social life involved. Contradiction does exist. They are between city and country, employer and employees, doctors and patients, low family income and high education payments. In a word, economy!
However, teaching English as a foreign language is never a solution! Outside stimulation needs inside strength. China has to be strong and we need an appropriate reform supporting it. But how? Nobody knows. The way needs to be found, there must be a way out and there must be a settlement of this puzzle.
I stil remerber that in the lecture Mr Martin has said that”Stop learning English now! “Honestly speaking,I was shocked by this ! Do we really do not need to learn English anymore? In the end of the lecture I find the answer: we have already learned enough words and phases to communiate with others ,what we need to do now is just to speak more frequently.To speak ,not for teachers,not for exams,not for entering some school,just for yourself!In fact,speaking is the key and the aim to learn a forign language.
Not every teacher in China suck, and only teaches the students grammar. As far as I know, some of the teacher in SYSU are doing great jobs in their career, they are very thoughtful person. In their classes, students are organized and encouraged to express their ideas rather than the plain teaching and practising style. They are not teaching us how to get a high mark on CET.
But I had to admit that it only happens in the university, especially the better universities. The teaching before NMET was more test oriented. Not only the teacher care more about the test, but also the students. When I was Grade One in high school, rather than explaining the grammars and words, my English teacher seemed more interested in telling stories or other things that extend from the texts. And most of the class were not satisfied, because we thought he was not teaching us English, although most of his stories was interesting.
I passed CET-4 and made a good performance in CET-6.But I can’t use English well.I have learned English for more than 10 years but I find it difficult to carry on even a short conversation in English.I am sure that I am just a typical example in China.I have to say there are so many failures in our country in English learning.It’s not a personal problem,but a society one.Yet what make me annoyed and disappointed is the so called reforms which do little effects.We need changes,we are eager for changes.What changes?The attitude of governments,the reforms, the teaching methods and the system of evalution of students’ English ability.
The new Chinese puzzle is taking place around us all the time, perhaps we can not change china but we can change ourselves, we can creat our own circumstan-ce.
“The outsider sees the most of the game”, may be the foreign can see these questions more clearly， we may could adopt different ideas. Certainly, there is really a very long way to go!
“Of course the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. ”What a great sentence! In fact, no matter what we eat, we can only eat it one bite at a time. A Chinese saying goes: “one can not become a fat man with only a bite of food.” It is the time for some change for English education in China. However we can not establish an effective earth-shaking way at once.
“Possibly the way to reform TEFL in China is one teacher at a time, one classroom at a time, one school at a time, one province at a time. ” I think the most possible thing for us to do is this. If each school and each teacher can organize effective oral English teaching and teach students how learn English correctly , and each student can participate in it actively, perhaps we can see the change in English education in China.
“It begins with the National English Proficiency examinations. Graduation and employment decisions rely heavily on passage of these tests. “To begin with, I site the statement from the passage to demonstrate how vital English can be. In my opinion, it is the world wide trend that make the China government to reform, especially from the change from Russian to English. The trend of the world can not be reverse, China have to adapt to it. English has been the widest use language for almost 200 years, no matter how it came to realize, no language can be that amazing.
I really agree that not everyone in China need to learn English, and not everyone will use English after graduate. Although many Chinese can’t make conprehensible oral or writen English, there also are many students who can communicate with others fluently. Why? In my opinion, that is because some person know why they should learn English and what is the most important for themselves.
It’s truth that the pedagogy in China has many problems and changing it is very difficult. If you can’t change the world you should yourself. Someone said the sentence. It’s resonable.
I think we all have some mistake about English learning.We study English under a big pressure from beginning. We study English mainly for a test or a new job,not for use. I had worked for many years in several different company. They all requir interviewee “fluent English,CET-6 level or above” .In fact , even if in a famous American company, as a native employee, we have little chance to communicate with each other in English.It’s not because we are all mute English.
Except our education system flaw , our official and goverment lack of confidence when facing the world. Language is just for a tool for communicating to us,It doesn;t means anythingelse. When we think it simply,we can really enjoy it.
I think the puzzle is a great problem. The target in my English study is ambiguous. I am just lost. As for me, the chance I use English just when I do my research I need to consult literature. I just need the skill to understand the meaning of literature and get the ability to read fast for learning the research and discovering other done. More is when I share my research with all over the world in English, maybe a literature. But I think I need to get the ability that I can produce comprehensible oral and written English. Maybe it will be useful in my future work. At least, I can learn something news happen overseas, learn some new techniques. So, I am positive and optimistic to improve my English.
