Students shun native tongue Liu QingChina Daily Updated: 2005-11-11 05:56
Any native English speaker is surely impressed by the English craze that has
swept the country.
Every bookshop is well stocked with English learning books. English is a very
popular major among university applicants. All kinds of English speaking
contests are organized across the country. Various tests are staged on campuses
or at work units that are employing new members of staff. English corners can be
found in many parks.
Enthusiasts often mob native speakers to get a chance to hone their skills.
But in sharp contrast, the Chinese language is given the cold shoulder in its
native land.
Not only is college enrolment on Chinese-language courses dropping but
Chinese-language courses offered to students pursuing other majors are often
shunned.
On the one hand, batches of successful English learners are being turned out,
with fluency amazing native speakers. But on the other, college students'
Chinese writing has deteriorated to an awful level.
A number of factors are behind the stagnation in Chinese-language learning.
Employment pressure is the most pressing factor. In the face of a tight labour
market and relatively few posts available, students have to choose courses that
will help them secure a job. A lack of accomplishment in Chinese language and
philosophy is largely ignored by prospective employers.
When I took up a teaching job upon my return to China from overseas a few
years ago, I heard my colleagues complain that the majority of college students
were simply unable to write. I simply did not believe them.
A couple of years have passed and now I have to admit that what my colleagues
said was right.
I have read various writings in Chinese, mostly my students' academic papers
and notes. I was taken aback by the stereotyped styles, lack of proficiency,
stiff and clumsy way of saying things and even silly grammatical errors. Over a
long time, I grew to hate such poor writing, which came in an avalanche.
In some cases, the students merely use general-purpose templates for writing
to express almost identical ideas that are nothing but threadbare refrains. The
writing templates therefore suit their ends.
But in many cases, students do have their own ideas but poor writing skills
fail them as they try to express themselves.
If you push them to express their original ideas in their own languages, only
some can manage to make themselves understood.
Fewer students can come up with persuasive articles. Still fewer can be said
to be creative writers with unique styles and the ability to get their ideas
across cleverly. But this group makes up only a very tiny portion of today's
college students.
These individual cases cannot cover up the reality - the vast majority are
very poor writers in Chinese.
I do not agree with the argument one hears from some professors that
marginalization of literature is a normal phenomenon in the big picture of
market-orientated economy and that, therefore, it is no longer necessary to make
Chinese-language courses an indispensable part of the university curriculum.
True, students have so many things to learn at college. All disciplines are
important in their own way. International politics, astrophysics, philosophy,
English, history... the list goes on. It is impossible for students to learn
everything. So some courses must be sacrificed, but which?
Can we make room for all of these courses at the expense of Chinese language,
taking into account the fact that we speak Chinese, write in Chinese and read
Chinese every day, every week, every month, every year and throughout our lives?
I am not raving about the "great significance of promoting traditional
Chinese culture" or "trumpeting the spirit of humanity." Let's shelve these
"grand undertakings that are of vital importance to the noble course of
humankind," in the words of some pundits.
What I am driving at is the day-to-day urgency of promoting Chinese-language
learning. Our college students' writing ability has reached an extremely low
level that is preventing them from coping with routine work.
The author is a Shanghai-based scholar
(China Daily 11/11/2005 page4)
|