漢語成“英國高考”熱門科目

“Our research shows that Mandarin will be one of the most important languages for the UKs future prosperity and global standing—but we mustnt neglect Spanish， French and German which will still be vital post-Brexit.”

Nick Gibb， the schools minister， said： “It has never been more important for young people to learn a foreign language than now.”

“An outward looking global nation needs a new generation of young people comfortable with the language and culture of our overseas trading partners.”

In 2018 Chinese A-level （General Certificate of Education Advanced Level） has overtaken German for the first time， as it becomes the UKs third most popular language.

This year 3，334 students took Chinese A-level， compared to 3，058 taking German. While entries for Chinese have increased by 8.6 percent since 2017， German entries have declined by 16.5 percent.

Derek Richardson， the senior responsible officer at Pearson， said Chinese has “bucked the trend” of the fall in popularity of modern languages.

“In languages we are seeing some significant decreases in entries for the main modern languages： French， German and Spanish，” he said.

“But what we are also seeing is an increase in entries across some of the other languages that people study.”

“What this means is Chinese is now more popular than German. So maybe young people are beginning to think about what languages will be useful to them in the future.”

French remains the most popular modern language A-level followed by Spanish， but both have seen a fall in entries compared to 2017 by eight and four percent respectively.

Russian has also increased in popularity since 2017 by 3.4 percent， from 1，122 to 1，160. Arabic， however， has declined by 5.4 percent， from 782 entries in 2017 to 740 in 2018.

Suzanne OFarrell， curriculum and assessment specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders （ASCL）， said： “Were seeing German just moving into extinction really. It is in severe decline.”

Barnaby Lenon， chair of the Independent Schools Council （ISC）， said that whereas pupils used to be told “It will really help your career if you learn German”， this is no longer the case.

“In the 1960s， 70s and even the 80s， Germany was the economic powerhouse of Europe，” he told The Daily Telegraph.

“Pupils were strongly encouraged to study German because of the importance of the German economy. Although it is still strong， that argument has faded， and China has emerged in the last 25 years as the fastest growing economy in the world.”

Mr Lenon， a former headmaster at Harrow School， said the rise in Chinese A-levels is partly driven by private schools， many of which have invested in the subject in recent years.

“It is not the case that a large number of states schools are now teaching Chinese A-levels. They are not，” he said.

He said many of the entries will be Chinese native speakers， adding that independent schools have attracted “large numbers” of Chinese pupils in recent years.

Aspirational middle class families sending their children to be educated in the UK has fuelled a steady increase in Chinese students， with number at fee-paying schools almost doubling in five years according to ISC data.

Mark Herbert， director of schools and skills at the British Council， welcomed the rise in Chinese A-level entries.

“Against this overall downward trend， the increasing popularity of Chinese proves that our young people can be enthused to study languages，” he said.

在2018年的A-level考試中，選考漢語的考生人數首次超過德語，漢語成為英國第三大熱門語言。

2018年有3334名學生報考了漢語A-level考試，德語有3058人。選考漢語的報名人數比2017年增長了8.6%，而德語則減少了16.5%。

培生集團高級官員德里克·理查德森說，漢語“逆轉”了現代語言受歡迎度下降的“趨勢”。

他說：“我們看到一些主要現代語言的報考人數大幅減少，包括法語、德語和西班牙語。”

“但是我們同時也看到，報考其他一些語言的人數有所增加。”

“這意味著漢語現在比德語更受歡迎。也許年輕人開始思考未來哪些語言對他們更有用。”

法語仍然是A-level中選考人數最多的現代語言，其次是西班牙語。但是與2017年相比，這兩種語言的報考人數分別減少了8%和4%。

俄語的報考人數也比2017年增加了3.4%，從1122人增加到1160人。阿拉伯語的報考人數減少了5.4%，從2017年的782人減少到2018年的740人。

英國校長協會的課程與評估專家蘇珊娜·奧法雷爾說：“我們看到報考德語的人數正在大幅減少，情況真的很嚴重。”

英國私立學校理事會主席巴納比·萊農說，過去，學生被教導說“學習德語，真的會對你的事業很有幫助”，但是現在情況不再是這樣了。

他在接受《每日電訊報》采訪時說：“在20世紀60和70年代，甚至到了80年代，德國在歐洲經濟發展中一直起著重要作用。”

“以前，因為德國經濟的重要性，學生被大力鼓勵學習德語。現在，盡管德國經濟依然很強，但是這種觀點正在逐漸消失，中國在過去25年中已經崛起，成為全球發展最快的經濟體。”

中國一些有抱負的中產階級家庭把子女送到英國留學，來自中國的留學生人數穩步增長。英國私立學校理事會的數據顯示，私立學校的中國留學生數量在5年內幾乎翻番。

英國文化協會學校和技能總監馬克·赫伯特對報考漢語人數增加表示歡迎。

他說：“在整體呈下降趨勢的背景下，漢語越來越受歡迎證明我們的年輕人可以充滿熱情地學習語言。”

“我們的研究顯示，漢語將成為影響英國未來繁榮和全球地位最重要的語言之一，但我們絕不能忽視西班牙語、法語和德語，它們在英國‘脫歐之后仍將非常重要。”

英國教育部國務大臣尼克·吉布說：“現在對年輕人來說，學習外語比以往任何時候都更加重要。”

“一個開放的國際化國家需要新一代的年輕人熟悉海外貿易伙伴的語言和文化。”

曾擔任哈羅公學校長的萊農說，報考漢語人數增長一定程度上是私立學校推動的，許多私立學校近年來都對這一學科有所投入。

他說：“但是，并不是說大量公立學校現在開始教授漢語A-level課程，并不是這樣。”

他說，很多報考漢語的考生母語是漢語。私立學校近年來吸引了“大量的”中國學生。

Word Study

decline /d?'kla?n/ v. 下降;減少

significant /s?g'n?f?k?nt/ adj. 數量相當大的;顯著的

respectively /r?'spekt?vli/ adv. 分別地;各自地

severe /s?'v??（r）/ adj. 十分嚴重的;極為惡劣的

aspirational /'?sp?'re???nl/ adj. 有志向的;有抱負的

prosperity /pr?'sper?ti/ n. 繁榮;興旺;富足

neglect /n?'glekt/ v. 不予重視;忽視