The challenge of academic writing for Chinese students within ...

delights in the knowledge – the joy of acquiring knowledge was once again explicitly
articulated.
Just like Confucius, later thinkers such as Mencius, Xun zi, Zhuang zi, accentuated the
intrinsic value of education as a personal pleasure, and individual‘s personal development
(Lee, et al., 2000). Accordingly, the personal enjoyment of learning is achievable only on the
condition that one has interest in what one is learning. Without interest in and fascination
about the knowledge one is acquiring it is hard to imagine how one can find enjoyment and
pleasure in learning. In today‘s China students have enormous pressure regarding the choice
of subject they study which is perceived closely associated with their job perspectives.
Learning for personal interest and fulfilment is overshadowed by learning for social mobility
and employability. Which subject area a student would study in universities to a great extent
depends on which area of expertise is most required in employment market and this is a very
simple illustration of the changing attitudes towards the value of education.
Education for upward social mobility certainly has its historical and cultural roots. In imperial
China one was motivated to learn by the intention of passing the civil service examination.
The imperial civil service examination, originated from Sui Dynasty (A.D. 580-950), was
well established and developed during Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618-906), Song Dynasty (A.D.
960-1279), Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1368-1644), and abolished in 1905 of Qing Dynasty (A.D.
1644-1911). It was used by the imperial government to select government officials. The civil
service examination at the outset was applauded as a revolutionary innovation for selecting
officials for government which ended the dominant hereditary tradition. Intellectuals with
poor family background were given the opportunity to secure government office by passing
the examination. The levels of the examination one passed determined the levels of the office
one would hold. A higher level of examination would assure a higher office. The civil service
examination had great impact on people who had lived during the period of its existence and
on their valuation of education/learning. With the influence of the civil service examination
learning was less treated as a personal pleasure than as a practical means for obtaining social
ascendancy and prosperity. The idea indicated in ‗The student when his studies are finished
should betake himself to office‘ ( 学 而 优 则 仕 ) (The Analects XIX. XIII), which had a more
respected meaning originally, came to have a derogatory connotation that learning is for the
sole purpose of gaining official rank and financial benefits, with the popularity of the
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