Petition draft.

Machjo

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 19, 2004
17,878
61
48
Ottawa, ON
I'm having a discussion over a proposed petition in chinadaily.com.

Unfortunately, it appears that chinadaily.com.cn is censoring part of its contents owing to the fact that every time I've tried to paste it there, it never registers. So I've decided to post a draft here in Canadian Content with a link from the Chinadaily.com.cn forum if you don't mind, so people could read it here and discuss either here or there.

For those of you joining in from chinadaily.com.cn, I just want to inform you that the content of the English and Chinese versions diverge somewhat owing to the fact that I have revised the English version after it was translated into Chinese, and my Chinese is not good enough yet for me to confidently upgrade the Chinese version on my own. I shall include bother versions below for discussion.

Thanks.
 

Machjo

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 19, 2004
17,878
61
48
Ottawa, ON
向中华人民共和国全国人民代表大会提交的请愿书,为了促进有效地普及双语化,建议对国家的第二语言学习的政策进行改革和对其签证政策进行整合。
我们已在下述文件结尾处签字,想表达我们对亿万男女儿童的关心。在中国,几十年来,英语学习已经耗费了大量的时间和精力,我们建议运用替代解决方案,包括已在其他非英语国家运作的一些方案。
尽管在过去几十年中教学资源不断更新,包括智力资源,人力资源和物质资源,每年在世界各地数十亿人民币的财政投入和时间投入,包括在某些最贫困地区的投资,但是结果还是令人失望和沮丧,甚至是教师本身,也感到效果不理想,即使这些国家的语言和英语同为兄弟式的欧洲语言。
据德国教师Michael Scherm估计,在2001年,只有5-7 %的德国人可以用英语很好地进行语言表达。1989年,一项由一家国际广告代理公司委托调查的数据也显示了相似的结果:调查要求欧洲人翻译三个句子,从英语翻译成他们的母语,得出的结论是,在西欧,能真正正确理解英语的程度大大低于我们最悲观的期望值,理解英语的人只局限于总人口的6%。
在印度情况甚至更为糟糕,印度语和英语是印欧语言的远亲。根据pattanayak ( phillopson , 1992年)显示“在过去200年中, 印度在英语教学方面所花费的资源数目仅仅使4%的人懂英语。
阐述泰国的情况时,泰语、汉语都不属于印欧语系,Bill Templer甚至没有理会各种统计数据,简单地说:英语熟练水平在泰国多数政府学校和大学中被广泛认为是一个国家灾难,即使在进行11-14年的英语教学后。(Bill Templer, Towards a People’s English: Back to BASIC in EIL)
