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I. Summary writing (40 marks).
Read the following passage and sum up the main idea in no more than 120 words. Exceeding the word limit will result in a loss of marks.
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In this study 89 texts in Chinese language readers are identified as constructing a discourse of cultural values and beliefs based on Lemke’s framework of intertexuality (Liu, Y. B., 2003). The discourse of cultural values and beliefs are constructed from five different perspectives, namely, concentration and diligence, honesty, respect for authority, modesty and tolerance, and collective spirit. These perspectives are, in fact, cultural norms constructed within the language readers to encourage child readers to learn and obey. In other words, these cultural values and beliefs are the kind of desired behaviours that the government and cultural elites are interested in transmitting to their younger citizens through language education.
Concentration and Diligence
The perspective of concentration and diligence receives the most attention; 25 texts fall into this subcategory. These texts are designed to cultivate in children either the value of hard work, or the importance of concentration on study. While constructing this value, the texts deliberately rule out other possibilities (for example interest, curiosity, and motivation) as the following analysis shows.
A Little Monkey
One day, a little monkey went down the hill. When he came to a cornfield he saw many big corns in the field. He was pleased. He broke off a corn. With the corn on his shoulder he went ahead.
When he came to a peach tree, he saw there were many big and red peaches on the tree. He was very glad. He threw away his corn and climbed up the tree to pick peaches. He got several peaches.
When he came to a watermelon field, he saw the field was littered with many big and round watermelons. He was very excited. He threw away the peaches and began to pick watermelon. He carried a very big watermelon.
On his way back, he saw a little rabbit hobbling around. He felt the rabbit would be lovely. He threw away his melon and began to chase the rabbit. The rabbit ran into a bush and disappeared. The little monkey had to go home with nothing in his hand. (Yuwen Bianjishi, 1999, Vol. 2, pp. 18-20)
In this story a little monkey is the initiator of a series of actions. The actions are highly regulated in the story grammar structure: initial event, internal response, attempt, and consequence in each of the four paragraphs. The repetition of this story grammar structure (four times, enabling the teaching of high frequency verbs such as ‘‘come’’, ‘‘see’’, ‘‘throw away’’ and synonymous adjectives such as ‘‘pleased’’, ‘‘glad’’, ‘‘excited’’) depicts the little monkey repeating the four actions in the same pattern, which involve choices of four different objects. The choices are made based on mere emotion (pleased, glad, excited) rather than purpose or reasoning. The resolution or the didactic effect is that the little monkey has achieved nothing (went home empty handed). The didactic or moral is implicit, but not difficult for the child reader to infer: ‘‘If you want to achieve anything, you have to be purposeful or concentrate on one thing rather than do something out of emotion or out of mere interest’’. By nature, children are always curious about their surroundings and would try to experience different things that arouse their interest. By recognizing this characteristic, the story intends to tame the ‘‘savage mind’’ that is easily distracted by seemingly unnecessary objects. In order to emphasize the value of concentration on study, the story implicitly condemns children’s self-interest and natural curiosity about what happens around them, thus suppressing the creativity that is regarded as one of the most important educational goals in the recent education debate in China (Liu, F., 1995).
A unique discourse option is exercised throughout this and many other stories in the textbooks. Through the story grammatical structure, initial event, internal response (optional sometimes), attempt, consequence, reaction (optional), and resolution, a series of on-going events is narrated. The resolution in the story grammar takes the form of a didactic utterance at the end of the story either by the narrator or a principle character, which in turn reframes the previous events. This feature functions as an interpretation within the text to restate and reinforce an intended message. Therefore child readers are positioned to believe that only through concentration on their tasks can they achieve a desirable result. Otherwise, they are doomed to failure.
Honesty
The perspective of honesty is achieved through 11 texts. The themes of the texts range from not telling lies to not accepting what does not belong to you. Honesty is important to any society. It is a universal value and belief that is cherished and promoted. The meaning of honesty is clear, rendering further explanation unnecessary, so let’s turn to the text and see how the discourse is constructed in the textbooks.
A Story of the Axe
A long, long time ago, there was a poor boy. One day, he went to the mountain to cut firewood. He dropped his axe into a river by accident when he crossed the river over a single wood bridge. He was so worried that he burst into tears. He sobbed: ‘‘How can I cut fire wood without the axe!’’ Suddenly an old white-beared grandpa came out of the flowing water and asked with care: ‘‘Whose child is crying so sadly?’’ The boy said: ‘‘Grandpa, I dropped my axe into the river. I cannot cut fire wood!’’ The grandpa said: ‘‘Don’t cry, child! I’ll help you to find it.’’ While talking, he went into the river and came out with a golden axe. He asked: ‘‘Is this your axe?’’
The boy said: ‘‘No, it is not.’’ The grandpa went into the river again and came out with a silver axe. He asked: ‘‘Is this yours?’’ The boy shook his head, saying: ‘‘No, it is not mine.’’ The grandpa went into the river again and came up with an iron axe. He asked: ‘‘Is this your axe?’’ The boy said gladly: ‘‘Yes, it is mine. Thank you, Grandpa!’’ The grandpa smiled and said: ‘‘Child, since you are honest, I give the other two axes to you too.’’ The boy said: ‘‘Grandpa, they are not mine. I cannot accept them.’’ The boy took his own axe and went away. Looking at the boy’s disappearing figure, the grandpa nodded his head with a smile. (Yuwen Bianjishi, 1999, Vol. 2, pp. 118-121)
Again, the story grammar consists of a repetition of a macropropositional sequence: initial event, internal response, attempt, and consequence. However, the sequence is realized by an intersubjective verbal exchange between the two protagonists, the poor child and the old man rather than mere physical actions, building up child reader’s expectations of outcomes and providing maximum opportunities for the teaching of simple questions and answers as well as direct speech. Through the repetition of ‘‘attempt and consequence’’, the poor boy’s honesty is tested: ‘‘Never to take anything that does not belong to you’’. This moral lesson is further confirmed by the resolution at the end of the story ‘‘Grandpa nodded his head with a smile’’.
Across this text and many others in the text corpus the discourse appears and reappears through different themes or aspects to emphasize the meaning of honest behaviour. These texts build up a version of the world where honest behaviour is conducted by adults; children are likely to go astray and, therefore, need to be supervised by adults. At the same time, they use textual and rhetorical devices to position the child reader in solidarity with the adults and the ideal child who performs honest acts and, hence, child readers might learn to behave in a like manner and take the same moral road.
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II. Exposition writing (50 marks):
The growing pressure of the migrant population has pushed some big cities to the limits. This has made many people support the view that rapid population growth in major cities is creating more serious and perhaps unsolvable problems. What do you think are the major problems that may result from this big city population growth in China? Write an essay in no less than 150 words.
Marks will be awarded on the basis of your organization, diction, grammar and appropriateness.
III. Argumentation writing (60 marks):
There are two different opinions about the issue in English major education. Some people hold that traditional courses such as English literature, linguistics and translation should be required for English majors, arguing that development of humanistic qualities in them is the objective, while others advocate that in order to meet the need of society, producing versatile talents should be the objective of English education. In their opinion, some practical courses such as tourism English, business English, hotel English, etc. should be offered for English majors.
What is your opinion about the issue? Write a piece of argument in about 400 words. In the first part you should state your position clearly; in the second, you should supply relevant evidence to support your position and refute the opposing side’s view; and finally you should bring your essay to a logical conclusion.
Marks will be awarded on the basis of your organization, diction, grammar and appropriateness.
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