It is my seventeenth year of learning English this year. In the past sixteen years, I have always been required to memorize English words, phrases and so on. English teachers have provided few chances for us to speak English with each other and few writing assignments, and now our oral and written English are very weak, although our reading level is not low. I hope that the current situation is improved by reform.
To make reform it seems impossible. So ,What should we do when we face the puzzle? As English is more and more important in our daily lives, while most of us can not learn a “true” English, So, what we can do?
After learning English for almost 13years, while I still unable to produce comprehensible oral English. Who can help me? Teacher or someone? No, it is a puzzle to me.
After read the article, I got to know what I should do. Create more chances to learn, to speak, to write. It tells us students to learn to adjust to the interlocutor, to be exposed to a wide rang of English accents, to practice language skills, to learn to mediate between language teaching……
Although it is a puzzle to all the Chinese, but I believe that we can solve the learning puzzle of us following the suggestion posed by the article.
Although we all know from our own experiences that TEFL is so inefficient in China. We can do nothing to change it for at least 2 reasons. First as said in the article, the whole society judge a person’s ability too much on the exams and certificates. We spend most of the time memorizing words, grammars and patterns as to pass the exams or receive the certificates but forget to utilize it. We can answer difficult question on papers that we practice for long, but cannot express our views of ordinary lives. What a pity when we find out our English are limited on the papers. Secondly, it’s the cause of Chinese teaching mode. It can be assessed that the Chinese classes may be the most boring ones since there are seldom interactions between teachers and students and the classes contents remain the same for decades. The only things changing are the vocabularies. By that way how can we get little interests of English study, don’t even mention about using it. But the most unacceptable fact is that English teachers in China are always using Chinese in English classes. What should we learn from teachers in such case.
To deal with these problems, we should have a better evaluation way of people during employment and examination. Also we should change the English classes by having more interactive activities such as debate, discussion and research after classes to give students more chances to contact with English.
Honestly, I am always puzzled about this Chinese phenomenon too. The whole nation spends a lot of time and money learning English. As post-graduate students, we should be the people who have been educated more than most of other people, but most of us still do not have the confidence to speak and write English as a tool. I think it is very necessary and important to reform it. Yes, we can reform it step by step. I believe we can do it better and better.
I love English when I was a little girl, just like it. There is no reason for me to love English, and there is also no reason that I have to learn English in a disgusting way in almost whole process in studying English before now. Chinese education make everything worst to become a method to fight against the “examination”. All kinds of exams make the students become just many machines to repeat, to memorize or to write. They even forget that a language is a tool to communicate not to help you pass the gates to somewhere only. So when I was a senior, though I have to attend the important examination, I still used my own way to learn English, keep myself away from the disgusting English book and read 21st newspapers and talk with that best friend who had the same thinking with me in English. That’s great. And I think I am fortunate enough to get this chance to practice again.
I think it is because little people know how to improve English, which way is the best way. So we treat English as other subject, for pasting tests! But we didn’t realize English is a tool, not knowledge, we gotten use it. If more and more English teacher in china know about Holistic English, our situation will be better and better.
We need to change,to change the methods of TEFL, the system of evaluating the students’ English ability,such as put emphasis on the oral English.Learning English is not for test,but for communication,which is a language’s essential purpose.If we don’t use it to communicate with others,why we have to hit the book?For passing CET-4 or CET-6?
When I was a child, someone told me a truth, which is that conquering a kind of language is just like doing a great thing, and the process is full of happiness and satisfaction. Because of this, I endeavor desperately to study my mother language – Chinese all the time.
Yet this period is beyond off the current society. Now we always are inspired with mastering another language that is English, however, what the pity is that we seldom utilize it in our lives.
What’s more, we are often full of depression and frustrated in the process of studying English. We Chinese people always emphasize the importance of English, but do we really understand why we should acquire English? I think it is still a question.
After reading this article, I am really puzzled. I used to think encouraging all people to learn English is good because more and more foreigners visit China and we can make friends with them. Now I have a doubt if everyone should master English, actually, common people have little chance to communicate with a foreigner and we can also be understood by gesture language. As for the reform of the TEFL, I think it’s not easy and can’t be completed in a short time. We can’t change the circumstance of learning English, but we can change ourselves. Don’t consider learning English as a responsibility that we can really enjoy to study it.
After reading this article ,just as the article said we should put forth the reform not dramatic but reform like eating an elephant ,one bite at a time and do it insistently. First we should change our attitude ,because the attitude you have decide what you will do. Second ,I think a plan must be made to make sure every day you will get advantage frome what you learn from English. The last ,also is the important one that just do it ,to practice ,to use it ,make English fill your daily life.