Realities, Challenges, and Promises

- Promoting the Next Generation of English

Teachers in ChinaJun Liu

May 18, 2007 Beijing, China

Did You Know . . .

The 25% of the population in China with the highest IQ’s . . .

Is greater than the total population of North America.

China will soon become the number one English speaking

country in the world.

If you took every single job in the U.S. today and shipped it to

China . . .

China would still have a labor surplus.

The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that today’s learner

will have 10-14 jobs . . .

By the age of 38.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor . . .

1 out of 4 workers today is working for a company they

have been employed by for less than one year.

More than 1 out of 2 are working for a company they have worked

for for less than five years.

According to former Secretary of Education Richard Riley . . .

The top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010 didn’t exist in 2004.

We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet

exist . . .

Using technologies that haven’t been invented . . .

In order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems

yet.

Did you know . . .

We are living in exponential times.

There are over 2.7 billion searches performed on Google

each month.

To whom were these questions addressed B.G.?(Before Google)

Did you know . . .

The number of text messages sent and received every day

exceeds the population of the planet.

There are about 540,000 words in the English language . . .

About 5 times as many as during Shakespeare’s time.

More than 3,000 new books are published . . .

Daily.

It’s estimated that a week’s worth of New York Times . . .

Contains more information than a person was likely to come

across in a lifetime in the 18th century.

It’s estimated that 1.5 exabytes (that’s 1.5 x 1018) of unique new information will be generated

worldwide this year.

That’s estimated to be more than in the previous 5,000 years.

The amount of new technical information is doubling every 2

years.

That means for a student starting a four-year technical or

college degree . . .

Half of what they learn in their first year of study will be

outdated by their third year of study.

It’s predicted to double every 72 hours by 2010.

Now you know . . .

It is not easy to be a teacher in this

information age.

It is even more difficult to be a language

educator, because

Language Education is affected by multiple

factors, such as political, economic, and

educational.

Table 1: Real GDP Growth

　 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

World 4.17 1.49 2.15 2.62 3.87 3.41 3.84 3.54

Western Europe 3.88 1.74 1.24 1.19 2.35 1.73 2.59 2.29

Eastern Europe 6.29 4.04 3.8 5.67 6.65 5.42 5.94 5.58

North America 3.8 0.87 1.69 2.45 3.85 3.18 3.37 2.91

Latin America & Caribbean

3.97 0.4 0.32 1.77 5.57 4.06 4.48 4

Asia Pacific 4.75 2.25 3.17 4.27 5.25 5.42 5.62 5.39

Australasia 3.31 2.3 4.19 3.14 3.62 2.47 2.87 3.27

Africa and Middle East

4.64 0.77 5.85 3.85 3.9 4.05 4.01 3.75

Table 2: Real GDP growth in Table 2: Real GDP growth in some main countriessome main countries

Real GDP growth S1 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006(f)

France 4 1.8 1.1 1.1 2 1.2 2.4

Germany 3.1 1.2 0 -0.2 1.2 0.9 2

United Kingdom 3.8 2.4 2.1 2.7 3.3 1.9 2.7

Russia 10 5.1 4.7 7.3 7.2 6.4 6.5

Canada 5.2 1.8 2.9 1.8 3.3 2.9 3.1

USA 3.7 0.8 1.6 2.5 3.9 3.2 3.4

China 8.4 8.3 9.1 10 10.1 10.2 10

Real GDP growth in Asian Real GDP growth in Asian countries in particularcountries in particular

Real GDP growth S1

2000

2001 2002 2003 2004 20052006(

f)

Hong Kong, China 10 0.6 1.8 3.2 8.6 7.3 6

India 5.3 4.1 4.3 7.2 8 8.5 8.3

Indonesia 5.4 3.6 4.5 4.8 5.1 5.6 5.2

Japan 2.9 0.4 0.1 1.8 2.3 2.6 2.7

Malaysia 8.9 0.3 4.4 5.5 7.2 5.2 5.5

Philippines 6 1.8 4.4 4.9 6.2 5 5

Singapore 10 -2.3 4 2.9 8.7 6.4 6.9

South Korea 8.5 3.8 7 3.1 4.7 4 5

Taiwan 5.8 -2.2 4.2 3.4 6.1 4.1 4

Thailand 4.8 2.2 5.3 7 6.2 4.5 4.5

Vietnam 6.8 6.9 7.1 7.3 7.8 8.4 7.8

Table 3:Exports in some main Table 3:Exports in some main countriescountries

historic - US$ mn

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Germany 550150.

1571359

612598.5

751371.8

911583.2

977824

USA 781918729100.

4693103 724771

819051.9

907157

China 24920326609

8325591 437899 593439

724008.19

Japan 479249.

3403496.

2416726.

3471818 565675 594905

France 298116.

6294915.

9308340.

6361993.

7417272.

4436933

Italy 239886244210.

2254096.

8299412

353434.2

373451.9

United Kingdom 282838.

6268578

276299.3

306533.6

341595.8

371370.1

Russia 105566 101886 107302 135930 183209 243572

Brazil 55085.658222.6

560361.8

73084.13

96475.3118308.

