Why some in China want English out of the classroom

(Edited and refined by Bai Kelei, with the assistance of AI translation.)

After Liaoning province recently announced that subjects such as history would no longer count towards the total score for its zhongkao (Senior High School Entrance Examination), Tang Jiafeng, a teacher and online celebrity, called instead for English to be stripped of its core-subject status. Saying that “the history of Chinese people worshipping foreign things and fawning on foreign countries should end”, he reignited debate over reducing the weight given to English.

Tang, who holds a doctorate in mathematics from Nanjing University, has long taught mathematics to candidates taking postgraduate entrance examinations. The latest controversy stemmed from his concerns over reforms to the locally administered zhongkao.

On 28 August, Liaoning’s Educational Department announced that, from the autumn semester this year, history, geography and biology would be changed from examination subjects to assessed subjects, and would no longer be included in the zhongkao total score. The move was aimed at improving assessment methods and reducing student workload.

On 3 September, Tang wrote on the social media platform Toutiao about how seeing some regions exclude history from zhongkao scores, as China marks the 81st anniversary of victory against Japanese aggression, left him feeling “very heavy-hearted”.

Nationalism enters English debate

The following day, Tang argued for English education to be scaled back instead. He wrote, “I publicly call for English to be removed from its status as a core subject! From primary school through secondary school, high school and university, our children, parents and schools are devoting too much time and resources to a subject that, for the vast majority, has nothing to do with their work after graduation. The history of Chinese people worshipping foreign things and fawning on foreign countries should end.”

English is currently a compulsory subject in China’s basic education system, alongside Chinese and mathematics. In the gaokao university entrance examination, all three subjects carry equal weight, with each worth 150 marks.

“Tang Jiafeng calls for English to lose its core-subject status” topped Weibo’s trending list on 5 September, prompting several related discussions, including whether English should retain its core-subject status. Many users voiced opposition and scepticism.

Former Global Times editor-in-chief Hu Xijin rubbished Tang’s claims and said only an extreme and narrow-minded group regarded learning English as xenocentric.

Online opinion on the issue has been divided. Supporters of reducing English’s weight argue that most people have limited need for English after entering the workforce, while artificial intelligence (AI) translation technology is sufficient for communication. Opponents stress that English remains an important tool for China to connect with cutting-edge scientific research, and that weakening English education could undermine national competitiveness.

Calls to reduce the status of English as a core subject have surfaced from time to time in recent years. During China’s annual Two Sessions this year, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference suggested lowering the gaokao score’s English weightage from 150 to 100 marks.

Beyond score-driven exam reform

Xiong Bingqi, a Chinese education scholar, told Lianhe Zaobao that calls to remove English’s core-subject status had always existed. The central argument is that students spend too much time learning a foreign language with little to show for their efforts. In recent years, this has been compounded by at least two factors: the rise of AI has led some to question whether learning foreign languages still matters, while online discourse increasingly equates learning English with an excessive admiration for all things foreign, deepening social divisions.

For Xiong, merely reducing the score weightage of English would not resolve the problems with the education system. He said, “Cutting subjects will lead some people to argue that they are no longer valued, prompting them to be reinstated. Once they are brought back, some parents will complain about the workload, and they will be cut again. Inevitably, subjects that are dropped will make their way back into the curriculum a few years later.”

Xiong argued that the real problem was an education system that prioritises scores and advancement to higher education, driven by total-score admissions for both high school and university entrance and a single-track assessment system. The focus, he said, should instead be on reforming the exam-oriented education model; debating whether individual subjects should be retained does little to advance that reform.

Chinese technology media outlet MyDrivers (快科技) said the controversy reflected public reassessment of how educational resources are allocated. Future education reforms are unlikely to take the extreme, one-size-fits-all route of abolishing English as a core subject, and are more likely to adopt differentiated approaches that allow students pursuing different paths to choose an appropriate intensity of English study.

This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “网红教师吁取消英语主科地位 中国再掀’英语降权’之争”.

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