Detección de las Oportunidades de Negocio

As discussed in the literature, the status of English in China has experienced rises and falls because of shifts in political and economic contexts from the 1950s onwards. The same may be said of English language education in China (Adamson, 2001a; Adamson, 2004; Adamson & Morris, 1997; Jin & Cortazzi, 2002; Ng & Tang, 1997; Zheng & Davison, 2008). As Crotazzi and Jin (1996, cited in Ng & Tang, 1997) argue, social, economic and political contexts are key factors

influencing the development of English language education in China. At this point, it is necessary briefly to canvass some of the literature on the history of the

development of English language education in China.

In the late 1950s, English took over from Russian as the main foreign language, with influences of audio-lingual methods and drill practices and substitution tables popular in EFL teaching and learning (Jin & Cortazzi, 2002). In the early 1960s, the economic policies of The Great Leap Forward of 1958-9 had seen The Great Famine as one of its outcomes. A political focus on economic modernization saw education policies shifting from ‘politics to the fore’(Adamson & Morris, 1997, p. 10), to ‘expertise’(Adamson & Morris, 1997, p. 6 ). The curriculum, pedagogical approaches and textbooks produced in the early 1960s also shifted in focus from strongly reflecting political elements in their contents at the expense of pedagogical issues, to a focus on not only ideology, but also linguistics and pedagogy (Adamson & Morris, 1997).

During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), the far reaching and chaotic political movement disrupted economic and cultural development in the country, as well as the education system, including English language education (Hu, 2002b; Jin & Cortazzi, 2002). Education institutions were disrupted and closed down for years and English teachers, together with other intellectuals, were persecuted or sent to the countryside to experience physical work (Adamson & Morris, 1997; Jin & Cortazzi, 2002). English was considered as pursuing foreign thinking, and most schools were not allowed to teach English for years. Even when English began reappearing in the curriculum, EFL curriculum development was conducted by subordinate agencies (Adamson & Morris, 1997), where provincial and municipal

governments were commissioned to produce English textbooks (Tang and Gao, 2000, cited in Hu, 2002b). Such institutions lacked experience, and had had little exposure to pedagogical approaches (Adamson & Morris, 1997).

Politically-oriented texts and contents were presented in almost all the textbooks, and teacher-centred, grammar-translation methods dominated in teaching and learning (Hu, 2002b). This had also been one of the features of EFL teaching and learning during The Great Leap Forward in the 1950s (Adamson & Morris, 1997; Hu, 2002b).

In the late 1970s, though people still had occasional fears in relation to being seen as accepting Western culture, English was seen as having an important role in the economic reform and modernization of the nation (Adamson, 2004; Adamson & Morris, 1997; Jin & Cortazzi, 2002; Ng & Tang, 1997). The EFL curriculum focused on English skills and reading passages on the cultures of foreign countries, and the pedagogical approaches were audio-linguist and grammar-translation method (Adamson, 2004; Adamson & Morris, 1997; Jin & Cortazzi, 2002). By the 1980s, new English curricula were introduced and the communicative aspects of language learning were emphasized, while learning English became a popular activity (Jin & Cortazzi, 2002).

Since the 1990s, China has further integrated with the economy, education, science and technology of a globalizing world, emphasizing its pivotal status in

international competition (The Ministration of Education, 1998, cited in Ngok & Kwong, 2003). English is seen as an important means and valuable resource to assist national development in the context of globalization. At the same time it has been identified as a key factor to make opportunities for people’s higher levels of professional development or further education, either at home or abroad (Hu, 2002b; Kang, 1999).

Establishing a new EFL curriculum in China is pivotal to adapting to new global orientations and the promotion of international understanding and empathy; it focuses on a basic English language knowledge, communication skills and practical abilities (Chen, Wang, & Cheng, 2002; Hu, 2002b; Rizvi & Walsh, 1998). EFL curriculum reform, presents its own distinguishing characteristics as change has

proceeded (Hu, 2002b, 2005b; Huang, 2004; Ministry of Education, 2001a). The changes include a shift from a focus on teaching the knowledge of language to a focus on developing students’ comprehensive competence in using the language; a shift from teacher-centred and grammar-translation method to a student-centred and task-based teaching method; and a shift from a singular focus on summative assessment to an incorporation of formative assessment practice (Ministry of Education, 2001a; Wang, 2007; Zhong, Cui, & Zhang, 2001).

My review of the literature has allowed me to gain an understanding of ways in which EFL curriculum reform has developed in China. The literature suggests that such development has been on the basis of economic and political development in the Chinese context, providing a basis for me to explore further ways in which the reform under study may be constructed as being comparable to The Great Leap Forward.The literature shows that a number of researchers has started to take up studies of the current EFL curriculum reform (Adamson, 2001a; Hu, 2002a, 2002b, 2003; Hu, 2005a; Hu, 2005b, 2005c; Wang, 2007; Zheng & Adamson, 2003; Zheng & Davison, 2008). They have conducted their studies from constructivist

perspectives, with little or no attention being given from a reconstructionist

perspective. The studies have addressed the reform as illustrating a general picture taken from the whole China, rather than specific empirical studies on particular cases, and none has been undertaken in North East China in particular, let alone engaged in detail ways in which it is linked to responsive or proactive challenges emerging from rapid economic, political, and cultural development in the context of globalization in this region. The literature has helped me to take up these issues to foreground in my research.