改革在即，英語熱不減

If you’re an English teacher in China and have heard about plans to reduce the role of English in the all-important National College Entrance Examination， or gaokao， don’t worry， be happy！ Chinese people’s 1）affinity for the language isn’t about to 2）wane， if anything it’ll become stronger.

As part of a nationwide drive to 3）overhaul the gaokao system， Beijing said on Monday that starting 2016， the score of English would drop from 150 to 100 on its plan， while the total marks for Chinese would be raised from 150 to 180. Currently， gaokao weighs English， Chinese and math equally. Even before the Monday announcement， Jiangsu province had caused a national 4）stir by 5）reportedly 6）mulling the idea of excluding English from the provincial-level college entrance exam.

I’ll not read too much into such shifts， not even as the beginning of the end to a decades-long 7）obsession with English， despite the fact that gaokao sets the direction for formal education across the country.

The reasons are simple. In any given year in the past few decades， hundreds of millions of Chinese students were learning English， driven by an 8）instrumental 9）motivation. Parents know English is the 10）lingua franca of international business， which would offer opportunities for upward 11）mobility and economic success if their children become fluent in it.

Cuts in the number of classes for English in schools may be a 12）windfall for the many language tuition centers that have been 13）thriving on parents’ eagerness to give their children an early leg up and are estimated to have a combined yearly revenue of 200 million yuan （$32.89 million）. They’ll also encourage an earlier 14）exodus of those who plan to 15）renege on gaokao to private feeder schools of foreign universities.

Being tested for less score doesn’t mean the subject can be taken lightly. Beijing will hold English exams twice a year and a student could take the exams more than once a year to earn the best score to seek admission to a college. Remember， gaokao is so competitive that students could spend a year or more just to raise a few points to surge ahead.

Some education experts suspect that a new grading system to assess students’ proficiency in English in 16）lieu of a gaokao test， as proposed by Jiangsu province， could make college admission as tough as before， because a top university might demand scores in English through a separate test regardless of a student’s total gaokao score. Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji， one of the most respected and 17）foresighted Chinese statesmen， 18）advocated English as the 19）medium of instruction in the management school of the 20）prestigious Tsinghua University， because “in a globalizing economy， if you cannot interact with foreigners， how can one be part of the world economy？”

Now the question is， if English is so important， why have education authorities chosen it to 21）spearhead the overhaul of an exam system that 22）incarnates both a major education 23）impasse and the 24）pinnacle of Chinese social justice？

While popularly seen as the fairest 25）criterion for admission to college， gaokao has also been criticized for emphasizing 26）rote memory rather than creativity of students， admissions based on a single test and a lack of recruitment 27）autonomy by colleges.

English has become an apparent target of reform because of a famous classroom teaching tradition that encourages memorizing textbooks rather than communication skills. However， the downgrade may also be the consequence of a growing 28）controversy over the enthusiasm for English， as critics worry about its usefulness for most college graduates as well as a potential 29）erosion of Chinese language， culture and identity.

But parents who want to give their children the best may have found some opponents’ 30）rhetoric 31）hollow and even 32）hypocritical. For instance， it’s increasingly difficult to find a successful Chinese figure who hasn’t given or planned to give， his/her child an all-English education.

It doesn’t take Zhu’s wisdom to realize why students will continue to be motivated to learn English， even for fewer points at gaokao.

如果你是中國的一名英語教師，在聽說削弱英語在至關重要的全國高等教育入學考試，也稱“高考”中的角色的改革方案后，別擔心，高興點兒！中國人和這門語言的緊密關系將不會減退，而是會越來越強。

作為全國性高考制度改革的一部分，北京在周一（譯者注：這里指2013年10月21日）宣布改革方案，從2016年起，英語高考總分將從150分降至100分，而語文總分將從150分上升至180分。目前的情況是，高考中英語、語文和數學處于平衡的狀態。甚至在周一（這一改革方案）公布之前，江蘇省曾轟動全國，原因是有報道稱其考慮將在省級高等教育入學考試中不包括英語成績。

我將不會對這一轉變作過多解讀，甚至不會將此作為終結長達幾十年的英語熱的開始，盡管事實上高考政策為全國的正規教育設定了方向。

原因很簡單。在過去幾十年中的任何一年，出于（將英語作為）工具型動機，億萬的中國學生在學習英語。家長們清楚知道英語是國際商務通用語言，如果他們的孩子能夠流利使用英語的話，會在晉升和經濟上的成功得到更多的機會。

在校英語課時數量的減少將使很多語言培訓中心愈加紅火，這些培訓中心因家長們希望孩子們（在英語學習上較其他孩子）有優勢而興起，年收入預計達到兩億元（3289萬美元）。他們還鼓勵那些不打算參加高考的學生更早地結伴到國外高校的私立直屬學校就讀。

分數的減少并不意味著可放松對待這個科目。北京將每年進行兩次英語考試，考生可不止一次參加以期取得入學考試的最好成績。記住，高考競爭如此激烈，學生們會花上一年甚至更多的時間，只為了提高幾分，取得更好的成績。

一些教育專家猜測，一套新的替代高考的評分制度將被用于評估學生的英語熟練程度，正如江蘇省所計劃的那樣，這會使入學考試如以前一樣嚴格，因為一所頂尖高校除了高考分數之外，也許會要求學生提供其他考試的英語成績。中國前總理朱镕基是最受尊敬和前瞻性的中國政治家之一，他曾在著名的清華大學管理學院提倡用英語授課，因為“經濟全球化，你不能跟外國人交流，又怎么能融入全球的經濟呢？”

現在的問題是，如果英語那么重要，為什么教育權威選擇英語作為高考制度改革的先頭兵？而這一高考制度顯現了主要的教育僵局和中國社會的公正。

盡管被普遍認為是高校錄取的最公平的準則，高考也被批判著重死記硬背，而不是激發學生的創造性思維，一場考試決定錄取，缺乏高校自主招生。

英語明顯成為改革的對象，因為英語教學傳承了死記硬背課本而不是交流技巧的傳統課堂模式。然而，分數的降低也可能使關于英語熱的爭議不斷，因為評論家擔心多數大學畢業生用不上英語，而對中國語言、文化和認同也有潛在侵蝕。

但是，想要給孩子們提供最好條件的家長們可能會發現競爭對手虛夸的言辭甚至虛偽。例如，越來越難找到一個沒有或者沒有計劃給自己的孩子提供全英語環境教育的中國成功人士。

無需擁有朱镕基的智慧，就能意識到為什么學生們會繼續被激勵學習英語，盡管高考中英語的分數變少了。

小鏈接The fate of English in China’s college entrance examination

BEIJING， Oct. 27 （Xinhuanet）—A report revealing the reduced role of the English test in Beijing’s college entrance examination has drawn much public attention.

Starting from 2016， the English test score will be reduced from 150 to 100， and the students will also be allowed to take two exams a year and pick the best result for their college admission， according to a report on the website of China’s Communist Party newspaper Guangming Daily on Oct. 21.

There have also been numerous reports from other provinces in China. For example， there is a rumor that the English test will be phased out of the entrance exam system in eastern China’s Jiangsu province， while other provinces or municipalities， such as Shanghai and Hubei， will not make any major changes.

Any possible change in the exam provokes much heed and debate. In an online survey carried out by China’s popular portal， Sina， 72.5% of people favor reducing the weighting of English in the entrance exam， 22.6% are against it， while 4.9% are undecided （as of Oct. 22）.

Putting divided opinions aside， the attention the news has attracted demonstrates the Chinese love-hate relationship with learning English and the Gaokao， or the National College Entrance Examination.