Wang Yisong has been learning the ropes fast, working at a joint venture in Guangzhou for a year. But the biggest trouble for him is the difficulty in communicating with his American superiors - he finds it hard to speak English.

Wang was the top student of his class at the Automobile Department of Wuhan University of Science and Technology between 1994 and 1998.

He not only stood out in major-related courses such as mathematics, design and engineering, but also scored high in College English Tests (CET), with 92 in CET 4, and 85 in upper level CET 6 (100-point grading system).

'Mute English'

"But I know what I learnt was so-called mute English," says Wang. "I was only taught to read fast and to be skillful in selecting the right answers for tests."

This situation is expected to change from this year on, as the Ministry of Education has launched a nationwide campaign focusing on enhancing college students' speaking and listening capabilities.

Aided by computers and other multimedia facilities, the teaching of English will shift from the monotonous teacher-dominated lectures to a variety of classroom activities and out-of-class computer-aided study, according to the educational authority.

Many universities, such as the Language and Culture School at the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in southwest China's Sichuan Province, are already experimenting with their teaching methods in this direction.

The language school built an online self-aid study center two years ago. The website contains downloadable audio and video programs, novels and test samples. Teachers can organize online tests for the students, and review their assignments and monitor their homework process.

In classrooms, teachers set up projectors connected to computers. When teaching a new word in the text, they can easily demonstrate its usages by playing an audio excerpt downloaded shortly from Western media such as BBC.

Experimenting

"A number of young teachers are enthusiastic about experimenting with all kinds of teaching methods, and the students like the new methods very much," says Xia Zheng, dean of the Language and Culture School.

To solve the problem of a lack of practice in classes as big as 30 to 40 students, the Ministry of Education is planning to introduce computer software to help them with listening and speaking.

Computer-aided teaching methods allow students to select a course according to their own time and level, thus freeing them from time constraints. And, they will have more chances to practice speaking and listening, two basic skills they're normally weak in.

A survey by the Language Institute of Beijing Foreign Studies University indicates that nearly 89 percent of the teachers at the university agree with the reform of traditional English-teaching methods.

"To some extent, English teaching in colleges now fails to give graduates the necessary skills to use the language effectively. Many students can't speak or write fluently after graduation. So we designed the new College English Curriculum Requirements to guide teaching reforms," explains Zhang Yaoxue, director of the Department for Higher Education at the ministry.

New computer technology will play a more prominent role in assisting language teaching. In December, the department approved four multimedia systems for improving student communication abilities.

Four systems

The four systems are New Era Interactive English from Tsinghua University Press, New Perspective English Learning System from Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, English XP from Higher Education Press and New Horizon College English from Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.

Zhang says that the ministry is now looking for colleges to take part in the requirement trials and expects to provide financial support for participants.

More than 300 colleges have applied for the requirement trials and the ministry will select 180 as pioneers, says Zhang.

Starting this month, the ministry will begin to work on ways to reform the current College English Test (CET). "As an evaluation tool, CET must be redesigned to meet the new teaching requirements," says Zhang.

Computers smart enough?

At the APEC Education Reform Summit that was held in Beijing from January 12-14, China's educational officials briefed the participants on the new College English Curriculum Requirements and displayed parts of computer-aided English teaching programs, according to Zhao Yong, a Chinese professor of educational technology working in Michigan State University of the United States. Educational officials from Chile and the Philippines showed great interest in the requirements, and are keen to introduce China's methods.

But some teachers and students doubt if computers are smart enough, and if the programs can retain students' attention for long hours.

"It's a good idea to introduce computers to help enhance speaking and listening abilities," says Lin Yan, a professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University. "But I wonder how much a computer can interact with a student."

A computer is a useful tool to train listening ability, as a student can listen to materials from a huge data base, and replay them whenever necessary.

But in terms of oral English teaching, she doubts if the computer can conduct conversations with the student in different situations.

Lin says the quality of learning from a computer depends very much upon the persistence and motivation of the student.

"It will be difficult to hunch over a screen by yourself. It's lonely, no teacher or classmates to talk to you," she says.

He Xiaoke, a graduate from Chongqing University of Postal Technology, agrees.

"Except a few students who habitually worked hard or planned to go abroad, most of the students in my class did not pay much attention to study if nobody took care of them," says He.

Some senior educators are even suggesting that the universities spend more on the training of the English teachers instead of the machines.

"If we aim at only building the most advanced language labs, it will probably not benefit language teaching much but equipment manufacturers will be happy," says Gui Shichun, Guangdong University of Foreign Languages and Trade.

Teaching tool

However, Zhang says: "The computer is a patient English teaching tool. It won't lose its temper, so your mistakes can always be corrected easily and timely. And, when you study with it, you have no pressure of fearing that your pronunciation will be laughed at. So it encourages students to speak more."

Caroline Portsmouth, a foreigner teaching English in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, says activities in the classroom that get students talking have to be employed if China is to realize its goal of English as the nation's second language.

Current English-teaching methodology in the nation's classrooms, including many prestigious establishments, can, for the most part, be fairly compared to the discredited system of learning adopted by scholars and students aspiring to be successful in the imperial examinations for selecting civil servants in the past dynasties, the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) in particular - memorizing and reciting in order to pass tests.

(China Daily February 11, 2004)