改革在即，英語(yǔ)熱不減

If you’re an English teacher in China and have heard about plans to reduce the role of English in the all-important National College Entrance Examination， or gaokao， don’t worry， be happy！ Chinese people’s 1）affinity for the language isn’t about to 2）wane， if anything it’ll become stronger.

As part of a nationwide drive to 3）overhaul the gaokao system， Beijing said on Monday that starting 2016， the score of English would drop from 150 to 100 on its plan， while the total marks for Chinese would be raised from 150 to 180. Currently， gaokao weighs English， Chinese and math equally. Even before the Monday announcement， Jiangsu province had caused a national 4）stir by 5）reportedly 6）mulling the idea of excluding English from the provincial-level college entrance exam.

I’ll not read too much into such shifts， not even as the beginning of the end to a decades-long 7）obsession with English， despite the fact that gaokao sets the direction for formal education across the country.

The reasons are simple. In any given year in the past few decades， hundreds of millions of Chinese students were learning English， driven by an 8）instrumental 9）motivation. Parents know English is the 10）lingua franca of international business， which would offer opportunities for upward 11）mobility and economic success if their children become fluent in it.

Cuts in the number of classes for English in schools may be a 12）windfall for the many language tuition centers that have been 13）thriving on parents’ eagerness to give their children an early leg up and are estimated to have a combined yearly revenue of 200 million yuan （$32.89 million）. They’ll also encourage an earlier 14）exodus of those who plan to 15）renege on gaokao to private feeder schools of foreign universities.

Being tested for less score doesn’t mean the subject can be taken lightly. Beijing will hold English exams twice a year and a student could take the exams more than once a year to earn the best score to seek admission to a college. Remember， gaokao is so competitive that students could spend a year or more just to raise a few points to surge ahead.

Some education experts suspect that a new grading system to assess students’ proficiency in English in 16）lieu of a gaokao test， as proposed by Jiangsu province， could make college admission as tough as before， because a top university might demand scores in English through a separate test regardless of a student’s total gaokao score. Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji， one of the most respected and 17）foresighted Chinese statesmen， 18）advocated English as the 19）medium of instruction in the management school of the 20）prestigious Tsinghua University， because “in a globalizing economy， if you cannot interact with foreigners， how can one be part of the world economy？”

Now the question is， if English is so important， why have education authorities chosen it to 21）spearhead the overhaul of an exam system that 22）incarnates both a major education 23）impasse and the 24）pinnacle of Chinese social justice？

While popularly seen as the fairest 25）criterion for admission to college， gaokao has also been criticized for emphasizing 26）rote memory rather than creativity of students， admissions based on a single test and a lack of recruitment 27）autonomy by colleges.

English has become an apparent target of reform because of a famous classroom teaching tradition that encourages memorizing textbooks rather than communication skills. However， the downgrade may also be the consequence of a growing 28）controversy over the enthusiasm for English， as critics worry about its usefulness for most college graduates as well as a potential 29）erosion of Chinese language， culture and identity.

But parents who want to give their children the best may have found some opponents’ 30）rhetoric 31）hollow and even 32）hypocritical. For instance， it’s increasingly difficult to find a successful Chinese figure who hasn’t given or planned to give， his/her child an all-English education.

It doesn’t take Zhu’s wisdom to realize why students will continue to be motivated to learn English， even for fewer points at gaokao.

如果你是中國(guó)的一名英語(yǔ)教師，在聽(tīng)說(shuō)削弱英語(yǔ)在至關(guān)重要的全國(guó)高等教育入學(xué)考試，也稱“高考”中的角色的改革方案后，別擔(dān)心，高興點(diǎn)兒！中國(guó)人和這門語(yǔ)言的緊密關(guān)系將不會(huì)減退，而是會(huì)越來(lái)越強(qiáng)。

作為全國(guó)性高考制度改革的一部分，北京在周一（譯者注：這里指2013年10月21日）宣布改革方案，從2016年起，英語(yǔ)高考總分將從150分降至100分，而語(yǔ)文總分將從150分上升至180分。目前的情況是，高考中英語(yǔ)、語(yǔ)文和數(shù)學(xué)處于平衡的狀態(tài)。甚至在周一（這一改革方案）公布之前，江蘇省曾轟動(dòng)全國(guó)，原因是有報(bào)道稱其考慮將在省級(jí)高等教育入學(xué)考試中不包括英語(yǔ)成績(jī)。

我將不會(huì)對(duì)這一轉(zhuǎn)變作過(guò)多解讀，甚至不會(huì)將此作為終結(jié)長(zhǎng)達(dá)幾十年的英語(yǔ)熱的開(kāi)始，盡管事實(shí)上高考政策為全國(guó)的正規(guī)教育設(shè)定了方向。

