A team of 10 CELC academic staff, including its Director, Dr Wong Lian Aik, took a study trip to China from 10-19 December, 2006. We visited three provinces (Jiangsu, Sichuan and Hebei) and four cities (Nanjing, Chengdu, Shijiazhuang and Beijing). The objectives of our trip are as follows:

• Understand how English is taught in China, specifically in senior middle schools and universities;
  
  
• Exchange and share ideas with teachers in China about teaching and learning of English;
  
  
• Understand students' English language learning background or environment;
  
  
• Learn about initiatives and future plans of English Language Teaching (ELT) in China;
  
  
• Gather information on ELT policies, curricula, syllabuses, and testing systems;
  
  
• Establish networking opportunities with English teachers in China for possible collaboration in research on language pedagogy.

Current English Language Teaching (ELT) and learning scene

During the trip, we met with officials of three Provincial Educational Departments (PEDs), academic personnel of five universities (Nanjing University, Chengdu University of Technology, Hebei Normal University, Tsinghua University and Beijing University) and principals of five middle schools (SMS): two in Nanjing (Nanjing No. 13 Middle School and Nanjing Foreign Language School), two in Chengdu (Chengdu No. 7 Middle School and Shishi Middle School), and one in Shijiazhuang (Shijiazhuang No. 1 Middle School).

These briefings revealed that the current state of the teaching and learning of English in China is evolving rapidly, in line with China's new bilingual policy and its initiative to improve the effectiveness of English language learning and teaching. Some of the new and key ELT policies and initiatives in the primary and specifically middle schools that indicate the importance of English are as follows:

• Learning English now begins in Primary 3 (in the past, it began in middle school when the students are 12 years old).
  
  
• There are usually three to four sessions of English in primary schools (half of the total class hours for Chinese) and four sessions in middle school (the same number of hours as Chinese).
  
  
• The English Language curriculum and syllabus in primary and middle schools have now been integrated. middle school graduation examination and one of the three core or compulsory subjects in the National College Entrance Examination.
  
  
• A new band system for English proficiency level has been implemented for primary schools, middle schools and universities.
  
  
• The bands represent the proficiency level expected of students:
  • Band 2 for Primary 3-6 students (8-11 years),
  • Band 5 for Junior Middle School students (12-14 years),
  • Band 7 for Senior Middle School students (15-17 years).

There have also been many new foci in curriculum and syllabi. Since 2001, the new English Language curriculum in China has focused on culture, learning strategies, motivation and attitudes besides skills, foundation and knowledge. In addition, an oral exam component (10% of total marks) has been incorporated into the National College Entrance Exam to test students' fluency and use of expressions. There is also an increase in vocabulary requirements since 2000. Students are now expected to have learned between 3500 and 4500 words by the time they complete middle school (at 17 years old).

A research component has recently been introduced in junior and senior middle schools to expose students to project work and encourage them to work collaboratively. The approach to ELT has shifted from an emphasis on proficiency to one on communication skills, thinking skills, project work and portfolios. In short, the focus is on both the learning process as well as the final product. At the university level (at 18 years old), IT is adopted as a new teaching and learning tool. Four software program jointly developed by Tsinghua University, Beijing Foreign Language University and Shanghai Foreign Language University are being piloted in 18 universities. Since 2003, there is an increased flexibility for universities to customise their own College English syllabus, so that students with a higher level of proficiency may be offered diversified courses (e.g. English for Academic Purposes [EAP] and English for Specific Purposes [ESP]) instead of the traditional College English module. Further, English language teachers have also been sent abroad (e.g. Manchester, UK and Toronto, Canada) for training.

Future collaborations and projects

A number of potential areas of collaboration was brought up during discussions with the various PEDs, schools and universities. These centred mainly on exchange and attachment programmes to enable teachers from both countries to understand teaching methodologies, study or cultural tours involving both teachers and students, joint research to investigate corpora used in building dictionaries as well as joint symposia.

Figure 1. Discussion with officials of Nanjing Provincial
Education Department (CELC delegation on the right)

Figure 2. Academic staff of College of Foreign Languages,
Hebei Normal University being briefed by CELC

Figure 3. Peggie in a discussion with students
from Chengdu Shishi Middle School

Indeed, we have learnt much about the current state of ELT which will no doubt provide fuel for CELC to improve on the courses targeted at students from the People's Republic of China. In turn, we also shared much information about CELC courses and teaching methodologies, all of which was received with much interest and zeal. It was in every sense, a rewarding and fulfilling fact-finding mission.