面對高考英語改革的激情與迷思

【Abstract】The Ministry of Education recently announced that a series of reforms on English education would come soon.The so-called reform is actually a dramatic cut on English education， which intends to minimize the role of English in all levels of education.Such a reform undoubtedly caused an earthquake in the education circle， involving schools from kindergarten to college， teachers， students and parents.Some people clap their hands for the comedown of English， while many others become worried about the future of our nation.This thesis discusses the pros and cons of the reform on English education， and gives comments and suggestions on the English education policy.

【Key words】reform； English education； education policy

1.Introduction

The influence of this reform is most obvious in English exams.According to the Ministry of Education， College English Test Band 4 and 6， Gaokao （College Entrance Exam） and Zhongkao （High School Entrance Exam） will all experience significant changes， especially Gaokao.Since Gaokao is autonomy in most provinces， different provinces react differently to such a policy.Beijing plans to reduce the total marks of English from 150 to 100， and add the marks of Chinese from 150 to 180.Shandong plans to cancel the listening part of English test in Gaokao.In Jiangsu， English is even to be eliminated from the Gaokao subjects.Some provinces give grades like A， B， C instead of marks for the English test.Some provinces allow students to take the English test for several times before college enrollment.More kinds of strange measures continue to come.

As for the supporters of the reform， the present English education has lots of drawbacks and leads to terrible outcomes， which may seem unreasonable to those protesters.In the eyes of the policy makers and reform backers， first and foremost， the English education loads heavy burdens on students from very young all the way to their final graduation from schools.Besides， the overemphasis on English learning outstrips our attention to Chinese learning.Due to the prevalence of English， we are losing our confidence in our mother tongue and our traditional culture， and even our patriotism and national emotion gradually disappear.Last but not least， English， useless to most students though， becomes a big obstacle to many of them.Many majors in college， such as Physical Education， archeology， mathematics， have nothing to do with English.But the students still suffer from endless English classes and exams.In the job market， few jobs really need English in their daily work.A part-time translator is already enough for a big company.Yet， its a fashion for many employers to ask for a certificate of CET 4 and 6 from job applicants.However， all the above arguments are awfully ridiculous from the perspectives of the opponents.As far as they see， the English education is used as a figleaf or basket by the supporters.They put whatever bad effects into this basket.In the following parts of this thesis， I will analyze the above reasons one by one in detail.

2.Analysis

2.1 More or less burden？

It is universally acknowledged that almost every student in China suffers from heavy study pressure under fierce competition.English， as one of the most important subjects to learn， has become a nightmare for some students.However， whether the reform on English education will liberate them from the burden is under doubt.As long as the tight situation of college enrollment remains， fierce competition in Gaokao will continue to exist.Small adjustments on the subjects or marks in Gaokao help little.The pressure of learning English will soon be transferred to other subjects.For instance， the division of science and art in high school rarely releases students burden， but makes their knowledge structure incomplete.Despite their full curriculum from Monday morning to Saturday night， those science students have no idea of our society， like economy and politics， and know little of our traditional culture， like history and philosophy， which are taught only to art students in high school.Yet， such knowledge should be crucial to every citizen.

Moreover， the reforms on English test in Gaokao may otherwise increase students pressure as well.For instance， the cancellation of listening in test may be a bad news， since the listening comprehension， on the one hand， is the easiest part to many students.From Zhongkao to CET 6， most students agree that it is always easier to get full marks in listening than any other part.On the other hand， a new type of item in exam， more challenging to both teachers and students， may take the place of listening.Additionally， the cancellation of listening in test will undoubtedly produce more deaf and mute English learners.Meanwhile， to take the place of marks by grades seem to be worse for the imbalanced students.Before the reform， their weakness in English can be supplemented by scores from other advantaged subjects.But an isolated grade on English alone will certainly expose their deficiency.The low grade of English may not meet the requirement of college， even if their other conditions all exceed.

2.2 Chinese vs.English

An editorial on Peoples Daily said， ‘although English is an international tool， it takes up too much proportion.The mother tongue is looked down upon.Do we go to another extreme？ When a nations language is attacked， how can its culture be inherited？ A developing China should view English scientifically and treat mother tongue confidently. However， the decline of Chinese and Chinese culture in Chinese mainland in recent decades， in fact， has nothing to do with the prevalence of English.The English education started long before the founding of Peoples Republic of China， and the foreign language learning took place far earlier.In history， China had frequent communication with the outside world since 2000 years ago.The English education can be traced back to early 19th Century， when western missionaries came to China.In 1862， Qing dynasty opened the first official language school in China， called Jingshitongwenguan.Later on， language classes prospered during the Yangwu Movement.In 1893， Zhang Zhidong set up the predecessor of Wuhan University， Ziqiangxuetang， in which English and French were taught by Chinese teachers while German and Russian were taught by foreigners.Nonetheless， our mother tongue and traditional culture has declined ever since the founding of PRC， mainly due to a series of consecutive political movements.In contrast， Chinese and Chinese culture are well preserved in Taiwan and even our neighboring countries.

