中國的雙語教育

摘要：這篇論文通過對中國雙語教學現狀的探討，揭示雙語教學的實質應該是積極并富有趣味性的，因為它幫助學生從兩個不同角度了解世界。良好的雙語教學應是兩種語言同等重要，互為補充，互相促進。

關鍵詞：雙語教學；積極的；資源

[中圖分類號]：G420 [文獻標識碼]：A

[文章編號]：1002-2139(2012)-17-0-02

According to “National Association for bilingual Education Website”， bilingual education refers to “approaches in the classroom that use the native languages of [second/Foreign language] learners for instruction”. It should be enrichment not only in culture but also in language skill. However， today， there is an unquestionable debate in regard to bilingual education. For those who advocate bilingual education hold that bilingual education is a good way to broaden learners’ minds and well prepare them for the fierce global competition， while others view bilingual education as a problem in that learners may easily mix one language with another and tend to lose their language abilities.

What’s the bilingual situation in China? With the implementation of opening policy and the tendency of globalization， Chinese government had passed several laws to deemphasize the importance of Russian and increase the percentage of English education in order to introduce the most advanced technology and management expertise from the abroad. Meanwhile， English has become more and more important as a tool at the international stage with respect to economy， politics， culture and education. Since Beijing and Shanghai won the bid for 2008 Olympic Games and 2010 World Exposition， Chinese people displayed great passion for studying English. However， the Chinese government did not strike a balance for English education. It spent 40% of the overall education budget on English education. Even though it， to some extent， improves the awareness of English education， it wastes lots of money and time since English programs were conducted in a non-English environment. In the “Paradox of English-Chinese bilingual education and National Chinese stratagem”， Peng expressed that theoretically， studying Chinese as well as English should not be a problem because they benefit each other in a certain way. It is an advantage for people who are bilinguals. However， bilingual education in China has gone to an extreme (24).

First of all， schools overemphasize the importance of English education. Among all levels of education， English is always regarded to be the core subject. In reality， many preschool kids start to learn English at kindergarten， whereas they even could not speak Chinese very well. In the entrance examination to college， English is one of the three main subjects (others are Chinese and Mathematics) to be tested and the score decides if a student could go to the top schools. Even at universities， English remains a very important subject. Those who are not English majors still need to pass nationwide English exams， such as CET4 and CET6， in order to get degrees. Moreover， there is a tendency that schools advocate students to study English as early as possible， when they still struggle for their own native language. However， if we pay attention to bilingual education records in the Western countries， we may find that most of the countries actually put the foreign/second language education at middle school， when students have already mastered their native language and already have a better understanding of the world through their culture. Only in this case could native language serve as an aid for foreign/second language education.

Secondly， English has become a crucial standard for job application. For example， in the annual enrollment of public servants， people are required to pass the advanced level of professional English test within one year during their probation period. Otherwise， they could not be contracted employees. Even for some areas where English will not be used at all， English skills are still required. Some companies will also require applicants pass all the examinations they list， such as TOEFL， GRE， TEM 4， TEM 8， etc， in order to get the job. Such an unrealistic attitude pushes English education into a very impractical situation. And the current policy of bilingual education is called into question (Huang， 49-51).

Today the situation has become aggravated because people think highly of English and neglect Chinese. In short， English has marginalized Chinese. For instance， in the daily life， people use lots of mixed words (half English half Chinese) to conduct conversation， and sometimes they find it is hard to describe their thoughts in Chinese. Therefore， they use English words very frequently. In college， many Chinese major students even have not read Chinese classical novels， such as Journey to the West， The Dream of the Red Chamber， etc. Instead they spent most of the time in studying English. Otherwise， they could not graduate. However， many of them graduate from college without passing the Standard Spoken Chinese. Similarly， teachers with heavy accents of Chinese could be professors， while those who could not speak very good English will never be English professors. If we take a close look at first language education in the U.S.A， we may find that college students from different majors still need to take English writing classes， which not only help them develop good academic skills， but also benefit their future careers， whereas our Chinese education is ended once we go to college. It is unrealistic that an educated person studies second language from elementary school until his/her PHD program in college， while his/her Chinese are limited to high school level.

As we all know， a language is the symbol and identity of a nation and people. Chinese， as one of the oldest languages in the world， has 5，000 years’ history with splendid culture and tradition. It not only inherits the wisdom of our ancestors， but also indicates the long development of a nation. Therefore， the fate of Chinese matters to all of us. If we do not pay enough attention to Chinese education， our culture and identity will come into oblivion. Now it is the time to face the reality， adjust English education and reemphasize Chinese education in order to establish a truly successful bilingualism in China. Most importantly， the planning of bilingual education in China should consider all kinds of factors， and should not threaten and sacrifice the status of Chinese.

As a bilingual teacher， and also as the one who experienced bilingual education in China， I notice my Chinese skills in terms of writing and reading have declined somehow. In the daily life， I seldom read Chinese books or write Chinese articles， instead I devote lots of time to study English. In a sense， English has unconsciously conquered most of the Chinese territory in my mind. Facing my own problems in bilingual education， I realize that if one cannot study his/her native language very well， then it is unrealistic to master another language. Therefore， I would like to advocate more detailed Chinese programs for students. Bilingual education should be fun and positive because it provides two windows for students to view the world with different colors. The real bilingual education is not to attach importance to one and neglect the other， but to regard them as resources. In this sense， native language should never be neglected because it is a bridge for one to walk through and view the beautiful scenery of the other side.

Works Cited：

[1]、Huang， Hong. “China’s language planning for English under the situation of English Globalization.” Journal of Guangxi University 29(2007): 49-51.

[2]、Peng， Zerun. “Paradox of English-Chinese bilingual education and National Chinese stratagem.” Journal of Beihua University 6(2005): 24-27.

[3]、“What is Bilingual Education.” National Association for Bilingual Education. 6 Dec. 2008. .