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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I have to agree of that. It’s not easy to change the situation. It’s about a big interests to many people. A Chinese saying may give some suggestions, we need the unlock man is who lock the door. So we know the government must bear the most responsibilities. If the government can admit the idea of a really english reform, like to redesign the education body of the english with the help of foreigners. But it involved interests, so that only the people who call for reform can prove that it doesn’t for money drive, or it will lose again. I believed that there are not enough pains for Chinese students who suffered from english. If not, the reform will comes to the point that we have to do it. There are many smart people sell their ideas to make a reform, we can see that which one be can successful in the end.
Many Chinese people say Chinese education is fail, large attack it and someone also spreading rumors the Chinese government is not ability.
In my opinion,it is an actual that Chinese education need to improve and reform in many aspects, but nothing in the world is the perfect thing, we need to improve it to make it close to perfect, we do not just talk instead of doing.
A new chinese puzzle gave us many questions and current conditions in various aspects in China, reform is necessary and requires everyone to participate in it.
The puzzle is why we spent so much time and energy in learning English but gain nothing useful.We are still funtional illiterate.It’s totally a waste of time and intellectual resources.How could this be changed? Many of us take it for grant that we should learn English to meet the needs of foreigners,it is quite strange.Would it make more sense to devote our attention to build something valuable in a culture sense? Foreigners may be attracted to learn Chinese.It’s just a dream,not a method to solve the problem of
ineffective English education.
The policy that everyone at school must learn English combined with CET4 and CET6 have already created vested interest and it is expensive to take it back. The indifference of our teachers and professors is more or less a contracdiction to the idea that we should build our country upon science and education.They may realize the problem but not intend to make change.I can expect the ministry of education to cancel CET4&6,I can expect the teachers to be incentive to change their methodology in teaching,I can expect our country’s
cultural influence may reduce the importance of English,but what I can do is just to acquire English by an appropriate approach.
At the first glance, Our government need to pay 2 billion $ for our English education every year, sounds like an enormous amount, but this is a total number, when this money is allotted averagely to each student, it is only a little to everyone just like a small cake. Because our country has a huge population, approximately accounting for one-fifth of the world’s population . So, in some foreigner’s eyes they felt this phenomenon very surprising, why Chinese students took more than 10 years to learn English, finally, when they graduated from the university to look for jobs they were even unable to produce comprehensible English output. Just your article said: “Our educational system provides 5.0 million defective products which no nutritional value, contributes little or nothing to the development of a better off – harmonious society every year.” This is a serious problem to our society, but you can’t fully attribute this situation to national English competency examinations such as TEM 4, CET 4 and CET 6, they may be afford a little responsibility, but not all. There are some other factors. It comes down to major matters of principle such as economic, policy, scientific development and the change of the world. This situation stems from Chinese historic culture. If we want to change the current complex circumstance in a short time, I think it is impossible, and this is not a person who can make it. It needs our all of us. So we need reform. We need to change our current TEFL curriculum, to improve our ideology.
There are many problems of teaching and studying English in Chinese education, or other subjects. But it can be understand. Yes, we are lack of real comprehensible English teachers. But the generation of our English teachers, the condition was too bad to study English. There are no good teachers, no good environment, even on good methods. And there are no foreign teachers like you came to China to tell them this. So the entire level of English teacher is not high. But if no them, if no so many English teachers, we can’t understand your saying, your article and so on. We can’t know more and more knowledge like now. So I very thanks for them. And as the development of Chinese economic and the need of bilingual persons, we will have the good teachers, and improve the level of English teaching.
I was shocked by how a foreigner viewed things about teaching English as a foreigh language in China. I never have any idea about what made our government decided to push out English education all over the country, what we have really got from the TEFL curriculum, why should we reform the TEFL curriculum, and how can we make it.
English is useful, especially for us postgraduates. But what we have got from the EFL curriculum is “knowledge” only, rather than the acquisition of comprehensible output. As English learners, we should make our efforts to create an English environment, and use it more.
