The emphasis on English education in China only emerged after 1979 when the Cultural Revolution ended, China adopted the Open Door Policy, and the United States and China established strong diplomatic ties. One estimate (in 2007) of the number of English speakers in China is over 200 million and rising, with 50 million secondary school children now studying the language. [1]
However, online test score data from the 2018 EF English Proficiency Index ranks the nation at 47th out of the 88 countries measured, with an overall score of 'Low proficiency.' It suggested that internet users in cities and provinces like Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, and Jiangsu had a generally decent command of the language while those in other cities were limited to basic vocabulary. [2] [3] A 2017 article from The Telegraph also suggests that less than 1 percent of people in China (some 10 million) speak English conversationally. [4]
According to a report on China Daily , many students start learning English in kindergarten before they start school. [5] Most schoolchildren are taught their first English lesson in third grade in primary school. Despite the fact that it is common to learn English at an early age, some have criticized the pedagogy for being geared towards only the skills being tested. Therefore, skills such as learning grammar rules become more focused on memorization. However, creative skills such as writing are still an important part of English education in China. The methods, which focus on testing students' memorization of grammar rules and vocabulary, have been criticized by Western educationalists and linguists as fundamentally flawed. [6] Furthermore, students are seldom able to put newly learned English words into use. This problem arises because Mandarin is the official and dominant language in China, while English often has little use in the country. This problem is further reinforced through the national Band 4 examination, where 80% of the test is the writing component and 20% of the test is listening, while an additional speaking component is only required for English major students. However, Guangdong Province has started requiring all students to take the English speaking exam for the National College Entrance Examination as of 2010.
China's first contact with the English language occurred between Chinese and English traders, and the first missionary schools to teach English were established in Macau in the 1630s. [1] Between 1911 and 1949, English was popular, and it was taught in missionary schools and thirteen Christian colleges. [7] After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Russian was originally the primary foreign language. [8] English began to transition into the education system during the 1960s as a result of the Sino-Soviet split. Because of the condemnation of the English language during the Cultural Revolution, English education did not return until Richard Nixon visited China in 1972. The only textbooks for English instructions were translations of Mao Zedong's works until the Cultural Revolution ended in 1976, and the Gaokao was restored in 1978. [9]
In 1978 about 500,000 people in China were subscribed to the magazine Learning English, and in 1982 the BBC program Follow Me had about 10 million households in China as viewers. [10]
Once China established the open door policy under Deng Xiaoping, the popularity of English and other languages began to thrive. English became very popular between the late 1970s to 1990s in areas that dealt with trading and tourism [11]
In 2021 Li Yuan (Chinese :袁莉; pinyin :Yuán Lì) in The New York Times wrote that there was a trend countering English language education in China. [10]
The College English Test (CET) is the primary English language test in China. As of 2011, employers have made scores in the CET 4 and CET 6 requirements for employment, and The Lowdown on China's Higher Education stated that in China "CET 4 and CET 6 National English examinations have become the symbol of English proficiency in reading and writing." [12]
There is also the Public English Test System (PETS).
Tourism in China is a major industry, producing 11.04% of the GDP and contributing direct and indirect employment of up to 28.25 million people. [13] [14] Nonetheless, not many employees in the hospitality sector speak English. One source indicates that it's more common in premium-grade hotels "while less expensive hotels might have few or no staff members who speak English". Bilingual guide services are readily available, however. [15]
Recently, online education has been gaining momentum in China, including online one on one English education. [16] Many Chinese companies, such as Magic Ears, are recruiting teachers from the U.S. and other English-speaking countries. [17] Leading players such as New Oriental Education & Technology Group and TAL Education Group have gone public in the US and seen their shares soar. Now, online start-ups are gaining ground with parents who grew up in the internet era and see advantages in digital learning. Beijing-based VIPKid has expanded to 200,000 students and just[ when? ] raised venture money at a valuation of more than US$1.5 billion. [18] The virtual teaching business is booming. Both VIPKid and DaDa were founded in 2013 and have continued to grow since then. VIPKid had more than 500,000 students in China and 63 other countries and 60,000 North American teachers, while Dada had more than 100,000 students and 10,000 teachers. Their competitors have grown too: companies like Magic Ears and QKids are also connecting teachers to Chinese children working on learning English. [17]
In 2021 the Chinese authorities banned the use of foreign-based teachers for online tutoring, forcing VIPkid to end its foreign-based tutoring service for Chinese students. [19]
In bilingual education, students are taught in two languages. It is distinct from learning a second language as a subject because both languages are used for instruction in different content areas like math, science, and history. The time spent in each language depends on the model. For example, some models focus on providing education in both languages throughout a student's entire education while others gradually transition to education in only one language. The ultimate goal of bilingual education is fluency and literacy in both languages through a variety of strategies such as translanguaging and recasting.
Language education – the process and practice of teaching a second or foreign language – is primarily a branch of applied linguistics, but can be an interdisciplinary field. There are four main learning categories for language education: communicative competencies, proficiencies, cross-cultural experiences, and multiple literacies.
English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages, often with students whose native language is not English and are learning to speak and write English, commonly among students Language education for people learning English may be known as English as a foreign language (EFL), English as a second language (ESL), English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), English as an additional language (EAL), or English as a New Language (ENL), which refers to the practice of studying English in a country where it is not the dominant language. These programs, especially ESL, are usually an academic subject, course, or program designed to teach English to students who are not yet proficient in the language. While some people only refer to learning in an English-speaking country, learning this language can also entail learning in a non-English speaking or non-native nation.