Richards和Gibson (1945年,p11)早在1945年就通过观察撰写:关于中国的教学实践问题,多年的研究有相当大的一部分学生,即使经过多年的学习,但学习成绩没有得到明显提高。这种现状十分严峻,数以万计的男女儿童学习英语已经耗费了大量的时间和精力,并且还将继续耗费下去。这主要是缺乏一种将使他们快速提高成绩的指导方法……这是一个不令人满意的局面。(As quoted by Bill Templer in Towards a People’s English: Back to BASIC in EIL)
中国应用语言学家同样承认,需要有一个非常的解决办法,如果我们打算为较差的社会成员确保一个合理的英语学习成功率,我们可以参阅Phillipson(1992):传播英语的学术辩护者估计英语的使用从国际通信扩展到为中国民众之间的沟通的时机已经成熟…一个可以为社会奠定汉语、英语双语基础。((Pride and Ru-Shan 1988:42)。这个提案在一家学报中提出,并揭示了应用语言学家在试图确立英语成为中国的第二种语言,为了促进语言的学习,积极参与标记英语的研究。(Phillipson, 1992 pages 30-31)
而这项建议可能是语言学方面的宣布,我们无法想象经济状况。早在1984年,英国国会主席确认说,英语,即‘我们的语言是我们最好的资产,大于北海油田,是取之不尽,用之不竭的; 此外,虽然我们没有垄断,但我们独特的品牌仍然有高要求。我很高兴地说,在投资的需要中,那些引导国家命运的人们在分享我的信念,并充分开发利用了这种无形资产。这无形的,就是上帝予的资产’。(Phillipson 1992, P144-145)。更近一些说,瑞士日内瓦大学语言经济学专家Francois Grin教授,应法国政府机构评估学校高级理事会的邀请,在2005年一份报告中得出这样的结论,即欧盟每年对英国经济的资助是从170亿到180亿欧元。情况令人遗憾,正如英国报纸曾经反对自己的国家参与鸦片战争,如今母语为英语的人是其中一些反对英语霸权,呼声最为强烈的反对者。
如果我们不想为了实现普及双语而对英语投入足够的时间和财力,且投入太多很可能影响中国经济,但我们仍想实现我们的目的话,我们必须转向其他语言。
一项完整的、长期有效的解决方案将包括与联合国进行磋商,采用或创造一门易学、易懂的辅助语言,以教授世界各地的学龄儿童。早在1922年的国际联盟及后来的教科文组织都表示正式支持世界语(已三次表示正式支持世界语,最近一次是在2001年);这是一个进一步探索的开端。如果我们考虑到,估计15 %的空难是由于飞行员之间的错误沟通所造成的,或飞行员和空中交通管制员之间的错误传达造成的,那么显而易见学习一门易学的、精确的语言可以摆脱方言的使用,不仅仅是拯救联合国大会,每年仅自己的翻译费用约1200万美元,欧盟估计第二语言教学费用在250亿欧元左右,的确数目巨大。
上述办法不完全在中华人民共和国的管理范畴之内,我们将提出下面的解决方法及方案,这些方法及解决方案将使其在更大程度上在中华人民共和国的管理范畴之内。
考虑到英语已被明显地证明,已经超出了绝大多数中国人学习能力的极限,政府将中止提供给大学英语系的所有资金,并使他们在财政上自给自足。作为一种方法,可以把中国人学习英语的人数降至到一个较为合理的水平。
考虑某些中国人必须将他们学习英语和另外第二种语言的时间分开。例如有时为了与朋友们或者家庭成员们进行交流,需要学习中国手语,少数民族成员学汉语作为一种外语,穆斯林必须在国内学会阿拉伯语,政府义务教育可以增加中国手语、中国少数民族语言及阿拉伯语等替代英语的可行性,从而促进第二语言教育政策在汉语范畴中更加公平,并考虑到一些中国人可能有兴趣与在国外的聋哑人沟通,或为了国际交流,学习一门容易掌握的第二语言,政府可以增加世界语国际手语作为可供选择的项目。也可以研究任何其他语言,这些语言可能对中国学生来说也非常感兴趣
考虑到某些社会因素,会导致家长觉得他们的子女在较早的年龄学习第二语言有过大的压力,或者学习语言的效率不高,根本就是超越其极限。政府可以禁止所有公立学校在8岁以下进行任何第二语言教学,在10岁以下禁止任何难以掌握的第二语言教学,任何语言必修课的教学,除非他们能保证学生在15岁前,可以确定所学的语言将达到一个可以使用的水平。政府也可以采取向那些不符合这些标准的私立学校不提供资金的方法来加之控制。考虑某些心理因素、社会因素、经济因素和政治因素,会在学校、老师、父母或者学生选择一门语言或者其他一门以上语言时起一定的影响作用。政府要研究一下汉语知识、中国手语,中国的少数民族语言之一、世界语、国际手语的可能性问题,作为某一时段以后出生和已达到15岁年龄入境的条件,以便抵消更有权威性的语言或有威望的语言支配的影响。
