Today, the loudest slogans are: one is internationalization and the other is professionalization. Both trends are very reasonable, but it would be a pity to sacrifice "native language education" or "Chinese verbal verbal".
110 years ago, specifically in November 29 of the 29th year of the Guangxu period (1903), when the minister of the late Qing Dynasty, Zhang Zhidong , who attached the most importance to education, was in charge of reorganizing the school's constitution, while stipulating that "all schools above middle schools must be fully attended to study foreign languages", it emphasized that "the school must not abandon Chinese language." The reason why "Chinese literary language" is not based on literary interest, but because of the fear that the tide of Western learning will be too fierce, leading to the loss of the value of traditional Chinese cultural. This position was criticized for being "unfinished", and today it seems quite foresight.
1. Reading and writing course: Foreign universities are a compulsory course that cannot be erased. We are still "self-advocating" by universities
. When I celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Department of Peking University, I once said: "'Monthly language education' is not only about reading and literacy, but also involves knowledge, thinking, aesthetics, cultural stance, etc. I have taught in universities in mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. I deeply feel that the Chinese level of mainland students is not satisfactory." The first sentence is easy to say, and the second sentence is very hurtful. This is actually related to our entire educational thinking.
When the Ministry of Education launched the new college entrance examination reform, it had clearly announced the cancellation of the liberal arts and sciences division of in middle schools. However, as for whether universities will open "freshman Chinese" or "university Chinese" in the future, the Ministry of Education does not dare to make strict regulations and let each university take its own decisions. In contrast, the Taiwan education community is still adhering to the "freshman Chinese" of 6 credits, which is extremely precious.
I remember 4 years ago, at the founding meeting of the Harvard Center in Shanghai, I exchanged my own experiences and confusions with professors from the Department of English at Harvard University. I talked about the decline of "freshman Chinese" and the decline in writing ability of college students. The other party was surprised because for them, "reading and writing" is a compulsory course and cannot be erased. Accurate and elegant use of the language and writing of the country is very important for college students in any country or any era. And the acquisition of this ability is not something that can be replaced by political classes or general classes.
Learning the Chinese language and literature should be a wonderful enjoyment. At the same time, this course involves a wide range of Chinese knowledge, literary interest, cultural construction, morality and people's hearts, ideological , and even "international relations". The last point is that my improvisation originated from a small thing.
html More than 0 years ago, professor at the Tokyo University told me sadly that the Japanese middle school Chinese textbooks would delete Lu Xun's " Hometown HTML " because Chinese should not accept works by foreigners. On the surface, what we are competing for is whether "translation" is considered "Chinese", but behind it is the national mentality; in the long run, this move will somewhat affect China-Japan relations in the future. Our middle school Chinese textbooks are translated. In addition to acknowledging that modern Chinese is deeply influenced by foreign vocabulary and expression methods, it also shows the open mind and international vision of the Chinese people.2. People today want to maximize their returns if they study like investment. This idea is obviously not suitable for Chinese teaching
I started teaching at the age of 16. I initially taught Chinese classes in elementary and junior high schools, and later taught literary history in college. I remember that during the Cultural Revolution, educated youth went to the countryside. If they were asked to teach, most of them started from Chinese language teaching - the same is true for my own experience. Because the principals feel that anyone with a certain level of cultural cultivation can teach Chinese classes well as full of enthusiasm and willingness to work hard. In other words, Chinese is very important, but the threshold for teaching Chinese classes is very low, and you can completely "learn without a teacher".
40 years later, with the improvement of basic education level and the popularization of higher education, it is not easy to be a qualified Chinese teacher, whether it is primary and middle schools or universities. But even so, Chinese classes in high school or literary history courses in college still focus on free reading, without so many restrictions on "pre-study courses", and do not pay much attention to "step by step". Facing a vast sea of famous works or works, if you are willing to read them, read them backwards, or even read them oppositely, it is not a big problem.This is also the reason why "literary education" in universities is not valued - it is not very "professional" and lacks a few classes and will not be connected.
