Focus on curriculum change in China and Hong Kong: The English curriculum in the People's Republic of China

Comparative Education Review

Volumn 41, Issue 1, 1997, Pages 3-26

  Adamson, Bob ^a   Morris, Paul ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0042097766     PISSN: 00104086     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1086/447413     Document Type: Article

References (93)

1. See Alastair Pennycook, The Cultural Politics of English as an International Language (London: Longman, 1994).
2. See Robert Phillipson, Linguistic Imperialism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992).
3. Historical roots of this tension are seen in China's dichotomized responses to the gunboat diplomacy of Western powers in the mid-nineteenth century. One school of thought, associated in the early periods with the Self-Strengthening Movement led by Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, called for the study of Western technology (and, by extension, languages) in order to achieve economic and military parity with those powers. Another, exemplified by the writings of Zhou Han, advocated antiforeignism and encouraged resistance to Western influences. See Kuang-Sheng Liao, Antiforeignism and Modernization in China, 3d ed. (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1990).
4. Y. F. Dzau, "Historical Background," in English in China, ed. Y. F. Dzau (Hong Kong: API Press, 1990), pp. 11-40.
5. Heidi Ross, "Foreign Language Education as a Barometer of Modernization," in Education and Modernization: The Chinese Experience, ed. Ruth Hayhoe (Oxford: Pergamon, 1992), pp. 239-50.
6. There are a variety of national systems, such as key-point schools and specialized schools, as well as regional variations.
7. Tang Jun, now retired, was a syllabus designer and textbook writer for the PEP from the early sixties until the eighties. Liu Daoyi has been similarly involved since 1977. Both women also occupied senior administrative positions within the PEP. Principal published sources are Tang Guan, "Sanshier nian laide zhongxue yingyu jiaocai" (Thirty-two years of secondary school English teaching materials), in Zhongxue waiyu jiaocai he jiaofa (Foreign language materials and methodology for secondary schools), ed. Curriculum, Materials and Methodology Association (Beijing: People's Education Press, 1986), pp. 181-215; Qun Yi and Li Qingting, eds., Waiyu jiaoyu fazhen zhanlüe yanjiu (Research into foreign language education development strategies) (Sichuan: Sichuan Education Press, 1991); and Tang Lixing, TEFL in China: Methods and Techniques (Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Languages Press, 1983).
8. Tang Jun, now retired, was a syllabus designer and textbook writer for the PEP from the early sixties until the eighties. Liu Daoyi has been similarly involved since 1977. Both women also occupied senior administrative positions within the PEP. Principal published sources are Tang Guan, "Sanshier nian laide zhongxue yingyu jiaocai" (Thirty-two years of secondary school English teaching materials), in Zhongxue waiyu jiaocai he jiaofa (Foreign language materials and methodology for secondary schools), ed. Curriculum, Materials and Methodology Association (Beijing: People's Education Press, 1986), pp. 181-215; Qun Yi and Li Qingting, eds., Waiyu jiaoyu fazhen zhanlüe yanjiu (Research into foreign language education development strategies) (Sichuan: Sichuan Education Press, 1991); and Tang Lixing, TEFL in China: Methods and Techniques (Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Languages Press, 1983).
9. Tang Jun, now retired, was a syllabus designer and textbook writer for the PEP from the early sixties until the eighties. Liu Daoyi has been similarly involved since 1977. Both women also occupied senior administrative positions within the PEP. Principal published sources are Tang Guan, "Sanshier nian laide zhongxue yingyu jiaocai" (Thirty-two years of secondary school English teaching materials), in Zhongxue waiyu jiaocai he jiaofa (Foreign language materials and methodology for secondary schools), ed. Curriculum, Materials and Methodology Association (Beijing: People's Education Press, 1986), pp. 181-215; Qun Yi and Li Qingting, eds., Waiyu jiaoyu fazhen zhanlüe yanjiu (Research into foreign language education development strategies) (Sichuan: Sichuan Education Press, 1991); and Tang Lixing, TEFL in China: Methods and Techniques (Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Languages Press, 1983).
10. This classification was used in Winnie Y. W. Au Yeung Lai, "The Chinese Language Curriculum in the People's Republic of China from 1978-1986: Curriculum Change, Diversity and Complexity" (Ph.D. diss., University of Hong Kong, 1995), extending the framework developed in Colin J. Marsh, Curriculum: An Analytical Introduction (Sydney: Ian Novak, 1986).
11. This classification was used in Winnie Y. W. Au Yeung Lai, "The Chinese Language Curriculum in the People's Republic of China from 1978-1986: Curriculum Change, Diversity and Complexity" (Ph.D. diss., University of Hong Kong, 1995), extending the framework developed in Colin J. Marsh, Curriculum: An Analytical Introduction (Sydney: Ian Novak, 1986).