From the linguistic view， learning Chinese and learning English are not contradictory but complementary.For one thing， many masters of Chinese culture， from the past to now， are proficient in many languages other than their mother tongue， such as Monk Xuanzang in Tang Dynasty， Emperor Kangxi in Qing Dynasty， Qian Zhongshu， Fu Lei and Ji Xianlin.They prove that learning a foreign language also helps to improve the mother tongue.

For another， our poor mother tongue competence， in its nature， originates from the present mother tongue education rather than the impact of English.Under the examination-oriented education， Chinese classes are full of cramming and preaching by the teacher， as well as students mechanic memorization.Students are trained to write stereotyped compositions.The extensive and profound Chinese language and culture are compressed into the so-called theme， central meaning， main idea， and so on.Students imagination and creativity are totally killed.Zheng Yuanjie， a famous writer， once tried to answer the 1998 Gaokao Chinese test.To his surprise， he only got 43 out of 150.Our willingness to revive our mother tongue and traditional culture should not only be presented in the rise of test scores.Its almost useless to protect Chinese and Chinese culture by cutting down English.

2.3 Useful or useless

Many regard English only as tool which is hardly used by ordinary people.However， frankly speaking， I believe English must be the most， if not the only， useful subject at basic education.Personally， I think math is the most useless， yet a compulsory subject before college.I never found any practical use of math knowledge in daily life besides simple calculation.Yet， lots of pupils are compelled to learn the Olympic Math， which is full of strange questions， in order to enter a good middle school.Some may argue that math trains ones logic and makes one cleverer.Indeed， its fairly easy for Chinese to get an extraordinarily high mark on math tests in SAT and GRE.But， theres no evidence that the Chinese are wiser than the Westerners.Besides， language and thought are closely integrated.Learning a language helps much more to train ones thought than math.In college， politics classes are much more useless than English classes.In Kaoyan （Postgraduate Entrance Exam）， politics blocks the way rather than English.Thus， I advocate that， instead of English， math should be cut down in total score in Gaokao for art students， and politics removed in Kaoyan.

In reality， English gets an unprecedented status in the era of global village.English and English culture are everywhere in our daily life.The clothes we wear， the food we eat， the programs we watch on TV， the games we play on computer and so on so forth are heavily influenced and even more or less determined by the western culture.Nowhere else except in North Korea can we hide ourselves from English and English culture.In metropolitans like Beijing， Shanghai， Shenzhen， the employees in the service sector， such as tour guides， taxi drivers， receptionists， cashiers， all can speak some English.In big cities， we can frequently see foreigners on the street.I remembered when I went to Beihai Park in Beijing 7 years ago， there were so many foreigners here and there.Even the peddlers selling drinks and snacks can speak numbers and a few phrases in English， like ‘welcome， ‘can I help you？， ‘three yuan， etc.That was the situation 7 years ago， let alone today.The status of English all over the world becomes similar to that of Putonghua in China.Decades ago， few people can speak standard Putonghua.But now， few people speak their dialect in public places.Whether you learn English or not， the dominance of English and western culture in the world will hardly change.

I feel sympathetic for those who say they find English of little use， just like I feel the same for North Koreans， who think theres no need for them to have democracy and freedom.On the one hand， they dont learn the language well.As a result， they deliberately avoid getting in touch with English.Even when they travel abroad， where English is heard everywhere， they still avoid speaking English.On the other hand， our country is not open enough to the outside world.We have to go through complicated procedures to go abroad.We have no access to foreign channels on TV.Many foreign websites are not available.All these limit our contact with the outside world.

3.Comment

The word ‘reform is becoming a sensitive word in the political field.A netizen says， ‘In the past， we learn foreign languages in order to know the world.At present， we learn foreign languages in order to know China. A professor once told the class about how he found English and German indispensable to him， ‘When I look for the fact of a certain piece of news online， all websites with the sensitive word in Chinese are blocked.Then I look for it in English.But sometimes websites in English are also screened.So I look for it in German.In this way， I successfully get the news I want. This is an extreme case to show the importance of learning foreign languages， but to master a new foreign language will indeed open a new world for you.Youll be amazed to find that the world is far greater than you have expected.

References：

[1]Schon，D.A.1983.The Reflective Practitioner：How Professionals Think[M].Basic Books.

[2]White， R.V.1988.The ELT Curriculum[M].Basil Blackwell.

[3]蔡基剛.2005.大學英語教學若干問題思考[J].外語教學與研究，2：83-91.

[4]曹志希.2003.認知發(fā)展：外語教育的出發(fā)點和歸宿[J].外語教學，3：73-75.

[5]付克.1986.中國外語教育史[M].上海：上海外語教育出版社.

[6]胡文仲.2001.我國外語教育規(guī)劃的得與失[J].外語教學與研究，4：245-251.

作者簡介：嚴悠揚（1991-）男，湖北武漢人，漢族，碩士，武漢大學外國語言文學學院英文系2013級碩士研究生，研究方向：語言測試、英語變體?，F同時任職于武漢大學附屬外語學校。