But this is the cute part of Chinese or literature courses in middle school or university. The gains and losses are not revealed at once, but are often subtle and "moisturize things silently." For example, if you think back many years later, the Chinese class will arouse your endless thoughts, and you may even collect a few old textbooks and read them from time to time when you are free; just forget about mathematics or physics, because you have mastered the relevant knowledge. In addition, for many old students, Chinese teachers are more likely to be followed by teachers than mathematics, English (courses) or politics. It is not only about class schedules and teacher’s talents, but also about the students’ own growth memory. In this sense, it is not an exaggeration to say that Chinese classes in primary and secondary schools are very important and affect students' lives. If other courses are not done for special research, most of them will be put aside after graduation. Only studying the Chinese language is to "live until old age and learn until old age."
The threshold for Chinese language teaching is very low, but the teaching is very profound. The reason is that the teaching and learning of this course is indeed "I can't be anxious", just like the people in Guangdong make soup, it requires time and patience. In modern society, there are many subjects that students need to study, and it is impossible to only read ", Four Books, Five Classics, "; but greed for more and more, seeking speed, hearsay, and compressed biscuit-style teaching will cause particularly obvious damage to Chinese language courses in middle schools or university literature history courses. Therefore, how to find the right degree between indifference and reading a lot of books is worthy of careful consideration by scholars.
Today's people study like investing, and they all hope to maximize their returns. But this idea is obviously not suitable for Chinese language teaching. In fact, there is no shortcut to learning Chinese. First of all, you are interested, and then you are reading more, thinking, and writing hard, so that you can learn Chinese well. " Dongpo Zhilin " mentioned that someone asked me how to write an article in Ouyang Xiu. He said: "There is no other technique, I only study hard and do more, and I work hard on my own. People in the world are worried about writing few words and lazy reading. Every article is published, and they are seeking extraordinary people. There are so few people who are at the forefront. If you don't have to criticize others, you can see it more." Such plain words are a vernacular. Ouyang Xiu and Su Dongpo can’t find the “trick” of reading and essays, so of course I have “no advice”. According to Mr. Ye Shengtao’s eldest son, Ye Zhishan, , Mr. Ye never taught them how to write, and only required to read more; if he read too much, he would feel it, so he wrote to write. If you write too much article, you will naturally know the warmth and warmth, and your writing ability will gradually improve. Mr. Ye’s idea is very similar to what Ouyang Xiu said.
3. I am particularly worried about the popularity of MOOC . I don’t understand other classes, but I know that Chinese classes cannot be told to the air. "Sense of the scene" is very important. You must stare into the eyes of the students
Why do you say "learning" first and then "teaching"? Because of the study of Chinese language, students rely heavily on their own consciousness. The so-called "the master leads the door and practices rely on individuals" is particularly outstanding in this course. What teachers can do is to mobilize their enthusiasm for reading and then to point out the direction. If the students are not interested, even if the teacher is spitting lotus flowers all day long, it will not work. Ten years ago, I was edited by the editor of "Experimental Textbook for Curriculum Standards in Ordinary High Schools·Appreciation of Chinese Novels" (Beijing: People's Education Press , 2005). In my "Foreword", I said: "In addition to native language teaching, humanistic connotation, artistic skills, etc., we pay more attention to the 'reading pleasure' - if you read novels, it will be a great failure." In fact, not only elective courses, but also Chinese textbooks must consider students' reading interest. I remember when I was a child, the new semester was about to start. What I was most looking forward to was to receive the Chinese textbook and read it first. I didn’t understand it halfway, but it was very pleasant.
