Teaching English as a foreign
language in China: looking back
and forward
Z HEN H U I R AO
Reconciling modern methodologies with traditional ways of
language teaching
Introduction
In the past 30 years, Chinas open-door policy and
rapid economic growth have been accelerating
English as a foreign language (hereafter EFL)
teaching in an unprecedented way. To facilitate
the learning process for students, English teachers
in China have switched from using traditional
ways of teaching English to adopting a variety of
modern English teaching methods from the West
(Rao, 2002). Of all these imported methods,
Communicative Language Teaching (hereafter
CLT) is the most popular and widespread one in
Chinese schools. However, conicts have appeared
in the process of this transformation. On the one
hand, the Chinese government and education
administrators are aware of the importance of
English communicative competence as contact
with foreigners speaking English increases. On
the other hand, some problems in the current
English teaching prevent teachers from getting
their students involved in the communicative
activities in their teaching process. They still
cling to the traditional teaching methods and tech-
niques. In this paper, I trace the development of
EFL teaching in China, analyze some difculties
and challenges that EFL teachers and learners
must face, and look at the prospects for EFL teach-
ing in China in the future.
Development of EFL teaching in
China
Teaching English as a foreign language in China
has a history of a little more than one hundred
years (Fu, 1986). There are ve stages or periods
34 English Today 115, Vol. 29, No. 3 (September 2013). Printed in the United Kingdom
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in its development, namely, (1) prior to liberation
(before 1949), (2) shortly after liberation (1949
1956), (3) the rst renaissance (19561966), (4)
the Cultural Revolution period (19661977), and
(5) the second renaissance (1977). In the following
discussion, I demonstrate that each period has had
an important inuence on EFL teaching in China.
Prior to liberation (before 1949)
The history of EFL teaching in China can be traced
to 1862, when the door to China was opened to the
West (Fu, 1986). During this period of time,
foreign missionaries established schools to help
train the masses and foreign language study was
included in their training programs. English tended
to dominate this eld of study because most mis-
sionaries were from English-speaking countries.
In addition, English was often used as a vehicle
ZHENHUI RAO is a
professor at Jiangxi Normal
University, China. He has a
PhD in applied linguistics
from the University of South
Australia. His recent
publications have appeared
in journals such as ELT
Journal (2007), Modern
English Teachers (2009),
Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural
Development (2010), and The Language Learning
Journal (2012). His main research interests are in
English teaching methodology and language
learning strategies. Email: rao5510@yahoo.com
doi:10.1017/S0266078413000291
2013 Cambridge University Press
 for general education because many of the foreign
missionaries did not adequately know Chinese.
There was also a prevailing sense among
Westerners that the systems associated with
China were barbaric and therefore needed to be
replaced with things more civilized (i.e., systems
from the West). The Grammar-Translation Method
was prevalent in Western language teaching
methodology at that time, and was adopted for
teaching English in the missionary schools. The
Grammar-Translation Method coincided with tra-
ditional language teaching methods in China,
because Grammar-Translation encouraged memor-
ization, recitation and strict adherence to grammar
rules and was easily accepted by students and
Chinese teachers, once they were trained to teach
English (Harvey, 1985).
English was not formally taught as a course in
school until 1902, when the Ching government
prescribed English as one of the twelve courses
offered in middle schools (Li et al., 1988). As a
matter of fact, it was the famous Westernization
Movement of the Ching dynasty that facilitated
the EFL teaching. At that time, the increasing con-
tact with Western countries and the growth of trade
made it necessary for English to be included in the
school curriculum. Also, the early 1900s saw an
attempt to introduce the Direct Method because
there was a demand for oral prociency in trade
and business endeavors that the Grammar-
Translation Method could not accommodate (Fu,
1986). The Direct Method was introduced by
native-English-speaking teachers, but the Chinese
teachers, who were by now responsible for teach-
ing, felt insufciently prepared to use it. Chinese
teachers limited oral skills, in addition to their
inadequate methodological training, caused them
to lose face with their students and resulted in the
Chinese teachers reverting to the Grammar-
Translation Method (Woolsey, 1992).
Shortly after liberation (19491956)
The year 1949, when the Peoples Republic of
China was established, was considered a new
beginning in education for Chinese people (Fu,
1986). However, due to the intimate Sino-Soviet
relationship at that time, EFL teaching during this
period of time was greatly reduced all over the
country. Foreign language courses in many middle
schools were switched from English to Russian.
