The Chinese language will likely play an increasingly important
role in Sino-foreign exchanges and cooperation, senior officials
said.
Reducing the language barrier among more and more people allows for
better cultural understanding between China and the world, and
helps facilitate peace, said Xu Jialu, vice-chairman of the
Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC).
Xu
delivered his remarks Friday at the opening of the Seventh
International Symposium on Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language,
a leading academic event worldwide.
The event is held every three years. This year's event is the
largest in its 17-year history.
It
has attracted 450 scholars and experts from 38 countries and
regions worldwide. The attendants will engage in extensive
discussions on linguistic theories, second language acquisition,
cross-cultural communication, Chinese language teaching material
and language testing.
Because China's rapid social and economic development is linked to
its further opening to the outside world, Chinese language and
culture are becoming increasingly appealing to people
worldwide.
Ministry of Education statistics show that 25 million people
worldwide are now learning Chinese, and 2,100 universities in 85
countries and regions are offering Chinese language courses.
Statistics also show that more than 60,000 students from abroad are
now studying in China, including 45,000 concentrating on the
Chinese language alone.
China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) and landing
of the bid to host the 2008 Olympics has helped the country get
noticed worldwide.
Chinese language teachers will soon be in record demand, experts
said.
"We have spared no effort to promote the Chinese language
worldwide,'' said Jiang Mingbao, deputy director-general of the
National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (NOCFL),
a state-level overseer of the field.
NOCFL's major undertakings include compiling quality teaching
material and offering professional training for teachers at home
and abroad, Jiang said.
In
the past, people learned Chinese to better understand the Chinese
culture. But a growing number of people are now mastering the
language to make them more attractive in the job market, Jiang
said.
Even so, tough challenges remain, experts said.
About 6,000 people teach Chinese as a foreign language, but only
2,000 of them have a professional certificate.
How to better teach the language to refute the widely held belief
that it is too difficult is the biggest obstacle, said Lu Bisong, a
senior scholar.
(China
Daily August 3, 2002)