When it comes to the joy of Chinese learning, it is necessary to distinguish between two different reading pleasures: one is to appeal to intuition, come quickly and go quickly; the other is to be jealous of the beauty, come late and go late. "Classic Reading" and "Happy Reading" are not completely opposite. I just emphasize how to cultivate students' "discovery gaze" in teaching. What did you discover? I discovered the beauty of Chinese, articles, human nature and nature contained between the lines on the surface.This ability to "discover" is not formed naturally, but requires long-term training and cultivation. In this regard, both the "wonderful performance" and the "taking advantage of the situation" of the teachers are very important.
In my "opening remarks" of my work "From Literary to Scholars' Literature - Research on Ming and Qing Prose", I mentioned how the great physicist Feinman was carefully prepared, devoted great enthusiasm, and explained physics in a superb way, which was fascinating. At that time, I borrowed a passage from "'s charming scientific style - The Biography of Feinman ": "For Feinman, the lecture hall is a theater, and a speech is a performance, which is responsible for both the plot and the image, the scene and the fireworks. No matter what kind of person the audience is, college students, graduate students, his colleagues, or ordinary people, he can truly speak freely." It is not necessarily an academic master, any good teacher, every class is a carefully prepared performance, both passionate and cannot be repeated.
If you admit that lectures are an art, the classroom is the stage, it is far from enough to have the speaker's "free conversation" alone, and you must also have the listener's "nothing is in the heart". This is the ideal state. Last year, I published an article in " Wenhui Daily ", acknowledging the huge advantages of MOOC (MOOC), in popularizing education and disseminating knowledge. At the same time, I have been engaged in literary education for many years and know the importance of "face-to-face". To give an analogy, this is more like doing "farm work". It depends on the right time, place and people, and it is difficult to "quick, save money." This wonderful metaphor of "the nature of education is similar to agriculture, but definitely not like industry" is not my invention, but actually comes from two old seniors, Ye Shengtao and , Lu Shuxiang and . I am particularly worried about the popularity of MOOCs, which will make front-line Chinese teachers lazy or lose confidence and consciously downgraded to assistant teachers of famous teachers in a famous school. I don’t understand other classes, but I know that Chinese classes cannot be taught to the air. "Sense of the scene" is very important. You must stare into the eyes of the students and communicate and talk to them at all times before you can teach this lesson well. Only fiddling with the exquisite PPT and treating the students present as "nothing". This is not a successful teaching or a competent teacher.
4. In a sense, those who study literature are too rich, too smooth, and too elite, not necessarily a good thing
Regarding middle school Chinese classes and university literary education, I have said two sentences: one is to read useless books, and the other is that the Chinese department is to lay the foundation for your life; now it seems that it is necessary to add a third sentence, that is: Chinese learning is inseparable from life experience.
first said the first sentence, which was what I said when answering a reporter's question. I talked about the three dimensions of promoting reading, including "reading more useless books." Why do you say so? Because today's Chinese reading emphasizes "immediate results". During school, read according to course regulations; after leaving school, read according to work needs. Books that are not related to examinations or employment are all denounced as "useless", and the most typical one is to put aside literature, art, religion, philosophy, history, etc. In my opinion, the so-called "elite reading" refers to these works that have no practical purpose for the time being but are meaningful for cultivating life experience, cultural taste and spiritual realm.
The second sentence is a speech at the 2012 graduation ceremony of the Chinese Department of Peking University: "People from the Chinese Department are often deprecated as 'popular oil'. They seem to be omnipotent in politics, business, literature, and art; if they make earth-shaking big achievements, it seems to have nothing to do with professional training. But there is nothing to laugh at. The basic training in the Chinese Department is to lay the foundation for your life and promote your future fantasy and exciting success. Someone asked me, what are the specialties of the Chinese Department graduates? I said: Isn't it enough to be smart, elegant, broad-minded, able to read, cultivate, and good at expressing themselves? Of course, studying for a doctorate and taking the path of an expert is another matter."
