英国中文教育的现状Chinese Language Teaching in the UK

雷涵彧

英国的中文教育起步很早，英国也是较早将中文纳入国民教育体系的国家之一。为了了解中文教学在英国的发展、当前的状况与面临的挑战，加深中英之间的文化交流和相互理解，本刊记者采访了伦敦大学亚非学院主管中文教学工作的宣力老师。伦敦大学亚非学院是英国唯一一所专门研究亚洲、非洲与中东的人文、语言及社会科学的高校，庄士敦及老舍先生曾执教于此。宣老师毕业于北京语言大学对外汉语教学专业，曾任教于上海交通大学及香港中文大学，2016—2021年兼任伦敦孔子学院英方执行院长，现为伦敦大学亚非学院中文系首席导师。此外，宣力老师多年来一直担任英国考试局“国际中学教育普通证书”（International General Certificate of Secondary Education，IGCSE）课程及“中学高级水平考试”（General Certificate of EducationAdvanced Level， A-Level）中文考试主考官，参与欧洲范围内的汉语能力标准（European Benchmarks for Chinese Language， EBCL）的研究与设计。

Chinese education in the UK has a long history. The UK is one of thecountries which introduced Chinese into its national education systemat an early stage. For a better understanding of the development， currentsituation， and challenges faced by Chinese teaching and learning in theUK， and to deepen cultural exchange and mutual understanding betweenChina and the UK， our magazine interviewed Xuan Li， who overseesChinese teaching at the School of Oriental and African Studies （SOAS），University of London. SOAS is the only university in the UK specializingin the humanities， languages， and social sciences of Asia， Africa， andthe Middle East， associated with prominent figures such as Sir ReginaldFleming Johnston and Lao She. Xuan Li graduated from Beijing Languageand Culture University with a major in teaching Chinese as a foreignlanguage and has previously taught at Shanghai Jiao Tong Universityand The Chinese University of Hong Kong. From 2016 to 2021， she wasBritish Executive Director of the London Confucius Institute at SOAS.Her additional role was the chief examiner for the International GeneralCertificate of Secondary Education （IGCSE） and General Certificate ofEducation Advanced Level （A-Level） Chinese examinations. She hasbeen involved in an EU Project which set the European Benchmarks forChinese Language （EBCL）.

采访者：宣老师，您好，非常感谢您接受我们的采访！首先，请您简要介绍一下英国的中文教育概况。

Interviewer： Ms Xuan， Nice to meet you！ Thank you very muchfor accepting our interview. First of all， could you briefly introduce thestatus of Chinese education in the UK？

宣力：英国的中文教学起步很早。20世纪80年代以前，英国社区层面的中文教学以繁体字和粤语为主，因为当时中国移民主要来自中国香港地区。到了21世纪初，随着中国影响力的增强及海外中文教学的推广，简体字和普通话教学渐渐成为主流。英国的华人社区学校主要在周末教授中文，大多从零起点或低幼年龄学习者开始，覆盖整个小学和中学阶段。华人社区学校在华人社会中扮演着非常重要的角色，除了教授语言，还是文化传播和社区支持的纽带。特别值得一提的是，近年来，有不少非华裔的孩子也进入中文学校学习中文。

Xuan Li： Chinese teaching in the UK has a longhistory. Before the 1980s， only several universitiesoffered Chinese degrees， Chinese teaching and learningare mainly happened in the Chinese communityand focused on traditional Chinese characters andCantonese because most Chinese immigrants at thattime came from Hong Kong. By the beginning of the21st century， with the increasing influence of China andthe promotion of overseas Chinese teaching， simplifiedcharacters and Putonghua teaching gradually becamemainstream. Chinese community schools in the UKmainly teach Chinese at weekends， starting from scratchor from a very young age， covering the entire primaryand secondary school stages. Chinese communityschools play a very important role in Chinese society，serving not only as language teaching institutionsbut also as channels for cultural dissemination andcommunity support. It is worth noting that in recentyears， many non-Chinese children have also attendedChinese schools to learn Chinese.

