英语高考遭政协委员质疑

Removing English from the gaokao, China's college entrance exam, might lower the English-learning fever in China but it helps build a fair and targeted college admission system, said a national political adviser.

To earn a good enough score in the national examination to qualify for an elite university, even students applying for non-English majors such as traditional Chinese literature have to earn high marks in the English test to achieve the comprehensive total score level.

Yu Minhong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and founder of New Oriental Education and Technology Group, said using the same criteria to recruit students for different majors doesn't make sense.

"The English test score shouldn't be counted into the total points of gaokao but should be considered as just a reference," Yu said after a panel discussion on Monday. "Each university should set score requirements for respective specialties and recruit students depending on the subject's needs."

Due to the large share of English scores in the gaokao (150 points), Chinese students have paid great attention to learning English grammar, vocabulary and essay-writing, more than any other country's students spend on learning a second language, and the exam-oriented English education in secondary schools does little to improve student's practical skills of speaking and listening, Yu said.

The Ministry of Education released a draft reform plan for the gaokao for public review in December, urging local education authorities to diversify their evaluation of English skills and lower the emphasis on English in the exam.

Using Beijing as a reference, the full score for the English test will be reduced to 100 points from 150. Students will take the tests twice each year and their highest score will count for the gaokao.

The new method is expected to begin in 2016 but Yu said it's more of a superficial change than an actual reform.

"No matter how many points it counts toward, 20 or less, it's still part of the final gaokao result. Students will continue spending time and effort working on English because each point counts for college admission with the same standards," Yu said. "Plus, multi-time tests will add an extra burden on students."

Only by excluding English from the gaokao can students decide how much and how hard they work on learning English based on the specialty that interests them, Yu said.

Sun Huiling, a CPPCC member and an official with the Tianjin Hexi district education bureau, agreed with Yu that the English assessment should be diversified but was cautious about removing English from the gaokao.

"The existence of the English test in the gaokao has played a significant role of promoting the language among Chinese children, no matter whether in test-taking skills or practical communication," said Sun, who was formerly a senior English teacher at Tianjin Experimental High School.

"If we take it out of the gaokao, I am afraid the enthusiasm for learning English would decline as any change in the gaokao will largely affect teaching plans and curriculum setting in secondary schools."

一位国家政治顾问指出，高考取消英语可能会降低中国学习英语的热情，但这么做对于建立一个公平和有针对性的大学录取系统很有好处。

为了在高考中取得好成绩从而进入名牌大学，那些选择诸如传统中国文学等非英语专业的学生也不得不在高考英语中取得高分，从而使得自己的总分变得更高。

新东方的创立者俞敏洪是政协委员之一。他指出，不同专业招收学生却用相同的标准，这根本说不通。

在周一的小组讨论会后，俞敏洪表示，英语考试的分数不应该计入高考的总分当中而应该仅仅作为一个参考。他还表示，每个大学应该为不同的特长设立不同的分数要求，按照专业的具体要求来录取学生。

俞敏洪指出，由于英语的分数在高考中占的比例很高（150分），因此中国的学生在学习英语语法、词汇和写作方面花了大量的精力，中国也成为世界上学习第二语言时间最多的国家。他还评论说，中学里以应试教育为目的的英语教育对于提高学生英语听说的实际技能却帮助不大。

在去年12月，教育部向公众发布了高考改革草案，敦促地方教育部门丰富英语技能评估的多样化，降低对英语考试的重视。

以北京为例，高考英语考试的分数将从150分降低到100分。学生每年考两次，取最好成绩计入高考总分。

新方案预计于2016年开始实行。但是俞敏洪指出，这只是表面的变化而非实际的改革。

他同时表示，不管英语在高考中是多少分，不管是20分或者更低，它仍然是高考总分的一部分。学生们仍然会花费时间和精力在英语上，因为录取的标准相同，每一分对于最终的录取都至关重要。而且，一年多考会进一步加重学生的压力。”

俞敏洪表示，只有高考取消英语才能让学生基于兴趣决定在英语上花多少时间，投入多少的精力。

天津河西区教育部官员孙慧玲（音）是政协委员之一。她同意俞敏洪关于英语评价应多样化的观点，但是她认为对于高考取消英语要谨慎。

孙慧玲曾经是天津实验高中的一位高级英语教师，她同时认为不论是应试技巧还是实际交流，高考英语对于在中国孩子中推广这门语言起了重要的作用。

她同时指出，如果高考取消英语，那么学习英语的热情也将随之降低，这是因为高考中的任何变化改革都会对中学的教学计划和课程设置产生很大的影响。