Abstract
In China, the national curriculum, which applies to both primary and secondary schools, is the most influential foundation for educational practice. The Ministry of Education (MOE) is responsible for the development of the national curriculum across all subject areas. The national English curriculum, in the past 20 years, has seen some major changes along with the country’s social, political, and economic developments. Changes in the English curriculum have had a profound influence on the methodological approaches to ELT in Chinese schools. This chapter, by providing an overview of the development of foreign language teaching in China over the last century, looks particularly into the ELT curriculum changes in the last 20 years with a focused examination of the different approaches taken in teaching and in materials development. The article gives special attention to the recent curriculum innovations and discusses the future directions of ELT in China.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Adamson, B. (1997, October). The English language curriculum since 1976. Plenary presentation at the National Foreign Language Teaching and Research Association, China Education Society, Ninth Annual Conference, Jinan, PRC.
Adamson, B., & Morris, P. (1997). The English curriculum in the People’s Republic of China. Comparative Education Review, 41(1), 3–26.
Brown, S. (1980). Key issues in the implementation of innovations in schools. Curriculum, 1(1), 32–39.
China Education Daily (2004-Dec-09). The third evaluation of the nine-year compulsory education curriculum reform indicates smooth and healthy development. Retrieved September 12 2005, from http://www.moe.edu.cn/edoas/website18/info7370.htm.
English syllabus for nine-year compulsory education in full-time junior secondary schools. (1993). Beijing: People’s Education Press.
English syllabus for nine-year compulsory education in full-time junior secondary schools [Revised Edition]. (2000). Beijing: People’s Education Press.
Fullan, M.G. (1991). The new meaning of educational change. London: Casell.
Fullan, M.G. (1992). Causes and processes of implementation and continuation. In N. Bennet, M. Crawford, & C. Riches (Eds.), Managing change in education: Individual and organizational perspectives, (pp. 109–131). London: Paul Chapman.
Fullan, M.G. (1993). Change forces. London: Falmer Press.
Hao, Y. (1999, August). Differentiating teaching to maximize learning opportunities for different learners. Plenary talk given at the Tenth Annual Conference of the National Foreign Language Teaching and Research Association, China Education Society, Harbin, PRC.
Hutchinson, T. (1991). The management of change. Teacher Trainer, 5(3), 19–21.
Karavas-Doukas, K. (1998). Evaluating the implementation of educational innovations: Lessons from the past. In P. Rea-Dickins & K. P. Germaine (Eds.), Managing evaluation and innovation in language teaching: Building bridges (pp. 25–50). Essex: Longman.
Lamb, M. (1995). The consequences of InSET. ELT Journal, 49(1), 72–79.
Li, L., Zhang, R., & Liu, L. (1988). A history of English language teaching in China. Shanghai: Foreign Language Education Press.
Liu, D., & Gong, Y. (2001). English language teaching development in schools in China. In Retrospect and Prospect — Memoirs for the 20th Anniversary of the National Foreign Language Teaching and Research Association, China Education Society (pp. 35–39). Beijing: People’s Education Press.
Markee, N. (1997). Managing curricular innovation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ministry of Education (1998). Action plans for revitalizing education for the 21 st century. Beijing: Ministry of Education.
MOE Document (2001). Guidelines from the Ministry of Education for promoting primary school English. Ministry of Education. Basic Education, 2.
MOE Evaluation Team on School Leaving Tests (2003). National evaluation report for the year 2002 school leaving tests of junior secondary schools. Nanjing: Jiangsu Education Press.
National English curriculum standards for nine-year compulsory education and senior high schools (Piloting Edition). (2001). Beijing: Beijing Normal University Press.
National English curriculum standards for senior secondary school (Piloting Edition). (2003). Beijing: People’s Education Press.
National Evaluation Team on School Leaving Tests. (2001). National evaluation report for the year 2000 school leaving tests of junior secondary schools. Beijing: Beijing Normal University Press.
National Evaluation Team on School Leaving Tests. (2002). National evaluation report on test management and test evaluation for the year 2001 school leaving tests of junior secondary schools. Beijing: Capital Normal University Press.
Newsletter for piloting the national curriculums. (2001, No. 4). Beijing Normal University, Center for School Curriculum Studies.
Research team of the Department of Foreign Languages, Beijing Normal University (1999). Observation analysis report of the National Senior Secondary School English Language Teaching Contest. Foreign Language Teaching in Schools, 8, 4–8; 9, 1–4.
Research team of the Department of Foreign Languages, Beijing Normal University (2001a). Observation analysis report of the National Primary School English Language Teaching Contest. Foreign Language Teaching in Schools, 8, 6–10; 9, 1–4.
Research team of the Department of Foreign Languages, Beijing Normal University (2001b & 2002). Observation analysis report of the National Junior Secondary School English Language Teaching Contest. Foreign Language Teaching in Schools, 12, 8–12; 1, 12–15.
Wang, Q. (1999). Some thoughts on the 21st century foreign language curriculum reform for nine-year compulsory education. Foreign Language Teaching in Schools, 7, 1–4; 8, 1–3.
Wang, Q. (2003). New developments in primary English education in China-Opportunities and challenges. Journal of Basic Education, 12(2), 243–253.
Wedell, M. (2001, May). ELT curriculum changes in the 21st century: Planning to support the implementers in their wider and local contexts. Paper presented at the International Conference on College English Teaching, organized by China College English Language Teaching and Research Association and Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, Beijing, China.
Wei, L., & Sun, C. (2000). Modern English language teaching: Principles and practice. Jilin: Jilin People’s Press.
White, R.V. (1988). The ELT curriculum. Oxford: Blackwell.
Year book of Chinese education 2003. Beijing: Ministry of Education.
Yu, T. (2004). Word, sentence, and discourse teaching model applied in junior English teaching. An experimental research report. Retrieved September 12 2005.
Zhang, S. (1993). (Ed.). Zhang Sizhong’s foreign language teaching method: Theory and practice. Shanghai: Shanghai Jiaotong University Press.
Zhang, Y., & Shen, B. (2001, October). A general overview of the English course materials development in China. Paper presented at the National Foreign Language Teaching and Research Association, China Education Society, 11th Annual Conference. Hangzhou, China.
Zhang, Z. (2000). Theories and schools of foreign language teaching methodology in China. Beijing: Science Press.
Project team for research on senior secondary school English language teaching in China (2001). Overall report investigating senior secondary school English language teaching in China. In Z. Zhang, Z. Chen, & L. Li. (Eds.). (2001). The status quo and development of English language teaching: Investigations into senior secondary school English language teaching. Beijing: People’s Education Press.
Zhang, Z., & Du, P. (Eds.). (1995). The principles and models of 3-dimension foreign language approach. Chongqing: Chongqing Publishing House.
Zhao, J., & Xu, J. (2002). Twenty years of curriculum reform in China: Retrospect and prospect. China Education and Research Network. Retrieved September 12 2005.
Zhou, L. (1995). Encyclopedia of secondary school English education in China. Shenyang: Northeast University.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Wang, Q. (2007). The National Curriculum Changes and Their Effects on English Language Teaching in the People’s Republic of China. In: Cummins, J., Davison, C. (eds) International Handbook of English Language Teaching. Springer International Handbooks of Education, vol 15. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-46301-8_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-46301-8_8
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-46300-1
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-46301-8
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)