Foreign language education in China was also
affected by the then current methodology in the
former Soviet Union: Intensive Reading. This
method was introduced and accepted widely by
TEACHIN G ENG LIS H AS A FOREIGN LAN GUAG E IN C HINA
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foreign language teachers in China, not only
because it complemented the Grammar-
Translation Method currently in place, but also
because it tted so well into traditional education.
According to Fu (1986), EFL teaching in this
period can be characterized as follows:
1. The goal of English acquisition is to learn the
language in order to read its literature or in
order to benet from the mental discipline
and intellectual development that result from
English study.
2. English teaching in the classroom makes use of
a very small number of textbooks, which are
compiled on the basis of the principles of the
Grammar-Translation Method.
3. The sentence is the basic unit of teaching and
language practice. Much of the lesson is
devoted to translating sentences into and out
of the target language.
4. Grammar is taught deductively. In other words,
students are given the grammar rules and
examples, are told to memorize them, and then
are asked to apply the rules to other examples.
5. Accuracy is emphasized. It is important that the
students get the correct answers in class. If the
students make errors or do not know an answer,
the teacher supplies them with the correct answer.
The rst renaissance (19571966)
In the late 1950s, teaching Russian as a foreign
language lost its popularity and there was a swing
to English (Li et al., 1988). In many middle schools,
class hours for EFL teaching increased. In some big
cities, like Shanghai and Beijing, English began to
be offered as a course in middle schools. The
1958 education reform caused a change in EFL
teaching methods and materials, and there was a
great desire to improve foreign language teaching
methods. At the beginning of the 1960s, the
Audio-Lingual Method was introduced as a way to
improve oral skills. Although it had some success
due to repetition drills, again, because of the lack
of training and fear of losing face, it did not widely
replace the Grammar-Translation or Intensive
Reading Methods. Today, more than fty years
after its introduction, the Audio-Lingual Method is
still sometimes used in Chinese schools.
The Cultural Revolution period
(19661977)
The so-called Cultural Revolution brought a great
disaster to Chinese education, and there was no
35
 exception for EFL teaching. From 1966 to 1968,
EFL courses were removed from the school curri-
culum (Fu, 1986). Intellectuals, especially those
who had mastered the English language, or
received education from Western countries, were
persecuted. Most of the EFL textbooks were criti-
cized and EFL teachers were falsely accused of
being spies and worshippers of Western countries.
EFL teaching was so affected by this that even
when other courses began to be offered again
during that period, English was still banned in
the classroom (Li et al., 1988).
It was not until around 1970 that EFL teaching
was permitted in schools. But the English taught
at that time was not the authentic English used
in everyday life in English-speaking countries.
Textbooks were produced in the way the authorities
decided. They were full of slogans and quota-
tions, with nothing about the societies and cultures
of English-speaking countries. All the English tea-
chers were permitted to do was to teach the new
words, read the text sentence by sentence, and
then translate it into Chinese (Woolsey, 1992).
The second renaissance (1977)
Since 1977, EFL teaching in China has entered a
period of prosperity. First of all, people from all
walks of life have become more and more aware
of the importance of English as China opens her
door to Western countries. Foreign language edu-
cation, specically English, is now strategically
linked to the quest for modernization. English has
become one of the major courses in middle schools
and universities (Fu, 1986).
While English teachers in China today are still
engaged in developing their students linguistic
competence, they are also turning their attention
to developing students communicative compe-
tence. The Grammar-Translation methodology,
alone or in conjunction with the Audio-Lingual
methodology, is no longer considered a viable
method for this purpose, so CLT was introduced
into English classrooms at the beginning of the
1980s. In 1984, Li Xiaoju and her associates
compiled Communicative English for Chinese
Learners, a series of communicative English text-
books that profoundly affected Chinese teachers
and learners attitudes towards communicative
language teaching. However, it was not until the
early 1990s that substantial progress was made
in applying CLT to teaching practice in China.
In 1992, the State Education Development
Commission (hereafter, SEDC), the representative
of the central government whose function is to
36
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make educational policies and determine the
goals, curriculum, course books and even teaching
method, replaced the 1981 structure-based national
unied syllabus in middle schools with a new one
that set communication as the teaching aim. The
1992 syllabus called for training in listening,
speaking, reading, and writing to enable students
to gain basic knowledge of English and compe-
tence to use English for communication (SEDC,
1992: 1). There are three obvious characteristics
in this syllabus. First, it advocates that almost
everything that is done is done with a communica-
tive intent (Larsen-Freeman, 1986: 132). Another
characteristic is that activities in the CLT are often
carried out by students in small groups (Larsen-
Freeman, 1986: 132). The nal characteristic is
its learner-centered and experience-based view
of second language learning (Richard &
Rodgers, 1986: 69).
