Globalization and new ELT challenges in China

AS ECONOMICS and trade turn the world into “a global village”, English is playing an increasingly important role in China as a lingua franca for such matters as business, information, international travel, the Internet, cultural entertainment, and the environment, all of which have brought great cha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:English today 2003-10, Vol.19 (4), p.36-41
Main Author: ZHU, HUIMIN
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chinese languages
Communicative competence
Communicative language teaching
English as a second language instruction
Globalization
Internet
Lingua francas
Original Article
Teacher education
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Summary:AS ECONOMICS and trade turn the world into “a global village”, English is playing an increasingly important role in China as a lingua franca for such matters as business, information, international travel, the Internet, cultural entertainment, and the environment, all of which have brought great changes in every aspect of our lives. Native English speakers are regarded as linguistically privileged, but such non-native English-speakers as the Chinese, in order to overcome their disadvantage, are launching campaigns to enable themselves to use English more accurately and fluently. ‘Communicative competence’ has become the chief goal of English language learning and teaching. This essay seeks to analyse the great changes that are taking place educationally in China, especially in ELT, emphasizing the importance of communicative language teaching (CLT), teacher training, reform of the examination system, and raising people's awareness of new challenges in education and life.
ISSN:0266-0784
1474-0567
DOI:10.1017/S0266078403004061