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Q: Considering your future in EFL?
It's official...no more English for the Gaokao starting in 2017.
Schools and training centers that touted the "extra edge" with English prep for middle school and high school students will have to revamp.
International programs are supposed to also be under the gun and replaced with "premier schools" managed and run by our friends in Beijing.
Go for the pearl before the clam closes!
9 years 48 weeks ago in Teaching & Learning - China
Do you have a link to your source Sino?
If true, this will have an immediate effect:-(
I found this, for example:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2013-12/09/content_17161488.htm
It says English won't be on the Gaokao in 2017. Students may take an English test twice and use their highest score. Wait, looks like they can take the English exam twice a year for three years and count the highest score. Yes, that's alarming. That's all the info I can gather from the article. What 'English test'? Who knows?
Do you really think they're going to lay off all the Chinese English teachers in this country? Never mind us (you), what about them?
Not gonna happen.
A link about the 'premier' schools would be nice, but I'm not going to worry about it.
bill8899:
They understandably have a problem with many 'international' schools (and 'joint venture' foundation programs, I imagine). Many schools lack registration, which upsets the education authorities. Can't fault them for that. Says they need some rules, or more rules, or must enforce what they got. Says they will arrange approval and supervision of the programs. Bravo. Godspeed.
Thanks for the heads up, but I'm still not worried.
Ah...so as part of the Master Plan, do they expect the rest of the world to start learning putonghua then?
People don't put their kids in English classes so they can score the Gaokao.
They make them learn English so they can get the fuck out of China and hopefully have a decent uni education somewhere else.
The ESL business won't move an inch.
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/861004.shtml
Reform of the English test in gaokao is the result of compromise, but it won't alter the core of the college entrance exam. Pressure for learning English has extended the length of time spent on studying by students, starting at kindergarten for many children. Reform of the English test is expected to affect other issues in China's basic education. It should be supported and encouraged.
I'll stay till I still can get new positions or keep my current one, which looks promising with some part-time.
I think that's probably a good move for China. The gaokao system is just so asinine as it is that any indication they're going to start reforming it is probably a good thing.
The fact is the vast vast majority of people here probably have no use whatsoever for english in their lives, nor does scoring highly on the gaokao english section probably correlate with real communication ability.
Those lessons are expensive so it probably also skews the results even more in favor of the wealthy.
China doesn't need 500 million people who can barely speak a few english phrases. It needs probably 5-10 million who can speak it well.
Sinobear:
I fully agree with you on that.
Going further, they want to ban or severely restrict English in kindergartens as well. I wonder what the long-term implications are for those Chinese students who study science or medicine who will be severely handicapped without the English ability.
Stiggs:
Assuming parents still see the need for English, It could be a great thing for training schools if kindergartens and schools stop teaching English.
expatlife26:
well at the very least...intentional or not...this is an admission that the current system is not working.
The returns on the time investment for English learning are abysmal; they really shouldn't force these lessons on kids because they get nothing out of them. They ARE a waste of time.
If they really want people to be good at it, they need to have core classes taught in english. That's why the Philippines english level is so high. Like if you have to take 3rd grade science in English you will learn functional english.
This doesn’t really change the job market that much, what it will clearly does is create an “institution” awash in corruption and fraud. I don’t care for the current way of teaching oral English, but this isn’t the answer. Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse.
Uh oh. The doomsday sayers are back. They are changing the gaokao. No one said anything about removing english from schools. Infact the interview i saw said specifically that they will NOT phase out english from schools. This is more of a reform of the gaokao than english. Gaokao english scored mean zip. Every company and university use the CET. Theu are looking at removibg the gaokao completly and using grade averages from highschool instead so it makes sense that foreign language would be the first to go.
Yes your going to hear farmers yelling from the rooftops that english is useless because china is so great now and we should all be studying chinese but take a quick look at chinas economy structure and anyone can see english is more important that ever.
