英語角-圓桌會議 RoundTable- 精華版英語篇

Topic1 English proficiency Should be Enhanced in CollegeA foreign language expert says the English-language standards for Chinese college students should be raised, not lowered, in any national reform of English education.

Cai Jigang, deputy director of the Foreign Language Research Institute of Fudan University in Shanghai, said this in response to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education's draft reform plan for English tests in the college entrance exams for 2014.

The plan, released late last year, would reduce the required English score from 150 to 100, and the vocabulary from 3,500 words to 3,080. The required vocabulary will decline further in the 2015 exams.

What’s the suggestion? Does it make sense?

Topic2 CET to be made harderThe Ministry of Education has decided to make the College English Test, a requirement for graduation, harder.

Looking at the new test, do you think it will be all that different from the previous version? Will it make it harder to graduate from university?

Topic3 Tuhao may end up in English dictionaryWhile millions of Chinese are learning the English language, popular Chinese expressions are making their way into the English lexicon.

China’s new buzzword, tuhao, may be in next year’s Oxford English Dictionary.

The word caught the attention of the dictionary’s editing team after BBC’s recent program oninfluential Chinese words.

Why is tuhao being considered?

Topic4 Cancel English Class in Primary Schools?

Wang Xuming, ex-spokesman of Ministry of Education suggests on his microblog that English language classes in elementary schools should be cancelled. He says private English training classes for children under 14 years old should also be cancelled. In the meantime he suggests enhancing education of traditional Chinese culture and history.

He ended his plea by saying “free the children and save Chinese language”. Is English being over-emphasized in primary education? And does it hamper Chinese language education?

Topic5 English Signs at StationsAccording to the Ministry of Railways, the official English names of all train stations are to be gradually unified to Hanyu Pinyin. This applies especially to station names with cardinal directions. For example, what was formerly known as "Beijing West Railway Station" will soon become "Beijing Xi Railway Station". Xi is the Chinese character for west.