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English education in China

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The emphasis on English-language education in the People's Republic of China only emerged after 1979, three years after the end of Cultural Revolution, when China adopted the reform and opening up policy, and the United States and China established strong diplomatic ties. One estimate (in 2007) put the number of English speakers in China at over 200 million and rising, with 50 million secondary school pupils now studying the language.[1]

However, online test score data from the 2018 EF English Proficiency Index rank the nation 47th out of the 88 countries measured, with an overall score of "Low proficiency." It suggested that Internet users in economically developed cities and provinces such as Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, and Jiangsu generally had a decent command of the language, while those in other areas were limited to basic vocabulary.[2][3] A 2017 article from The Telegraph also suggests that fewer than 1 percent of people in China (approximately 10 million) speak English conversationally.[4]

According to a China Daily report, many Chinese students begin learning English in kindergarten before starting formal schooling. Most schoolchildren receive their first English lessons in the third grade of primary school, at the age of 8 or 9.[5] English language teaching in China has been criticised for focusing primarily on the skills tested in national examinations. This approach has resulted in a strong emphasis on the memorisation of grammar rules and vocabulary. Ma and Kelly note that the Grammar-Translation and Audio-Lingual methods—which had already been largely rejected as fundamentally flawed by Western educationalists and linguists—aligned well with traditional Chinese learning practices and the exam-oriented education system, and were therefore widely adopted.[6]

History

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China's first contact with the English language came through Chinese and English traders, and the first missionary schools to teach English were established in Macau in the 1630s.[1][7] In the 19th century, after frequent contacts with English traders, several handbooks for teaching English to local merchants were published in Guangzhou.[8][9] From the late 1840s, English became popular and was widely used in Shanghai, leading to the publication of books to teach the language to local residents.[9][10] Between 1911 and 1949, English was taught in missionary schools and thirteen Christian colleges.[11]

After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Russian was originally the primary foreign language.[12] English began to transition into the education system during the 1960s as a result of the Sino-Soviet split. Because of the condemnation of the English language during the Cultural Revolution, English education did not return until Richard Nixon visited China in 1972. The only textbooks for English instruction were translations of Mao Zedong's works until the Cultural Revolution ended in 1976, and the Gaokao was restored in 1978.[13]

In 1978 about 500,000 people in China were subscribed to the magazine Learning English, and in 1982 the BBC program Follow Me had about 10 million households in China as viewers.[14] Once China established the reform and opening up policy under Deng Xiaoping, the popularity of English and other languages began to thrive. English became very popular between the late 1970s to 1990s in areas that dealt with trading and tourism.[15]

In the 2010s, the weighting of the English component of the gaokao was reduced.[16][17] Some academics have attributed this with Chinese Communist Party's increased emphasis on "patriotic education" and its desire to reduce the soft power of the English language.[17] In 2021, journalist Li Yuan (Chinese: 袁莉; pinyin: Yuán Lì) in The New York Times wrote that there was a trend countering English language education in China.[14] According to EF Education First, China's ranking in English proficiency fell from "moderate" to "low" in the early 2020s.[16][18]

Testing

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The College English Test (CET) is the primary English language test in China. As of 2011, employers have made scores in the CET 4 and CET 6 requirements for employment, and The Lowdown on China's Higher Education stated that in China "CET 4 and CET 6 National English examinations have become the symbol of English proficiency in reading and writing."[19]

There is also the Public English Test System (PETS).

Hospitality industry

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Grand Canal tour boat, Suzhou

Tourism in China is a major industry, producing 11.04% of the GDP and contributing direct and indirect employment of up to 28.25 million people.[20][21] Nonetheless, not many employees in the hospitality sector speak English. One source indicates that it's more common in premium-grade hotels "while less expensive hotels might have few or no staff members who speak English". Bilingual guide services are readily available, however.[22]

Online English education

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Recently, online education has been gaining momentum in China, including online one on one English education.[23] Many Chinese companies, such as Magic Ears, are recruiting teachers from the U.S. and other English-speaking countries.[24] Leading players such as New Oriental Education & Technology Group and TAL Education Group have gone public in the US and seen their shares soar. Now, online start-ups are gaining ground with parents who grew up in the internet era and see advantages in digital learning. Beijing-based VIPKid has expanded to 200,000 students and just[when?] raised venture money at a valuation of more than US$1.5 billion.[25] The virtual teaching business is booming. Both VIPKid and DaDa were founded in 2013 and have continued to grow since then. VIPKid had more than 500,000 students in China and 63 other countries and 60,000 North American teachers, while Dada had more than 100,000 students and 10,000 teachers. Their competitors have grown too: companies like Magic Ears and QKids are also connecting teachers to Chinese children working on learning English.[24]

In 2021 the Chinese authorities banned the use of foreign-based teachers for online tutoring, forcing VIPkid to end its foreign-based tutoring service for Chinese students.[26]

See also

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References

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  • Fu, Shiyi (傅似逸), Xiamen University College of Foreign Languages (8–14 July 2007). Teaching Writing to English Majors at the Tertiary Level in China—Reflections on Material Development and Teaching Methodology (PDF). English Discourse and Intercultural Communication (第一届英语教学、话语及跨文化交流国际研讨会). Vol. 1. Macao and Ürümqi (中国澳门及乌鲁木齐). pp. 26–38. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-07-14.{{cite conference}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Niu, Qiang; Wolff, Martin, eds. (2011). "Editorial Note". The Lowdown on China's Higher Education. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. i–18. ISBN 978-1-4438-3199-4. Archived from the original on 2016-04-08.

