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Volume 4
August 2009
Article 8.

Formats
PDF

Title
English Language Teaching in China today

Author
Tian bo Li & Gillian Moreira.


Biodata

Tian bo Li completed her MA in English studies at the University of Aveiro (Portugal) in 2005. Her MA research and dissertation were on the subject of English In China, and she is currently doing her PhD at the University of Aveiro, funded by the FCT (the Portuguese Foundation of Science and Technology), on The Role of English in
International Business: the Case of China, under the supervision of Gillian Moreira, Assistant Professor at the same university.

Gillian Moreira holds a PhD in Culture from the University of Aveiro, where she is a member of the English Department and teaches in the fields of Cultural and Intercultural Studies. Her current interests focus on intercultural relations, European language policies and the politics and culture of English in the world.

Abstract
As the world's factory, with an increasingly multinational market, China has achieved enormous economic success and demonstrated great potential for attracting new entrepreneurs. The rapidly changing situation in this vast country has transformed English language learning into a fashionable trend, and, as a consequence, the ELT market has flourished, encouraging large numbers of Chinese people to want to learn English. The spread and growth of this market has forced teaching reforms and encouraged the renewal of strategies in both public and private schools with a view to meeting market needs and consumer demand.

This paper considers the development of the English Language Teaching industry in China. We will examine the private English language learning industry, how it has grown and in what directions, and the impact of the demand for English on English teaching in public schools. Our research has revealed how, in the face of competition from the private sector, methodologies in public schools have improved, shifting from being examination-oriented to being language and learner-centered. English language teaching and learning is thus concerned not only with the development of general writing, speaking, reading and listening skills, but also with the acquisition of specific market-oriented competences and knowledge of other cultures.

Keywords: China; English Language Teaching; English language schools; Language Teaching Reform