Abstract
Abstract This paper gives a brief examination of the history of English as an academic subject in China, focusing on the paramount importance China attaches to the teaching and learning of foreign languages in general and of English in particular. It is argued that China is probably the one and only case in human history in which an immense sovereign state puts systematic and sustained efforts into learning a foreign language, formulating unified linguistic policies and enforcing them in a consistent and potent manner; and by so doing, China has succeeded in making the external world translated and transparent to it in a short time, integrating all kinds of new knowledge into its cognitive system, broadening its horizon and transforming the minds of its population, thus effecting an overall civilizational metamorphosis.
Highlights
This paper gives a brief examination of the history of English as an academic subject in China, focusing on the paramount importance China attaches to the teaching and learning of foreign languages in general and of English in particular
Jingshi Tongwen Guan, or Capital College of Foreign Languages, was officially installed in 1862 in Beijing by the Qing government.[2]. This can reasonably be taken as the very start of English as an academic subject in China, because with the founding of the Capital College, the first department of English ever in any Chinese college or university was set up
As soon, following the founding of the department of English and of those of French, Russian, German and Japanese successively in the following years, the Capital College of Foreign Languages would install a department of mathematics, offering mathematical and astrological courses
Summary
This paper gives a brief examination of the history of English as an academic subject in China, focusing on the paramount importance China attaches to the teaching and learning of foreign languages in general and of English in particular. 1 Hunan Normal University - Changsha, Hunan, China; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2925-6478; 2639742395@qq.com
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