Truly, it is a big trouble to English education and must reform in China. It exists not only in English education, but also in other subjects. There are many reasons for this problem, and the main reasons are undeveloped economically and the populations. Also there are other reasons such as political and historical reasons. It is easy to reform it in a very short period of time. But luckily, it has made great progress in the reform of education system recent years. And I believe that it will be better in the near future.
I totally agree with the author’s view. In china the main stream is examination-oriented education system. Pass the exams to get the certifications is the first thing, which will bring us bread, material-oriented phenomenon is widely spread. Many students complain they can use English properly after more than ten years’ learning, in my opinion it’s the fruit of examination-oriented education. Most of Chinese including the government haven’t notice the importance of practice in reality, which is hard to be reformed. In china we always solve the problems when they come up, the abilities of foresee are a little weak. I think Chinese government will pay bills for the systems and then reform will begin.
I feel very sorry and sorrowful that I still can not been a versed English speaker after I have spent more than ten years on it. Ten years is really a very, very long time. But what’s worse, I nearly lose my confidence and desire to change it. I get into a hobble. As the time goes, I forget more and more words and phrases gradually, too. I feel now, not only my speaking English but also reading, writing English turn worse and worse. I am real worrying. I don’t know why and I lose my way. It is a big puzzle, my puzzle and maybe other thousands of people’s puzzle. And now what I can do is just hope that people following find their right way. I bless them.
Though I hate CET very much, I cannot but try hard to pass it. Otherwise, I cannot get any further education. It is true in our university. It is true in china nationwide. Many professors believe it is useless and unscientific to determine one’s English skills. But that really does in china for years. We have never thought things would be changed. Or we have no time to think deeply in actual.
After read the article, I do think it really need a reform of English Teaching in China. Japan and Korea are both Asian countries, there are evidences show that people from these countries could use English better than Chinese. It all contributes to the education mannar they have adapt. However, the first thing we Chinese need to do is to change our attitude of English learning. As to me, English is a kind of language, not just a foreign language. The Chinese language I have been mastered make me communicate pretty good in this third largest countries in the world, whild English give me a comprehensive recognization all over the world.
Acatully,in my experience, China need reform of English education urgently.Most of us have study English more than 12 years but we can’t use it communicat with foreigners fluently until now.Why some Chinese learn English quickly in USA? Even they can’t say one word at begaining but they can speak with native people just a few months later.Clearly, our country’s English education system have problem,we need reform it.As is mentioned in the above article,this is a huge project which involved a multitude of interest groups.So it is hard to inform it.But I think we have recognized the lack of our country’s English education,the environment of English study will be better and better.
Whose fault? After reading this article, I asked myself. In the past, we learned English only for pass the grade examinations, just like CET or TOFEL and others. We only got certificates after we pass them, but did we really grasp this language? The answer is obviously not. So a national program of assessment is needed.
When we were busy in memorizing words and doing exercises, time was always unavailable for us to think about “why”. When we were admitted to college, it was found that we would graduate and apply for a good job relying on our scores of english exams, and this time we knew why—these are binding rules we must obey. It’s the fact that we have been placed in this educational system for over 16 years and get used to without more deeper consideration. Despite the present is archaic and unrealistic, we don’t have enough power and force to require a exhaustive reform to change and enhance. However it is good to bring this Chinese puzzle into spotlight and spare time for us to slow down and think back.
It’s true that the Chinese have spend a lot of time and energy in English learning but still fail to use it. I think there are two reasons. One is the English education system is far away from perfect. The other is that the wrong acknowledge of the meaning of English learning.
The first reason is a big issue involving China’s development and the comprehensive national strength. It takes time to improve the situation. And I think it will take a long period. And the other reason is a question of consciousness. I do have a feeling that a great amount of Chinese people are holding a wrong idea on English learning. They just focus on the CET4 or CET6, but never create a real environment of us to use English as a true communication tool. It also reflects a problem of the cultivation. That’s why I hold the idea that the puzzle can’t be solved in a short period.