在基础教育阶段，英国有两项重要考试，中文是可选科目之一。第一项是“普通中等教育证书”（GeneralCertificate of Secondary Education， GCSE） 考试，类似于国内的中考，学生在11年级结束后参加考试。义务教育学习阶段结束后，学生可以选择继续学习，并在两年后参加第二项A-Level 考试，相当于中国的高考，学生用这个成绩申请大学。GCSE和A-Level中文考试由不同的考试局根据教育部门的考核要求组织实施，为此阶段的中文教学提供正规的评估。目前，有一家考试局同时提供普通话和粤语两种中文考试。

In the compulsory education years， the UKhas two significant examinations， with Chinesebeing one of the optional subjects. The first is theGeneral Certificate of Secondary Education （GCSE）examination， similar to the middle school entranceexamination in China， which students take aftercompleting grade 11. After completing grade 11，students can choose all their subjects and take theadvanced examination， GCE A-Levels， two yearslater. This is equivalent to Chinas Gaokao （NationalCollege Entrance Examination， NCEE）. Studentsuse their A-Level scores to apply for universities.The GCSE exam and A-Level Chinese exam areorganized and implemented by different examinationboards which provide formal assessments according to the requirements of the government educationdepartment. Currently， there is one examination boardthat offers both Mandarin and Cantonese Chineseexams while others only provide Mandarin exams.

在高等教育阶段，现今有超过40所英国高校提供各类中文课程。既有大学中文系、东亚研究学院提供的本科及研究生课程， 也有大学语言中心等提供的各级中文学分和非学分课程。孔子学院在英国的中文教育和推广中，特别是在中小学阶段，扮演着极为重要的角色。孔子学院提供教师和教材，还组织少儿汉语考试（YouthChinese Test， YCT）。孔子学院和孔子课堂对中文教学走进学校并持续发展起着至关重要的作用。 可以说，孔子学院推动了中文在英国学校的普及。孔子学院与大学的合作，也为中文学习和中国文化展示提供了丰富的资源，汉语水平考试（HSK）和奖学金对大学生非常有吸引力。从社区学校到正规的教育机构，英国的中文教学呈现出多元发展的趋势。

Nowadays in higher education there are over40 UK universities offering various Chinese courses.There are undergraduate and postgraduate programsoffered by university Chinese departments andEast Asian studies institutes， and Chinese languagecourses at various levels offered by university languagecentres and other institutions. Confucius Institutesin the UK play a particularly important role in thepromotion of Chinese education and culture in theUK， especially at the primary and secondary schoollevels. Confucius Institutes provide teachers， teachingmaterials， and organize the Youth Chinese Test （YCT）.Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms play acrucial role in bringing Chinese teaching into schoolsand sustaining its development. It can be said thatConfucius Institutes have promoted the popularizationof Chinese in British schools. The cooperation betweenConfucius Institutes and universities also provides richresources for Chinese learning and cultural displays，and the HSK exam and scholarships are very attractiveto university students. From community schools toformal educational institutions， Chinese teaching inthe UK is showing a trend of diversified development.

采访者：您在英国的中文教育领域躬耕多年，您觉得目前中文学习的主要人群有哪些？学习动机是什么？现在对中文学习的需求情况与以往相比有什么变化？

Interviewer： You have been dedicated to the fieldof Chinese education in the UK for many years. Whodo you think are the main learners of Chinese atpresent？ What are their motivations for learning？ Hasthe demand for Chinese learning changed comparedto the past？

宣力：英国的中文学习者大概分为三类：第一类是英国本地的华裔，他们学习中文是一种文化的传承；第二类是在英国教育系统内学习中文的学生，包括了各个年级。在小学阶段，英国小学教授的外语一般是法语，有的学校会推广西班牙语和德语，近年来不少学校考虑开设汉语课程；第三类是社会学习者，学生来源多样，年龄、水平、背景和学习目的等也各有不同。

Xuan Li： Chinese learners in the UK can beroughly divided into three categories. The firstcategory consists of British-born Chinese， forwhom learning Chinese builds the bond to culturalinheritance. The second category includes studentswho learn Chinese within the UK education system，spanning various age groups. In UK primary schools，the foreign languages taught are typically European：mainly French， some schools may also offer Spanishor German. In recent years an increasing number ofschools are considering the introduction of Chinese.The third category comprises other learners， withvarying backgrounds， ages， proficiency levels， andlearning purposes.

