取消英語主科地位引發熱議

陜西 田洪霞

中國人民政治協商會議第十三屆全國委員會委員許進在今年的兩會中提出，建議在義務教育階段不再將英語設為類似于語文和數學的核心課程。因此引發了持續的熱議和爭議。

題材社會熱點體裁時評文章詞數 難度 建議用時308 ★★★ 6 分鐘

A national political adviser's proposal that English be dropped as a core subject for Chinese primary and secondary school students has triggered heated discussion among experts and netizens.

In a proposal to the ongoing two sessions,Xu Jin, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said that English should not be a core subject like Chinese and math and more course hours should be given to improve students' kills in physical education, music and art.

Xu said English and other foreign languages should also not be included as compulsory subjects for the national college entrance exam. While English takes up about 10 percent of class hours, less than 10 percent of university graduates use the language at work, he said.Moreover, smart translation devices can offer perfect translation services in the age of artificial intelligence. He added that translators will be among the top 10 professions to be eliminated

（淘汰）.

His proposal has triggered heated discussion on social media platforms and the debate“removing English as a core subject for primary and secondary school students” has been read 120 million times on Sina Weibo.

Some netizens agreed with his proposal and said they had wasted too much time studying English at school and did not use it in their daily lives. Others said the idea is not in line with the country's pursuit of further openness and will likely not be adopted by authorities.

Zhang Lianzhong, a professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said the Ministry of Education made English a compulsory course from third grade in 2001. The decision had proved to be a smart one as hundreds of millions of Chinese students have broadened their horizons and improved their cultural awareness and critical thinking ability through learning the language, Zhang said in an interview with Beijing News.

Reading Check

As a student, do you think it reasonable and necessary to ax English?

_______________________________________