Maybe this puzzle is related to the emulative mentality to raise the young’s international communion ability. We sometimes neglect the course of getting the real English, only to reach the destination such as certain Chinese evaluation (CET level). Nevertheless, the investment of English teaching is well. Nowadays, English is very important in politics, commerce, and science. It will provide the opportunity for billions of people to learn about or master the international-used language.
We can not deny some deficiency on the current puzzle. Only we realize it, do we improve it.
Many Chinese may be good at reading and writing English, but not quite good at communication with English, that is what we learnt from the CET test. We can not completely deny the effect of CET test, because they did push many people to learn vocabularies, reading, writing, listening and speaking in certain tests. However, we can’t rely on CET to improve our communication ability. If you want to improve your English communication ability, you have to practice —— that is, to communicate with others in English as much as possible. English speaking environment is good, but if you’re not in a English-speaking country, you still have a lot of chance, like English corner, or just take a ABC day, etc.
This puzzle really describes the current situation of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) appropriately. And maybe not only the TEFL, but also the whole Chinese education system has such problems. TEFL is especially the most typical one. Now many Chinese graduate students was confused for they have spent more than 16 years in learning English but are still unable to produce comprehensible English output. You know, 16 years are quite a long time and enough for one to master one single skill. If one spent 16 years in cooking, he maybe an outstanding cook now, or at least not insipid for us to eat what he cooks. But this doesn’t work in TEFL in China.
The reform of TEFL is essential but also far form straightforward. I totally agree with the solution in this article. One teacher at a time, one classroom at a time, one school at a time, one province at a time, and one day we’ll find the answer of this puzzle is not TEFL any more.
In China, such puzzles as English teaching are not new puzzles in fact. Due to chinese educational system, we have been spending a great deal of money and energy in learning uncountable courses, which are of no use in our daily life or work after graduation. In fact, the situlation of English is better already much better than many other courses, at lease we can listen, speak and read some English in our daily life and work. As a common student, even a teacher or professor, he can’t do much to change our English classes, it’s the officials of the school or our country who choose what and how we learn. In such an environment, I just don’t think that we can do much to solve this puzzle.
From the day china join the WTO, there may be a close relationship with English, because we develop to be international. Then a large amount of money and time were thrown in improving our English level. Thus so many years we almost regard English as our own language. Even more time were cost in English than in Chinese. That is a fact.
Though it is a litter puzzle, I don’t think it is a failure. We can still speak English, though it isn’t fluent. We can’t speak comprehensive English, because we need not to use it. Once we lay ourselves in foreign countries, we can do it. However, contrast to this case, foreigners even come to China, they still speak English. A litter can speak Chinese.
In my opinion, that is the effects and the paid for the investment.
Maybe the dilemma is true for china, high investment, but low return.but In my opinion, it is truly vital for Chinese government to improve education in many aspects, but please remember, nothing will be perfect in one step,. As china is still a developing country, we need to do more to improve our education to make it close to perfect. but in the same time,“ developing country” is not an excuse to stop reforming the education system or keep it always in the same level, in contrast, we should pay more attention to what we do now and think about what is right and how to do it better.
China will produce 6.6 million of college graduates in the next year. But Most of them are unable to speak English fluently even though they have beening learned English for more ten years. If we spend those time learning another subject such as computer, biology and so on, I figure, we could to be an expert in this field, but as to English we are so helpless. Why. This is the question of the education system. For a long time, the goal of universities and colleges throughout China is to have students pass national English examinations such as CET 4 and CET 6 instead of communication. The education system in china need to be reformed so as to make it become more perfect, but the reform is a long-term process, and need all of us take part in.
In China, every student has to learn English from kindergarten to university. But we can’t be able to produce comprehensible oral or written English when we have learned English for 16 years while we can communicate fluently in Chinese when we are just junior students. Why the big difference between them? The main difference is that we learn reading, listening, writing and speaking Chinese together. But we learn English dividing four separate distinct and disconnected courses, so we can’t connect them together. Because of the vicious circle, our skill of handling English gets worse and worse.
Though reform is difficult, but it is clear that new thought will replace the old one sooner or later.