在英国，几乎每一所私立学校都有华裔学生，他们多数希望（有机会）参加中文考试，所以学校一般都会安排中文公开考试。有条件的私立学校也会为华裔及非华裔学生提供中文课程，可见，汉语是一门受欢迎的外语。 私立学校可以跨区招生，家长在选择学校时，主要考量的是学校的声誉、设施、升学率和环境等因素。华裔家长可能会询问学校是否有中文课和中文考试，也有些非华裔家长希望孩子有学习中文的机会。

Almost every UK private school has Chinesestudents， most of whom wish to participate inChinese exams if given the opportunity. Therefore，schools generally arrange public Chinese exams. Insome private schools， Chinese is a popular choiceas a foreign language and is offered to both Chineseand non-Chinese students. Private schools can selectstudents from anywhere and when parents choose schools， the key factors are the schools reputation，facilities， progression rates， and environment.Chinese parents may inquire about the availability ofChinese courses and exams at schools， while morenon-Chinese parents also make enquiries on whetherChinese is on offer as a subject.

社区学校和私立学校不断吸引非华裔学生，这表明中文学习的需求在增长。值得一提的是，现在许多学生学习中文更多是出于兴趣，而非专业或职业的选择，比如，中文培优项目（Mandarin Excellence Programme，以下简称“MEP项目”）成功引起了学生对中文的兴趣。我们特别希望，这些学生在选择大学专业时能把中文列为首选。如果学生在中文学习方面投入了大量时间和资源，他们对中文的兴趣却未能直接转化为对中文专业的选择，那无疑是一种浪费。因此，如何能够鼓励更多学生从小学到大学持续地学习中文，逐步提高中文水平，进而把中文当作专业，把多年所学的知识和技能转化为职业选择，是值得我们进一步思考的问题。

Community schools and private schools arecontinuously attracting non-Chinese students，indicating a growing demand for Chinese learningin the UK. It is worth mentioning that a majorityof students now study Chinese more out of interestrather than as a professional or career choice. Forexample， the Mandarin Excellence Programme（MEP） has successfully sparked students interest inChinese. We particularly hope that these students willconsider Chinese as their first choice when selectinguniversity majors. After devoting a significantamount of time and energy to learning Chinese， iftheir interest does not directly translate into choosingChinese as a major， it would undoubtedly be a waste.Therefore， a question worth further consideration ishow to encourage more students to continue learningChinese from primary school to university， graduallyimprove their Chinese proficiency， and eventuallychoose Chinese as their degree major， transformingthe knowledge and skills acquired over the years intocareer choices.

在大学阶段，以我所在的伦敦大学亚非学院为例，学习中文的人数一直比较稳定，这主要是因为学校吸引的是对中文或中国文化特别感兴趣的学生。他们的学习目标一般很明确：希望学好中文，以此踏入中国学的诸多领域，如文学、电影、历史和国际关系等。我们的毕业生中大约有三分之一会继续深造，申请牛津、剑桥、哈佛等名校的硕士或博士；另外三分之一会从事与中国或中国文化有关的工作。

At the university level， taking my institution，SOAS， University of London， as an example， thenumber of students studying Chinese has remainedrelatively stable. This is mainly because the schoolattracts students who are particularly interestedin Chinese language or Chinese culture. Studentslearning goals are generally clear： they want to masterChinese and enter various fields of Chinese studies，such as literature， film， history， and internationalrelations. Approximately one-third of our graduatescontinue their studies， applying for masters ordoctoral programs at prestigious universities suchas Oxford， Cambridge， and Harvard， while anotherthird engages in work related to China or Chineseculture.

采访者：那么在教学实践中，英国中文教育的师资来源和培养体系是怎样的呢？

Interviewer： In terms of teaching， where are theteachers from and what is the teacher training systemlike？

宣力：目前，英国中文教师的师资来源主要有四个方面：首先是社区学校或周末学校的教师，他们往往是热心家长或者志愿人员；第二是孔子学院中方合作机构派出的中文教师和志愿者，他们在英国的30所孔子学院及下设的孔子课堂或联系学校教授中文，这涵盖了从小学到高中的教育；第三是英国大学的全职及兼职中文教师，在设有中文系或语言中心的大学，通常有中文教职人员；第四是英国中小学聘用的符合英国要求的中文教师。

Xuan Li： Currently， there are four main sources ofChinese teachers in the UK. Firstly， there are teachersfrom community schools or weekend schools， whoare often enthusiastic parents or volunteers. Secondly，there are Chinese teachers and volunteers sent to theUK by the Chinese Partners of Confucius Institutes，they teach Chinese in 30 Confucius Institutes andaffiliated Confucius Classrooms within UK schools，from primary to high school. Thirdly， there are fulltimeand part-time Chinese teachers in British universities， typically in universities with Chinesedepartments or language centres. Fourthly， there areChinese teachers who meet UK requirements and areemployed by British primary and secondary schoolsdirectly.

