Job-oriented foreign languages teaching

Indeed, one of the most salient inadequacies in China's present education system is that many schools, despite all the tedious and highly demanding exams, still cannot prepare students with the foreign language skill levels needed by employers.

People are still debating what consequences the ongoing rearrangements in foreign language tests would have on society and its future development. It may still take a relatively long period to find it out, because the rearrangements will not take effect until more than two years later.

In all likelihood, as one can infer from the job market trend, as exam-oriented, hence memorization-focused, foreign language teaching becomes less important in regular schools, more use-oriented teaching will gain importance in various adult and extracurricular education programs.

Foreign language-proficient individuals, especially English-speaking young professionals, can earn markedly more than their peers. That being the case, when students spend less time learning English in schools, their parents - so long as they don't intend to send their children to major in Chinese classical literature in college - may pay more for them to go to weekend English classes.

The usefulness of the courses to prepare students for the language proficiency tests required by overseas college and graduate programs will become even more evident. This is because, along with foreign language skills, overseas exposure, which means social skills in a foreign environment, can also help young people get more highly paid jobs.

Such a scenario may produce a worrisome side effect, however. As the rural students are relieved from the present memorization-focused, not very useful English lessons and exams, where will they find the alternative learning programs? If they lack the same choices as students in the large cities, who would be able to sharpen their foreign language advantage in a variety of ways, would it be fair?

The author is vice dean of College of Foreign Languages, Hebei Normal University of Science and Technology.

(China Daily 12/10/2013 page8)