Nevertheless, the outcome of teaching English
exclusively using CLT has not, so far, provided
the expected results. On the one hand, students
do not like to participate in communicative-type
activities and prefer more traditional classroom
work; on the other hand, teachers feel discouraged
from continuing with CLT, both because of stu-
dents negative responses and because of their
lack of training in using it (Rao, 2002). Such a
phenomenon may have resulted from several dif-
culties and challenges associated with EFL teach-
ing in Chinese schools today.
Difculties and challenges for EFL
teaching in China today
While it is true that the introduction of CLT has
brought about an unprecedented development in
EFL teaching in Chinese schools, it has also
faced some difculties and challenges. Most of
these problems are related to the higher demand
placed on teachers, traditional education percep-
tions, the national system of examinations, and a
lack of nancial resources.
The rst obstacle is the extent of the demand
placed on teachers who are non-native English
speakers. Although foreign experts in English
teaching are increasingly available, many of these
newly available teachers are engaged in training
Chinese foreign language teachers at the tertiary
level. The bulk of English teaching is still con-
ducted by Chinese teachers, the majority of
whom have never been outside of China or talked
to a foreigner. Owing to a lack of English pro-
ciency themselves, some Chinese teachers are
ENGLISH TODAY 115 September 2013
 concerned about not being able to answer spon-
taneous questions about the target language, socio-
linguistics, or culture as they arise from interactions
in the classroom (Rao, 2002). It is not rare to hear
English teachers complain: I can only teach
English to some extent. If I am asked to give
more explanations on language and cultural differ-
ences, it is impossible for me.
The second obstacle to EFL teaching in a commu-
nicative way in the Chinese school classroom is that
CLT runs counter to traditional practice. The tra-
ditional relationship between Chinese teachers and
students makes it difcult for them to suspend
their beliefs about the teachers role and to take
part in simulated interaction (Ting, 1987). The stu-
dents, for example, may be perplexed by CLT
because they are not accustomed to it. They would
prefer to attend lectures on intensive reading and
grammar and to take conventional examinations.
What makes CLT even more difcult is the fact
that teachers at all levels in China are expected to
cover the curriculum developed by the government
(Li, 1984). Based on this centralized curriculum,
almost all English textbooks are designed to teach
grammar, reading, and writing, with little emphasis
on listening and speaking, let alone activities such as
games or role playing. Although the examinations
are locally set, there are strong expectations on the
part of the students and the school administration
that the content and form will be similar to that of
the traditional national examinations. The discrete-
point, structurally-based national examination does
not test communicative skills. In addition, some
EFL teachers comment that they risk criticism
from their colleagues or superiors if they use
materials other than those approved by the govern-
ment (Rao, 2002).
A lack of resources and equipment is the fourth
obstacle to using CLT. In many schools, classes of
7080 students are common. The number of stu-
dents enrolled in schools has drastically increased
since 2000. This has led to a total of 60 students
in most English classes in almost all schools.
Besides, most schools do not have enough nancial
resources to provide the audio-visual equipment,
photocopiers, or resources (such as a wide range
of authentic print materials) that are required to
support the dynamic teaching necessitated by CLT.
Prospects for EFL teaching in China in
the future
Thus far, this paper has reviewed the development
of EFL teaching in China, and examined the
TEACHIN G ENG LIS H AS A FOREIGN LAN GUAG E IN C HINA
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obstacles that prevent EFL teachers in China
from adopting CLT in their classroom teaching.
The above discussion discloses that making exclu-
sive use of either CLT or one of the traditional
methods in Chinese schools is not entirely practi-
cal. In fact, numerous studies have conrmed that
no single teaching method, so far, can be expected
to deal with everything that concerns the form, use,
and content of the target language (e.g., Roberts,
1982; Harvey, 1985; Rao, 2002). Perhaps one of
the best ways to teach English in the future is to
reconcile CLT with Chinese traditional teaching
methods. Roberts (1982) comments that CLT is
in many ways a commitment to eclecticism in prac-
tice, and cannot be otherwise. Harvey (1985) con-
cludes that what might be called traditional
methods and skills are not necessarily unworkable
alongside CLT. To make some adjustments and to
use a combination of methods, EFL teachers in
Chinese schools must pay attention to:
1. accuracy and uency
2. linguistic competence and communicative
competence
3. student-centered classroom activities
4. cultural awareness
Accuracy and uency
There is no denying the fact that both accuracy and
uency are essential in language teaching. In the
traditional EFL teaching dominated by such
methods as the Grammar-Translation Method or
the Audio-Lingual Method, accuracy is empha-
sized more than uency. In order to achieve accu-
racy, the students need rigorous training in the
language system. Teachers, then, try whatever
they can to help their students lay a solid foun-
dation, which is primarily, though by no means
solely, achieved through a focus on accuracy.