在英国的政府学校任教，必须具有教师资格证书（Qualified Teacher Status，QTS）。通常情况下， 教师需要完成研究生教育证书（Postgraduate Certificatein Education，PGCE）课程， 这个培训不仅注重教育理论， 而且注重教学时间和教学技能的培训，如如何进行班级管理，与学生、家长交流互动，与学校各部门协调等，具有这样的能力，才具有执教资格。如果学校急需教师，会提供在职培训，帮助新教师取得QTS。国际中文教师证书（Certificate for Teachers of Chinese toSpeakers of Other Language， CTCSOL）可能在申请进入私立学校工作的时候有一定作用，但目前在英国仍然没有得到官方认可。持此证的中文教师志愿者可以在学校承担助教工作、参与备课、准备教学材料、提供教学资源，但一般不能完全独立授课。

Teaching in state （i.e. government funded）schools in the UK requires Qualified Teacher Status（QTS）. Typically， teachers complete the PostgraduateCertificate in Education （PGCE） course， whichfocuses not only on educational theory but alsoon teaching practice and skills， such as classroommanagement， communication with students andparents， and cross-curricular coordination. Allteachers need to possess these skills to qualifyfor teaching in the UK. In rare cases， if a schoolneeds extra teachers， they may provide on-the-jobtraining to mentor new graduates to obtain QTS.The Certificate for Teachers of Chinese to Speakersof Other Language （CTCSOL） is not currentlyrecognized by the UK department for educationbut could be useful to obtain a teaching job in aprivate school. In a state school， volunteers with thiscertificate can be a classroom assistant， participatein lesson planning， prepare teaching materials， andprovide teaching resources but may not be allowed tolead the lessons.

十几年来，国际中文教育权威机构每年举办各种活动，如面向中学生、大学生的“汉语桥”世界中文比赛，英国大学生社会公益与商务创新中文大赛等，并以此鼓励中文学习。为了提升英国中文教师的教学能力并培养年轻教师，三年前，国际中文教育权威机构、英国汉语考试委员会和英国汉语教师协会开始举办欧洲英语区中文教学技能大赛，希望通过比赛的形式，鼓励教师分享教学理念和方法，提高教学水平并促进教师之间的互相学习。我认为这个比赛对于年轻教师特别有帮助，选手可以从中学习如何处理教学材料、与学生互动、优化课件的设计等。这个比赛也反映了英国中文教学的真实场景，通过参赛，选手对具体环境下的教学目标设置、班级管理和辨别学习者差异等方面都会有更多的考虑。每一届参赛选手都会带来新鲜的内容和创意。

For over a decade， the International ChineseLanguage Education Authority has organisedvarious activities annually， such as the “ChineseBridge，” a world Chinese Proficiency Competitionfor Middle School and University Students， andthe Chinese Competition of Charitable Projects &Business Innovations for UK University Students，to encourage Chinese learning and application.Three years ago， the International Chinese LanguageEducation Authority and Association of ChineseTeachers in the UK started hosting the ChineseTeaching Skills Competition in the Englishspeakingareas of Europe. The competition aimsat encouraging teachers to share teaching ideasand methods， improving teaching standards， andpromoting mutual learning between teachers. Ibelieve this competition is of particular benefitto young teachers， as participants can learn howto use teaching materials， interact with students，and optimize lesson design. This competition alsoreflects the real scenarios of Chinese teaching inthe UK， and through participation， competitorsconsider more aspects such as setting teachinggoals， classroom management， and identifyinglearner differences in specific environments. In thepast three years， participants have regularly broughtfresh content and creative ideas to the competition.