I want to talk something about chinese education.Under the current education system in china,students alway listen to the arrangement of parents and teachers,and they alway obtain help from parents and teachers when ther are facing problems,this cultivating a passive habit of students. Thus, many young people have not good initiative in planning their own growth path,and do not know how to actively seek out resources to make their own academic and life onto a higher level.Therefore,in my opinion,this situation must change .Only in this way can students learn more knowledge ang have a bright future.
Nowadays,English is playing an more and more important part in our daily life and work. In china , English learners master large vocabulary and grammer,but most of them have poor ability to communicate with others in English.On one hand,there are some problems with the education system.for example, we should increase the amounts of oral English class.On the other hand ,with the communication tool-Chinese we are used to use,we don’t like to use another language that we are not familiar with.
Chinese people begin to learn English from kindergarden to college is a fact. When China afficially opened its door to the west, more and more people realize English is an important tool to communicate with foreigners. The teaching of English as a Foreign/Second Language (EFL/ESL) in China has become a nationwide endeavor pursued at all academic levels. However, its effect has changed in its developing way. Most teachers treat it as a task. They just teach students learning new words, writing and grammar in the boring way. Students learn it as if just for the exams. But, it did not only attribute to the teaching. It depends on the social attitude. When you search for a job, the managers often want to see your CET4/CET6 marks that doesn’t show your English ability completely. But, in our mind, speaking, reading, writing and listening are the same important. If we pay attention to it, we can learing English well. It needs some change and some time in our studying way. I believe that we will really master it.
Passing the exam is everything for students and their teachers in China. It is unbelievable that a tether taught a second language in his/her native language but it is fast in China.
It is a terrible waste of time and resources that the students all over the country stopper their mouths and doing the praxis about how to choose a word or a phrase to fill a bank in a sentence. It is boring and with no use. What the students learn is mute English.
I think the key way to solve the problem is to change Chinese person’s incentive to study English. We study English not for exam or improving the image our country, but for making communion with foreigner. The teacher should encourage students to speak, listen, write, read more English but not only do the boring multiple-choice test in classroom.
From this article, I know that many English teachers or educational experts have make good effort on Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). I admire their effort and have my own opinion.
The exact situation is that the school graduates are not qualified in the English output even when they have accepted so many years of English training. In my opinion, students should broaden their view into society, a comprehensible English output should not be ignored, the finally challenge is always and only from the society. I will take my friend ,Lily, as an example here. Lily was good at English listening and reading skills so she got good make in the CET6,she graduated and worked in a foreign company dealing with e-mails all day and communicating with her American boss all days, at the beginning she was poor at writing and speaking, but she just made progress quickly though practice and she is qualified for her job now. What I want to say is that, people are always flexible in front of difficulties, but why not let us know previously what the society demands and then practice more? It is the school’s duty to do so.
As I commented on the article”What reform means”,it was more important that we had
strong wills to gain English.Maybe we can do nothing in promoting the reform of
TEFL,then what we could do and we should do was make good use of limited resources to
LEFL.Keep in our mind that we can obtain EFL,even like Viktor，Gupta in the film”The
Terminal”,speaking English as L2.
After reading this article, I know why I have learn English more than ten years, but my English speak is still poor. I learn English to go through the examinations. I just study not to learn or acquire it. It is a trouble to English education and must reform in China. We can not complete deny the effect of CET tests. They push us to learn vocabularies, reading, listening, and so on. But creating an ESE is the most important for us. It is not easy to reform it in a short period of time. But if we should practice English more after the English class to make our English better.
I think changes do have taken place: students aren’t required to pass CET to graduate anymore; university entrance exam requires an oral test (of course, CET has its own oral test too); more and more people realize the importance and the real meaning of acquiring a language; more and more students trying to improve their English through chatting with the foreigners from all over the world, not just in the Canton Fair but also in their daily life; etc..
In fact, I think the best way to solve the problem is to show more and more people the direct benefits acquiring English will bring us: earning money, widening our horizons, keeping in touch with the latest researches of our majors and so on.