12. See, e.g., Theodore Chen Hsi-en, Chinese Education since 1949: Academic and Revolutionary Models (New York: Pergamon, 1981); and Shen Jianping, "Educational Policy in the People's Republic of China: A Political Influence Perspective," Journal of Education Policy 9 (January-March 1994): 1-13.
13. See, e.g., Theodore Chen Hsi-en, Chinese Education since 1949: Academic and Revolutionary Models (New York: Pergamon, 1981); and Shen Jianping, "Educational Policy in the People's Republic of China: A Political Influence Perspective," Journal of Education Policy 9 (January-March 1994): 1-13.
14. See, e.g., Brian Holmes and Martin McLean, The Curriculum: A Comparative Perspective (London: Unwin Hyman, 1989), pp. 102-21; Mervyn Matthews, Education in the Soviet Union (London: Allen & Unwin, 1982); and Charles D. Cary, "Patterns of Emphasis upon Marxist-Leninist Ideology: A Computer Content Analysis of Soviet School History, Geography and Social Science Textbooks," Comparative Education Review 20 (February 1976): 11-29.
15. See, e.g., Brian Holmes and Martin McLean, The Curriculum: A Comparative Perspective (London: Unwin Hyman, 1989), pp. 102-21; Mervyn Matthews, Education in the Soviet Union (London: Allen & Unwin, 1982); and Charles D. Cary, "Patterns of Emphasis upon Marxist-Leninist Ideology: A Computer Content Analysis of Soviet School History, Geography and Social Science Textbooks," Comparative Education Review 20 (February 1976): 11-29.
16. See, e.g., Brian Holmes and Martin McLean, The Curriculum: A Comparative Perspective (London: Unwin Hyman, 1989), pp. 102-21; Mervyn Matthews, Education in the Soviet Union (London: Allen & Unwin, 1982); and Charles D. Cary, "Patterns of Emphasis upon Marxist-Leninist Ideology: A Computer Content Analysis of Soviet School History, Geography and Social Science Textbooks," Comparative Education Review 20 (February 1976): 11-29.
17. See Ronald F. Price, "China: A Problem of Information?" Comparative Education Review 25 (February 1981): 85-92.
18. See, e.g., Julian Y. M. Leung, "A Study of Curriculum Innovation in Post-1976 China, with Special Reference to the Design and Implementation of the Senior Middle School Geography Curriculum" (Ph.D. diss., University of Sussex, 1989); Keith M. Lewin et al., Educational Innovation in China (Harlow: Longman, 1994); and Au Yeung Lai. Their findings are echoed in Susan Shirk, How China Opened Its Door (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1994). Shirk highlights the extent to which central policies are amended or effectively vetoed in view of the reaction of various peripheral and regional agencies.
19. See, e.g., Julian Y. M. Leung, "A Study of Curriculum Innovation in Post-1976 China, with Special Reference to the Design and Implementation of the Senior Middle School Geography Curriculum" (Ph.D. diss., University of Sussex, 1989); Keith M. Lewin et al., Educational Innovation in China (Harlow: Longman, 1994); and Au Yeung Lai. Their findings are echoed in Susan Shirk, How China Opened Its Door (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1994). Shirk highlights the extent to which central policies are amended or effectively vetoed in view of the reaction of various peripheral and regional agencies.
20. See, e.g., Julian Y. M. Leung, "A Study of Curriculum Innovation in Post-1976 China, with Special Reference to the Design and Implementation of the Senior Middle School Geography Curriculum" (Ph.D. diss., University of Sussex, 1989); Keith M. Lewin et al., Educational Innovation in China (Harlow: Longman, 1994); and Au Yeung Lai. Their findings are echoed in Susan Shirk, How China Opened Its Door (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1994). Shirk highlights the extent to which central policies are amended or effectively vetoed in view of the reaction of various peripheral and regional agencies.
21. Lynn Paine, "The Educational Policy Process: A Case Study of Bureaucratic Action in China," in Bureaucracy, Politics and Decision-making in Post-Mao China, ed. K. Lieberthal and D. Lampton (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1992), pp. 181-215.
22. These periods correspond approximately to those identified by Tang Guan and Tang Lixing. The periods are not unique to the English curriculum (see, e.g., Lewin et al.), but the sensitivity surrounding the role of English created specific tensions for the agencies involved in curriculum reform.
23. The Common Program, chap. 5, article 49.
24. Qun and Li, eds. According to Tang Lixing, p. 14, "a shadow of doubt fell over English instruction. It became somehow unpatriotic to study the language of our enemies."
