中国大陆英语教学的反拨效应

A Systematic Review of the Backwash Effect of the English Education in China

中国目前是全球人口最多的国家,在中国大陆,英语是小学到中学的必修课程。学生在中学教育(6年)和大学本科教育(4年)期间参加大规模的考试。此外,在中国大陆的高中入学考试(或称中考)和全国高考中,英语是必修科目之一,所占比重较大。这两种考试都是安排学生进入不同高中和大学的分级考试(Placement Test)。根据学生在中考中不同的学习成绩,他们会被分到拥有其他教学资源的高中。在中国大陆,上述考试的反拨效应影响着从初等教育到高等教育的英语教学。在小学,反拨作用对学生和教师有积极的影响:与中学和大学的测试相比,小学的测试虽然重要性稍弱,但是整体上更实用。学生可以享受学习英语的乐趣,并学习到跟考试相关的一些知识。教师有足够的自由度和创造力来发展他们的课堂活动。与此同时,考试是教师了解和检测学生在英语教学中所学知识的重要工具。另一方面,由于高中入学考试和高考的形式和重要性,它们的反拨对初高中的英语教学产生了一定的负面影响。为了应对考试,初中的英语教学过于重视阅读、语法和词汇。高中学生则受到了高考中NMET的负面反拨效应。他们没有足够的机会接受英语口语能力的训练。他们在写作方面得到的训练也很少,因为写作在考试中只占一小部分分值,而且高考中的写作体裁只有论证和叙事,这也是他们在英语课上唯一被教授的两种体裁。与初中的情况类似,高中教学对语法、词汇和阅读理解的关注度同样过高。此外,本科教育中的英语教学也因为反拨效应而受到很大限制。在中学和大学教育中,学生、教师和课程设计者都因为负面的反拨效应而受到一定的限制。因此,本文建议教育管理部门、课程设计者、教师和学生避免将全国高考中的英语测试作为唯一导向,而把重点放在学习英语以进行相互交流上。社会和大学应该减少对高考英语分数的重视,更多地关注学生如何在相互对话和其他真实场景下使用英语。对于高等教育来说,大学四六级和其他重要测试不应该是英语教学的唯一重点。另外,高等教育中的上述测试可以是多样化的,每个测试可以关注于不同的英语能力,如EAP、交流英语和商务英语学科。

The largest population globally is in China, and English course is compulsory in primary schools and secondary schools in China. Chinese students take massive tests during secondary education (six years) and university (four years undergraduate). Furthermore, English is a compulsory subject counting for the most significant weights in both Senior High School Entrance Exam (SHSEE) (or Zhong Kao) and National College Entrance Exam (NCEE) (or Gao Kao) in China, both of which are placement tests to arrange students into different senior high schools (SHSEE), or universities (NCEE). According to the levels of their academic performance in SHSEE, students are then grouped into different senior high schools with different educational resources. Backwash influences the English Language Teaching (ELT) in China from primary schools to tertiary schools. In primary schools, backwash influences students and teachers in a positive way. The assessment in primary schools is less significant and more practical than the tests in middle schools and colleges. Students tend to enjoy English courses and master the knowledge and skills they are expected to learn because of the tests. English teachers also have more freedom and creativity to develop their classroom activities. Besides, teachers can know what students have learned during the ELT based on the test results. Nevertheless, backwash effect has negative impacts on the ELT in junior and senior high schools due to the forms of SHSEE and NCEE. ELT in junior high school imposes too much attention on vocabulary, grammar and reading because of backwash. Students in senior high schools are negatively influenced by the backwash from NMET in NCEE. They almost receive no training in English speaking skills. They only obtain little training in writing since writing counts for a small part of MET, and the genres in MET are only argumentative or narrative, which are the only two genres they are taught in English classes. On the other hand, they have paid too much attention to vocabulary, grammar and reading comprehension. Besides, ELT in the universities of China is also highly limited because of backwash. Students, teachers, and curriculum designers and managers are constrained both in secondary and tertiary education because of backwash. Therefore, educational administrations, curriculum designers, teachers, and students are strongly suggested to pay less attention to the English tests within SHSEE and NCEE. They are supposed to focus on the English competence of mutual communication. Besides, colleges and the society should impose less emphasis on the English test results in NCEE and pay more attention to how students use English in mutual conversations and other authentic situations. In tertiary education, CET and other tests should not be the only main focus of ELT. Alternatively, the tests in tertiary education can be diverse, and different tests are suggested to target different competence of English skills such as EAP, or communicational English, or English for Business.