下面我们来看看每个语言的好处。
中国手语
允许学校提供中国手语教育作为一种替代英语的手段,利于提高语言的威望价值,因而增加中国手语的使用者,并吸引更多的学习者,这些学习者可以更容易地与聋哑人群进行交流,使之与人交流范围变得更加广泛。
中国的少数民族语言
允许学校承认中国的民族语言与英语的平等地位,同为第二外语,把民族语言学习作为一个学业毕业要求来完成,会使那些少数民族学生们增加学习第二外语成功的机会。因为对少数民族学生而言,汉语本身就是一门外语,提高中国民族语言的价值威望,从而成为广大语言学习者欢迎的语言。允许那些本地语言不是母语的中国学生,利用当地环境学习他们的第二语言,且使用这些语言,不仅是为了进行国际沟通,而且还可以与周边那些有着共同民族语言的国家进行国际交流。(比如俄罗斯人说俄语,韩国人说朝鲜语,哈萨克斯坦人说哈萨克语,吉尔吉斯坦人说吉尔吉斯坦语,越南的北部地区说壮语)。还能成为学习其他语言的基石(例如,从中国突厥语到土耳其语,朝鲜语到日语,俄语到其他斯拉夫语)。
世界语
根据1922年国际联盟:东方各国的代表们指出,世界语对他们国家的学生来说是一种简化类型的欧洲语言,给他们一把了解其他语言的钥匙。一位年轻的中国人可以在两年内学会世界语,而他却需要6年的时间学习英语,而学会法语就需要更长的时间了。被送往里朗哥的中法学院的学生们,除了世界语什么都不会说,因此很快地学会了法语。1922年国际联盟26号文件将世界语定为国际辅助语言)。
合国教科文组织已三次正式表示支持世界语(最近的一次是在2001年),1993年以来,意大利教育部已正式承认世界语可替代英语完成高中毕业,自2000年以来,匈牙利教育部已确认,在2000年和2008年之间,全国有22,000名大学生报考世界语考试,其他一些欧洲国家都跟随其后,圣马力诺国际科学院要求其所有的学者,用各自的母语和世界语介绍他们的研究成果。自1993年以来,波兰大学一直采用世界语作为其语言教学的语言,以达到精通的水平。由于某些国家的政府对继续语言事业的发展,国际商业企业和商人们正在更加频繁地使用世界语,
世界语被设计成易于学习,易于掌握,因而可在义务教育期内学习,对那些没有继续进入高中阶段学习或是那些缺乏语言学习天赋,过多倾向数学方面的学生极有益处,
国际手语
国际手语是世界聋人联合会的官方语言,在国际会议或其代表大会上聋人们所普通使用。虽然没有得到充分地发展,但是中国政府可以给世界聋人联合会提供帮助,发展国际手语语言,并进一步对其进行完善。这将是给全世界聋人的一个伟大的礼物;而且,认识到国际手语可以替代英语完成学业。这将是又一个伟大的礼物,因为它能够使更多的有听力的学生们与来自世界各地的聋人们扩大交流
阿拉伯语
允许学校教授阿拉伯语,将有助于那些只能在家学习阿拉伯语的学生们与非穆斯林同仁们进行同样的学习,这还有助于倡导和促进他们在阿拉伯国家的关系。
中国还可研究一下其他语言也会对大多数的学生们有利。
建议总结
尊敬的全国人民代表大会委员会成员们
我们在文件结尾处签字,向中华人民共和国政府提出如下建议:
1. 与联合国进行磋商采取或创建一门简易语言,来教授世界各国孩子们的可能 性。
2. 中止提供给大学英语系的所有资助
3. 调查研究(如果还没有完成)在哪种年龄段教授手语最有效,并告知学校有关研究的情况,建议他们采取相应措施。
4. 如果国际手语仍没有得充分地发展,建议帮助世界聋人联合会进一步发展国际手语,以扩大其使用范围。
5. 采用汉语、中国手语、中国少数民族语言、世界语、国际手语、阿拉伯语和英语作为能够落实完成中国初中毕业的第二语言义务教学要求的语言,并且授予学校自由选择教授哪些语言的自由; 并研究其他学生可能有兴趣学习的语言。
6. 禁止所有公立学校对8岁前的学生进行任何第二外语教学,在10岁年龄前从事任何难掌握的第二外语教学。
7.如果学校不能确定学生在15岁前学习该语言确实有用,并达到一定的水平,学校就不要规定学生必须学习该语言。
8. 中止向任何不符合上述要求的私产学校提供政府拨款
9. 把研究汉语语文知识、学习中国手语,中国少数民族语言之一、世界语、国际手语作为所有在一定时段内出生或是已经达到15岁的人入境中华人民共和国的前提。