45

India 42398.6

643273 49312 57336.4

74395.75

99757.8

Figure: Internet top ten Figure: Internet top ten languageslanguages

Table 4: Top Ten Languages Used in the Table 4: Top Ten Languages Used in the WebWeb

LANGUAGESPercentage

of UsersNumber of

UsersInternet

PenetrationInternet

GrowthWorld

Population

English 29.70% 322,600,837 28.70% 135.20% 1,125,664,397

Chinese 13.30% 144,301,513 10,8 % 346.70% 1,340,767,863

Japanese 7.90% 86,300,000 67.20% 83.30% 128,389,000

Spanish 7.50% 81,729,671 18.70% 231.10% 437,502,257

German 5.40% 58,854,682 61.30% 113.20% 95,982,043

French 4.60% 49,660,498 13.00% 307.10% 381,193,149

Portuguese 3.10% 34,064,760 14.80% 349.60% 230,846,275

Korean 3.10% 32,372,000 45.80% 78.00% 73,945,860

Italian 2.70% 28,870,000 48.80% 118.70% 59,115,261

Russian 2.20% 23,700,000 16.50% 664.50% 143,682,757

TOP TEN 79.50% 863,981,961 21.50% 166.70% 4,017,088,863

Rest 20.50% 222,268,942 9.00% 500.00% 2,482,608,197

WORLD TOTAL

100.00%1,086,250,90

316.70% 200.90% 6,499,697,060

Table 5:Internet users and Table 5:Internet users and population statistics for Asiapopulation statistics for Asia

INTERNET USERS AND POPULATION STATISTICS FOR ASIA

ASIA REGION

Population ( 2006 Est. )

Pop. of World

Internet Users

PopulationUsage

of WorldUse

Growth

Asia Only 3,667,774,066 56.40% 387,593,457 10.60% 35.50%239.10

%

Rest of the World

2,831,922,994 43.60% 704,137,404 24.90% 64.50%185.40

%

WORLD TOTAL

6,499,697,060 100.00% 1,091,730,861 16.80% 100.00%202.40

%

Table 6: Table 6: Asia internet usage and Asia internet usage and populationpopulation (1) (1)

ASIA INTERNET USAGE AND POPULATION

ASIAPopulation( 2006 Est.)

Internet Users

(Year 2000)

InternetUsers

Latest DataPenetration

Users in Asia

Use Growth

China 1,306,724,067 22,500,000 132,000,000 10.10% 34.10% 486.7%

HongKong

7,054,867 2,283,000 4,878,713 69.20% 1.30% 113.7%

India 1,112,225,812 5,000,000 40,000,000 3.60% 10.60% 700.0%

Indonesia 221,900,701 2,000,000 18,000,000 8.10% 4.80% 800.0%

Japan 128,389,000 47,080,000 86,300,000 67.20% 22.80% 83.3%

Korea,South

50,633,265 19,040,000 33,900,000 67.00% 9.00% 78.0%

Malaysia 27,392,442 3,700,000 11,016,000 40.20% 2.90% 197.7%

Asia internet usage and Asia internet usage and populationpopulation (2) (2)

ASIA INTERNET USAGE AND POPULATION

ASIAPopulation( 2006 Est.)

Internet Users

(Year 2000)

InternetUsers

Latest DataPenetration

Users in Asia

Use Growth

Pakistan 163,985,373 133,900 10,500,000 6.40% 2.80% 7741.7%

Philippines 85,712,221 2,000,000 7,820,000 9.10% 2.10% 291.0%

Singapore 3,601,745 1,200,000 2,421,000 67.20% 0.60% 101.8%

Taiwan 22,896,488 6,260,000 13,800,000 60.30% 3.60% 120.4%

Thailand 66,527,571 2,300,000 8,420,000 12.70% 2.20% 266.1%

Vietnam 83,944,402 200,000 14,210,244 16.90% 3.60% 7005.1%

TOTALASIA

3,667,774,066 114,303,000 387,593,457 10.60% 100.00% 239.1%

English Education in ChinaEnglish Education in China

•One billion EFL learners in 2000 and will double in 2010•300 million EFL learners in China spending $60 billion a year

How many teachers are needed to How many teachers are needed to teach English in China?teach English in China?

•If one teacher teaches 100 students, then there needs about 3 million EFL teacher in China, and 6 million in 2010.

Who is going to teach English?Who is going to teach English?

•Those who are learning English in primary schools will take over the teaching of English to the next generation of learners in the next 10 to 15 years.

Market OpportunitiesMarket Opportunities

•Higher disposable income•More spending on child education•More emphasis on English communication skills beyond exams•Lack of stimulating, convenient and affordable environment•Better Internet infrastrucure

How can future teachers be How can future teachers be trained?trained?

•Completely different ways•Self-training•On-line training•Side-training•Global training

But, there needs the following:But, there needs the following:

Curriculum developmentPedagogical innovationsContent based instructionCommunicative competenceLearner autonomy

Ten ChallengesTen Challenges

1. Skills training2. Motivation3. Grammar4. Methods5. World Englishes6. Critical practice7. Disciplinary collaboration8. Strategy training9. Starting age10. Alternative assessment

So…So…The future is in your hands.