Well,the sentence ”Imagine, 960,000 Chinese teachers of English who teach English in Chinese”really astonish me, teachers in high shools shoud teach English in English! And the students should also try their best to express themselves in english, the teachers just give no chance to the students to practice their oral English,this is absolutely wrong! Personally,to divid the students into several rows,each row has a topic to discuss, after 3 min’s discussion,each row shoud show the conclusion of their topic,just as you do,is a simply but effective way to go.
960,000 Chinese teachers of English who teach English in Chinese, so many ? I think they teach English is just for the money ,and they don’t have the hope to make his or her English Teaching more efficient , so ,although there are so many English teachers in China ,but there is so little improve in our English level.
How to treat as English ,i think ,maybe the great reason for our society,they treat is as a really foreign languige,not for a essential course or misson for then to complete.
If we want to make more progress, i think ,to improme our mind ,is the must.
During the past 10 years ,studying English is always a puzzle in my mind.Ten years passed by I still can not communicate with others in English well Maybe this is the greatest regret for me in my life Until now I still find no useful ways.
Of course the phenomenon is common in China especially for the postgraduate students.why ?The purpose of learning English is for the examination such as CET4,CET6 or the postgraduate entrance examination instead of communication and reading foreign articles. SO the motivation resulted in inappropriate ways of studying English .On the other hand I think learning english is not only for communication ,but also for understanding the abroad study.So we need to read some English articles which are relative to our majors , and we should know much more professional words
After reading the article, as for the oral English we should creat the English spoken environment for ourselves .More practice more gain
To pass all the entrance examination, including all kinds of English examination required by the schools and the adiministrative deparment of educations at all levels, is the students’s mission in their 12 years, even 16 years. We focus on the destination(e.g. CET test), and forget the real meaning of learning English. After realising that, the creation of an English speaking environment in resonable, acceptable and pratical ways is the most improtant part to improve the current situation. We need to practice more.
The word English comes up in our daily lives. Moreover, a lot of srudents spend so much time to learn English, but they can’t speak a mouthful of fluent English. Why does this phenomenon come up?
As far as I am concerned, on the one hand, the education in China have some problems. The goal of universities and colleges throughout China is to require their students to pass CET-4 and CET-6, not to make their students master language acquistion theory. On the other hand, we students don’t try our best to improve English. The goal of education is for all students, not only for some person. So as one of stedents, you , to some extent, should learn English according yourself. Everyone has own characteristics. The methods of teaching English is for all students, not special for you. Everyone who wants to learn English should study English initiativly.
Although China has made a lot efforts to change English education, it has long way to go. to begin with, Chinese goverments should try their best to transform education. Then we teachers and students should make our efforts to do something about English.
I do agree with the article that the reform is very difficult as some many benefits involve. The relevant bureaus, sections, ministries, companies, are grabbing great amount of money due to the English tests.
It seems that China has developed a habit to putting every thing into test, especially unified (usually nationally unified) tests. The most famous(in fact notorious) ones are college entrance examination, CET4 or 6, and recently civil service exam.
The test-oriented education has misled the students generation by generation, and has become common enemy of those who are sober-minded and really care for the future of China.
There are some deep reasons for this phenomenon, something relating to politics and history, reaching the deepest sorrow of our country.
I partly agree with your viewpoints. Maybe the importance of English is exaggerated both by the government and the parents currently. But language is power, and English is just at the core, so perhaps you cannot understand our difficulties though what you opposed is definitely true——we have to meet the employers’ harsh requirement nearly only by the certificates, and we have to gain the advanced academic knowledges in English. In most cases, we have to learn English but the English speakers do not need to learn Chinese.
And what you have pointed out is just a double-edged sword, or Janus in West culture. Sometimes the policy is necessary because there are no perfect policies without any negative influences. Maybe we just choose a exhausting way, and we need to change. The point is that we should learn to Communicate Successfully in English without just follow their rules which they even do not follow, and at the same time enrich our culture——the technical innovations, the academic level, and the pop fashion. When a culture is in power, its language will be more popular, too. What we should do now is just change the way and develop the culture, patiently and steadily, just as Martin posed——eating the elephant!
