English departments in Chinese universities: purpose and function

As a required subject from primary to graduate school, English has a special position in Chinese education. This special position is a mixed blessing for English departments in Chinese universities. It provides high–quality students in terms of English proficiency, while at the same time it overwhelms English studies as a specialist discipline with the demands of English language teaching (ELT) for non–majors and general learners. English studies aims at an understanding of the cultures/civilizations of the English–speaking peoples. It is a philosophical education in the way in which English–speaking peoples structure their knowledge, their literary/political/legal/economic thinking, as well as a comparative study between Chinese and English structures of knowledge. Rigorous training in their specialized field should first give English majors technical control over the material they handle, and then make them conscious of their limitations. Their discipline and training provide them with an instrument in their future work, and a habit, a frame of mind, and an awareness of methods and methodology. This training of potential specialists is therefore the basis of responsible citizenship, as academic rigor and discipline alert students to unreason in their society, and make them more amenable to a rational and efficient society. If ELT is going to survive as a university subject, it must take on the character of humanistic/philosophical education, though it should retain its technical aspects at the same time. While the training of specialists in English studies and of students in other disciplines will never be the same, both the English department and English language teaching in a university context must contribute to a humanistic education.