Home » Opinion » Chinese Views
Pursuing English to get ahead at the expense of Chinese
By Ni Tao |
March 21, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE bulletin board in our office corridor is where I get the news about the newsroom. Notices honor employees' achievements, announce personnel reshuffle and shout invitations to balls, free movies or gyms.
Notices come and go. Amid the constantly changing clutter of information, the only constant seems to be notices of qualification tests for seasoned media professionals.
It was surprising for cub reporters like me to learn that even editors at an English-language publication are not exempt from sitting the English test if they want to move up to the next rung of the professional ladder.
My editor is spared this ordeal only because he has studied abroad and can document it.
The test, modeled after high school English exams, is presumably a walk in the park for him, but much less so for many Chinese who learn the language from scratch when they get older.
Failure to pass will hinder their career advancement, regardless of their credentials. The test is designed for a wide range of professionals, many of whom don't have to be proficient in English to excel in their work - for example, painters, handicraftsmen, and singers.
For this reason the test has long been criticized as a sheer waste of creativity, talent and time that could have spurred more worthy enterprises.
Critics who pressed their case for abolishing the test made headlines during the recent parliamentary session.
Tian Fubin, a Hunan Province deputy to the National People's Congress, groused about the "overemphasis" of English studies during a March 7 conference. "Despite the many years we spent learning English, many won't have the opportunity to use it, and thus will forget it over time," said Tian.
Wasted talent
His views were echoed by other speakers, especially those who work as artists.
Some said the demand for them to master English, which they don't find particularly useful in their line of work, only causes them to cheat on exams.
Indeed, examples abound of talented people being denied admission to universities because of poor English grades.
While the raison d'etre of the test is being debated, there are similar rants against general English-language education in China, and both merit scrutiny.
Few countries demonstrate more enthusiasm than China in spreading another people's language among its citizens. The ability to speak English is hyped as a key to success.
As a result, Chinese kids on average spend more hours on English lessons than any other subject. And parents are exposing their children to an English-speaking environment at ever earlier ages.
English curricula at preschools and kindergartens are immensely popular, although some are extremely pricey.
Yet I'm curious as to how the courses can be spoon-fed to babbling toddlers.
I remember vividly how some of my high school classmates robotically repeated simple English sentences just to sound like native speakers - a method learned from Crazy English, a mass gimmick campaign for English education.
Its popularity has turned the founder Li Yang into a cult figure, who infamously made his disciples prostrate themselves before him to show respect in 2007.
If the blind embrace of English is not ominous enough, more alarming is the growing influence of English at the expense of Chinese. Although an increasing number of people learn to speak Chinese at Confucius Institutes across the globe, few domestic universities offer courses on ancient Chinese classics that would do the sage proud. Students now have difficulty reading, let alone writing traditional Chinese characters.
'Thesis mills'
Respect for our native language will continue to fade as Chinese colleges become diploma mills or even "thesis mills" eyeing global recognition. They churn out research articles, preferably written in English, that barely measure up to rigorous academic standards. It is commonly known in academic circles that English articles published in foreign journals are worth three or more Chinese pieces, regardless of their true merits.
An unpleasant result is a string of plagiarism scandals rocking Chinese ivory towers in recent years.
When the understanding of a language is stripped of the culture and philosophy behind it and that language is reduced to an asset that can earn handsome returns in the marketplace of ideas, we can expect that language studies will flourish.
While the country is flirting with innovation, its worship of English - whether as proof of its "openness" or a fountain of personal wealth and fame - points to the contrary.
Notices come and go. Amid the constantly changing clutter of information, the only constant seems to be notices of qualification tests for seasoned media professionals.
It was surprising for cub reporters like me to learn that even editors at an English-language publication are not exempt from sitting the English test if they want to move up to the next rung of the professional ladder.
My editor is spared this ordeal only because he has studied abroad and can document it.
The test, modeled after high school English exams, is presumably a walk in the park for him, but much less so for many Chinese who learn the language from scratch when they get older.
Failure to pass will hinder their career advancement, regardless of their credentials. The test is designed for a wide range of professionals, many of whom don't have to be proficient in English to excel in their work - for example, painters, handicraftsmen, and singers.
For this reason the test has long been criticized as a sheer waste of creativity, talent and time that could have spurred more worthy enterprises.
Critics who pressed their case for abolishing the test made headlines during the recent parliamentary session.
Tian Fubin, a Hunan Province deputy to the National People's Congress, groused about the "overemphasis" of English studies during a March 7 conference. "Despite the many years we spent learning English, many won't have the opportunity to use it, and thus will forget it over time," said Tian.
Wasted talent
His views were echoed by other speakers, especially those who work as artists.
Some said the demand for them to master English, which they don't find particularly useful in their line of work, only causes them to cheat on exams.
Indeed, examples abound of talented people being denied admission to universities because of poor English grades.
While the raison d'etre of the test is being debated, there are similar rants against general English-language education in China, and both merit scrutiny.
Few countries demonstrate more enthusiasm than China in spreading another people's language among its citizens. The ability to speak English is hyped as a key to success.
As a result, Chinese kids on average spend more hours on English lessons than any other subject. And parents are exposing their children to an English-speaking environment at ever earlier ages.
English curricula at preschools and kindergartens are immensely popular, although some are extremely pricey.
Yet I'm curious as to how the courses can be spoon-fed to babbling toddlers.
I remember vividly how some of my high school classmates robotically repeated simple English sentences just to sound like native speakers - a method learned from Crazy English, a mass gimmick campaign for English education.
Its popularity has turned the founder Li Yang into a cult figure, who infamously made his disciples prostrate themselves before him to show respect in 2007.
If the blind embrace of English is not ominous enough, more alarming is the growing influence of English at the expense of Chinese. Although an increasing number of people learn to speak Chinese at Confucius Institutes across the globe, few domestic universities offer courses on ancient Chinese classics that would do the sage proud. Students now have difficulty reading, let alone writing traditional Chinese characters.
'Thesis mills'
Respect for our native language will continue to fade as Chinese colleges become diploma mills or even "thesis mills" eyeing global recognition. They churn out research articles, preferably written in English, that barely measure up to rigorous academic standards. It is commonly known in academic circles that English articles published in foreign journals are worth three or more Chinese pieces, regardless of their true merits.
An unpleasant result is a string of plagiarism scandals rocking Chinese ivory towers in recent years.
When the understanding of a language is stripped of the culture and philosophy behind it and that language is reduced to an asset that can earn handsome returns in the marketplace of ideas, we can expect that language studies will flourish.
While the country is flirting with innovation, its worship of English - whether as proof of its "openness" or a fountain of personal wealth and fame - points to the contrary.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