Im not saying everything will be great. But everypnes got in a tizzy before over nothing. Perhaps its best to wait and see if it has any effect whatsoever.
Sinobear:
Sorry Mike, colleges use CET and universities use TEM.
The objective of my post is not the gaokao, it's the overall de-emphasizing of English in China. I agree that it's useless to teach English to those who do not want to learn it, or will have no use for it, but English is THE language for international business, computers, science, medicine, technology, etc.
President Xi is a traditional hard-liner and it seems that recent CCP policies are looking to take a step back in time rather than being more progressive.
That is my point.
expatlife26:
Right, I mean it's stupid to say that english is useless it's just that you need smaller numbers of actually proficient speakers instead of wasting everyone's time on obviously ineffective classes. Gaokao is such an asinine way of doing things anyway and everybody knows it, nobody says "this is the best way to do things!" they're just stuck on it for some reason. Anything that takes away from it's importance is a good thing. Then people can take real language classes that don't have to pander to Gaokao scores; the ones that are interested in becoming fluent are free to focus on real learning.
Hard-line or not, in economic terms, China is still nearly 100% an order-taker and not an order-maker. It's still US retailers buying goods from Chinese manufacturers. Money talks and the money is still flowing to and not from China.
If i'm in procurement at Target and some Chinese factory tells me they'll only do business in Chinese and I need to learn it, I tell them to fuck off and my next call is to Bangladesh.
Now where Chinese companies are keeping western businesses in the black (for example at LVMH or Luxotica), I would imagine that those business can and do deploy Chinese speakers in their merchandising departments.
Sinobear:
Bwahahaha! Again, you've got my full agreement expatlife26.
The current administration seems hell-bent on forcing everything to change to domestic markets overnight and excluding foreign influence. They're not ready for that yet and protectionism has never worked.
expatlife26:
Well in terms of domestic demand...where China can keep up is in the upper-mid to high end. The sheer volume of people makes the top 1% market over 14 million people. So China can be an order maker for high end stuff.
Income gap though makes moot a ton of economic gains though. Rich man can afford all the TVs he wants, but theres a practical limit on the number he'll buy. Where you can support a high-level economy on domestic consumption is with a big middle class. They need 700 million people who can afford to buy 1-2 TVs every 3-5 years, not 14 million people who can afford to buy 100 TVs each. Because though they can they won't.
Per capita China is still only the 83rd largest economy (93rd at PPP), about 33% below world average. They have lots of people but those people aren't very productive, nor can they consume at anywhere close to 1st tier levels.
They would need a massive, unsustainable consumer credit expansion to make a dent in domestic consumption for high-value goods.
A) What was the question?
B) Pretty sure Chinese teachers do the gaokao prep. Maybe it will hurt the Chinese English teachers, but us expats are here for marketing, conversation, and so rich parents can show their friends and families pictures of their kids and white teachers on Wechat and QQ Zones. Just don't rock the boat and you will be fine.
Sinobear:
My question, for those who employ critical thinking, is that a large number of available jobs for ESL/EFL is targeting the "0-12" age-groups. Now that English will be dropped from the Gaokao, and kindergartens may be banned/restricted on English programs, there's no need for such teachers. Additionally, the gov't plans to crack down on international programs, choosing to replace them with "elite" schools of their own design. You may very well see AP/IB/A-levels banned from in-school curricula.
Hence, "Considering your future in EFL?"
I agree with your second point. Again, my main point is that it seems that under the current administration, that western ideals and influences are being purged in China. That is what prompts me to wonder when should I pack my parachute and which color should it be?Beautifulsoup:
I think in China, and in life it is always smart to have a packed shoot, a neutral color, maybe a couple life boats. Here and anyway you should always have an escape plan. Aren't you married to a Chinese girl? I would make sure you both have rights to live here and home. You never really know.
I would also be worried about the property market. That could be the real thing that sinks the EFL/ESL market here. At least the lower hanging fruit. I think we may have a year or two if the current trends and crash happen in the property market.