This is what the third sentence. Quote Chapter Taiyan "Although Yu Xue has teachers and friends to teach, there are many patients who are worried about it" ("Mr. Taiyan's Self-Designed Chronicle"), it seems a bit high; then take a step back and talk about the learning status of ordinary college students.Middle school graduates from different regions and levels have come together through the college entrance examination selection; but in fact, their learning ability and life experience vary greatly. Generally speaking, students in key middle schools in big cities have high academic levels and broad vision. College students who come out of the countryside obviously have difficulty learning in the first year, hold on in the second year, and gradually get better in the third or fourth year - if their intelligence and potential are well stimulated, their future development is often more exciting. If you are studying humanities such as literature, history and philosophy, your understanding of life, your awe of nature, and your deep understanding of happiness and suffering will become an important help in learning.
In a sense, it is not necessarily a good thing for those who study literature to be too rich, too smooth, and too elite. If you have difficulties and encouragement in adversity, you will have college students who are poor or have come from a small place, you don’t have to feel inferior at all.
5. College students must learn to express themselves. Sometimes, the road of a lifetime is determined by these ten- and twenty-minute speeches or interviews. Therefore,
cannot be underestimated. For today's college students, it is not enough to just read seriously, and they have to learn to think independently and express accurately. Expressions here, both written and oral. A few years ago, I wrote "Training, Talent and Stage" and talked about speeches, listening and asking questions at academic conferences. There are a few sentences: "As a scholar, in addition to playing with and writing books, he also has to learn to explain his ideas to the audience within the specified time. Sometimes, the road of a lifetime is due to these ten-minute and twenty-minute speeches or interview decisions, so it cannot be underestimated.
Chinese universities do not offer speech courses, and many scholars lack training in this regard." The specific argument may be inaccurate, but I think it is absolutely true to emphasize the importance of oral expression. When college students from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan have a meeting together, you obviously feel that mainland students are generally talented, but they are not good at speaking - or they are not clear about expression, or they are off topic, or they are not well-mastered. This has something to do with the tendency of our classroom teaching to speak rather than discuss. Implement small-class teaching, implement guided courses, and require students to actively participate in the discussion and draw scores. Only after several years can this bias be corrected. Compared with other courses, Chinese classes are most likely to take a step forward.
When I just graduated from my Ph.D., I was praised by the old man for being able to write articles. I felt quite aggrieved at the beginning because, compared to "deep thoughts" or "solid foundation", this "knowing how to write articles" is not a professional evaluation, but more like a trick of being a scheming. After teaching for 30 years, I gradually realized the joys and sorrows of this. I finally understand that as a scholar, whether you can write articles is indeed a "thing" - and it is not a small matter. In the past 10 years, I have written several papers on "Modern Chinese Paganism and Arts and Style", half of which are academic history research and half for teaching needs. Not to mention becoming a university student, even if you only complete a doctoral or master's thesis, you are not able to "find things by hand" or introduce the latest trendy theories.
In a professional era, talking about "reading" and "writing" seems particularly pediatric. Perhaps for this reason, most college teachers are reluctant to come into contact with such topics. Since you have no wings, if you want to cross the river, you have to rely on boats. Regardless of primary, middle school, college, for teachers, it is natural to provide students with "boats" to cross the river - although the realm and method are different. At the special courses at Peking University and the lectures at Chinese University of Hong Kong , whenever I comment on students’ papers according to the examples, I not only pick up the faults, supplement the materials, and talk about theories, but also put myself in my shoes to help them think about how to do this article. The students told me that they benefited the most at this time.
After all, middle school Chinese courses and university humanities are to cultivate scholars who are good at reading, thinking and expression. It is not enough to just talk about "professional knowledge", but you must also be " able to speak and write" - this standard is actually not low, if you don't believe it, try it.
(The author is a professor in the Chinese Department of Peking University. This article is the author's keynote speech at the 2014 East China Normal University "Historical Review and Outlook on the Centennial Chinese Language" seminar)
Source of this article: "Lifelong Education and Training Research" Issue 5, 2016.The copyright belongs to the original author. If there is any infringement, please contact us and we will deal with it in a timely manner.
edit/Wang Jing
