China Power | Society | East Asia

A Debate Is Raging in China Over English Education

Rising youth unemployment, the advent of AI translation, and growing anger against everything foreign are fueling public anger against English education in China. 

In the heated public discussions in China over English education, those calling to downgrade or abandon English in Chinese schools and colleges are using an ancient saying: 刻舟求剑 (ke zhou qiu jian), literally “notching the boat to find a sword.” Less literally, the phrase describes a foolish approach to solving problems that fails to account for changing circumstances.

The phrase refers to an ancient fable from the Warring States period (475 BC to 221 BC). In the story, a traveler from the State of Chu was crossing a river in a boat when his precious sword accidentally slipped from his hand and fell into the water. Instead of diving into the water to retrieve it, he calmly took out a small knife and carved a notch on the side of the boat right where the sword fell. 

On being asked why he didn’t immediately jump into the river to retrieve his sword, he replied: “There is no need to worry. My sword fell into the river at this marked place. As soon as the boat reaches the dock and pulls into shore, I will jump down from here to retrieve my sword.” 

That’s the context needed to understand those using this idiom in order to ridicule the continuation of English being taught in primary, secondary and high schools. Critics point out that the decision to incorporate the English language as a mandatory part of the school curriculum was made 50 years ago. “At the time, the aim was to quickly strengthen education, learn science and technology from abroad, and improve the overall quality of the population. Forcing everyone to learn English, while perhaps a bit of an overreaction, was understandable given the specific circumstances,” Chinese scholar Xiang Ligang commented on WeChat. But, like the position of the boat in the fable, China’s circumstances have changed.  

It’s a widely held figure that English learning for a Chinese student – from early schooling to entering a university, in total 12 years of education – requires 3,000 to 5,000 hours of study and at least 100,000 yuan. Many in China are raising the question: is it worth it?

Arguments against the continuation of English as a compulsory subject in schools and colleges were recently further strengthened by a call to “end English’s core status” issued by Tang Jiafeng. Tang is a mathematics professor and online celebrity who has long taught mathematics to candidates taking postgraduate entrance examinations. The latest controversy stemmed from his comments on reforms to the locally administered zhongkao (senior high school entrance examination). Saying that “the history of Chinese people worshiping foreign things and fawning on foreign countries should end,” he advocated for reducing the weight given to English proficiency on the exam.  

Currently, English is a required subject starting in third grade. It is weighted on par with Chinese language and mathematics on the entrance exam for secondary schools, the central exam after ninth grade, and the high school graduation exam. Chinese, English, and mathematics (collectively known as CEM) are the three most important subjects on the gaokao, China’s college and university entrance examination. Each subject counts for 150 points out of a total of 750.   

Tang Jiafeng called for downgrading the status of English as part of an angry reaction to Chinese history being removed as a scoring subject in exams in several provinces. A large section of China’s nationalist intellectuals – who are also generally labeled as “conservatives” – have come out in support of Tang. Also on their side are parents and students who oppose making English a compulsory subject. English is considered difficult in China, since the Chinese language does not use an alphabetic script. Learning English thus increases the students’ burden and parents’ or guardian’s financial pressure. 

Many also ask whether there’s any point to the effort. Given the difficulty involved in mastering a language with an entirely different writing system, rote memorization without real understanding is common. Xiang, in the WeChat commentary cited above, claimed that “95 percent of people who have studied English in primary [school], secondary [school], and university cannot communicate fluently, and 90 percent of those who have studied English will never use it in their lives, except for exams. Learning English without mastering it is a widespread........

© The Diplomat