At A-level and beyond, language should be taught based on experiences of people who have actually learned it, and not outsourced to anywhere – China, Taiwan or anywhere else. “For example, considering how China can be included more in the existing syllabus at GCSE level and below – such as China’s role in the second world war, as well as looking at earlier parts of Asian history. “There needs to be a much deeper change in how we understand China in our education system,” he said. Taipei’s Overseas Community Affairs Council, also a government agency, has been setting up Mandarin learning centres in a number of US cities since last year, in apparent competition with Confucius Institutes.īut Andrew Methven, who began studying Chinese two decades ago and now runs a Mandarin-learning newsletter, Slow Chinese, said that outsourcing language teaching “is not a solution”. In December 2020, the Chinese-speaking island signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the US to expand language teaching. Such concerns are shared in the US, too, and Taiwan has stepped in. The lack of Mandarin proficiency raised concerns for British diplomacy and also put language teaching under the spotlight. It was revealed last month that only 14 FCDO officials are being trained to speak fluent Chinese each year. Under the new proposal being seen by MPs, this funding could be redirected to alternative programmes such as those from Taiwan.īritain’s foreign language capability has been a major topic in Westminster in recent years as the country looks for ways to implement the post-Brexit “global Britain” framework. Those involved in the talks with the Taiwanese included Tory MP Alicia Kearns. We are looking for someone with excellent command of English and good knowledge in UK education. Professional translation training and skills are preferred. This amounts to at least £27m allocated from 2015 to 2024, according to estimates. UK SPEEDER EDUCATION CONSULTANCY AND SERVICE LTD. They also highlighted the limit to free speech in these classrooms and called the UK’s approach to Mandarin teaching “outdated”.Īlmost all UK government spending on Mandarin teaching at schools is channelled through university-based Confucius Institutes, a study conducted by China Research Group in June has shown. As bilateral relations between China and the UK continue to deteriorate, the Confucius language learning and teaching project has been under heavy scrutiny.Ĭampaigners have questioned the funding and recruitment process of the Chinese language teaching initiative. Recent reports suggested that she was prepared to declare China an “acute threat” to the UK’s national security, placing it in the same category as Russia. As education minister in 2014, Liz Truss praised the network of Confucius classrooms, saying they “will put in place a strong infrastructure for Mandarin” in the UK.īut Truss has since taken an increasingly hawkish stance on Beijing. Until recently, the Beijing-backed programme was viewed positively by the Conservative government.
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