English in China And

English in China and

Chinese in the World

--- Zhang Li

Visiting Scholar from

Southeast University, China

abstract:

This paper consists of two parts. The first part analyses the current state of English learning and teaching in China, points out an existing problem and offers a solution; The second part introduces Chinese first and predicts that the Chinese language will become more widely used throughout the world. Finally the paper advocates that people should try to learn to speak as many languages as they can in our future global village.

I.  English in China

The year 1978 is a dividing line for English learning in China. Before 1978, China closed its door to the western countries. At that time English was rarely used in China. In fact, people were forbidden to learn English. For example, if you listened to VOA or BBC or some other foreign radio stations, you might have been arrested and imprisoned. Those who had some overseas relatives were prosecuted on fabricated charges, such as being spies, traitors, and so on. All of this was part of the political atmosphere at that time. Since 1978 China has followed an open-door policy vis-à-vis the outside world in order to rejuvenate its economy. The slogan was ”Let the world get to know China and let China play a role in the world”. There have been more and more international cooperation and exchanges between China and foreign countries. The Chinese government has also paid much attention to English learning and teaching. So now English has become a required course at school. More recently, there are two big events which add to the Chinese people’s interest in learning English. They are the 27th Olympic Games to be held in Beijing in 2008, and the People’s Republic of China accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Globalization requires communication between individuals residing in different countries. More and more Chinese people, from all walks of life, are therefore becoming interested in learning English. For them, to be able to speak English, means more opportunities for success in their studies, work, life, and so on. Of course, most of them are students. Working people are also required to learn English. For example, professionals in various fields have to take an English test for the purpose of promotion. Taxi drivers are required to learn everyday English. Even retired people who live in cities are also encouraged to learn English. For instance, a retired woman in Beijing said, “Nowadays more and more foreigners are coming to Beijing. I learn English so that sometimes I can help when foreigners ask me for directions.” In sum, learning English is becoming important in many people’s lives today in China.

I) A survey of English learning in Chinese schools

1.In elementary schools

Generally speaking, nowadays English is taught from Grade 3 on in Chinese elementary schools. In some big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai which are more developed in China, English is taught from Grade 1 on. On average English is taught for 3 hours a week. Currently there are about 10 million elementary students who are learning English.

2. In high schools

High school lasts for six years in China (3 for junior high school, 3 for senior high school). Chinese secondary education students learn English for the whole 6 years. The average time for learning English is 4-5 hours a week. A senior high school student should master 2,000 English words. There are 60 million high school students who are learning English.

3. In colleges/ Universities

There are more than 20 million college/university students in China. College students need to learn English for 2-3 years. Most of them learn for the whole college time---that is, 4 years. There is a requirement for their Bachelor’s degree --- they have to pass the College English Test Band 4 (CET-4 assumes a mastery of 4,500 words). If graduating atudents want to go on with their studies to pursue a master’s or doctoral degree, they need to learn more English.

There are also many language training institutions in China, such as the New-Orient English School, the Wall Street English School, etc. where a great number of irregular learners learn English.

Based on the above figures, we may conclude that China is a country which has the largest number of English learners in the world.

II) The problem : low communicative competence

Today in China many people are learning English. Yet what can we say about the fruits of their efforts?

Chinese students’ English is often called “deaf and dumb English” which means their listening and speaking abilities are very low. It’s a common phenomenon that Chinese students still have difficulty in communicating with native speakers of English even though they have learned it for more than 10 years. Companies often complain that a college graduate student working there who has passed CET-4 or even CET-6 (which is the higher level) cannot speak with a foreigner! Many Chinese students studying in the US find it difficult to use English even if they’ve got high scores on the TOEFL and GRE exams. A Chinese vice-Premier also stated that poor proficiency had influenced Chinese economic development. So the problem in English learning and teaching is serious.

III) Reasons for the problem

At one time English teachers in China were strongly criticized for their low-quality teaching. The poor English proficiency of the students was attributed to the English teachers. After two decades of argument and inquiry a common understanding has now been reached: the English environment in China is different. In China, English is a foreign language(EFL), not a second language(ESL). Both students and teachers are doing their jobs under this condition which is quite different from that such as in the US. For example, Chinese immigrant students in the US can learn English more quickly than those in China. Why? Because here in the US English is their second language. They enjoy a much better English environment as well as have English high motivations. This is what is needed in China. What those students in China need is this authentic language environment which isn’t easy to create in China. As facts show, in China those students who have won prizes in various English contests usually have some special backgrounds. Almost all of them have had the experience of staying in the English-speaking countries with their parents. All of these indicators show that English is a foreign language in China rather than a second language. This is one objective reason for the poor English language proficiency on the part of Chinese learners.

The second reason which I feel often ignored, is Chinese students’ interpersonal communication style. Traditionally, Chinese students are more introvert than extrovert. They are timid and shy and do not actively communicate with others. As a result, this may serve as a drag on their communicative competence.

The third reason is that there is a shortage of English teachers in China and their English levels are not high even though they work very carefully. It is usually difficult for English teachers in China to go to English-speaking countries to study or work. Most of them don’t have the experience of going abroad. They have learned their English only in China. So we may say their overall English level is not high.