I believe English learning fever nation wide is not only because of the effect of China’s foreign policy and strategy, but also English is the most widely used language world wide and it’s necessary to learn it for the benefits of study, research or career.
There’s much problems in China’s education system, pedagogy and methodology. indeed. China has history of civilization over 5,000 years and “traditional ways” is rooted in Chinese generation after generation. The west is much more concerned in creation, and how to make creative solutions or thinking by one’s own is the primary thing be considered in education. By contract, China pays more attention in skills, and how much knowledge students can really learn by heart is the priority. So, it’s not surprising why so many students have learnt English for over 16 years and passed the National English Proficiency Exams, but still can’t produce comprehensive output. Even so, there’re short-comings in both western and eastern ways.
However, China’s education is losing it’s real meanings when the authorities focus only on exam passing rates, which makes schools, teachers, students, parents have to go to extremes. Indeed, China’s reform is necessary but hard just like eating an elephant: we need time and effort. What’s more, we could teach ourselves more vivid and useful information by various ways especially the Internet.
Depending on my own observation, I make a conclusion that always would China be sightless, not only in the policy of English education system. Government will often issue some policies without thinking twice. Sometimes they want to make a change. However, without foresight, what they do obviously makes harm to every aspect of the country. And sightless always makes aimless. What do we study English for? For business? For communication? Sometimes our governors ask us to study English just for better achievements. Realizing having made a big mistake, the authority and the whole society have tried hard to change it, but it cannot be finished in one day. If we cannot stick to it, we may lose chances forever.
Frankly speaking, the phenomenon described in the article actually exists throughout China. We still have a long way to go to solve these puzzles, both to the education system and ourselves, including teachers and students. We have spent a lot of time and money on English learning, but most of us can’t use it fluently after so many years of learning and working. The main reason may simple: we did not have a appropriate way! All the students in our country need to have to pass all kinds of examinations, such as cet-4,cet-6,and so on. Mute English is not a bad problem as long as you can get a good mark on the paper. No matter how perfect your oral English is, the only thing could change your fate is the examination. Now many teachers attempt to create an English-speaking atmosphere for Chinese students. But since the concept of EXAM-FIRST exists, there is a big reform to carry out for a better English educating system.
It’s true that it’s not easy to solve the current puzzles in China. Many reasons contribute to theses puzzles, including pedagogic system, cultural and social factors. So it will be a long time and need great effort to change this situation. We have been growing up in an environgment that we can be a good and talented student only when we get high marks in the examinations, and English is not exceptional. That’s why we have been studying English for exams for nearly thirteen years. Reforming is a long way to go, and how to reform is another question. Perhaps changing from the attitudes of the administrators of English departments is a practical solution. Finally, we should change ourselves.
NEW CHINESE PUZZLE
This does a very serious puzzle in China .But how to solve this problem? Many people think we should change our country’s situation like teaching system and so on. However, this change is lack of operation . As a Chinese ,I have found that there are many problems in China which are led to by many aspects of the Chinese system. That is to say, the exited system contributes to many problems. However, we can not solve the problem easily. So , the system problems need not to be showed everywhere. In a word, we can not complain .
What we can do is to overcome the problem by us .As the saying, ”change what we can change, accept what we can not change .”
Our country has opened the door to the world for 30 years, and we have learned English for 16 years. It is no doubt that learning English is the require of China reform policy, but most of us can’t speak and write English well, we are learning Dumb English.
Why? The article attributed the error to the problems of educational. I am agree with it. China can not engage everyone to learn English. We should learn Japan. In our world, not anyone wants to learn languages, or have the talent to learn another foreign language, so what should we do is do our country best to train some people to learn English, and then let this group of people do translation work, so most of people can learn the west knowledge from the Translations. The greatest advantage is that it can liberation of most of the people doing their interesting things.
I think that it is the key to reform the education of English Studying.
