A Study On Foreign Language Education Policy And Planning In China Since The Late Qing Dynasty

Foreign language education policy and planning, as one special kind of language planning and policy, is the most effective way in influencing the development of one language. With the rapid process of globalization in different fields in China, interdisciplinary talents, bilingual talents or even multi-lingual talents are in great need. Among all the foreign languages, English, as an overwhelming foreign language, enjoys considerable popularity and prestige and the craze for learning English has lasted for many years in China. With the infiltration of English in China, opportunities as well as challenges have appeared. In order to make use of the opportunities and resolve the conflicts, reforms on the present Language Planning and Language Policy (LPLP for short) should be carried out.This thesis tries to list those representative foreign language education planning and policy especially English education policy and planning in different times and analyze the contents, formulation and implementation of these English education policy and planning based on the language planning theory put forward by Cooper in 1989 and the language policy analysis framework proposed by Shen Qi in 2011, so as to get a clear, comprehensive and systematic understanding of English education planning and policy and find the existing problems.Shen Qi’s Evaluation Model of Foreign Language Education Policy analyzes foreign language education policies from the perspective of educational policy. It offers an intact and scientific theoretical framework by analyzing the making process, contents and values of those foreign language education policies. Cooper’s mode of language planning gives a clear and concise discussion on eight inevitable questions for language planning.Through analysis, the following conclusions are made:As for foreign language education policy, first:the formulation of foreign language education policy and planning are closely related to China’s politics, economy and culture. Second, the integrity and scientific nature of those language policies are improving. Third:the policy making process still follows the top-down pattern. Apart from the education sector, teachers, students, parents, and related institutions in society seldom have the opportunity to participate in and express their needs, so some contents lacked of scientific nature. The testing system, policy assessment, implementation and supervision system is unsound. The validity of these policies still needs to be improved. Fourth:In different times, the legality of those policies has been guaranteed by related laws and regulations. The main value orientation reflected in those policies is instrumental value, but the cultural and humanistic value is getting more and more attention.This thesis testified that Cooper’s analysis mode of language planning can be used to analyze China’s foreign language education planning and it’s powerful. Through analysis, many problems can be found, such as there is on specific language planning institutions, and there is also no specific medium or long term of foreign language planning which can be used as guideline documents. English is getting too much attention, while the result is unsatisfactory and planning on others foreign languages didn’t get enough attention.In order to make rational foreign language education policy and planning, relevant theories are needed, meanwhile, it’s history and development tendency, the society’s and students’needs also should be taken into consideration. This thesis enriches studies on China’s foreign language education planning and policy by analyzing them with the above theories. It also provides some enlightenment and theoretical support for future study.