我们提交这份请愿书, 请全国人民代表大会委员会认真审议。
 

Machjo

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 19, 2004
17,878
61
48
Ottawa, ON
Petition to the National People’s Committee of the PRC recommending reform of the nation’s second-language acquisition policy and integration of its visa policy with the aim of promoting universal bilingualism efficiently

We, the undersigned, would like to express our concern for the ‘billions of boy-girl years of toil that have been … wasted’ on English learning in the PRC over a period of many decades already, as well as for the money being spent so inefficiently in EFL in a country much of the population of which still does not have the chance to go on to high school or that even has to learn Chinese itself as a foreign language; and would like to recommend alternative solutions, including some that are already in operation in other non-English-speaking countries.
In spite of the continuous up-grading of teaching resources – intellectual, human, and material – over the decades, involving countless billions of RMB of funding and investment of time annually around the world, including in some of its most destitute parts, the results continue to be disillusioning and discouraging even for teachers themselves, even in countries the languages of which and English are European language brothers:

According to the estimates of the German teacher Michael Scherm in the year 2001 only 5-7 percent of Germans can express themselves well in English. A survey commissioned by an international advertising agency in 1989 gave similar results: Europeans were asked to translate three recorded sentences from English to their mother-tongue and it was concluded that ‘the truly correct understanding of English in [Western Europe] … fell well below our most pessimistic expectations’, being limited to about 6% of the population.
(Ülrich Mattias, Esperanto: la Nova Latino de la Eklezio, 2001)

The situation is even worse in India, the languages of which and English are distant Indo-European cousins. According to Pattanayak (Phillipson, 1992), the amount of resources spent on teaching the English language in India ‘over the past 200 years’ has produced a population of ‘four percent of English-knowing persons’.
In describing the situation in Thailand where Thai, like Chinese, is not even an Indo-European language, Bill Templer does not even bother with statistics and simply says:

It is widely recognized in Thailand that EFL proficiency levels in most government schools and universities are a national disaster, even after 11-14 years of instruction.
(Bill Templer, Towards a People's English: Back to BASIC in EIL)

Writing about China, Richards and Gibson (1945, p. 11) observed as early as in 1945:

On current teaching practice, years of study don't get most of the students anywhere. It's really daunting to think of the billions of boy-girl years of toil that have been and will be wasted in the absence of an introduction to English which will take them more quickly to a useful point… It is a grim picture.
(As quoted by Bill Templer in Towards a People's English: Back to BASIC in EIL)

Applied linguists in the PRC have likewise acknowledged the need for a more radical solution if we intend to ensure a reasonable rate of success in English for the poorer members of society, as we can read in Phillipson (1992):

Academic apologists for the spread of English estimate that the time has come when the use of English should be ‘extended from almost exclusively international communication to communication among the Chinese people themselves… a foundation can be laid for societal bilingualism in Chinese and English’ (Pride and Ru-Shan 1988:42). This proposal is put forward in the pages of a scientific journal, and reveals applied linguists actively involved in marketing English, in attempting to entrench English as a second language in China, ostensibly in order to facilitate the learning of the language.
(Phillipson, 1992, pages 30-31)

