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More than 70 percent of Chinese parents want their children to learn English just for entering better schools, according to a recent survey report on English education in China. The online survey was conducted by the 21st Century Education Research Institute in Beijing, based on the questionnaires sent in by 45,758 Chinese parents from around the country. Released on Nov.3, 2013, the survey report shows that, although 90 percent of the parents believe that learning Chinese and traditional culture is more important than English, their children still pay more attention to the study of English than Chinese.
From 3 years old to the college graduation
According to the survey, the starting age for Chinese children being exposed to English language is brought forward. About 47.38 percent of the children first got in touch with English learning materials when they were 3 to 6 years old. The children who began learning English in school after the age of 12 only took up 6.56 percent of the total. Children who start contacts with English materials from the age of 3 made up the largest group, accounting for 16.23 percent of the total. About 86.39 percent of the parents said that their children had English classes from kindergartens or from lower grades in primary schools.
From their first touch of English language, Chinese students have to keep learning it until they graduate from college. However, not many children really like the subject. The survey reveals that children who are interested in English only account for 10.62 percent of the total, while 86.39 percent of the parents said that they actually know their children don’t like English.
Learning just for entrance examinations
Most parents questioned in the survey said they don’t agree with the idea that “English is more important than Chinese”. There are 86.15 percent of the parents regarding traditional culture and Chinese studies as the most important subject. When referring to the ranking of relative importance between the three major subjects Chinese, English and mathematics, 74.70 percent and 18.91 percent of them regard Chinese and Math as their priority respectively, while only 6.09 percent think English is the most important subject.
As an interesting dilemma found in the survey, the most embarrassing situation is, although neither do children like English, nor do parents think it important, there are still a great many children who want to spend extra hours under great pressure for learning English. According to a rough estimate, English costs children about 37 per cent of their time for learning. Also, there are 40 per cent of the children who spend 32.47 per cent of their learning time on English, whereas the time they used for learning Chinese only took up 32 percent.
The children are caught up in this dilemma because they have to face the required entrance examinations for getting into senior high schools or universities. According to the survey, 71.6 percent and 11.34 percent of the parents said their children learn English just for entering a better school or preparing for a future career; while only 9.67 percent of them simply expect their children to master a foreign language.
Over two-thirds of adults find English has no use
Although overwhelmed with the burden of learning English when they were young at school, the majority of people found their efforts unpaid when they grew up. In an adult opinion poll for the survey on English education, the 21st century Education Research Institute received response from over 90,000 adult citizens, and over two-thirds of them said they hardly use English in their daily life.
As many as 55.80 percent of the respondents to the poll think English has basically no importance, because they never use English at work; 22.70 percent of them regard English with limited values. Only 8.94 per cent believe that English is very important at work and that people should be well qualified in using English.
"English craze" and its negative effects
As the survey on English education disclosed, only 10.26 percent of the parents believe that learning English has no negative effects. A large majority or 89.74 percent of the parents in the survey think the present English craze is harmful to children’s development.
Among this nearly 90 percent of parents holding negative opinions, 39.5 percent of them consider English as a "time-consuming subject with limited advantages". Other parents suspected that English is "shifting children's attention from learning Chinese", or "creating great pressures" or "producing weariness of studying"; these negative views are represented by 20.76%, 14.56% and 11.81% of the parents respectively.
Parents are hoping that government departments will initiate an education reform against the present predicament in English study. Over a half of the parents think English should be dropped from the entrance examinations, or at least schools reduce its importance in assessing students' performance. In addition, many parents suggest schools improve their existing system for assessing student English proficiency by putting more emphasis on the teaching of practical abilities in using English. They also proposed that the government forbids the use of various forms of certificates from English competitions and educational testing organizations as entrance requirements. What’s more, many parents do not approve of their children having English classes from very early age. They advocate postponing English classes to senior grades in primary school at least.
"English cooling" program under way
It is reported that an "English cooling" reform program will be launched in Beijing this year, under which not only the proportion of English scores in college entrance examinations will be reduced, it is also possible that English classes will be eliminated from the curriculum for students in lower grades of primary schools.
During Oct.22 to 28, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education held a public opinion poll on this reform plan. According to the draft plan, the total scores for different subjects in entrance examinations for senior high schools and universities would be readjusted. The full marks for Chinese will be raised by 30 points from the present 150 to 180, while the total score for English will be reduced from 150 to 100 in the college entrance examination. Similar changes have also been conceived in the reform plan for the high school entrance examination.
A survey launched by Sino.com shows that over 70 percent of netizens support the planned adjustment for reducing English proportions in entrance examinations. They objectively expressed their view towards the issue -- let English back on its track as a practical tool.
