A Brief Introduction to English Education in China

In China, mastering English now gradually becomes a basic skill for modern citizens. For example, in the job haunting, employers will first ask you two questions: English proficiency and abilities of using computer. In recent years, English education has been reformed for many times and English textbooks keep being changed. The reforms included almost every stage of English education, from Primary School level till university level. The English teacher training system was also changed a lot.

① The beginning of learning English was advanced from the 5th grade to the 3rd grade of Primary School from 2002. There are 3 classes a week. The new textbooks are designed with games, songs and other activities (TPR). Topics are also related to everyday life. Students can learn the language by doing, by singing, by acting, etc. Teacher will use cards, pictures, tapes and videos in the class. However, China is still a developing country so that in many poor villages, there is no English class in the primary school level.
② English classes in Junior High School and Senior High School are still focusing on the grammar learning because students have to pass the entrance exams. However, recently, the textbooks for Junior and Senior High Schools are filled with abundance of brand-new articles that refer to the popular cultures and events. Briefly, they have three main goals: a proper ability of communicating; using English to get and process new information; using English to think ideas.
③ University students are required to pass a certain English proficiency level test (College English Test) which is nationally held. Not only English majors, but everyone who wants to get Bachelor Degree has to pass it.

Here I use my university, Tianjin Normal University, from which I graduated two years before as an example. The four years learning is divided into two stages:
Stage 1: first two years

Basic skills training: intensive reading, extensive reading, listening, oral practicing, writing, general introduction of Great Briton and USA, grammar course, etc.
At the end of the 2nd year, students have to pass a national hold test which is named Test for English Majors (Band 4) to go on to the next stage.

Stage 2: last two years

Advanced learning: besides basic training courses, there will be some advanced choices for students, such as phonetics, interpretation, English teaching methodology, theory of comparative literature, English rhetoric, a general introduction to generative grammar, language acquisition theory, English-Chinese translation and Chinese-English translation, etc.
Before graduation, Test for English Majors (Band 8) comes back again and if students can pass it, it will be helpful in the future job hunting.

Teaching training

In the past, English Department was divided into two parts: English education course and Business English course. Students made their decision before they entered the university. Only those who graduated from English education course can become teachers in the future. However, now two courses became one and students can make their decision from the 3rd year. If someone wants to be a teacher, he/she has to choose those classes which are related to the education field, such as psychology, educational theory, etc, and pass some certain tests, then he/she will get the teaching license.