采访者：除了教师，教材也是教学中非常重要的一环，英国出版的中文教材颇为丰富，不同学习阶段、不同地区的教材使用都不同。在您的教学和工作中，目前哪些中文教材使用得更为广泛呢？

Interviewer： Apart from the teachers， textbooks are also a crucial part of teaching. There is a widerange of Chinese textbooks published in the UK，with different textbooks used in different stages oflearning and in different regions. In your opinion，which Chinese textbooks are currently more widelyused？

宣力：我们大学的公共汉语课程使用的是《新实用汉语课本（第二版）》，这个系列教材内容丰富，所以不需要额外寻找补充材料，课程衔接很容易，此外还有简体版和繁体版可以选择。我们大学还有一本用了几十年的老课本，是佟秉正老师和卜立德老师合作编写的《汉语口语》。这本教材出版于1982年，深受20世纪60年代影响深远的耶鲁教材——约翰 · 德范克主编的系列教材“汉语课本”的影响，注重口语操练，强调从字到词的滚动学习，通过大量语言示例提高阅读及口语技能。《汉语口语》很受学生欢迎，在英国的中文教学中影响很大，中文考试的教学和评估多以这本书的语法体系为蓝本。2019年以后，电子化教学全面铺开，电子教材的优势很多，例如，可以随时调整更新内容，更适合年轻一代的学习风格，更环保，也比较经济。

Xuan Li： At my university， we use the NewPractical Chinese Reader （2rd edition） for the openoption Chinese modules. This textbook series isrich in content， so there is no need for the teacherto search for additional materials. The courseprogression is easy to follow， and a bonus to us is thatit offers both simplified and traditional versions. Wehad an old textbook that had been used for decades，Colloquial Chinese. It was co-authored by ProfessorP. C. Tung and Professor David Edward Pollard.The textbook was published in 1982 and was deeplyinfluenced by the John DeFrancis Yale textbooksfrom the 1960s. The book put oral practice at thecentre of teaching， emphasized incremental learningfrom characters to words， and improved reading andspeaking skills through many language examples.Colloquial Chinese has been very popular amongstudents and has had a significant impact on Chineseteaching in the UK and US. The teaching andassessment of Chinese exams in the UK are mostlybased on the grammar system provided by thisbook. Since 2019， electronic teaching has been fullyimplemented at my university. E-textbooks have many advantages， they can be adjusted and updatedat any time， are more suitable for the learning styleof the new generation， are more environmentallyfriendly， and cost-effective.

本土教材方面，《步步高中文》比较受欢迎。我参与了这套教材的编写。这套教材基于伦敦大学亚非学院语言中心多年的教学经验，注重口语，以句型教学和操练为主，严格控制每课的字词量，很适合初级阶段、成年非正规教育的学习者。

Another popular series textbook published inthe UK is called Chinese in Steps ： I am a co-author.The series developed from the rich experience of theLanguage Centre at SOAS， University of London， andfocuses on spoken Chinese， with a primary emphasison sentence patterns and practice. The strict controlof the number of characters and words in each lessonmakes this suitable for beginner learners in informalsettings.

采访者：目前，英国的中文教学主要使用什么样的教学方法呢？

Interviewer： What teaching methods are mainlyused in Chinese education in todays UK？

宣力：中小学的中文教学非常活泼，形式多样，游戏教学、创意教学与内容教学融合得非常好。我真的非常欣赏这些年轻教师，他们刻苦用功，充满创意。我的教学工作主要在大学，在这里我简单介绍自己的一些做法。当代学生，注意力较难长时间集中，对长篇课文也比较抗拒，所以我会采用短文章进行教学，使每个小节既自成体系又相互关联，并根据具体的节日、事件或时下话题灵活调整教学内容。成段表达便于学生进行语块记忆和模仿。语法和词汇教学可以根据话题和课文进行灵活调整，而不拘泥于固定的语法教学顺序。当然，像补语、把字句的教学，还是要根据层级进行设计。我还在教学中大量使用电子、网络、AI人工智能的最新成果，提升学生的兴趣，优化教学效果。我会依据多个微技能将教学内容分解，要求学生使用不同的软件、多媒体和教学辅助工具进行技能训练，这样可以节约大量的课堂时间，学生也可以有一定的学习自主权。例如，现在有了AI技术，我可以设置语言任务，如让学生用中文向AI请教语法、要求AI示范发音、给出指令要求AI执行等，学生很喜欢这些与时俱进的语言任务。