While this recommendation might be linguistically sound, we cannot imagine that it is economically so. As early as in 1984, the Chairman of the British Council confirmed, referring to English, that ‘our language is our greatest asset, greater than North Sea Oil, and the supply is inexhaustible; furthermore, while we do not have a monopoly, our particular brand remains highly sought after. I am glad to say that those who guide the fortunes of this country share my conviction in the need to invest in, and exploit to the full, this invisible, God-given asset’. (Phillipson, 1992, p.144-145). More recently, professor François Grin, a specialist in language economics at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, concluded in a report produced in 2005 at the request of the High Council for the Evaluation of Schools, a French government body, that the EU subsidizes the UK economy by from seventeen to eighteen thousand million euros annually. The situation is so deplorable that, just as British newspapers once opposed their own nation’s involvement in the Opium Wars, native English speakers are among some of the most vocal opponents of English-language hegemony today.
If we are not investing enough time and money on English already so as to achieve universal bilingualism, and to spend enough to do so would likely prove excessively expensive, then we might have to turn to alternative languages if we still wish to achieve it.
A complete and permanent solution would involve consulting with the UN on the adoption or creation of an easy universal auxiliary language to be taught to children in schools throughout the world. The League of Nations as early as in 1922, and later UNESCO (three times already, the last as recently as in 2001) have expressed official support for Esperanto; this could be a starting point for further exploration. If we consider that an estimated fifteen percent of air crashes are caused by miscommunication between pilots, or between pilots and air traffic controllers, it becomes clear that an easy and precise language that is free of dialects could not only save the UN general Assembly alone about twelve million US dollars a year in translation costs, but also literally save lives.
Since we recognize that the solution above would not be entirely within the PRC’s control, we shall present a partial and temporary solution below that would be more within its control.
Considering that English has clearly been proven to be beyond the reach of most Chinese, the government could study the possibility of reducing funding to university English departments and let them become financially self-sufficient, as a means of bringing the number of Chinese learning English down to a more reasonable level by forcing the cost of tuition up to its normal free-market value.
Considering that some Chinese must divide their time between English and an additional second language, such as is sometimes the case with those who need to learn Chinese Sign Language in order to communicate with friends or family members, members of ethnic minorities who are learning Chinese itself as a foreign language, and Muslims who must learn Arabic in the home, the government could add Chinese Sign Language, China’s minority ethnic languages, and Arabic as viable alternatives to English in compulsory education so as to promote more justice in second-language education policy among these categories of Chinese; and considering that some Chinese might be interested in communicating with the deaf abroad, or in learning an easy second language for international communication, the government could add Esperanto and Gestuno to the list of options too. It could also research any other language that might be of interest to Chinese pupils.
Considering that certain social factors can lead parents to feel excessive pressure to have their children learn a second language at an earlier age than is efficient, or to learn a language that is beyond their financial or other means, the government could prohibit all public schools from teaching any second language to pupils under the age of eight, any difficult second language to pupils under the age of ten, and making any language compulsory unless they can guarantee that their pupils could learn the language up to a useful level before the age of fifteen. It could also cut all funding to private schools that do not meet these same criteria.
Considering that certain psychological, social, economic, and political factors all play a role in influencing how schools, teachers, parents, or pupils might choose one language over others, the government could study the possibility of making a knowledge of Chinese, Chinese Sign Language, one of China’s minority ethnic languages, Esperanto, or Gestuno a prerequisite for certain categories of persons born after a certain date and who have reached the age of fifteen to enter the country, so as to counter the hegemonic effect of more powerful or prestigious languages.

We shall look at the benefits of these languages below.

Chinese Sign Language
Allowing schools to offer Chinese Sign Language as an alternative to English could help to raise the prestige value of the language, and thus its community of users, and attract more learners who could then make it easier for the deaf to have a larger circle of friends.

China’s ethnic languages
Allowing schools to recognize China’s ethnic languages as second languages equal to English to fulfil graduation requirements would increase the chances of success in their second language for pupils for whom Chinese itself is a foreign language, raise the prestige value of China’s ethnic languages and thus their popularity among language learners, allow Chinese pupils to exploit the local environment to learn their second language if the local language is different from the home language, and use these languages not only for intra-national, but also international communication with neighbouring countries that share common ethnic languages (such as Russia with Russian, Korea with Korean, Kazakhstan with Kazakh, Kyrgyzstan with Kyrgyz, and Northern Vietnam with Zhuang) or as stepping-stones to other languages (such as China’s Turkic languages to Turkish, Korean to Japanese, or Russian to other Slavic languages).

