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• A Towards quality in education, 1961—66 1 J l The earl y 1960 s in Chin a was a period o f 'leadership dissensio n an d economi c recovery' (Wan g 1995 : 24) . Politica l radicals , includin g Ma o Zedong , wer e under pressur e fro m othe r CC P leaders , suc h a s Li u Shaoqi , Pen g Dehuai , Lu Tingy i an d Den g Xiaoping , afte r th e failur e o f th e politica l movements . On to p o f thi s was th e acrimoniou s Sino-Sovie t schism . Th e denunciatio n o f Stalin b y th e Sovie t leader , Khrushchev , an d consequen t re-orientatio n o f policies wer e repudiate d b y th e Chines e governmen t an d thi s le d t o Sovie t experts bein g withdraw n fro m Chin a a t shor t notice , leavin g man y project s incomplete. Consequently , th e statu s o f Englis h wa s booste d whil e tha t o f Russian declined . Th e subjec t was extended t o secondar y school s nation-wide , leading t o th e retrainin g o f man y Russia n teacher s a s Englis h Languag e teachers ( a reversa l o f th e previou s trend) . Englis h thu s becam e a majo r foreign languag e i n th e curriculu m an d th e officia l syllabu s state d tha t th e explicit politica l function s o f learnin g th e languag e wer e t o receiv e les s attention tha n i n th e previou s perio d (Tan g Lixing , 1983 ; Tang Jun, 1986) . The syllabu s state d tha t Englis h was : ... an important tool to developing cultural and scientific knowledge, to carry out internationa l interaction , t o foste r cultura l exchanges , an d t o increas e the understandin g betwee n people s o f differen t countries . Englis h i s commonly use d throughou t th e world . A good gras p o f English enable s u s to absor b th e aspect s o f scienc e an d technolog y whic h wil l hel p socialis t construction; t o introduce ou r experienc e t o friendly countrie s and people ; to strengthe n ou r relationshi p wit h peopl e i n differen t countries ; an d t o empower peopl e i n differen t countrie s t o comba t imperialism . (PEP , 1963: 1, in translation ) Competence i n Englis h becam e importan t fo r individual s t o gai n acces s to higher education , an d attentio n was paid t o improving th e qualit y of Englis h Language teaching , which , durin g thi s period , 'boomed' , accordin g t o Tan g Lixing (1983 : 42) . 80 China' s English : A history o f English i n Chinese educatio n This chapte r examine s th e Englis h Languag e curriculu m i n thi s relativel y depoliticized p e r i o d fro m 196 1 t o 196 6 w h e n a t t e n t i o n wa s pai d t o strengthening th e qualit y o f education i n term s o f curriculum , pedagog y an d teaching materials . Afte r th e brea k wit h th e USS R an d th e disastrou s Grea t Leap Forward , th e roller-coaste r experience s o f th e firs t phas e o f th e Englis h curriculum outline d i n Chapte r 3 were replace d i n th e earl y 1960 s b y a n er a of relativ e stability . Thi s secon d phase , fro m 196 1 unti l th e beginnin g o f th e Cultural Revolution , i s distinct from th e phase s tha t immediately precede d an d followed it . The proces s o f curriculu m developmen t underwen t change , wit h the strengthenin g o f th e rol e o f th e PE P (a s it lessened it s dependence upo n...

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