Additionally, the examination-oriented education is also one of the reasons for Chinese students “deaf and dumb English”. As a result of this orientation, Chinese students are only trained to answer multiple choice questions without paying much attention to the cultivation of communicative competence. Of course, this is a problem of the whole educational system in China.

IV) Solution

There is still a long road to walk in solving the English-learning problem in China. However, I feel the Chinese government could take measures now to eleviate some aspects of the problem. For example, more teacher training centers could be set up. More opportunities for learning and working in English-speaking countries could be provided to English teacher. Second, the government should make changed the traditional teaching model and the examination-oriented educational system. Third, the government should raise the whole nation’s English awareness and try to create a more English social environment. Only in doing so, can the English learners in China benefit to the largest extent. If the government elected to enact some of the suggestions, I believe English learners in China would stand to benefit.

II.  Chinese in the World

The Chinese language has a long history of more than 3,000 years. Chinese characters appear mysterious and amazing to many people because they are pictographs and ideographs. They must rank as one of the most extraordinary creations of the Chinese people. Each Chinese character is made up of strokes: ヽ — | 丿 乀 乙 乛 乚亅…… Here some examples are given to show the pictographic and ideographic Chinese characters: the sun: (ancient Chinese character)→日 (modern Chinese character); the moon: (ancient Chinese character) →月 (modern Chinese character); a tree: (ancient Chinese character) → 木 (modern Chinese character); a tortoise: (ancient Chinese character) →龟 (modern Chinese character); If the sun “ 日” and the moon “ 月 ” are put together, “ 明 ” means “bright”; If three trees “ 木 ” are put together, “ 森 ” means “forest” …

Basically, the character doesn’t stand for a sound, but for a concept. In other words, for the Chinese characters, reading and writing are separated from each other because written Chinese doesn’t use a phonetic alphabet. If you want to read the Chinese characters, you have to learn pinyin (拼音). The pinyin phonetic system represents all the sounds of Mandarin Chinese. It’s made up of the Roman letters, eg: a, o, e, I, u, u, b, p, m, f… There are four tones in pinyin: ˉˊˇˋ. A sound may have different tones. Each tone represents a different meaning, for example: shū shú shǔ shù. Pinyin is used in

书 熟 鼠 数

mainland China, while zhuyinfuhao(注音符号)is used in Taiwan.

There has been always a controversy over the simplification of the Chinese characters. In mainland China, simplified Chinese has been used since the 1960s. But in Taiwan, traditional Chinese is still used today. Here two examples may illustrate the change: parlor: 廳 (traditional Chinese character) → 厅 (simplified Chinese character); iron: 鐵 (traditional Chinese character) → 铁 (simplified Chinese character). Actually once in mainland China, some people advocated that we abandon the Chinese characters, instead, we turn to use only pinyin---the alphabetic writing system, just like English. But they failed. In the 1970s the Chinese characters were simplified again and put into use for some time. But it was strongly opposed and soon the government gave up. Even today there are still many people who are advocating the advantages of abandoning or at least simplifying the Chinese characters.

With the adoption of an open-door policy, China is also aware of the importance of spreading Chinese to the world even if it is a bit late. In this aspect, Japan did very well. Japan is very active in “internationalizing the Japanese language”. A special organization “Japan Foundation” which was set up in 1972 has established a number of language centers and cultural institutes around the world whose main function is to teach Japanese and to assist with local teaching. In 1987 an organization, “China National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language” (NOCFL), was set up. The group consists of leaders from 11 ministries of China. It holds the Chinese Proficiency Test (which is also called Chinese TOEFL) regularly in many countries of the world. According to statistics, about 450,000 people all over the world have taken this test to date. And each year the number is more than the previous year.

Today the Chinese language is drawing more and more people’s attention in the world. Statistics show that in Canada, Chinese has replaced French to become the second language, and in Australia, Chinese has become the first foreign language. According to a report from British Council, English will not hold a monopoly by the middle of the twenty-first century, it will be part of an oligopoly with a few other languages. In last century, the biggest international languages were English and French, but in the middle of this century, the biggest international languages will be Chinese, Hindi, English, Spanish and Arabic (David Graddol: 1997). Chinese will become the first international language in the world. This is a trend.

In sum, in this global village to speak more foreign languages means we can better understand each other and promote our communication and friendship among different countries. Let’s try to be multilingual.

References

1.  Brown, Douglas(2001): Teaching by Principles, an interactive approach to language pedagogy, Longman

2.  Doughty, Catherine and Long, Michael(2003): the Handbook of Second Language Acquisition, Blackwell Publishing

3.  Johnson, K and Porter, D(1983): Perspectives in Communicative Language Teaching, Academic Press

4.  Macaro, Ernesto(2001): Learning Strategies in Foreign and Second Language Classrooms, CONTINUUM

5.  Mauras, Jacques and Morris, Michael (2003): Languages in a Globalising world, Cambridge University Press

6.  Widdowson, H.(1990): Aspects of Language Teaching, Oxford University Press

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