In the beginning, I’d like to show my great appreciation and respect to Prof. Martin, because of his strong and grand concerns about the English educating reforms in China. However, after finishing reading the whole article, from my standpoint, I think maybe Prof. Martin is a bit pessimistic over this issue. We should recognize that there indeed exist a lot of deficiencies and problems in our education system, especially in the education of English. At the meanwhile, we could also find many things having changed during the past 10 years. As a matter of fact, some regulations and adjustment are being adopted to reform our education system, which have been proven to be effective. In communicating with the freshmen in our school, we can find that those students who were born in 1990s have better English communicating skills than we have. Why? Because they were exposed to the English environment at very low ages and they had a better elementary education than us. For instance, my younger sister, 9 years old, has Oral English classes in the grade one of her primary school! Finally, we need to recognize that the reform of English education is a long period of process which cannot be carried out all of a sudden.
China has a vast territory with the largest number of people. As more and more fields need to communicate with the world, English learning is particularly important. So many people are waiting for being taught, which makes TEFL a significant task in China. So how can TEFL in China be reformed to graduate students who can produce comprehensible oral and written English? In my opinion, to a large extent, it depends on us, the learners. Practice makes perfect, which is known to us from an early age. Why not practice speaking English like speaking our native language? Have a try, and maybe we will find the answer.
China has suffered more and more frustrations in TEFL. But it may be not a bad thing that more and more defects in English education systems are frequently exposed these years. Looking into Chinese histories from Qing Dynasty to now, we have too many sad frustrations in trying to obtain motherland’s independence and thriving and prosperous society. When foreign friends appealing to us that we have some misunderstandings in English teaching and ignore the language acquisition theory, even Chinese abroad, is it just proved that “The outsider sees the most of the game” and that we have more access to the true state of English education in China? Therefore, more countermeasures should be put forwarded, not just by Ministry of Education but every one. We also must tread very lightly because dramatic reforms probably cause many English-teaching industries to bankruptcy which should be ignored. In fact, some reforms to the National English Test will be supported, which can pay more emphasis on hoslitic English. In a word ,we all should join the English reform compaign in order to keep English-acquiring as right status, to the right direction and in scientific ways.
To begin with my comment, I am sorry to tell that I can not speak Cantonese, even though I have been here for 4 years. One reason is that it’s difficult, the other, which is most important, is that, I do not need to learn! Putonghua is Stronger than Cantonese!
I have the same puzzle too. Why do we have to learn English for so many years? It seems like Language Colonization. However, teaching English has been a profitable business, with uncountable numbers of training centers springing out, such as New Oriental, New Chanel, etc. There’s no doubt that international communication is important for countries of worldwide nowadays. However, we could not make it without good English. That’s to say, Chinese is still weak in the competition of economy and language.
As for the question of How can TEFL in China be reformed to graduate students who can produce comprehensible oral and written English, the only method come to me is that, no force up. People with self-awareness would do what they want to do.
Actually, I am wondering whether Guangzhou would do the same as Beijing for hosting the Asian Games.
It is a real puzzle! At the expense of the whole country’s 2-billion-$-cost every year and most students’ 16 years, gain nothing from TEFL. It’s really a inutility. But why EFL is still a nationwide endeavor pursued at all academic levels in China. From the kindergarten to the University, TEFL is all around. Maybe this unique phenomena is unsurprising in China, because the society system. The Ministry of Education just make a policy, and the subordinates carry it out. The students should learn English because it became a regulation. I think this must be change, it need a reform. Maybe English can be treated as a tool for those who want to facilitate access to modern scientific and technological advances aboard, and to commerce with or understanding the other countries. Then with the progress in China’s communication with the world, more and more people will get involved in EFL.
How can TEFL in China be reformed to graduate students who can produce comprehensible oral and written English? In my opinion, the leaders have something to do, such as provide enough money to support. The schools also take actions too. But the most important one is the students, the young, they should learn English by themselves and when they are children. If nobody want to learn English, and they are not taught as early as possible, no matter how many efforts the leaders do, there will be not very useful.