New Trends in Chinese College Students’ Attitudes towards English Learning

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Abstract. A questionnaire survey was conducted on 268 Chinese college students, and three new trends in chinese college students’ attitudes towards english learning were discovered: 1) A shift from “examination-oriented” to “communication-oriented”; 2) A combination of utilitarian motive and aesthetic interest; 3) A contradiction between personal devotion and national antipathy. Based on the findings of this research, some suggestions were proposed for ESL teachers in China.

Keywords: English learning,Chinese college students,questionnaire survey

1. Introduction

It is reported that China has the largest English-learning population in the world. (Bolton & Tong, 2002). And in China, English has been one of the most highly weighed subjects in the educational system of China for more than two decades. Despite the fact that English continues to grow in importance as a compulsory course in school and college education throughout China, the role played by English in the educational system of China remains a highly controversial issue, and attitudes of learners towards English learning vary. Zhao and Campbell (1995), for example, have reported that many Chinese students resent having to learn English, and they do so only because of its importance for educational achievement. Yang (2010) found that Chinese college students’ attitudes regarding the English education policies and practices in China are complex based on the survey she conducted on college students from four universities in Wuhan, China. In her survey, the students acknowledged that the Chinese government has attached much importance to English education while on the other hand revealed concerns and dissatisfaction about the utilitarian type of English learning, as most of the students are extremely “exam-oriented” in their English learning.

As a college English teacher in China, I have been concerned about this controversial situation for a long time and am glad to have discovered some new trends in Chinese college students’ attitudes towards English learning by conducting a questionnaire survey on my students who are non-English major freshmen and sophomores. Hopefully, it will provide English teachers and other people concerned with a new perspective on learners of English in Chinese colleges at present.

2. Survey Design

In this survey, a questionnaire of 15 questions was designed. Each question is given in a 4-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = “Definitely No” to 4 = “Definitely Yes”. The middle point was omitted in order to avoid the central tendency. Means and standard deviations were calculated with any mean value smaller than 2.5 indicating an inclination towards a positive attitude while a value greater than 2.5 indicated an inclination towards a negative attitude.

268 Chinese freshmen college students from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China were asked to participate in the survey. 15 different majors were involved in this questionnaire, varying from Computer Science to Traditional Chinese Medicine, and from Physics to French.

3. Findings and Analysis

The following data is obtained from students’ replies to the questionnaire:

And three new trends in Chinese college students’ attitudes towards English learning are revealed:

3.1 A shift from “examination-oriented” to “communication-oriented”

Though most Chinese college students are still not so good at communication in English as they do in English examinations, many of them are actually fully aware of the importance of the communicative function of English. Of all the questions that my students have consulted me on, “How can I improve my oral English” is the second most popular one, next only to “How can I expand my vocabulary?” And a few messages were left on the on-line “comment and advice” board asking for more communicative activities to be carried out in my English classes.

This discovery can be further verified by the survey I have conducted. Contrary to the common preconception that Chinese students learn English only to pass exams, 86% of the students surveyed would like to pursue their English learning even if they have passed College English Tests which are the most important English tests for college students in China (Question 1). The function of language as a communicative tool has been recognized by the majority of the students surveyed, as shown by the 82% of the students who welcome Communicative Language Teaching in English classes and 75% of the students who would like an English-Chinese bilingual environment to be adopted in other college courses. (Question 3 and 4). In addition, the shift of students from “examination-oriented” to “communication-oriented” can also be demonstrated by the 90% of the students who would like to take selective Oral English courses in contrast with the 70% of the students who would like to take training courses in preparation for College English Tests.

3.2 A combination of utilitarian motive and aesthetic interest

Admittedly, utilitarianism plays an important role in Chinese college students’ motive for learning English. And we can hardly deny the truth that Chinese students are, in some sense, highly purpose-driven in their learning of English，as can be indicated by a comparison of the mean values of question 1 and 2.

However, it would be unfair to conclude that Chinese college students are all passionless learners of English who view English only as a tool for them to get what they want. In fact, a great number of them do have more or less developed some interest in English learning, which some of them might even fail to realize themselves.

The students’ responses to question 7, 8, 10, 11, 12 seem to be supportive of this view. Surprisingly enough, there is a greater number of students showing interest in “British and American Literature” (62%) as a selective course than in “Business English”(51%), which is acknowledged as a more “profitable” course than the former one.

Students’ interest in English learning may come partly from their appreciation of the aesthetic value of English as a language. 61% of the students surveyed prefer original English version to Chinese translation version for works that might interest them. The proportion is even larger (73%) for preference of original English movies to Chinese-dubbed versions, which is quite understandable in view of the 82% of the students who claim to have tried to imitate native speakers’ pronunciations and intonations. These data have coincided with one of my previous experiences in which my students showed much impatience and dissatisfaction when an English movie they were watching in class had encountered a problem and the language was suddenly switched from English to Chinese.

3.3 A contradiction between personal devotion and national antipathy

An interesting contrast between Chinese college students’ attitudes toward English learning on a personal level and that on a national level can be revealed by the result of this survey. In contrast with their generally positive attitudes towards questions regarding English learning on a personal level, as indicated by the high mean values of questions from No. 1 to No. 12, especially question No. 9 for which the mean is the greatest of all (3.5634), students surveyed are much more doubtful about the significance of English learning on a national level. Of questions No. 13, 14 and 15, the mean values are much lower than those for the preceding questions, and for question No. 14 of which the mean value is as low as 2.4375, there is even a tendency of being negative about English playing a critical role in students academic success .

This contradiction between Chinese students’ personally valuing English as a vital skill and their disapproving of the critical role played by English in China can be attributed to the following two reasons:

1) Poor English proficiency has become a major obstacle for many Chinese students who may excel in many other subjects like mathematics or physics to achieve greater academic success because of the increasingly rigorous requirements of students’ English proficiency. On the one hand, these students who have learned their lessons from past experiences feel obliged to learn English well. On the other hand, without recognizing fully the significance of English proficiency to the development of China, they blame the requirements and regulations instead of their own poor English proficiency for their failures.

2) Many Chinese college students view English with both a sense of superiority and a sense of inferiority. On the one hand, they feel ashamed of their poor English and dream of being excellent English speakers. On the other hand, they call English “a foolish language” and “popular only because of money”. This coincides with Chinese people’s general attitude towards Western culture. In this sense, Chinese college students’ attitude towards English learning is virtually a mirror of Chinese people’ s attitude towards Western culture.

4. Suggestions for ESL Teachers

The following suggestions, based on the findings of this research, hopefully will provide ESL teachers with some inspirations as to how to help their students in a more profound way.

1) That some of your students always keep silent in class does not necessarily mean that they are not interested in communicating in English. They are probably just too shy or not confident enough. Encourage them, or if necessary, force them to talk. They will thank you for it.

2) When your students complain about the boredom of English learning, they probably are not actually bored of English itself. Try to find artistic and aesthetic value in everything you teach and let your students feel them, too. They will love English for its beauty.

3) When your students are working hard on English, they probably have no clear idea why they should spend so much time on English. Convince the students of the importance of English learning for China, and they will be better motivated.

References

[1] Bolton, K., & Tong, Q. S. (2002). Introduction: interdisciplinary perspectives on English

in China. World Englishes, 21 (2), 177-180.

[2] Zhao, Y. & Campbell, K. P. (1995). English in China. World Englishes, 14 (3), 377-390.

[3] Yang Y. (2010). Attitudes of Learners toward English: A Case of Chinese College Students. M.A. Dissertation, Ohio State University.