67 J. Ruan and C.B. Leung (eds.), Perspectives on Teaching and Learning English Literacy in China, Multilingual Education 3, DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-4994-8_5, © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2012 5.1 Introduction In response to the Open Door policy and China’s deepening contact with the outside world, proficiency in English, a lingua franca for international communication, has received increasingly important attention in school education in China. At the national level, policy makers have tied English education to China’s modernization efforts, economic prosperity, and opportunity for advancement in science and tech- nology. Learners of English have perceived the language as a tool to enhance their social, economic, and professional mobility in the global market place (Ross 1992). For the past three decades in China, English has been an integral component of school curricula, and continuous efforts have been taken at different levels to reform English curriculum to address the communicative needs of learners and the increasing demand for English literacy among learners for academic pursuit and career advance- ment. One significant change in English education in China is the lowering of the starting age of English learning and the expansion of English education into primary schools. This is clearly reflected in the most recent national English curriculum (Chinese Ministry of Education [MOE] 2011) and its earlier version (MOE 2001a), which mandates that English as a subject be offered nationwide from Grade 3 onward in primary schools. The new curriculum has brought about learning opportunities for young children who are in the process of developing English language and literacy skills, but chal- lenges have also emerged. Supporters of the new curriculum, drawing on “the earlier, the better” ideology, argue that an early start on English learning will enhance learners’ English proficiency, especially oral communication skills. Parents also welcome the new curriculum, hoping that starting English instruction in primary school will help D. Zhang (*) Center for Research in Pedagogy and Practice, National Institute of Education, Singapore e-mail: dongbo.zhang@nie.edu.sg Chapter 5 Chinese Primary School English Curriculum Reform Dongbo Zhang