Chu Zhaohui, a senior education researcher at the National Institute for Educational Sciences, said the proposed changes are intended to shift the focus of English-language education, from being test-oriented to practical use, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the language is less important.

Shifting the focus

Given that the total mark for Chinese would rise at the same time that the mark for English would fall, Chu said the policy may be an indication that the authorities are keen on shifting the focus from English to traditional Chinese culture.

"The importance of Chinese has been overlooked in recent years, while English is a boom area in the education market," he said. "However, we should not go to the other extreme."

Hu Hongyang believes the policy has been formulated in response to a growing belief that parents and schools pay too much attention to English-language education, and that bias has resulted in Chinese language studies being neglected.

There is also a theory that an overemphasis on English favors children from the cities because they have access to better resources, and this could become a cause of inequality, according to Hu.

"There's nothing wrong with placing greater value on the Chinese language and traditions, but the two languages and cultures don't have to be in competition. It's important that people gain an understanding of different cultures and a perception of a highly diverse world at a young age. This is the population China badly needs in the era of globalization," she said.

Hu suggested that if the government wants to encourage students to spend more time studying Chinese, more marks should be available for the Chinese element of the entrance exam, but that shouldn't automatically mean that the number of marks for English must be reduced.

As if to prove that languages need not compete, on Oct 18, English-language students from Hangzhou Foreign Language School took first prize in the finals of The Chinese Character Writing Contest, a primetime program on China Central Television that regularly attracted audiences of 660 million. A team representing Nanjing Foreign Language School also competed in the finals.

Bryson Miller, a teacher at Harbin University in the capital city of Heilongjiang province, said he thought it strange that the bar for English could be lowered while marks were added for other subjects.

The US national believes that English is playing an increasingly important role in helping China communicate with the rest of the world. Gaining a good grasp of a foreign language is very useful in helping people to better understand the world and broadening their intellectual horizons. English is becoming increasing important in an age of increasing contact between China and the rest of the world, he said.

"Take my experience, for example," he said. "I've learned some Chinese and can have a basic conversation with local people. I found the language really useful and that makes living in China easier. What's more, it gives me a deeper understanding of the Chinese people and the country."

LEARNING ENGLISH IN JAPAN

In Japan, the college entrance exam is just as competitive as China's gaokao, and the English language examination is of crucial importance. "It's required for all college entrance exams, even the ones that don't require math or Japanese. If you want to get into a prestigious university, it's absolutely necessary that you score high on the English exam," said Ayaka Na, a 29-year-old from Nara in the Kansai region of Japan.

She said the format of the English exam differs from school to school, but usually great emphasis is placed on vocabulary, grammar and reading fluently rather than on writing or understanding the spoken word. Many high school students attend cram schools to maximize their ability to earn higher scores on those tests.

"I went to English-language classes so I could learn more conversational English in middle school, and I took private lessons in high school. I also spent a month in Vancouver, Canada, when I was 17 to learn the language," she said.

"In terms of getting a good job or a higher income, I think being able to speak English is a big plus, but it's not as essential as in some other countries. However, some big-name companies such as UNIQLO and Rakuten started an "English only" policy recently, and now require all their employees to speak English, so I guess it's becoming more important nowadays."

Hu Hongyang, vice-president of Nanjing Foreign Language School, said: "China is not the only country where people place a strong emphasis on learning English. Many other countries, including some of the most powerful, have valued English for centuries. It has long been the world's most commonly used language, so studying it represents much more than simply learning a language."