As debate rages once again over whether primary and secondary schools in China should further reduce the weight of English language teaching, China's Ministry of Education (MOE) said foreign languages learning plays an important role in cultivating students' international vision and cross-cultural communication skills, while stressing the importance of strengthening education that passes on traditional Chinese culture and reinforces culture confidence.
A response from the MOE to the suggestion raised by a deputy to National People's Congress has attracted wide attention over the weekend. The suggestion said schools could use the time taken away from foreign language education to increase the teaching of traditional Chinese culture in order to "exposing children to more Chinese culture at a critical time in the formation of their worldview, and increasing their cultural pride and confidence from an early age."
The "foreign languages" is generally referred to English in basic education.
"Foreign languages are an important part of students' overall moral, intellectual, physical and aesthetic development, and help cultivate and develop students' core literacy factors such as language skills, cultural awareness, thinking quality and learning ability, as well as their Chinese sentiment, international perspective and cross-cultural communication skills," the MOE said in a reply.
The MOE wrote that the curriculum arrangement for foreign languages is determined in accordance with the central government's top-level design for the gaokao (national college entrance examinations). According to the requirements published by the State Council, China's cabinet, in 2014, there will be no change in the subject settings and scores for Chinese, mathematics and English in the gaokao. According to the standards currently in place, these three subjects will carry the same portion of the total score in the gaokao.
The MOE pointed out that the proportion of foreign language hours in the total number of hours in basic education is 6-8 percent. This is less than 20-22 percent for Chinese, 13-15 percent for math, or 10-11 percent for physical education.
The teaching of traditional Chinese culture is not contradictory to the current foreign language teaching schedule, the MOE stressed, noting that education about traditional Chinese culture and cultural confidence has always been a high priority for the ministry.