25. The ministry was under recurring pressure from teachers to reduce the learning load on students. See Lewin et al., p. 151.
26. Tang Guan (n. 7 above).
27. Qun and Li, eds. (n. 7 above).
28. Tang Jun, personal communication, Beijing, July 29, 1995.
29. Tang Jun, reporting a recent discussion with Ying Manrong, Beijing, July 29, 1995.
30. Ibid.
31. People's Education Press, Yingyu jiaoxue dagang (English syllabus) (Beijing: People's Education Press, 1957).
32. This characterization is taken from Tang Lixing (n. 7 above); and also from Diane Larsen-Freeman, Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986). Grammar-translation pedagogy resembles traditional, indigenous methods for learning Chinese. See Dzau (n. 4 above); and Donald J. Ford, The Twain Shall Meet: The Current Study of English in China (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1988).
33. This characterization is taken from Tang Lixing (n. 7 above); and also from Diane Larsen-Freeman, Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986). Grammar-translation pedagogy resembles traditional, indigenous methods for learning Chinese. See Dzau (n. 4 above); and Donald J. Ford, The Twain Shall Meet: The Current Study of English in China (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1988).
34. "On National Day" in Book 2, Lesson 8, for instance, describes students waving to Chairman Mao in Tiananmen Square; Book 2, Lesson 31, entitled "China" concludes: "The Chinese people work hard and love peace. They are building Socialism. Now there are more schools, more factories and more hospitals in China than before. How happy the Chinese people are!"
35. Jan-Ingvar Löfstedt, Chinese Educational Policy (Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International, 1980).
36. Tang Jun, personal communication, Beijing, July 29, 1995.
37. "In the summer of 1960 the Ministry of Education suddenly assigned the Beijing Foreign Languages Institute the task to write Junior English Book 2 and Book 3 which were to be used in September when schools began. Perhaps they thought that the Institute had a great number of experienced English teachers and could take on the work. To write two books within two months was really a hard work. All the teachers of the English Department of the Institute were mobilized. With the effort of the teachers the two books were written and published in the autumn" (Tang Jun, personal communication, July 29, 1995).
38. For example, "A Tibetan Girl," in Book 3, Lesson 15, extols the virtues of life in Tibet under the role of the CCP.
39. Tang Jun, personal communication, July 29, 1995.
40. For instance, the text "A Negro Boy," in Book 1, Lesson 36, reappears almost verbatim as "Black Jimmy" (itself a borrowing from Series 1) in Book 2, Lesson 15. Teachers also complained that the vocabulary and grammar were not presented in a coherent manner.
41. Lewin et al. (n. 12 above).
42. Tang Lixing, referring to the English curriculum.
43. Tang Lixing, p. 42.
44. Löfstedt.
45. Ironically, the government's plan to institute 10 years of schooling instead of 12 years moved China toward the system operating in the Soviet Union and originated from suggestions by Soviet educationalists made in the early fifties. See Manzoor Ahmed, Cheng Kai Ming, A. K. Jalaluddin, and K. Ramachandran, Basic Education and National Development: Lessons from China and India (New York: Unicef, 1991).
46. Tang Jun.
47. Tang Lixing (n. 7 above); and Larsen-Freeman (n. 24 above).
48. For example, "National Day," in Book 2, Lesson 4, and "Tibet Reborn," in Book 3, Lesson 9, have patriotic themes. Several lessons refer to People's Communes, the collectives which had been introduced during the Great Leap Forward. An exceptional example of a negative portrayal of another country is "Eddie Lewis," in Book 2, Lesson 20, which tells the tale of a black child in the United States who died after being refused admission to the hospital by white doctors.
49. Tang Jun, personal communication, July 29, 1995.
50. The group recommended that attention be paid to oracy as well as literacy, and that the syllabus and materials should be carefully planned and graded according to linguistic complexity (Tang Guan [n. 7 above]).
51. People's Education Press, Yingyu jiaoxue dagang (English syllabus) (Beijing: People's Education Press, 1963).
52. Responsibility was also strengthened: from 1962, all authors, editors, and consultants were named in textbooks (Tang Guan).
53. Tang Jun, personal communication, July 29, 1995. One request made by teachers and accepted by the PEP was to change the handwriting model from Gothic to Italic style.
54. For example, "Imperalism Will Not Last Long," in Book 5, Lesson 2; "New Awakening of the American Negroes," in Book 5, Lesson 16; "Imperalism and All Reactionaries Are Paper Tigers," in Book 6, Lesson 1; "The Revolutionary Tradition of the Good Eighth Company," in Book 6, Lessons 7 and 8; "A Letter from South Viet Nam," in Book 6, Lesson 12.
