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加拿大学者呼吁更多加国人学中文
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加拿大阿尔伯塔大学东亚研究所副教授丹尼尔·弗里德日前在加拿大主流媒体《渥太华公民报》上发表署名文章，呼吁更多加拿大人学习中文。
文章说，许多加拿大人认为中文仅仅是中国人说的语言，他们从未想过中文会在加拿大公立学校中占有一席之地。但随着中国崛起和中文教育在全世界的快速普及，中文正日益成为世界语言，加拿大应抛弃旧思维、适应新形势。
文章称，中国政府正逐步降低英语在国内教育体系中的分量，未来10年，会讲英语的中国人(可能)将大幅减少，与中国打交道的企业和国家将越来越需要使用中文。但令人不解的是，加拿大人对学习中文的态度远未形成一致，中文教育仍被各省和地方教育当局视为异想天开，既缺乏全国性协调，也无专门资金支持。
文中提出，如能加强国家层面引导，加拿大在推广中文教育方面将面临黄金机会。加拿大在这方面潜力巨大，部分学校已开始实施中文教育项目，阿尔伯塔省首府埃德蒙顿已在公立学校体系中推行西方最大的中文教育项目，加拿大若干大学也有能力帮助学生学习流畅中文和中华文化。
Daniel Fried: More Canadians should learn a Chinese language
DANIEL FRIEDMore from Daniel Fried
Published on: January 20, 2015Last Updated: January 20, 2015 4:38 PM EST
A student writes a Chinese character on the board at Ottawa Capital Chinese School in 2007.
Jana Chytilova / The Ottawa Citizen
Is Chinese only for the Chinese? Many Canadians assume so: surveys show that only a minority could imagine classes in Mandarin (the standard dialect of Chinese for business and public uses) as deserving of a place in their local public school system. This is understandable: unlike French and English, Chinese has historically been spoken only by one specific ethnic group. But with the rise of China, and the corresponding rapid growth of Chinese language education around the world, it would be a mistake to continue to view this as the language of one ethnicity only: it is becoming a world language, and Canada must adapt.
Strangely, attitudes toward Chinese language are sharply divided by political affiliation. As part of its annual survey of Albertans’ attitudes toward China, released last month, the China Institute of the University of Alberta found that 62 per cent of NDP supporters, and 48 per cent of Liberals, but only 35 per cent of Tories agreed with the statement, “The ability to speak Chinese will become more important to Albertans.”
Such polarization could not come at a worse time. Almost unreported outside of China, the Chinese government has been moving swiftly to reduce the amount of emphasis given to English language education in its own schools. University departments of English are being closed, and English will be removed from the all-important college entrance exams by 2017; it seems certain that within a generation, there will be far fewer speakers of English in China than there are now. More and more, businesses and nations that wish to engage with China will need to do so in Chinese.
With national leadership, this could actually be a golden opportunity for Canada. We have considerable potential resources for Chinese language education which could be expanded. Several school systems have already begun Chinese programs; Edmonton’s system runs the largest public-school Chinese-language program in the Western world. And we have a few strong university departments capable of helping students reach fluency in Chinese language and culture. However, as of now, Chinese language education is subject to the vagaries of provincial and local education politics, with no national coordination and no dedicated financial support. Unfortunately, we do not have the luxury of letting Chinese language education becoming yet another political football: China’s influence will continue to rise, and this fact will impact all Canadians, left or right, east or west.
Of course, taking any steps to promote Chinese language education in response to policies of the Chinese government will make many feel unease. The authoritarian rule of the Chinese Communist Party, most recently displayed in Hong Kong, is antithetical to Canadian values. If the Chinese government now appears to be deciding, by fiat, that it wants its engagement with the world to be conducted in Chinese rather than English, wouldn’t it be wrong to acquiesce?
Such doubt reads too much nefarious intent into Chinese educational policy: the decision to downgrade English is partially driven by concerns over fairness to students, who should not be kept from a college education simply because they don’t have a talent for foreign languages. But it is true that, in general, the Chinese government does want to promote Chinese-language education abroad as part of its push for “soft power.” What it fails to understand is that by making Chinese a world language, it will lose control over it, as it becomes the vehicle for the expression of all kinds of ideas, not just those which the Party allows into print. If Canadians really wish to be able to engage with China while holding on to our values, the best way to do so is by learning how to explain those values in Chinese.
