Professor hits out at a 'mania' for learning English
Source: Xinhua |
March 15, 2013, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A CHINESE professor's criticism of what he believes is an excessive craze for learning English has sparked a heated debate.
People's mania for English learning wastes education resources and threatens the study of Chinese, says Zhang Shuhua, dean of the information and intelligence institute at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Zhang made the remarks at a meeting during the annual session of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the top political advisory body, which closed on Tuesday.
His words triggered intense online discussion, with nearly 90,000 comments posted online on the topic by last night.
English is listed as an indispensable subject by college and postgraduate entrance exams in China, no matter what majors candidates are applying for.
"The learning of English, a compulsory course for college students, has distracted much of their attention from specialized subjects," said Zhang, adding that many applicants have been denied access to postgraduate education only because they failed English.
English is also a hurdle for people to overcome if they are to get promotion or a raise, even in cases where they barely use the language at work.
Many people don't get a chance to use English in their practical work, but they have to conquer the language if they want to pass qualification assessments, a practice that is obviously unnecessary, according to Zhang.
However, many netizens said English was important for China's international communications.
"English is a language and we should learn it for communication, not for tests; it's meaningless when you learn English not from the angle of practical use," one microblogger posted.
Dr Xiong Bingqi, an outspoken scholar on education, suggested English should be optional in primary and middle schools.
Colleges should also give students the right to choose whether they need to learn English according to their own career plans, he said.
People's mania for English learning wastes education resources and threatens the study of Chinese, says Zhang Shuhua, dean of the information and intelligence institute at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Zhang made the remarks at a meeting during the annual session of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the top political advisory body, which closed on Tuesday.
His words triggered intense online discussion, with nearly 90,000 comments posted online on the topic by last night.
English is listed as an indispensable subject by college and postgraduate entrance exams in China, no matter what majors candidates are applying for.
"The learning of English, a compulsory course for college students, has distracted much of their attention from specialized subjects," said Zhang, adding that many applicants have been denied access to postgraduate education only because they failed English.
English is also a hurdle for people to overcome if they are to get promotion or a raise, even in cases where they barely use the language at work.
Many people don't get a chance to use English in their practical work, but they have to conquer the language if they want to pass qualification assessments, a practice that is obviously unnecessary, according to Zhang.
However, many netizens said English was important for China's international communications.
"English is a language and we should learn it for communication, not for tests; it's meaningless when you learn English not from the angle of practical use," one microblogger posted.
Dr Xiong Bingqi, an outspoken scholar on education, suggested English should be optional in primary and middle schools.
Colleges should also give students the right to choose whether they need to learn English according to their own career plans, he said.
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