Xuan Li： Chinese teaching and learning inprimary and secondary schools are vibrant， withdiverse approaches seamlessly blending gaming，creativity， and content. I truly admire these youngteachers for their diligence and creativity. My ownteaching primarily takes place at the university level，and I would like to share some of my ideas andpractice here. Todays students find it challengingto sustain attention for extended periods， and theyoften resist lengthy texts. Therefore， I employ shortarticles to teach， ensuring each section stands alone，yet interconnects. I flexibly adjust teaching contentbased on specific holidays， events， or trendingtopics. I found chunk texts are easy to memorizeand imitate; as for grammar and vocabulary， Iteach these around topics and content， rather thanrigidly adhering to a fixed sequence. Obviously，grammar structures such as complements and Basentencesneed to be taught at the appropriate stage.I also extensively utilize the latest advancementsin E-learning and AI technology in my teachingto enhance student interest and optimize teachingeffectiveness. The teaching content is broken downaccording to multiple micro-skills： students arerequired to use different software， multimedia，and tools for skills training， by doing so I save asignificant amount of classroom time and givestudents some degree of autonomy in learning. Forexample， I incorporate various language tasks withapplication of recent AI technology. Students areasked to use Chinese to consult AI for grammar，request AI to demonstrate pronunciation， or giveAI instructions. My students are greatly enjoyingworking with AI in their Chinese learning.

语言学习要和文化相结合。从一年级开始，我就要求学生以项目的形式探究中国文化。学习中文40个小时以后，一年级的学生会自主完成他们感兴趣的文化项目。今年我们学生报告的话题包括：王菲的电影、香港的流行音乐、翡翠白菜和肉形石、特立独行的中国女性等。还有的学生学习用唐诗的格律写英文诗，有些作品非常精彩。一年级的报告主要是用英语，但要求学生至少要用到十个中文词。到了高年级，学生会选择中国电影、戏剧、唐诗、建筑和商业等话题，全程使用中文演讲。在准备和项目展示的过程中，学生不仅提高了中文的沟通能力，还加深了对中国文化的深入了解。

We all know that language learning must beintegrated with culture. Starting from first grade，my students are required to explore Chinese culturein project form. First year students independentlycomplete cultural projects of their own choice after40 hours of studying. This year， some of the topicsmy student covered are Wang Fei and Hong Kongfilms， Hong Kong pop music， Jadeite Cabbageand Meat-Shaped Stone in Taipei Museum， andgreat independent Chinese female figures， andmany others. Another project we did this year is towrite poetry in English with Tang poetry rhythms;some student poems were exceptionally beautiful.In terms of language use， first year students givepresentations primarily in English with a minimum10 words in Chinese. In senior years， our studentsselect topics such as Chinese films， dramas， Tangpoetry， architecture， business and so on and theirpresentations are delivered entirely in Chinese.Throughout the preparation and presentationprocess， students not only improve their Chinesecommunication skills but also deepen theirunderstanding of Chinese culture.

在英国，关于中文教学理念和方法的探讨一直存在，英国可能没有美国大学那样成体系，也没有推出特别的教学模式。在实践中，我和我的同事都在不断探索和实践一些特别的教学模式，尝试用各种创新的教学方法激发学生兴趣、提高学习效果。我们非常鼓励学生探索中国的社会、历史、哲学和发展现状，不断加深对中国文化的认识和理解。

Discussions on Chinese teaching philosophiesand methods have always existed in the UK. Wemay not be as rigorous as American colleagues inpromoting specific teaching approaches and models，but I and my colleagues are constantly exploring andexperimenting with innovative teaching methodswhich could stimulate student interest and improvelearning effectiveness. Our students are also stronglyencouraged to explore Chinese society， history，philosophy， and current development， continuouslybroadening， and deepening their understanding ofChinese culture.

采访者：最后还想请教您一个问题，您觉得目前中文教学在英国有哪些挑战？

Interviewer： Thank you. Here comes to the lastquestion， what challenges do you think Chineseteaching currently faces in the UK？

宣力：相比欧洲其他国家，也许英国的中文教育算得上是起步早、发展快、规模大的，从小学、中学到高等教育，涵盖所有的学段。英国中文教学的另一个特点是对方言或传承语的包容，比如粤语，这体现了英国对语言多样性的尊重和包容。此外，英国的中文教育近年的发展得益于孔子学院的大力支持，过去十几年，孔子学院在推广中文教育方面发挥了极其重要的作用。

Xuan Li： Compared to other European countries，Chinese teaching and learning in the UK startedearlier， developed quickly and is larger in scale.Chinese is offered at all educational stages fromprimary to higher education. Another characteristicof Chinese education in the UK is the inclusion ofdialects or heritage languages， especially Cantonese，which reflects the UKs respect and inclusivitytowards language diversity. It is worth mentioningthat the recent development of Chinese education inthe UK has benefited significantly from the strongsupport of Confucius Institutes.

