The Feasibility of an Early Start in Foreign Language Learning——A Survey of Primary School English Education in Meizhou

摘要

Since September 2001, in accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Education, the age of compulsory instruction of English as a school subject has been lowered from eleven (Grade 5) to nine (Grade 3) in Meizhou, a backward mountain city in the northeast of Guangdong province. A survey was conducted to probe into the quality of the primary school English education in Meizhou.Major data came from four groups of participants: 95 in-service primary school English teachers in Meizhou; 1,080 Grade 4 to Grade 6 primary school students; 50 college English teachers; three education researchers from the local education bureaus. The main concern is the practicability of an early start in foreign language learning in the Meizhou setting. Data were collected from three perspectives, including qualifications of in-service primary school English teachers, effects of their English teaching, and English exposure of primary school pupils. Questionnaires were given to all the participants and tests were given to some of the in-service primary English teachers. The results show that there is a serious lack of qualified English teachers in Meizhou and so many primary schools are not actually ready for an early start in FL learning. This suggests that cautions should be taken in determining the readiness of earlier English education. Should the goal of earlier English education be achieved, the government and the school authorities must invest more to help local schools hire more competent English teachers and take English teacher education as the most important task for current education policy.