Author: Nadia Sucha

Chinese Foundation students

Previous English-learning experience

What are the most recent changes in English language teaching in China?
The Chinese government designed (2003) and implemented a New English Curriculum across the whole country in an attempt to modernize their English teaching to bring graduates’ skills up to a level commensurate with their status as the world’s largest economy.
The new curriculum shares many similarities with the curriculum in English language schools in Britain with a focus on engaging learners and making classes more communicative and task-based. New textbooks with ‘projects’ and ‘tasks’ have been in use.

However...
There is an issue in class implementation because of the misalignment with assessment. What it means to be competent in English language differs between descriptors in the English syllabus and in the National Higher Education Entrance Exam (Gāokǎo). Gu (2012) expresses doubts ‘as to whether the test designers studied the recent curriculum standards at all’. This remains a widely-discussed and controversial issue.

So what happens in English lessons?
The exam dictates how English is taught in schools, not the curriculum. The main focus is on testing grammar and vocabulary through: Reading, Listening and Writing tasks – there is no speaking part. That is why speaking activities in the new textbooks are often ‘skipped’ at school. Opportunities for pair-work and group work are frequently missed as they are seen as taking time away from already limited exam practice.
The writing task in the exam is short (200 words) and student memorize prompts that they can then use for several tasks.

The hours York Chinese foundation
students spent at high school

References: Gu, Y. (2012). English Curriculum and assessment for basic education in China. In J. Ruan and C.B. Leung, (Eds). Perspectives on Teaching and Learning English Literacy in China. London: Springer, pp. 35-50.