Back to basics

The English major programme and related academic disciplines in Chinese universities are apparently experiencing growing pains as documented in the article entitled ‘The English Major Crisis in China’ published in this journal (Chen, 2019). In the article, Chen analysed the controversies surrounding the English major programme in Chinese universities and presented a somewhat gloomy prospect for the English major programme as an undergraduate subject in Chinese universities. Yet we found that the disheartening picture of the English major programme as portrayed by the article is open to question. We are also concerned that the article may misguide readers and negate the efforts that educators have undertaken to refine the English major programme in Chinese universities. For this reason, we would like to respond to the article with a different view, which has been made possible by our concerted efforts to bring the English major programme back to its basics over the last few years. We argue that the English major programme will play a critical role in promoting humanistic education in Chinese universities.