However, accuracy does not mean 100% error-free,
which is an impossible achievement. Soon after the
students have mastered meaningful language
forms, teachers ought to provide them with oppor-
tunities to do some uency practice by adopting
CLT. Then control should be withdrawn and stu-
dents would be expected to use the language
more freely. At this stage, errors should be toler-
ated, and the teacher should make it clear to the stu-
dents that error-making is not disgraceful but
only natural. Even so, a summative assessment
of the students performance should be made at
the end of each uency practice, so that the stu-
dents are aware of their weaknesses and become
more error-conscious. In this way, accuracy
37
 practice and uency practice are done almost
simultaneously.
Linguistic competence and
communicative competence
Both linguistic competence and communicative
competence are of essential importance for
English learners. Traditionally, EFL teaching in
China places much emphasis on language struc-
tures and linguistic details. For most EFL teachers
in China, vocabulary work and pattern drills are
means of familiarizing the students with sentence
structures. They believe that it is essential to do
some translation from or to the target language.
However, such linguistic competence does not
automatically result in students communicative
competence. Communicative competence involves
principles of appropriateness and a readiness on the
part of the learner to use relevant strategies in cop-
ing with certain language situations. Linguistic
competence is, then, the basis of communicative
competence. Without linguistic competence, there
is no communicative competence. But forms of
classroom activities such as role playing, simu-
lations, and real-life interactions should be used
to provide as much practice as possible for students
to develop communicative competence while prac-
ticing linguistic competence.
Student-centered classroom
activities
To facilitate language acquisition and to improve
communicative competence, the students are
required to have a large amount of practice. So
the teachers must see to it that classroom inter-
action is managed, not just by the teacher, but by
all present. In order to avoid being the focal point
of the interaction, the teacher should arrange the
desks in the classroom in such a way that the stu-
dents can look directly at one another, therefore
maximizing interaction among the students.
However, this does not mean that once a teaching
activity is in progress, the teacher should become
a passive observer. Although the teacher may be
non-directive in general, it is the teachers respon-
sibility to recognize the distinctive qualities, par-
ticular those that are assets, of his or her pupils,
and help them to develop those assets fully. To
do this, the teacher should discard masks of super-
iority and communicate openly with his or her
students. Instead of being the dominant authority
in the classroom, the teacher is an independent
38
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participant, a communication activator, an organi-
zer of resources, and a guide within classroom pro-
cedures and activities.
Cultural awareness
One of the important components of communica-
tive competence is the ability to select a linguistic
form that is appropriate for a specic situation, or
to use English. There is plenty of evidence that a
good command of English grammar, vocabulary,
and syntax does not necessarily add up to mastery
of English. There is said to be a set of social con-
ventions governing language form and behavior
within a communicative group. However, by
emphasizing cultural awareness in EFL teaching
we do not mean that our paradigms of teaching
should be based on the monolingual canon.
English has become a global medium and a shared
code of communication for those who use it across
cultures. This globalization of English leads to the
importance of world Englishes, leading to multi-
canons. Speakers of Englishes need to develop
awareness of sociolinguistic realities and develop
tolerance of what may possibly be deemed poor
pronunciation or some violation of rules of speak-
ing if that does happen. They should have a better
understanding of various interactional contexts and
adapt themselves to them.
Conclusion
All in all, foreign language policy in China is an
indirect but sensitive outcome of political strife or
afliation. The switch-over from teaching English
as a foreign language to teaching Russian as a
foreign language in most schools in the early
1950s and the canceling of English as a subject
in the curriculum during the Cultural Revolution
are just two glaring examples. Although a variety
of modern teaching methods, such as CLT, have
been introduced into current English classrooms,
most EFL teachers in China encounter a number
of problems. Research on EFL teaching in
non-English-speaking countries repeatedly proves
that making exclusive use of either CLT or one
of the traditional methods cannot satisfy the
requirements of English teaching nowadays. One
of the best ways of improving EFL teaching in
the 21st century seems to be to use an eclectic
method, which allows teachers to reconcile the
modern methodologies with the traditional ways
of teaching in China.
ENGLISH TODAY 115 September 2013
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