English fluency is of “little sensible worth for many individuals,” a lawmaker mentioned earlier this yr
Xi’an Jiaotong College, one of many prime public analysis universities in China, has confirmed that it has eliminated a requirement for college kids to undertake a compulsory School English Take a look at (CET) to hitch or graduate from the establishment.
The college, situated within the northwestern province of Shaanxi, took the step as a debate rages concerning the sensible advantages of studying English for big sections of China’s college students, the South China Morning Submit reported on Friday.
The transfer is a “regular measure made by the college in response to present developments,” the publication mentioned, citing feedback from the college’s educational affairs workplace. Xi’an Jiaotong, which is taken into account to be among the many prime 5% of universities in China, added that English programs based mostly on CET necessities will stay on the curriculum.
Plans to scale back necessities for college kids to study English have been gathering tempo for a number of years. Nationwide Folks’s Congress deputy Tuo Qingming mentioned earlier this yr at a legislative session in Beijing that fluency in English has “little sensible worth for many individuals.”
Tuo added: “For a substantial variety of individuals, studying a overseas language is just for admission to greater schooling. What they study is definitely exam-oriented. They’ll seldom or by no means use overseas languages of their work or life.”
Nevertheless, Yu Xiaoyu, a linguistics knowledgeable on the College of Hong Kong, cautioned towards the transfer to scale back English language necessities. He argued that proficiency in one of many world’s most-spoken languages is a bonus within the employment market.
“What hasn’t modified is that a lot of the job marketplace for college graduates nonetheless considers English to be useful, so there’s a excessive probability that college students with greater English proficiency, particularly those that can show it, will come throughout extra alternatives,” Yu mentioned, in response to the South China Morning Submit on Friday.
Yu additionally acknowledged his perception that the present CET curriculum does require reform. It’s potential, he argued, for a scholar to attain extremely within the check with out with the ability to suitably talk in English, and that “we shouldn’t interpret the college’s resolution as an indication that they’re attaching much less significance to the English language.”
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