A Brief History of English Language Teaching in China：在中国一个简短的英语语言教学的历史

ABriefHistoryofEnglishLanguageTeachinginChina

AmongthemanydifferentaspectsofChinawhichhavefascinatedtheWestarethesheersizeofitspopulation,itsremoteandmysteriousculture,andtheintricatedifficultyofitslanguage.Equally,theWesthasalwaysintriguedChina,withitstechnologicaladvancementdespiteits'barbarity',itsculturaldiversitywithinasmallspace,andthewayinwhichoneofitslanguages-English-hasmanagedtobecomethelinguafrancaoftheworld.

ChinaoriginallyfeltnoneedoftheWest,infactdeliberatelyavoidedallcontact,forfearofculturalcontamination.ThebombingoftheChineseembassyduringtheKosovowarwasaterribleset-backinrelationswhichhadbeensteadilyimproving.However,despitethis,partlybecauseofitsdesiretojointheWorldTradeOrganisation(WTO),ChinahaswelcomedandlistenedpolitelytoleadersofWesterncountriesastheygavetheirviewsondemocracyandhumanrights.ThelanguageinwhichPresidentClintonspoke,duringhisvisittoChina,wasofcourseEnglish.PresidentJiangZeminmadehisrepliesinChinese.Buteachwasbackedupbyateamoffirst-classinterpreters,whomadesmoothcommunicationpossible.

FormaltrainingininterpretationiscomparativelyrecentinChina.Itwasonlyin1978thatthefirstprogrammeforTranslatorsandInterpretersstartedattheBeijingForeignLanguageInstitute.TheprogrammesubsequentlydevelopedintotheprestigiousschooloftranslationintheBeijingForeignStudiesUniversity.

ThelearningofEnglishinChina,however,hasalongerhistoryandnowoccupiestheattentionofmillionsofitspeople.Howmanymillionishardtosay,sincemuchdependsonthelevelofproficiencyonetakesasthenorm(Crystal,1985).ButthereareprobablyintheregionofthreehundredmillionactivelyengagedinthejoboflearningEnglish.

China'sreasonsforlearningEnglishwerewellsummeduptwentyyearsagobyateamfromtheU.S.InternationalCommunicationAgencyaftervisitingfivecitiesandmanyeducationalinstitutionsinChina:"TheChineseviewEnglishprimarilyasanecessarytoolwhichcanfacilitateaccesstomodernscientificandtechnologicaladvances,andsecondarilyasavehicletopromotecommerceandunderstandingbetweenthePeople'sRepublicofChinaandcountrieswhereEnglishisamajorlanguage"(Cowanetal.,1979).

Thisbasicmotivationhasnotchanged,ascanbeseenfromtheReportoftheEnglish2000ConferenceinBeijing,sponsoredjointlybytheBritishCouncilandtheStateEducationCommissionofthePeople'sRepublicofChina,inwhichreasonsforthelearningofEnglishbyChineseweresummarised:"TheylearnEnglishbecauseitisthelanguageofscience,specificallyperhapsofthemajorityofresearchjournals.Theylearnitbecauseitistheneutrallanguageofcommerce,thestandardcurrencyofinternationaltravelandcommunication.TheylearnitbecauseyoufindmoresoftwareinEnglishthaninallotherlanguagesputtogether"(Bowers,1996:3).

ThestoryofEnglishlanguagelearningisnotuniformthroughoutChina.Maley(1995:7)warnsanyoneembarkingonastudyofcontemporaryChinaaboutthedifficultyof"makingsensiblegeneralisationsaboutit,sinceChinaisnotoneplacegeographically,butmany".ThelearningofEnglishinthemountainousprovincesnearTibetisverydifferentfromthewayitisstudiedinthecitiesofNanjing,ShanghaiorBeijing.Nevertheless,therearesufficientgeneralcharacteristicsaboutthehistoryofthelearningofEnglishindifferentpartsofChinatojustifyabriefreview,ifonlytoremindusofthependulumswingsofChina'shistorythiscentury.ThosewhowishtofindthestorymorefullytoldmayconsultDzau(1990)andCortazziandJin(1996).AlthoughthereismentionofEnglishlanguageteaching(ELT)inChinainthemidnineteenthcenturyduringtheChingDynasty,itfirstfiguredinthesyllabusofschoolsin1902in"HisMajesty'sTeachingStandardsforPrimaryandSecondaryInstitutions".InthoseearlydaysthemodelforeducationinChinawasthatofJapan.ThemethodofELTwastraditional,withemphasisonreadingandtranslation.Therewasmuchgrammarandvocabularylearning,withpronunciationlearnedbyimitationandrepetition.Thiswasthenormforaboutthefirsttwentyyearsofthecentury.

In1922therewasachangeofdirection,withaswingawayfromtheJapanesesystemofeducation,andtowardsmoreWesternmodels.Schoolswereobligedtofollowthe"OutlinesforSchoolSyllabusesoftheNewTeachingSystem".Theseputmoreemphasisonlisteningandspeakingskills.Therewasmoreuseofthetargetlanguageandofthenewteachingresourcesofferedbythemassmedia.ThebestschoolstendedtobeChristianmissionaryschools,whichgavemoreclass-hourstoEnglishthanotherschools.

1949wasacrucialdateinthehistoryofChina-thefoundingofthePeople'sRepublicofChina.Educationhadnowtoservetheproletarianpurpose.Alltextbooksbecamevehiclesforgovernmentpropaganda,loadedwithmessagesofservicetothepeopleandthemotherland.TheMinistryofEducationissuedanew"SchemeforEnglishInstructioninSecondarySchools"inwhichthegoalofEnglishlanguagelearningwasclearlystatedasbeingtoservetheNewRepublic.Allcapitalistthinking,especiallyeducationalideasfromtheUnitedStatesandBritain,werecondemnedasunpatriotic.TheplaceofEnglishwastakeninschoolsyllabusesbyRussianandby1954RussianhadbecometheonlyforeignlanguagetaughtinChineseschools.