原因很簡(jiǎn)單。在過(guò)去幾十年中的任何一年，出于（將英語(yǔ)作為）工具型動(dòng)機(jī)，億萬(wàn)的中國(guó)學(xué)生在學(xué)習(xí)英語(yǔ)。家長(zhǎng)們清楚知道英語(yǔ)是國(guó)際商務(wù)通用語(yǔ)言，如果他們的孩子能夠流利使用英語(yǔ)的話，會(huì)在晉升和經(jīng)濟(jì)上的成功得到更多的機(jī)會(huì)。

在校英語(yǔ)課時(shí)數(shù)量的減少將使很多語(yǔ)言培訓(xùn)中心愈加紅火，這些培訓(xùn)中心因家長(zhǎng)們希望孩子們（在英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)上較其他孩子）有優(yōu)勢(shì)而興起，年收入預(yù)計(jì)達(dá)到兩億元（3289萬(wàn)美元）。他們還鼓勵(lì)那些不打算參加高考的學(xué)生更早地結(jié)伴到國(guó)外高校的私立直屬學(xué)校就讀。

分?jǐn)?shù)的減少并不意味著可放松對(duì)待這個(gè)科目。北京將每年進(jìn)行兩次英語(yǔ)考試，考生可不止一次參加以期取得入學(xué)考試的最好成績(jī)。記住，高考競(jìng)爭(zhēng)如此激烈，學(xué)生們會(huì)花上一年甚至更多的時(shí)間，只為了提高幾分，取得更好的成績(jī)。

一些教育專家猜測(cè)，一套新的替代高考的評(píng)分制度將被用于評(píng)估學(xué)生的英語(yǔ)熟練程度，正如江蘇省所計(jì)劃的那樣，這會(huì)使入學(xué)考試如以前一樣嚴(yán)格，因?yàn)橐凰敿飧咝３烁呖挤謹(jǐn)?shù)之外，也許會(huì)要求學(xué)生提供其他考試的英語(yǔ)成績(jī)。中國(guó)前總理朱镕基是最受尊敬和前瞻性的中國(guó)政治家之一，他曾在著名的清華大學(xué)管理學(xué)院提倡用英語(yǔ)授課，因?yàn)椤敖?jīng)濟(jì)全球化，你不能跟外國(guó)人交流，又怎么能融入全球的經(jīng)濟(jì)呢？”

現(xiàn)在的問(wèn)題是，如果英語(yǔ)那么重要，為什么教育權(quán)威選擇英語(yǔ)作為高考制度改革的先頭兵？而這一高考制度顯現(xiàn)了主要的教育僵局和中國(guó)社會(huì)的公正。

盡管被普遍認(rèn)為是高校錄取的最公平的準(zhǔn)則，高考也被批判著重死記硬背，而不是激發(fā)學(xué)生的創(chuàng)造性思維，一場(chǎng)考試決定錄取，缺乏高校自主招生。

英語(yǔ)明顯成為改革的對(duì)象，因?yàn)橛⒄Z(yǔ)教學(xué)傳承了死記硬背課本而不是交流技巧的傳統(tǒng)課堂模式。然而，分?jǐn)?shù)的降低也可能使關(guān)于英語(yǔ)熱的爭(zhēng)議不斷，因?yàn)樵u(píng)論家擔(dān)心多數(shù)大學(xué)畢業(yè)生用不上英語(yǔ)，而對(duì)中國(guó)語(yǔ)言、文化和認(rèn)同也有潛在侵蝕。

但是，想要給孩子們提供最好條件的家長(zhǎng)們可能會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手虛夸的言辭甚至虛偽。例如，越來(lái)越難找到一個(gè)沒(méi)有或者沒(méi)有計(jì)劃給自己的孩子提供全英語(yǔ)環(huán)境教育的中國(guó)成功人士。

無(wú)需擁有朱镕基的智慧，就能意識(shí)到為什么學(xué)生們會(huì)繼續(xù)被激勵(lì)學(xué)習(xí)英語(yǔ)，盡管高考中英語(yǔ)的分?jǐn)?shù)變少了。

小鏈接The fate of English in China’s college entrance examination

BEIJING， Oct. 27 （Xinhuanet）—A report revealing the reduced role of the English test in Beijing’s college entrance examination has drawn much public attention.

Starting from 2016， the English test score will be reduced from 150 to 100， and the students will also be allowed to take two exams a year and pick the best result for their college admission， according to a report on the website of China’s Communist Party newspaper Guangming Daily on Oct. 21.

There have also been numerous reports from other provinces in China. For example， there is a rumor that the English test will be phased out of the entrance exam system in eastern China’s Jiangsu province， while other provinces or municipalities， such as Shanghai and Hubei， will not make any major changes.

Any possible change in the exam provokes much heed and debate. In an online survey carried out by China’s popular portal， Sina， 72.5% of people favor reducing the weighting of English in the entrance exam， 22.6% are against it， while 4.9% are undecided （as of Oct. 22）.

Putting divided opinions aside， the attention the news has attracted demonstrates the Chinese love-hate relationship with learning English and the Gaokao， or the National College Entrance Examination.