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Social Ideologies and the English Curriculum in China: A Historical Overview

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Book cover Perspectives on Teaching and Learning English Literacy in China

Part of the book series: Multilingual Education ((MULT,volume 3))

Abstract

Mainstream philosophies and social ideologies have played a decisive role in education in China. This chapter provides a historical overview of English literacy instruction in China under different social, curricular, and pedagogical ideologies. The authors trace the history of English education in China back to the late Imperial period in the nineteenth century when Western nations were establishing trade with China. They explore the influence of Confucianism, John Dewey’s Pragmatism, and Marxism on English teaching in China, and by analyzing curricular artifacts, such as syllabi and textbooks, identify ideologies that historically determined the orientation of English curricula in China at different time periods. The five main ideologies identified by Morris and Adamson (Curriculum, schooling and society in Hong Kong. Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong, 2010) are seen as being historically influential in determining the orientation of English curricula: (a) social and economic efficiency, (b) child-centered ideology, (c) academic rationalism, (d) social reconstructionism, and (e) orthodoxy/ideological transfer. Through an analysis of the ideologies associated with different periods of China’s development, the authors seek to explain how English has attained its current status of high prestige and increasingly numerous functions in Chinese society.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA

    Ran Hu

  2. Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong, China

    Bob Adamson

Authors
  1. Ran Hu
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  2. Bob Adamson
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Correspondence to Ran Hu .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Education, Dept. of Inst. L'ship & Ac. Curriculum, University of Oklahoma, 820 Van Vleet Oval, Norman, 73019, Oklahoma, USA

    Jiening Ruan

  2. , College of Education, University of South Florida, 140 7th Ave. South, St. Petersburg, 33701, Florida, USA

    Cynthia B. Leung

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Hu, R., Adamson, B. (2012). Social Ideologies and the English Curriculum in China: A Historical Overview. In: Ruan, J., Leung, C. (eds) Perspectives on Teaching and Learning English Literacy in China. Multilingual Education, vol 3. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4994-8_1

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