"If college entrance examination Without further reform, students' academic pressure will still exist. There are several aspects that can be discussed: should we continue to implement the one exam for life? Should the score calculation method be reformed? English Must it be a required subject? " education Cen Jianjun, former director of the Department of International Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and former Minister Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in the United States, said.
On the afternoon of September 28, at the sixth "New Convergence" International Education Summit Forum held by Beijing Wangfu School, Cen Jianjun expressed his views on reducing the burden of education based on his own experience. He believes that the implementation of the "double reduction" policy, on the one hand, requires school education to ensure classroom teaching Quality; On the other hand, do a good job examination Reform, such as Foreign Languages The compulsory subjects of the college entrance examination were changed to elective subjects.
It is suggested that the foreign language test should be changed from compulsory to optional to reduce the burden on students
When talking about the "double reduction", Cen Jianjun pointed out that the reform of the college entrance examination should be further carried out, otherwise students' academic pressure will still exist. He believes that further discussion is needed on the aspects of "one exam determines one's life", the calculation method of college entrance examination scores, and whether foreign languages should be required for college entrance examination.
Cen Jianjun pointed out, for example, that GPA (the average credit grade point, which is the unit of measurement of the quantity and quality of students' learning based on credit and grade point) is considered in the American entrance examination, while the Korean college entrance examination is a comprehensive calculation of students' scores after dividing the scores of each examination subject into nine grades. "We now look at the total score of the college entrance examination, but it is difficult to see a student's overall quality and the average score of his subjects from the total score," said Cen Jianjun.
He also mentioned that "many developed countries take foreign languages as an optional subject rather than a compulsory one, such as Japan, Britain and the United States. But South Korea takes English as a compulsory one and has a second foreign language (French). Therefore, today's Korean students are under great pressure. They have a slogan of "four up and five down", that is, they can get into a good school if they sleep four hours a day, and they may not be able to get into a good school if they sleep five hours a day. This situation has something to do with the examination structure design in South Korea. "
Cen Jianjun believes that if China turns foreign languages into college entrance examinations, it can reduce the burden of many students.
Offering differentiated English Elective Courses To meet the different needs of students
According to Future.com, in 2017, Li Guangyu, a deputy to the National People's Congress, also proposed to change the English language "college entrance examination is compulsory Primary and secondary schools The status of compulsory courses is to change the English subject from a compulsory subject for the college entrance examination to an optional subject, and from a compulsory course for primary and secondary students to an optional course, so as to improve the learning efficiency and reduce the learning burden.
Li Guangyu said that if we calculate the learning time of 8 hours a day, nearly one fifth (18.13%) of a child's best 10 years were spent on English. As a language tool, English learning should be application oriented rather than exam oriented. The effect of college entrance examination oriented English learning is not good, and it is unnecessary.
Is it feasible and necessary to change the foreign language (English) test of the college entrance examination from compulsory to optional?
"From a worldwide perspective, the goals of foreign language teaching in many countries are very clear. Either they focus on daily communication and attach importance to the cultivation of students' oral communication ability; or they focus on the collection of data and information and attach importance to the cultivation of students' reading comprehension ability; or they focus on the cultivation of international talents, with comprehensive emphasis on listening, speaking, reading and writing. Under today's college entrance examination, we train all students as international talents and require them to have a good command of listening, speaking, reading and writing. This wastes a lot of time and energy, but the effect is not good. " Cen Jianjun said.
Cen Jianjun told Pengpai News that he studied English at Beijing International Studies University and later obtained a master's degree at Manchester University. During his work, he has successively served as Director of the Department of International Cooperation and Exchange of the Ministry of Education, Minister Counsellor of the Education Office of the Chinese Embassy in the United States and other positions, and has profound experience in English learning and using English as a tool for work communication.
He believes that it is hard to learn English well, but after learning English for a long time, you will forget it if you don't use it. Therefore, in the process of promoting English, it is not appropriate to treat all students with the same high standard and require them to have a good command of listening, speaking, reading and writing.
In Cen Jianjun's opinion, we can consider turning foreign languages into elective courses through educational reform, and design different course hours according to different standards for students to choose according to their own needs. At the same time, English can also be changed from a required subject to an optional subject in the college entrance examination.
Does the English test change affect learning from international advanced technology experience?
Previously, there was a view that the college entrance examination should not weaken the position of English, because English is a tool, and learning English well is convenient for scientific researchers to timely understand and learn the latest foreign achievements and technologies.
Will the change of English examination have a negative impact on China's learning from international advanced technology experience?
In response, Cen Jianjun said to Pengpai News, "This is mentioned in the on-demand course selection and classified training I mentioned earlier, that is, the function of collecting data information in English is emphasized. Such students can choose English elective courses that meet their needs. This kind of students mainly focus on the cultivation of reading and writing, without emphasizing the requirements of speaking and listening, or criticizing the phenomenon of dumb English. Their English learning can meet the needs of absorbing foreign information. "
Cen Jianjun believes that foreign language teaching, including learning other skills, must be pragmatic and not utopian, or it will only waste a lot of human and material resources. Anyone who needs something takes time to do it. Just like driving, it is not necessary for everyone in the country to be able to drive.
At the same time, Cen Jianjun stressed that the training level of China's international talents (including diplomats) needs to be further improved, and more efforts should be devoted to the training of high-level international talents.
"In foreign countries, there is a class of schools. From the first grade of primary school, they teach in their mother tongue in the morning and in a foreign language in the afternoon. This is immersion teaching. As far as I know, there is no such school in China." Cen Jianjun suggested that the education department could first select some primary and secondary schools to pilot immersion bilingual teaching, Reserve strength for cultivating high-quality international talents.
