汉语成“英国高考”热门科目

2019-08-27

时代英语·高一 2019年4期

“Our research shows that Mandarin will be one of the most important languages for the UKs future prosperity and global standing—but we mustnt neglect Spanish， French and German which will still be vital post-Brexit.”

Nick Gibb， the schools minister， said： “It has never been more important for young people to learn a foreign language than now.”

“An outward looking global nation needs a new generation of young people comfortable with the language and culture of our overseas trading partners.”

In 2018 Chinese A-level （General Certificate of Education Advanced Level） has overtaken German for the first time， as it becomes the UKs third most popular language.

This year 3，334 students took Chinese A-level， compared to 3，058 taking German. While entries for Chinese have increased by 8.6 percent since 2017， German entries have declined by 16.5 percent.

Derek Richardson， the senior responsible officer at Pearson， said Chinese has “bucked the trend” of the fall in popularity of modern languages.

“In languages we are seeing some significant decreases in entries for the main modern languages： French， German and Spanish，” he said.

“But what we are also seeing is an increase in entries across some of the other languages that people study.”

“What this means is Chinese is now more popular than German. So maybe young people are beginning to think about what languages will be useful to them in the future.”

French remains the most popular modern language A-level followed by Spanish， but both have seen a fall in entries compared to 2017 by eight and four percent respectively.

Russian has also increased in popularity since 2017 by 3.4 percent， from 1，122 to 1，160. Arabic， however， has declined by 5.4 percent， from 782 entries in 2017 to 740 in 2018.

Suzanne OFarrell， curriculum and assessment specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders （ASCL）， said： “Were seeing German just moving into extinction really. It is in severe decline.”

Barnaby Lenon， chair of the Independent Schools Council （ISC）， said that whereas pupils used to be told “It will really help your career if you learn German”， this is no longer the case.

“In the 1960s， 70s and even the 80s， Germany was the economic powerhouse of Europe，” he told The Daily Telegraph.

“Pupils were strongly encouraged to study German because of the importance of the German economy. Although it is still strong， that argument has faded， and China has emerged in the last 25 years as the fastest growing economy in the world.”

Mr Lenon， a former headmaster at Harrow School， said the rise in Chinese A-levels is partly driven by private schools， many of which have invested in the subject in recent years.

“It is not the case that a large number of states schools are now teaching Chinese A-levels. They are not，” he said.

He said many of the entries will be Chinese native speakers， adding that independent schools have attracted “large numbers” of Chinese pupils in recent years.

Aspirational middle class families sending their children to be educated in the UK has fuelled a steady increase in Chinese students， with number at fee-paying schools almost doubling in five years according to ISC data.

Mark Herbert， director of schools and skills at the British Council， welcomed the rise in Chinese A-level entries.

“Against this overall downward trend， the increasing popularity of Chinese proves that our young people can be enthused to study languages，” he said.

在2018年的A-level考试中，选考汉语的考生人数首次超过德语，汉语成为英国第三大热门语言。

2018年有3334名学生报考了汉语A-level考试，德语有3058人。选考汉语的报名人数比2017年增长了8.6%，而德语则减少了16.5%。

培生集团高级官员德里克·理查德森说，汉语“逆转”了现代语言受欢迎度下降的“趋势”。

他说：“我们看到一些主要现代语言的报考人数大幅减少，包括法语、德语和西班牙语。”

“但是我们同时也看到，报考其他一些语言的人数有所增加。”

“这意味着汉语现在比德语更受欢迎。也许年轻人开始思考未来哪些语言对他们更有用。”

法语仍然是A-level中选考人数最多的现代语言，其次是西班牙语。但是与2017年相比，这两种语言的报考人数分别减少了8%和4%。

俄语的报考人数也比2017年增加了3.4%，从1122人增加到1160人。阿拉伯语的报考人数减少了5.4%，从2017年的782人减少到2018年的740人。

英国校长协会的课程与评估专家苏珊娜·奥法雷尔说：“我们看到报考德语的人数正在大幅减少，情况真的很严重。”

英国私立学校理事会主席巴纳比·莱农说，过去，学生被教导说“学习德语，真的会对你的事业很有帮助”，但是现在情况不再是这样了。