English language education in China in relation to historical events

The development of English teaching and learning entwines closely with Chinese politics. This section mainly focuses on the English education history after the establish of People’s Republic of China (PRC). The whole English language education history is divided into four stages according to relevant historical events in China.

1.4.1 First stage: From Qing dynasty to PRC

The history of English in China may date back to 1637 when four ships under the command of Captain John Weddell arrived in Macao and Guangzhou (Bolton, 2002).

After defeat in the “Opium Wars”, the relationship between China and Western maritime countries turned violent and China was forced to sign a series of unfair treaties which gave foreigners privileges such as free access to ports, extraterritoriality and the right to live in the hinterland (Roberts, 1999). During the signing of the treaties, the government had many affairs requiring discussion with Western countries so it realized the underlying need for having trained professional translators. Through professional translators, not only the terms of contract could be translated to the officers, but also, in the long term, ‘material’ and ‘skill-based’ foreign knowledge could be brought into China by professional translators interpreting some books or communicating with foreigners. Meanwhile some scholars and officials arrived to an understanding that it was through technological transfer, which largely depended on English translation, that the nation could be strengthened. All of these movements stimulated the development of English in China.

In 1862, under the Great Qing Dynasty, the first English Language School –Tongwen Guan-was officially opened by the Chinese Government to train ten men for the newly created diplomatic corps in Beijing (Deyi, 1992). English was the first language to be taught there and later Russian, French, German and Japanese were introduced (Hung, 2002). Following that, similar schools were set up in Shanghai,

20

Guangzhou and Fuzhou (Pride & Liu, 1988; Roberts, 1999; Ross, 1992). In 1903, English entered the national secondary school curriculum as a required course (Cleverley, 1985) and has remained there ever since.

1.4.2 Second stage: Republican period (1919-1949)

In 1919, a political and literacy student movement named after a demonstration in Beijing on May 4^th, 1919 to protest Japanese territorial aggressions, known as the

‘May Fourth Movement’, broke out. This has been signaled as the point when China became more receptive to the Western idea of democracy and China's economy became more open to the Western world (Chow, 1960). Thus, following this demonstration, China experienced a republican period from 1919 to 1949. During this period, foreign languages were regarded as a tool for struggle and personal transformation by a number of political activists. Cities such as Shanghai became a melting pot for intellectual debate and multiculturalism, with Western philosophers, literati, jazz musicians and Hollywood film stars gaining popularity (Wood, 1998;

Jones, 2001). Moreover, college admissions were based on the results of competitive entrance examinations that required foreign-language competence (Yeh, 1990). As a result, the quality of English language teaching was boosted since many Chinese professors went abroad to get academic training and upon returning to China, advanced knowledge of the West. Simultaneously, a large number of foreigners were invited to teach in China to introduce advanced technology and the culture of their countries.

However, following the communist victory, The People’s Republic of China (PRC) was established, leading to a totally different political, social, cultural and economic system in China. Inevitably this meant a new educational system had to be set up as well. The Korean War in the early 1950s and the Cold War between the East and West resulted in the national campaign in China to ‘resist America’ (Price, 1979, p.32).

English was described as an ‘American cultural aggression’ by governmental

21

propaganda. Meanwhile, China developed an intimate relationship with the Soviet Union. The new educational system, including educational structures, curriculum, pedagogy and teaching materials, was relentlessly copied from the Soviet Union. As a result, by the early 1950s, Russian was the most important foreign language in China's schools and universities. English language teaching was relegated to a few specialized foreign language institutions, which were meant to train foreign language teachers, translators, and interpreters (Zhang, 1984).

1.4.3 Third period: Socialist revolutionary period (1949-1978)

In the late 1950s, the initial Sino-Soviet relationship between China and USSR broke down and Soviet models were discarded. The official slogan changed from "Learn from the Soviet Union" into "Learn from all the advanced experiences of the world"

(Dzau, 1990, p.19). As one of the consequences of this shift English became the favored foreign language once again. With the trend to move education toward a more academic orientation, foreign language was introduced as a compulsory subject in China's college entrance examinations by 1962 (Ross, 1993). In 1964, the Seven-year Guideline for Foreign Language Education was published leading to a short period of revival of English teaching in the early 1960s. However, in the middle of 1960’s, China experienced the Cultural Revolution, which was launched by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966, mainly in order to destroy traditions and to purge what was perceived as the pernicious influence of foreign culture from Chinese society.

Learning foreign languages from capitalist countries was considered as ‘taking the capitalist road’, thus all foreign languages – not just English- became anathema in the education system.

Everything and everyone related to foreign capitalist countries suffered suspicion and were labeled ducao (“毒草” in Chinese, meaning poisonous weeds). Teaching English was forbidden in nearly all schools. Many scholars once trained in capitalist countries and foreign language teachers, even people who had relatives abroad, were

22

accused of spreading capitalism or spying for foreign countries, and many of them were abused physically and mentally. Foreign classic literature was burned or taken away and stored by the government; contemporary foreign literature was banned from import; foreign newspapers, radio, and movies were forbidden (Fu, 1986).

1.4.4 Forth stage: Open door period (1978-now)

Following the death of Mao Zedong and the end of the Cultural Revolution, China encountered a new period of economic and cultural development. A strategic objective called ‘Four Modernizations’ which targeted agriculture, industry, national defense and science and technology- was proposed by the government. Under the new leader, Deng Xiaoping, the ‘Open Door Policy’ was put into practice as well. The government asserted that "the histories of various countries show that a closed-door policy harms national development. For socialist construction we need to absorb and utilize the rich knowledge accumulated by the capitalist countries, their advanced technologies and ways of management" (Cleverly, 1985, p. 264). There is a famous saying of Deng Xiaoping "It's not important whether a cat is white or black. A good cat is one that catches the rat."（“不管黑猫白猫，捉到老鼠就是好猫” in Chinese).

The black or white cat refers to either capitalist or socialist systems, and catching the rat refers to powerful social and economic development. Under these circumstances, foreign languages began to be considered as embodying the "scientific, progressive, and creative" thinking that China's leaders advocated for modernization (Ross, 1992, p.250). Deng Xiaoping (1979) suggested that all people who were able to learn a foreign language should learn it.