Re: English Education In China Aniu, I have made a new revision of your original post and I have kept those changes to the minimum, see what you think. ==================== If you ask the Chinese students which course they have spent the most time on during the college, the answer would be English. And even after they graduate and get a job, they will still spend the time on English study. However, I have to say, the English education is not successful in China. So, what are the reasons? First, I think there is a lack of qualified English teachers in China. For example, like many other Chinese students in my age group, I began to study English when I was a 12 year-old kid, attending the junior high school where English is compulsory. At that time, my English teacher was only 18, just graduated from senior high school without any qualifications in teaching or English. In the rural area, most of the English teachers have never travelled abroad, nor spoken to any foreigners. So teachers can only tell you how to recite from the textbook, but can’t teach you how to read the English newspapers, how to write correctly and speak properly, all of which are very important for the kids when they first start to learn a new language. Second, the evaluation system for English education in China is not effective. Students are judged by exams. And, for certain questions in any test, students just need to pick one answer from the given choices. And worse still, some teachers even teach their students how to pick up the correct choice without even reading or understanding the question. In a way, the system is turning out students who can get a high score in the test, but who can not read, write and speak. As a result, when I came to US the first time, a housekeeper in our building asked me, “how are you doing?” I replied, “I am doing nothing!” Fortunately, the state Education Department is aware of those defects in the system. New policies have been introduced to increase the role of writing, reading, listening and speaking in both teaching and tests. Students are required to be able to read English newspapers, listen to foreign radios and have short conversations with foreign nationals. Meanwhile, more graduates are being trained to be qualified English teachers. =========== Some explanations for my changes: The 1st Paragraph: Get “you” the reader involved with the simple imaginary task of asking the question, not The “somebody”. If "somebody" asked other people the question, then it is somebody's business to find out the answer. As the answer to the reader's "question" could be “English” or any other subjects, so use “would be” instead of “is” because there is no definite answer. Use “they” to refer to the students/graduates and state the fact of their prolonged learning process. If you put "you", the reader, in the shoes of Chinese students at this stage as "And even after you graduate and get a job, you will still need ......", which could put the reader into an uncomfortable sennario because most readers have no understanding of the education or employment systems in China. The 2nd Paragraph: Either you say “lack ...” or “don’t have enough ...” but not “lack enough ...” because “lack” means “don’t have enough”.It would be better if you say “I think there is a lack of qualified English teachers in China” instead of “I think we lack ……”. Here you are carrying out the analysis to support your argument, ie., "English education is not successful in China", and you should stay impartial and view the issue from the distance, rationally with sounded reasoning. You didn't make it clear whether English was a compulsory subject only in your junior school or in other schools as well. Even your English teachers in China have never travelled abroad, it doesn't necessarily mean that they are not good teachers, so you use "never traveled abroad, or spoken to any foreign people in English" to support your argument, which I am afraid is flawed. You could have also given us some proof why the English teaching in your school was inadequate, by simply providing additional information like “my English teacher was only 18, just graduated from senior high school without any qualifications in teaching or English, and my school was supposedly to have the best qualified teaching staff in the whole county!” The 3rd Paragraph There are some grammar errors, spelling mistakes as well as missing words, and things are messy and not described clearly. I did some general tidy-up and also made following changes: In this kind of test, for a certain question ==> for certain questions in any test. I am sure there are many (not only "certain") questions in any of those tests, where you will get the multiple choices. The worse thing is that ==> And worse still, By this way, it trend to train a lot students who ... ==> In a way, the system is turning out students who ... For example ==> As a result (of the education you went through, you made the howler in your first visit to the states) when came to US ==> when I came to US 4th Paragraph to read English new paper, listening foreign radio and talk to foreign people in a basic way ==> to read English newspapers, listen to foreign radios and have short conversations with foreign nationals. So the above sentence appears more consistent. By the way, how do you talk to people "in a basic way"? And you don't have a "basic" conversation/talk with someone, you have a "short, brief, long, private, friendly, secret, intimate, emotional, confidential..., or whatsoever" ones. "new paper" ==> "newspaper" “On the other hand” is not appropriate here, “in addition” would be better. You don’t say “more qualified teachers are trained”. If they are already the “qualified teachers”, why do you train them? more qualified teachers are trained ==> more graduates are being trained to be qualified English teachers |