Esperanto
According to the League of Nations in 1922:

The Oriental delegates pointed out that Esperanto provided the pupils in their countries with a simplified type of European language which gave them a key to understanding the others. A young Chinese could learn Esperanto in two years, while he needed six to learn English and still longer to learn French. Students sent to the Franco-Chinese Institute at Lyons, knowing nothing but Esperanto, very quickly learnt French
(Esperanto as an International Auxiliary Language, United Nations, 1922, p. 26)

UNESCO has officially expressed support for Esperanto three times already (the last as recently as in 2001), the Italian Ministry of Public Instruction has recognized Esperanto as being a viable alternative to English for high school graduation since 1993, the Hungarian Ministry of Education has acknowledged it since 2000 with 22,000 university students sitting the Esperanto test between then and 2008, a number of other European nations have followed their lead, the International Academy of the Sciences of San Marino requires all of its scholars to present their research findings in both their respective mother-tongues and Esperanto, a Polish university has been using Esperanto as its language of instruction up to the master’s level since 1993, and international merchants and small businesses are using Esperanto ever more frequently as government support for the language continues to grow in certain countries.
Esperanto is designed to be easy to learn, and thus could be learnt within the time spent in compulsory education, which could be of great benefit to those pupils who will not go on to high school, or to more mathematically inclined pupils who lack an aptitude for language learning.

Gestuno
Gestuno is the official language of the World Federation for the Deaf, and is commonly used by the deaf at international conferences or congresses. Though it is still not fully developed yet, the government of the PRC could offer to help the World Federation for the Deaf to develop the language further so as to complete it. This would be a great gift to the deaf of the world; and to recognize it as a viable alternative to English for graduation requirements would be a second great gift as it could allow more hearing pupils to make friends with the deaf from around the world.

Arabic
Allowing schools to teach Arabic would help to put those pupils who must learn Arabic at home on a par with their non-Muslim counterparts in their second-language acquisition, and also help to foster new relations with the Arab world.

China could also study whether other languages might be of benefit to enough pupils as well.

Summary of recommendations

Dear members of the National People’s Committee,

We, the undersigned, recommend that the government of the PRC:

1. Consult with the UN on the possibility of adopting or creating an easy language to be taught to children in schools throughout the world.
2. Study the possibility of reducing government funding to university English departments.
3. Research (if that has not been done already) the age at which sign languages can be taught efficiently, inform schools of the finings, and recommend that they act accordingly should they wish to offer this language as an alternative second language for their pupils.
4. Offer to help the World Federation for the Deaf to further develop Gestuno so as to expand its range of uses if Gestuno is not fully developed already.
5. Adopt Chinese, Chinese Sign Language, China’s minority ethnic languages, Esperanto, Gestuno, Arabic and English as languages that could fulfil China’s compulsory second language requirement for middle school graduation (applicable only at schools that can offer an alternative that they can guarantee could be learnt to a useful level of competence before the age of fifteen), and grant schools the guaranteed freedom to choose which of these languages they wish to teach; and research other languages that might be of interest to pupils to learn.
6. Prohibit all public schools from teaching any second language prior to the age of eight, and any difficult second language prior to the age of ten.
7. Prohibit any public school from making any second language compulsory unless it can guarantee that its pupils will succeed in learning it before the age of fifteen.
8. Cut all government funding to any private school that does not meet the requirements above.
9. Study the possibility of making a complete knowledge of Chinese, Chinese Sign Language, one of China’s minority ethnic languages, Esperanto, or Gestuno a prerequisite for certain categories of persons who are born after a certain date and who have reached the age of fifteen to enter the PRC.

We submit this petition to the earnest consideration of the National People’s Committee.