55. Immanuel C. Y. Hsü, The Rise of Modern China, 4th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990).
56. Tang Guan.
57. Tang Jun, personal communication, July 29, 1995.
58. Quoted by Löfstedt (n. 26 above), p. 124.
59. Tang Lixing (n. 7 above).
60. Quoted in Jonathan Unger, Education under Mao: Class and Competition in Canton Schools, 1960-1980 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1982), p. 282. A subsequent boost to the status of English was heralded by the thawing of relations with the United States, which resulted in President Nixon's visit to China in 1971.
61. Tang Lixing.
62. The first textbooks for the new syllabus were published in March 1978.
63. People's Education Press, Zhong xiao zue xingyu jiaoxue dagang (English syllabus for primary and secondary schools) (Beijing: People's Education Press, 1978).
64. Liu Daoyi, personal communication, Hong Kong, December 19, 1995.
65. Liu, personal communication. For example, Book 1, Lesson 14, presents the following drill, which is typical of many of the language exercises: "I have Chairman Mao's works. You have Chairman Mao's works. He has Chairman Mao's works, too. We study Chairman Mao's works hard."
66. For example, the old scientist in Book 3, Lesson 4, tells the students to study hard, be good at foreign languages, take plenty of exercise, and above all, study Marxism.
67. For example, "The Universe and Man-Made Satellites," in Book 4, Lesson 20, and "Whales - Giants of the Sea," in Book 5, Lesson 10.
68. Including Sir Rowland Hill, in Book 6, Lesson 24, for devising the concept of cheap postage stamps to enable poor people to send letters.
69. Tang Guan (n. 7 above)
70. Liu, personal communication.
71. Tang Guan.
72. Liu, personal communication.
73. Ibid.
74. This quotation, taken from an inscription written by Deng Xiaoping in 1983, is included in later editions of the syllabus. It appears to lend legitimacy to the economic, open-door orientation of the 1982 syllabus.
75. People's Education Press, Yingyu jiaoxue dagang (English syllabus) (Beijing: People's Education Press, 1986).
76. Liu, personal communication.
77. People's Education Press, Yingyu jiaoxue dagang (English syllabus) (Beijing: People's Education Press, 1993).
78. People's Education Press, "Programme for the Compilation of the English Teaching Materials for Nine-Year Compulsory Education in the Full-Time Secondary Schools" (project document for PEP/Longman materials developers, 1989).
79. Ibid.
80. Ibid.
81. Ibid.
82. Ibid.
83. Approximately 80 percent, according to Liu, who was the chief editor of JEFC.
84. L. G. Alexander served as the consultant. Neville Grant was the principal writer, while Bob Adamson was engaged to write the Teacher's Books with Liu Daoyi.
85. Liu, personal communication. For instance, in the final version of the series, two units were deleted from Books 3 and 4 after teachers complained of content overload in the piloted textbooks. Changes were made to the Teacher's Books, with additional notes in Chinese being supplied. The PEP also responded to teachers' requests by producing extra supplementary materials, such as wall charts and a handbook of stick figures for blackboard drawings. Feedback and experimentation remain a feature of the curriculum process: since the publication of JEFC, a number of books and magazine articles by teachers of English have discussed problems with the curriculum and suggested alternative teaching strategies.
86. Tang Lixing (n. 7 above); and Larsen-Freeman (n. 24 above).
87. An underlying belief of the course is one which prevails in such second language pedagogies as the Functional/Notional Approach, which views communicative competence as requiring an awareness of relevant sociocultural factors. Appropriate use of language is not synonymous with grammatical accuracy: instead it stems from matching the formality, register, and style of the language to the dynamics of a given situation.
88. For example, "Take-away Food" in Book 2, Lesson 78; "Christmas Day" in Book 3, Lesson 54; a description of Ayers Rock in Book 3, Lesson 94; a discussion about American football in Book 2, Lesson 27; and "American English and British English," in Book 4, Lesson 77.
89. For example, "Thomas Edison," in Book 3, Lesson 42, and "The Great Green Wall," in Book 3, Lesson 74 (about afforestation in central China).
90. For example, passages on not jumping the queue in Book 2, Lesson 90, and "Good Manners" in Book 4, Lessons 86 and 87.
91. For example, "The Seagulls of Salt Lake City," in Book 4, Lessons 14 and 15.
92. For a detailed discussion of this relationship, see Colin Marsh and Paul Morris, eds., Curriculum Development in East Asia (Lewes: Falmer, 1991).
93. See case studies in Tang Lixing; and R. D. Adamson, "An Analysis of Junior English EFL Teacher Training in the People's Republic of China" (M.Phil, thesis, University of Wales, 1992), as well as the survey by Zhang Zhengdong and Zhang Penghao, quoted in Tang Lixing.