The National Curriculum Changes and Their Effects on English Language Teaching in the People’s Republic of China

Abstract

In China, the national curriculum, which applies to both primary and secondary schools, is the most influential foundation for educational practice. The Ministry of Education (MOE) is responsible for the development of the national curriculum across all subject areas. The national English curriculum, in the past 20 years, has seen some major changes along with the country’s social, political, and economic developments. Changes in the English curriculum have had a profound influence on the methodological approaches to ELT in Chinese schools. This chapter, by providing an overview of the development of foreign language teaching in China over the last century, looks particularly into the ELT curriculum changes in the last 20 years with a focused examination of the different approaches taken in teaching and in materials development. The article gives special attention to the recent curriculum innovations and discusses the future directions of ELT in China.