()11:01, October 27,
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Sina Microblog
AreportrevealingthereducedroleoftheEnglishtestinBeijing"scollegeentranceexaminationhasdrawnmuchpublicattention.
Startingfrom,TheEnglishtestscorewillbereducedfrom150to100,andthestudentswillalsobeallowedtotaketwoexamsayearandpickthebestresultfortheircollegeadmission,accordingtoareportonthewebsiteofChina"sCommunistPartynewspaperGuangmingDailyonOct21.
TherehavealsobeennumerousreportsfromotherprovincesinChina.Forexample,thereisarumorthattheEnglishtestwillbephasedoutoftheentranceexamsystemineasternChina"sJiangsuprovince,whileotherprovincesormunicipalities,suchasShanghaiandHubei,willnotmakeanymajorchanges.
Anypossiblechangeintheexamprovokesmuchheedanddebate.InanonlinesurveycarriedoutbyChina"spopularportal,Sina, 72.5%ofpeoplefavorreducingtheweightingofEnglishintheentranceexam, 22.6%areagainstit,while4.9%areundecided(asofOct. 22).
Puttingdividedopinionsaside,theattentionthenewshasattracteddemonstratestheChineselove-haterelationshipwithlearningEnglishandtheGaokao,ortheNationalCollegeEntranceExamination.
Englishandthegame-changingcollegeentranceexam
ChangesmadeintheEnglishtesthavebeenseenbythepublicasthebeginningofreformstotheentranceexamination,whichhasbeenunderheateddebateforyears.
ItcomesasaresponsetomanyprevalentproblemsamongChinesestudents,parentsandthecommunity.TheMinistryofEducationhasbeencallingforyearstoeasethestudents"burden,butithasnotworkedinthepast,astheentranceexamstillremainstheonlywayformoststudentstogetintohighereducationinChina.Manypeoplehavebeenconsideringchangesoralternatives,forinstance,distributingtherighttoenrollstudentsinuniversities,howeverpeopleareconcernedthatsuchpoliciesmightbeovertakenbypeoplewithmoneyorconnectionswhowanttobuytheirwayintouniversity.Everyproposalhasgeneratedseriousdebate.
Therootreasonwhytheexamissuchahotbuttonissueisthatthoughstudentsnowhavemoreoptionsfortheirhighereducation(forinstance,goingabroadforcollege),theentranceexamisstilltheprimarymethodformoststudents.Forstudentswhoarefromfamilieswithoutmoneyorconnections,theirperformanceduringtheexamwilldeterminetheirlot.
Furthermore,everyadjustmentmadetothecollegeentranceexamsystemmaybeseenasrepresentativeofvarioussocialappeals,suchastheParty"sGuangmingDailyopinionarticleofOct23.ReducingtheweightingofEnglishintheexamsystemmaycausedisparitiesamongdifferentprovinces,asdifferentregionsenjoydifferenteducationalresources.Itmayalsochangethewaysubjectsaretaughtinschool,astheexamsdeterminehowcoursesarerun.Itwillalsoimpacttherelatedindustry,especiallythevarioustrainingserviceproviders.
TheEnglishtestandentranceexamarenotonlygame-changersforstudents,butalsoformanyothers.
TheEnglishcrazeandtherevivalofChinese
ThechangesmadetotheEnglishexamalsocomeasareactiontotheEnglishcrazeinChina.
Thefilm“AmericanDreamsinChina”releasedthisyeardepictstheChinesecrazeforlearningEnglishattheendofthe20thcentury.Thoughthefervornowisnotasheatedasitwasthen,theenthusiasmstilllingerson.
AccordingtoaresearchprojectcarriedoutbyChina"sStateLanguageCommission,morethan65%ofuniversitystudentsspendoveraquarteroftheirtimelearningEnglish.ManyofthemprepareforinternationalEnglishtestssuchasTOEFL,IELTSandGREassoonastheyarriveatcollege.
Bycontrast,Chinesepeople"senthusiasmfortheirmothertonguehasbeenputtothetest.China"sstatetelevisionrecentlyairedashowinwhichtheparticipantswereaskedtowriteChinesecharactersasadictation(similartotheU.S"spellingbee),andmanyviewerscommentedthattheyhadproblemswritingmanyofthem,revealingalong-termneglectofwritingChineselanguagecharacters.
Thechangesmadeintheentranceexam,therefore,havebeenseenbysomeasaresponsetothecallsinrecentyearstoincreaseemphasisonChineseandtodownplaythefocusonEnglish,buttowhatextentitwillbringbacktheChinesepeople"slovefortheirownlanguageisyettobeseen.
（Editor：LiXiang、Gao Yinan）
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