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Qu, Bo (2007-11-27). "Subject and Subject: English Teaching and Learning in China". Changing English: Studies in Culture and Education. 14 (3). Routledge: 349–361. doi:10.1080/13586840701711974. ISSN 1358-684X.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ "EF EPI 2018 – China". EF English Proficiency Index. Archived from the original on 2019-05-26. Retrieved 2019-06-23.
  3. ^ "China's massive internet has more than 800 million users". Axios. 2019-03-01. Archived from the original on 2021-12-08. Retrieved 2019-06-23.
  4. ^ Smith, Oliver (2017-02-09). "Mapped: Where to go if you can't be bothered to learn the language". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2025-11-12. Retrieved 2026-04-02. Around 10 million people - in a total population of 1.3 billion - speak English. That's fewer than one in 100.
  5. ^ Zhou, Wenting (2019-01-24). "Children make early start at learning English". China Daily. Archived from the original on 2026-03-02. Retrieved 2019-02-15.
  6. ^ Ma, Qing; Kelly, Peter (2009-12-09). "Overcoming Hurdles to Chinese Students' Learning of English Lexis". Changing English. 16 (4). Routledge: 405–412. doi:10.1080/13586840903391997. ISSN 1358-684X.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ Bolton, Kingsley (2002). "Chinese Englishes: from Canton jargon to global English". World Englishes. 21 (2): 182–183. doi:10.1111/1467-971X.00241. The very first contact between English speakers and Chinese of which we have an extended record occurred in 1637, when an expedition of four ships under command of Captain John Weddell arrived in Macau and Canton, and it is this expedition that gives us the first detailed account of the British in South China.
  8. ^ "三百多年前的人们是怎么学外语的？(上）欧洲传教士无实物学中文+广东英语". Zhihu (in Chinese). 2020-04-14. Retrieved 2025-06-02.
  9. ^ a b "《南腔北调：在语言中重新发现中国》趣说语言的历史". Sina (in Chinese). 2019-03-19. Archived from the original on 2024-08-01. Retrieved 2024-08-02.
  10. ^ "三百多年前的人们是怎么学外语的？(下）当广东英语遇上洋泾浜英语". Zhihu (in Chinese). 2020-04-14. Archived from the original on 2024-08-01. Retrieved 2024-08-02.
  11. ^ "English in China today". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2019-02-15.
  12. ^ Fu, Shiyi (傅似逸), Xiamen University College of Foreign Languages (8–14 July 2007). Teaching Writing to English Majors at the Tertiary Level in China—Reflections on Material Development and Teaching Methodology (PDF). English Discourse and Intercultural Communication (第一届英语教学、话语及跨文化交流国际研讨会). Vol. 1. Macao and Ürümqi (中国澳门及乌鲁木齐). pp. 28–29. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-07-14.{{cite conference}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ Fu, Shiyi (傅似逸), Xiamen University College of Foreign Languages (8–14 July 2007). Teaching Writing to English Majors at the Tertiary Level in China—Reflections on Material Development and Teaching Methodology (PDF). English Discourse and Intercultural Communication (第一届英语教学、话语及跨文化交流国际研讨会). Vol. 1. Macao and Ürümqi (中国澳门及乌鲁木齐). p. 29. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-07-14.{{cite conference}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ a b Yuan, Li (2021-09-09). "'Reversing Gears': China Increasingly Rejects English, and the World". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2025-01-31. Retrieved 2025-05-25.
  15. ^ "Untitled Document". www3.ntu.edu.sg. Archived from the original on 2018-03-13. Retrieved 2018-03-12.
  16. ^ a b "Why China is losing interest in English". The Economist. December 12, 2024. ISSN 0013-0613. Archived from the original on 2025-08-05. Retrieved 2026-04-02.
  17. ^ a b Dimitrov, Martin K. (2025-01-31). The Adaptability of the Chinese Communist Party (1 ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 44. doi:10.1017/9781009184335. ISBN 978-1-009-18433-5.
  18. ^ Jennings, Ralph (2023-11-24). "Slip of the tongue: mainland China drops 20 places in English skills rank". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2025-05-25.
  19. ^ Editorial Note.
  20. ^ "2017 China Tourism Facts & Figures". China Travel Guide. 21 October 2018. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  21. ^ "China Inbound Tourism in 2016". China Travel News. 1 September 2018. Archived from the original on 23 October 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  22. ^ Andrew Russel (8 August 2016). "Language and Communication". The China Guide. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  23. ^ "Online education gaining momentum in China". Archived from the original on 2019-01-21.
  24. ^ a b "Teaching After Hours: The Rise Of International Online Teaching". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2022-04-15. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
  25. ^ "The internet boom in foreigners teaching China's children online". 7 September 2017. Archived from the original on 21 January 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  26. ^ "VIPKid to stop selling foreign-based tutoring to students in China". Reuters. 2021-08-07. Archived from the original on 2022-05-16. Retrieved 2021-08-14.

Further reading

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