Primary English Education Policy 2001 in China

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China’s Ministry of Education created a foreign language policy in 2001 The policy is entitled, “The Ministry of Education Guidelines for Vigorously Promoting the Teaching of English in Primary Schools.”

This policy has so many positive and negative effects on the society of china. An analysis of policy is given below please read.

The policy states that primary school students are required to start learning English in the third grade. This marked the implementation of a new foreign language policy in the country. The policy included a plan implementation schedule, curriculum design guidelines, textbook selections, training teachers and governing structures. There have been several concerns about the implementation of this policy and for a country with the largest primary school population, the practicality of the policy’s implementation raised several eyebrows. One of the concerns were whether the policy was only geared towards gaining the favor of hosting the 2008 Summer Olympic games or whether the policy promoted education equality in the country. Learning English has become high importance for internal and external examinations within the school systems.

n China, there is an exam for students to take to enter into college, called the National University Entrance Qualifying Exam. This exam requires students to test in three subjects: Chinese, English, and Math. Some parents in China find learning English so necessary, they hire tutors to start teaching their children English before they are taught in school

The English language has evidently shown linguistic impacts to all parts of the world. The effects do not only transpire in the micro socio-political lens, but it already holds a significant role that fuelled both the political and social development of societies. These developments then result to the involvement and transpiration of policy efforts and the discussions of language planning as part of the pedagogical component of national educational systems. One interesting case is that of the English Language Teaching (ELT) policy in the People’s Republic of China.

It is noted that China’s educational system has suffered from its unstable policies in foreign language education during the 1950s to 1990s – after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. In other words, the English Language Teaching in China was influenced by differing political, economic, social, and educational needs at different times.

Also, the massive drive in the expansion of English proficiency in formal education has in Hertling’s words “the most ambitious language-learning campaign in history”

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Source by Nudrat Naheed

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