Giving less weight to English tests a first step in reform
- By Ni Tao
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, October 24, 2013
The countless English cram sessions they must endure are more a result of resignation to a demanding syllabus than a real passion for the language.
Less decisive English-language tests will create the expectation that English is not that sought-after any longer, rendering some of the cram classes unnecessary. The move is a timely development to cool down the blind mania for English nationwide.
More importantly, the lopsided emphasis on English is ridiculous compared with the increasingly scant attention given to Chinese education. Isn’t it tragic that Chinese children today cannot recite ancient poems or read and write properly in their mother tongue, whereas they are good at reciting English jingles they don’t really understand?
Identity in danger
In a word, our education is in great danger of sacrificing its own identity and traditions for a foreign import.
English should not be an enforced national pastime as it is now. In fact, the way it is taught in China has only sapped students’ interest in it. A lot of educators and teachers are largely responsible for teaching by rote and making the subject widely disliked.
The incoming reform will inevitably fuel the anxiety of a relative few who hope to gain advantage in Gaokao through better English grades. And it will probably hurt the interests of schools that offer “uplifting courses,” namely, cram sessions. But that’s what reform is about. It is a tradeoff, with gains and losses.
Contrary to what some may think, the reform actually is long overdue in restraining the national fervor about a not-too-relevant subject.
As the Oriental Morning Post opined about this reform on Wednesday, “No matter what, institutional (educational) reform will cause pain, which might not be a bad thing, because it may cure, cleanse and heal past mistakes.”
The real concern is whether reduced emphasis on English will mean a real reduction of student burdens.
In Beijing’s case, the 50 points cut from English will instead go to Chinese and the integrated test of mathematics, physics and chemistry.
Could the new arrangement only shift the burden from testing and cramming English to other courses? Will students enjoy a respite just because English’s role is less decisive?
After all, if the purpose of reform in Beijing and elsewhere in the country is to truly reduce the widely acknowledged academic burden on students, a holistic approach would limit the welter of all the cram sessions, after-school classes, and homework, not just English courses.
Beijing’s education authorities have taken a step in the right direction, but they need to follow it with other moves to further reduce the burden on students — namely, reducing the importance of the grueling Gaokao as a whole.
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