The College English Test, better known as CET, is a national English as a foreign language test in the People's Republic of China. It examines the English proficiency of undergraduate and postgraduate students in China. It is meant to ensure that Chinese undergraduates and postgraduates reach the required English levels specified in the National College English Teaching Syllabuses (NCETS). This test has existed in China for 26 years and now 18 million people take it annually. It includes two levels: CET4 (四级) and CET6 (六级).
Language immersion, or simply immersion, is a technique used in bilingual language education in which two languages are used for instruction in a variety of topics, including math, science, or social studies. The languages used for instruction are referred to as the L1 and the L2 for each student, with L1 being the student's native language and L2 being the second language to be acquired through immersion programs and techniques. There are different types of language immersion that depend on the age of the students, the classtime spent in L2, the subjects that are taught, and the level of participation by the speakers of L1.
Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all Europeans claim to speak at least one language other than their mother tongue; but many read and write in one language. Multilingualism is advantageous for people wanting to participate in trade, globalization and cultural openness. Owing to the ease of access to information facilitated by the Internet, individuals' exposure to multiple languages has become increasingly possible. People who speak several languages are also called polyglots.
Minority (non-Japanese) students can be found throughout the entire Japanese education system. An incomplete list of possible cultural and or language minorities represented in Japanese schools include:
Language proficiency is the ability of an individual to use language with a level of accuracy which transfers meaning in production and comprehension.
English-Language Learner is a term used in some English-speaking countries such as the United States and Canada to describe a person who is learning the English language and has a native language that is not English. Some educational advocates, especially in the United States, classify these students as non-native English speakers or emergent bilinguals. Various other terms are also used to refer to students who are not proficient in English, such as English as a Second Language (ESL), English as an Additional Language (EAL), limited English proficient (LEP), Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD), non-native English speaker, bilingual students, heritage language, emergent bilingual, and language-minority students. The legal term that is used in federal legislation is 'limited English proficient'. The instruction and assessment of students, their cultural background, and the attitudes of classroom teachers towards ELLs have all been found to be factors in the achievement of these students. Several methods have been suggested to effectively teach ELLs, including integrating their home cultures into the classroom, involving them in language-appropriate content-area instruction early on, and integrating literature into their learning programs.
Dual language is a form of education in which students are taught literacy and content in two languages. Most dual language programs in the United States teach in English and Spanish, but programs increasingly use a partner language other than Spanish, such as Arabic, Chinese, French, Hawaiian, Japanese, or Korean. Dual language programs use the partner language for at least half of the instructional day in the elementary years.
Mute English is a term coined in the People's Republic of China to describe a phenomenon where people cannot speak English well and have a poor listening comprehension as a second language, typically through the traditional method of English language teaching where English is only taught as a subject. The phrase is a calque of the Chinese phrase "哑巴英语". The phenomenon is sometimes referred to as Dumb English.
LOTE or Languages Other Than English is the name given to language subjects besides English in Australia, New York City, and other schools. The name evolved from 'heritage language', a term first used to refer to languages other than French and English in Canada. Later modified in relation to Australia to refer to languages other than English. LOTEs have often historically been related to the policy of multiculturalism, and tend to reflect the predominant non-English languages spoken in a school's local area, the idea being to play a part in the maintenance of cultural identities in local communities.
The EF English Proficiency Index attempts to rank countries by the equity of English language skills amongst those adults who took the EF test. It is the product of EF Education First, an international education company, and draws its conclusions from data collected via English tests available for free over the internet. The index is an online survey first published in 2011 based on test data from 1.7 million test takers. The most recent edition was released in November 2023.
In Singapore, language planning is associated with government planning. In this top-down approach, the government influences the acquisition of languages and their respective functions within the speech community through the education system. Language planning aims to facilitate effective communication within the speech community, which can result in a language shift or language assimilation. The goals of language planning are very much dependent on the political and social forces present in Singapore during two distinct periods: Colonisation by the British and the Post-Independence period after 1965.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to second-language acquisition:
Language power (LP) is a measure of one's ability to communicate effectively in a given language, specifically one that is not native to the speaker.
Quanguo Waiyu Shuiping Kaoshi is a series of foreign language tests administered in Mainland China for educators who did not major in foreign languages. The National Education Examinations Authority (NEEA) of China developed these tests. Performance on the WSK determines whether one is permitted to take training, studies, or additional studies within one's major in institutions outside of China.
Teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL), Teaching English as a second language (TESL) or Teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) are terms that refer to teaching English to students whose first language is not English.
Globalization has had major effects on the spread and ascribed value of multilingualism. Multilingualism is considered the use of more than one language by an individual or community of speakers. Globalization is commonly defined as the international movement toward economic, trade, technological, and communications integration and concerns itself with interdependence and interconnectedness. As a result of the interconnectedness brought on by globalization, languages are being transferred between communities, cultures, and economies at an increasingly fast pace. Therefore, though globalization is widely seen as an economic process, it has resulted in linguistic shifts on a global scale, including the recategorization of privileged languages, the commodification of multilingualism, the Englishization of the globalized workplace, and varied experiences of multilingualism along gendered lines.
The following is a list of bilingual education by country or region.
Around 10 million people - in a total population of 1.3 billion - speak English. That's fewer than one in 100.