Chen Lin Beijing Foreign Studies University

Warmest New Year Greetings to Members of The Training & Research Center for Private Foreign Language Education Chen Lin Beijing Foreign Studies University

Special Thanks to Henan Education Society Students English Paper

Congratulations to • ABC Foreign Language School Huan Jiu Beijing Jing Hua Rong Rui • Beijing Ju Ren Jiang Bo Ji Qing • BFSU Training College Li Yang • New Orient Qing Hua • Dale Shanghai Li Ang • Da Shan Xin Dong Li • Talenty (Gai Lun) Zhuhai Ping He

Current Situation and Prospects of Private Education in China

The Current Situation 1. Revised GDP for 2004 up by 16.8% China is now the 6th biggest economy in the world, after US, Japan, Germany, UK and France and before Italy and the others.

2. The GDP is raised from 13.65 trillion to 15.99 trillion RMB yuan in 2004.

3. Service sector accounts for 93 per cent of the revision.

4. The ratio of the service sector to GDP is 40.7 per cent.

5. The biggest chunk of service sector is certainly tourism. But service sector includes private education service, in which private foreign language training takes up quite a big percent.

According to latest statistics, the total value of foreign language training market has reached 15,000,000,000 yuan RMB. And hopefully it will reach 30,000,000,000 in two years time.

Economic Foundation and Superstructure According to dialectical materialism, the superstructure of a society should be in conformity with its economic foundation.

The present day economic structure of China is one in which different economic systems develop together with state economy taking the lead. However, the percentage of private economy is becoming larger and larger.

Accordingly, PRIVATE EDUCATION, as one of the different forms of education (state-run, locality-run, privately-run, joint-venture, foreign-investment education, etc.), will certainly develop in an ever-faster pace.

The Demand for English Language Training The demand comes from: 1. Pre-school and school children 2. Students ready to take exams at different levels 3. Job-seekers and in-service people 4. People ready to go abroad to study or work 5. Professionals who need to improve their English competence 6. Members of the service sector

Situation of private English training sector 1. SEVERE COMPETITION IN THE MARKET 2. Those who started earlier are in relatively better condition; 3. Newcomers need at least two or three years to establish themselves; 4. In some big cities there is a state of relative saturation; 5. In developing areas (including our Big Northwest) and smaller cities in developed areas, there is much room for development.

The Current Trend SPECIFICATION （细分化） FLT for studying abroad Certificate English Business English Children English Aural-Oral English Secretary English Examination English Native Teacher English, etc.

The Eight Principles for Development 1. Find the right location （选准办学地点） 2. Specify proper orientation （确立培训定位） 3. Create new administrative mode （创新办学模式） 4. Improve management system （改革管理体制） 5. Establish the right education philosophy (树立教育理念） 6. Raise the quality of teaching （提高教学质量） 7. Develop foreign co-operation （开展对外合作） 8. Participate in welfare activities (参与社会服务）

One Personal Belief In the acute competition of today, those who make the best use of multimedia means in training, particularly for children, will gain the best achievements and thus attract the greatest number of learners.

Of all the multimedia means, the best is movie DVD. In the past, we had such traditional programs as Peter Pan, Snow White, The Three Little Pigs etc. for children and Follow Me and Family Album USA for grownups. In recent years, there have been many specially-made programs for children, and also series for grownups, like Friends and Desperate Housewives from the US.

These movie DVD programs, with some necessary coaching by teachers and follow-up exercises and activities, would make foreign language learning interesting, natural, instructive, informative and effective.

THE SLOGAN Not just meet the market; Create the market.

BUT

A perhaps unwelcome question: Why are we setting up foreign language training schools or centers?

Yes, education should be run on an economic basis and with entrepreneurial skills. But EDUCATION IS NOT BUSINESS. That is, its main objective is not TO MAKE MONEY.

Then, the next question is: Should we run our schools along an Exam-oriented road or a Character-oriented road?

One fact: Many parents send their children to our schools with the sole purpose of enabling their children to score better marks, which perhaps should not be blamed under the present educational systems.

Therefore, to my mind, we should give the children, and grownups as well, a good language education or training to really improve their Integrated Language Capability, with which they can score good marks when they need to take an examination（高能又高分）, instead of just teaching them all kinds of “tricks” to pass an examination for the money they pay us.

Unless, perhaps, it should be a one-week short course for a certain “shock task”, for example, to pass a certain special exam in English, then it is another story.

In one word, reasonable profits are necessary, but we are educators, not businessmen.

One Conclusion Our government policy is to make great efforts to develop the less developed areas, particularly in EDUCATION, in which foreign language education is included. There is a great need and plenty of opportunities for the development of private foreign language education in our Big Northwest. So, let us all do our bit!

Thank you. Comments are welcome.

Chen Lin Beijing Foreign Studies University