English
Teaching in Primary and Middle Schools to
Meet International Standards
Chen Lin, head of the National Standard for
English Courses research group, and professor of Beijing Foreign
Studies University, recently revealed that Chinese students'
English proficiency is to be divided into nine grades, according
to the new English courses standard. Grade 2 is the minimum
compulsory standard for primary school graduates, grade 5 applies
to junior high school graduates, and grade 7 to senior high
school graduates. In order to sit the college entrance examination,
students must reach grade 8, which requires a vocabulary of
3500-4000 -- twice the current standard. The new standard, currently
at the experimental stage at Beijing No. 4 Middle School, is
in line with that of Western countries where English is taught
as a second language, and Hong Kong. Emphasis is being laid
on comprehensive English proficiency in an effort to change
the current situation where, after years of English study, most
students are still unable either to catch what native English
speakers say, or read English books in the original.