Daniel Fried is an Associate Professor of Chinese and Comparative Literature at the University of Alberta.
zt
加拿大阿尔伯塔大学东亚研究所副教授丹尼尔·弗里德日前在加拿大主流媒体《渥太华公民报》上发表署名文章，呼吁更多加拿大人学习中文。
文章说，许多加拿大人认为中文仅仅是中国人说的语言，他们从未想过中文会在加拿大公立学校中占有一席之地。但随着中国崛起和中文教育在全世界的快速普及，中文正日益成为世界语言，加拿大应抛弃旧思维、适应新形势。
文章称，中国政府正逐步降低英语在国内教育体系中的分量，未来10年，会讲英语的中国人(可能)将大幅减少，与中国打交道的企业和国家将越来越需要使用中文。但令人不解的是，加拿大人对学习中文的态度远未形成一致，中文教育仍被各省和地方教育当局视为异想天开，既缺乏全国性协调，也无专门资金支持。
文中提出，如能加强国家层面引导，加拿大在推广中文教育方面将面临黄金机会。加拿大在这方面潜力巨大，部分学校已开始实施中文教育项目，阿尔伯塔省首府埃德蒙顿已在公立学校体系中推行西方最大的中文教育项目，加拿大若干大学也有能力帮助学生学习流畅中文和中华文化。
Daniel Fried: More Canadians should learn a Chinese language
DANIEL FRIEDMore from Daniel FriedPublished on: January 20, 2015Last Updated: January 20, 2015 4:38 PM EST
A student writes a Chinese character on the board at Ottawa Capital Chinese School in 2007.
Jana Chytilova / The Ottawa Citizen
Is Chinese only for the Chinese? Many Canadians assume so: surveys show that only a minority could imagine classes in Mandarin (the standard dialect of Chinese for business and public uses) as deserving of a place in their local public school system. This is understandable: unlike French and English, Chinese has historically been spoken only by one specific ethnic group. But with the rise of China, and the corresponding rapid growth of Chinese language education around the world, it would be a mistake to continue to view this as the language of one ethnicity only: it is becoming a world language, and Canada must adapt.
Strangely, attitudes toward Chinese language are sharply divided by political affiliation. As part of its annual survey of Albertans’ attitudes toward China, released last month, the China Institute of the University of Alberta found that 62 per cent of NDP supporters, and 48 per cent of Liberals, but only 35 per cent of Tories agreed with the statement, “The ability to speak Chinese will become more important to Albertans.”
Such polarization could not come at a worse time. Almost unreported outside of China, the Chinese government has been moving swiftly to reduce the amount of emphasis given to English language education in its own schools. University departments of English are being closed, and English will be removed from the all-important college entrance exams by 2017; it seems certain that within a generation, there will be far fewer speakers of English in China than there are now. More and more, businesses and nations that wish to engage with China will need to do so in Chinese.
With national leadership, this could actually be a golden opportunity for Canada. We have considerable potential resources for Chinese language education which could be expanded. Several school systems have already begun Chinese programs; Edmonton’s system runs the largest public-school Chinese-language program in the Western world. And we have a few strong university departments capable of helping students reach fluency in Chinese language and culture. However, as of now, Chinese language education is subject to the vagaries of provincial and local education politics, with no national coordination and no dedicated financial support. Unfortunately, we do not have the luxury of letting Chinese language education becoming yet another political football: China’s influence will continue to rise, and this fact will impact all Canadians, left or right, east or west.
Of course, taking any steps to promote Chinese language education in response to policies of the Chinese government will make many feel unease. The authoritarian rule of the Chinese Communist Party, most recently displayed in Hong Kong, is antithetical to Canadian values. If the Chinese government now appears to be deciding, by fiat, that it wants its engagement with the world to be conducted in Chinese rather than English, wouldn’t it be wrong to acquiesce?
Such doubt reads too much nefarious intent into Chinese educational policy: the decision to downgrade English is partially driven by concerns over fairness to students, who should not be kept from a college education simply because they don’t have a talent for foreign languages. But it is true that, in general, the Chinese government does want to promote Chinese-language education abroad as part of its push for “soft power.” What it fails to understand is that by making Chinese a world language, it will lose control over it, as it becomes the vehicle for the expression of all kinds of ideas, not just those which the Party allows into print. If Canadians really wish to be able to engage with China while holding on to our values, the best way to do so is by learning how to explain those values in Chinese.
Daniel Fried is an Associate Professor of Chinese and Comparative Literature at the University of Alberta.
