A Comparative Study of Language Educational Policy in China and Western Europe

Abstract

Nowadays, English has become a very important communicative tool for people from non-English-dominant countries. The Chinese government has been trying to push its residents to keep this pace for decades while recently most Western European countries try to avoid English teaching to protect their languages and cultures. Most Chinese students have to study English when they enter Grade 3. The College English Test Band 4 (CET4) has been the basic examination for Chinese students for decades and some universities will even require their students to pass CET6. Certificates of proving passing CET4 and CET6 will also offer help in job hunting. Recently, Chinese government even released the “Chinese culture go abroad” which aims to teach students how to spread Chinese cultures in English. For Western countries, Germany government want to protect their language and maintain the use of English at the same time while English academic writing continues to develop in Italy even these triggered severe debates. Now the Chinese government can see their reward after policies released for decades as it has become one of the strong competitors on academic area while the objectors in Western Europe are still working hard to defend their opinions. However, there are problems with policies released by the Chinese government as some teachers will argue that learning English cost a huge part of students’ time.