当然，挑战和困难也并存，比如从小学、中学到大学各个阶段中文教学（大纲和内容）的衔接问题。从GCSE到A-Level的难度陡增导致大部分学生在完成GCSE后的两年内难以适应A-Level的中文学习，这势必会影响学生中文学习的信心。与此同时，如果学生在中文高考中无法取得理想的成绩从而影响升学，学校可能会考虑开设其他的课程。到了大学阶段，校方必须考虑是否有足够的师资同时招收零起点的学生和已经参加过中文中考或者高考的学生，不是每一所大学都有能力根据学生的不同水平安排教学。中学阶段的中文学习不能够顺利衔接到大学的中文学习，这在某种程度上是一种资源浪费。

Challenges and difficulties remain. For example，there are issues with the articulation of Chineseteaching （syllabus and content） at various stagesfrom primary to secondary schools to universities.The steep increase in difficulty from GCSE toA-Level results in many students struggling to adaptto Chinese learning at A-Level within two years，after completing GCSE. This inevitably affects the

confidence of both teachers and students in learningChinese. If students fail to achieve satisfactory resultsin the A-Level Chinese exam which affects theiruniversity application， then schools will consideroffering courses other than Chinese. At universitylevel， we must consider whether we have sufficientstaffing and skills to look after students in the samecohort both with and without prior knowledge ofChinese. Not all universities have the capability toseparate the students and organize different streamsof teaching. To some extent， it would be a wasteof resources if there is no smooth transition fromChinese learning in secondary schools to Chineselearning in universities.

此外，还有其他的问题，比如MEP项目对政府资金的依赖、学校对孔子学院教材和师资的依赖等，一旦相关支持减少，中文教育就可能会遇到更多的困难。在大学阶段，奖学金制度是一个很好的激励机制，也提高了HSK考试的认可度。但如何更好地发挥奖学金的作用，如何选出那些真正努力并展示出卓越能力的学生予以奖励，还有待进一步商讨。对于学生来说，只有经过努力和付出得来的东西，他们才会珍惜。

There are other issues， for example， the highlysuccessful MEP project depends on governmentfunding and many schools reliance on the ConfuciusInstitute providing teaching materials and teachingstaff. If the relevant support is reduced， Chineseeducation may encounter more difficulties. At theuniversity level， the Confucius scholarship is anexcellent incentive mechanism to students， and itenhances the recognition of the HSK exam in the UK.However， how to better utilize scholarships？ How toselect top students who have truly worked hard anddemonstrated outstanding abilities？ Is it necessary toconsider raising the threshold for scholarships andmake them more competitive？ If scholarships aredifficult to attain， students will place a higher valueupon them.

最后，英国的中文教育发展更需要英国相关部门的重视和投资。以中文专业为例，当前英国大学中文系发展面临的挑战：一是师资配置不足，难以覆盖汉学和中国学研究的主要方面；二是语言教学时数压缩，影响语言水平的提高。语言是一种技能，要达到融会贯通，需要操练和打磨，“又要马儿跑，又要马儿不吃草”是不可能的，电子时代，更需要投资培养高级的语言人才。长期来看，这两个问题不解决，一定会影响中文学科的健康全面发展，影响中国研究的广度与深度。此外，中英大学间的学术交流，对国际合作办学的探索，无疑有利于推进中文教育和中国研究，但这需要合作各方之间同时抱有信任和开放的态度。

Last but not the least， the further developmentof Chinese teaching and learning in the UK requiresmore attention and investment from all relevantthresholds. Taking Chinese majors as an example，the current challenges facing Chinese departmentsat UK universities are twofold： insufficient staffingand compressed language teaching hours， whichfor sure affect language proficiency development.Language is a skill that requires practice andrefinement to achieve mastery. “You cant expect thehorse to run while also keeping it from eating grass.”In the electronic age with the speedy developmentof AI and other technologies， there is an evengreater need to invest in cultivating advancedlanguage professionals. In the long term， if thesetwo issues are not addressed， they will undoubtedlyimpact the healthy and comprehensive developmentof Chinese studies， affecting the breadth anddepth of research on China. Furthermore，academic exchanges between Chinese and Britishuniversities， and the exploration of internationalcollaborative education， would undoubtedlybenefit the advancement of Chinese teaching andlearning and various research on China. Needlessto say， this requires all parties involved to maintaina stance of trust and openness.