Thisphasedidnotlastlong,however,sinceChinawasalreadytryingtoextendhermarketsthroughouttheworldandimmediatelyfeltitslackofEnglish.Accordingly,in1955theMinistryofEducationannouncedthatEnglishteachingshouldberestartedinsecondaryschools.Inbigcities,likeShanghai,itwasalsoreintroducedatprimarylevel.InitiallythetextbookswerebasedontheformerRussianmodels,which,liketheirJapanesepredecessors,wereverytraditional.Methodologytoowasbackward:theteacherwasseenastheproviderofknowledgeandthestudentsdutifullyassimilatedtheteacher'swordsofwisdom,workingtheirwayploddinglythroughthetextbook.

However,inthelate1950sandearly1960s,aminorrevolutionineducationtookplaceinChina,astheneedtoopenuptotheinternationalscenebecamemoreurgent.TheimportanceofEnglishwasacceptedandasignificantstepwastakenin1962whenEnglishbecamepartoftheentranceexaminationforcollegesanduniversities.Newteachingmaterialsappeared,withlisteningandspeakingagaingivenprominence.TheMinistryofEducationissuedguidelinesfortextbookwriters,recommendingthatEnglishtextbooksshouldincludematerialonthecultureoftheEnglishspeakingcountries.ItbegantolookasthoughbetterdayshadcomeforELTinChina(Price,1971).

Butitwasnottobe.Withdistressinginevitability,TheChinesependulumswung,andtheprogressmadeintheearly1960swassweptasidebytheCulturalRevolution,whichbeganin1966andlastedfortendreadfulyears.Englishwasagainbannedfromschools.Foreignlanguageteacherswerebrandedasspies.Someuniversitieswereclosed,othersweresubjectedtore-educationvisits.Dow(1975:254)describesthesituationthus:"DuringtheCulturalRevolution,whenworkers'propagandateamsforthespreadingofMaoTse-Tung'sthoughtscametoChina'scolleges,classeswerestoppedaltogether,andthestudentstravelledinsteadalloverthecountryinordertotakepartincriticismanddebateandtoexchangerevolutionaryexperiences".

By1977theCulturalRevolutionhadexhausteditselfandthecountrywithit.ThereisanoldYorkshiresaying:"There'snowtlikereligionwhenit'sbent".ThosewholivedthroughtheCulturalRevolutioninChinawouldchallengethatsaying,maintainingthatdistortedpoliticalideologycanbemuchworsethanbentreligion.

However,happiertimeswereaheadforChinaandforELTinChina.

In1978theMinistryofEducationheldanimportantconferenceonforeignlanguageteaching.Englishwasgivenprominenceagaininschools,onaparwithChineseandMaths.Bytheearly1980sithadbeenrestoredasacompulsorysubjectinthecollegeentranceexam.Ithasnotlookedbacksincethen(Kang,1999)andthefervourforlearningEnglishhasbeenfannedbyTeachYourselfEnglishprogrammesontelevision,watchedbyhundredsofmillionsofpeople.

AsChinaopenedupmoreandChinesescholarswereallowedabroad,theneedforbothsocialandacademicEnglishbecameapparent.Asmarketsalsoopenedupandmoreforeignerswereallowedintothecountrytodobusiness,theappetiteforBusinessEnglishamongalllevelsofChinesepeoplehasbecomeinsatiable.TheChineseareadiligentandintelligentraceandaresurelydestinedtomakeasignificantmarkonthehistoryofthetwenty-firstcentury.

Onapersonalnote,oneofmyfirstELTjobs,in1979,wasteachingasmallgroupofexcellentChinesestudentsonanintensivesummercourseinEngland.TheywerethepickoftheChinesecrop-scholarswhohadsufferedundertheCulturalRevolution,butwhowerenowbeinggiventhechanceofgraduatestudiesinBritishuniversities.Ihaveneverhadkeener,morehard-workingstudents,andteachingthemwasoneofthemostmemorableexperiencesofmylife(Boyle,1980).

Wehaveseen,then,inthisbriefreviewhowEnglishhastwicecomeandgoneinChinainthecourseofthetwentiethcentury.TousnowitseemsunlikelythatsuchswingswillhappenagainandonpresentevidencethecontinuedpopularityofEnglisheemsassured.However,historyisfullofexamplesoftheunpredictable.

Foronething,China'sownlanguageisliabletobecomeofmoreglobalimportanceinthefuture.AsGraddol(1997:3)advises:"WemayfindthehegemonyofEnglishreplacedbyanoligarchyoflanguages,includingSpanishandChinese".MachinetranslationwillalsoundoubtedlyincreaseinsophisticationandperhapsmakethelearningofEnglishlessessential.Englishmaynotbeasinevitablythelinguafrancaoftheworldassomemayliketothink.

Nevertheless,atthisstageinthelastfewyearsofthemillennium,itdoeslooksasifChinawillcontinuetowantEnglish,andwantitbadly.AsMaley(1995:47)says:"Chinaisinaphaseofindustrial,scientificandcommercialexpansionwhichwillmakeittheworld'slargesteconomybytheearlyyearsofthenextcentury.Inordertofunctionefficientlyinthisrole,itneedstobringlargenumbersofitspeopletohighlevelsofproficiencyintheuseofEnglishforawidevarietyoffunctions".EnglishlookssettoflourishinChina-atleastforthenexttenortwentyyears.Butanyonewhoknowsanythin