Half of primary schools will adopt the traditional Chinese method of maths teaching in a Governmentdrive to stop British youngsters falling behind their Asian counterparts.

英国政府的一项新举措将在半数英国小学课堂上推行中国传统数学教学法，以防止英国青少年在数学上落后于亚洲同龄人。

Youngsters in the UK lag way behind those in China, Singapore and Japan in international league tables of numeracy. Critics blame "progressive" teaching styles that focused on applying maths to real-lifescenarios in an effort to make the subject more interesting. They say this has led to confusion and stopped children learning the basics.

在数字计算能力国际排名中，英国小学生已被中国、新加坡和日本的孩子们远远甩在后面。批评人士称这应该归罪于“渐进式”教学模式，这种教学模式侧重于将数学知识应用于真实生活场景之中，以使得这门学科更有趣味。批评人士说这样做会让小学生们困惑不解，学不到基础知识。

Currently, classes are often divided into groups based on ability, with each group given work of varying difficulty. Under the new approach, they will ditch "child-centred" styles and instead return to repetition,drills and "chalk and talk" whole-class learning. Under the Government's new plans, children as young as five will have drills to practise sums and exercises, and must master each concept through repetition before moving to the next.

目前，在英国的课堂上，小学生们会依照能力高低分成不同的小组，每个小组需完成难度不同的课堂任务。应用新式教学法后，他们将摒弃“以学生为中心”的模式，取而代之以重复、训练和“板书加口授”的整班统一教学模式。根据政府的新计划，5岁的孩子就要接受训练以提高计算和解题能力，而且必须通过重复练习来掌握每个概念，然后才能学习新的知识。

Nick Gibb, the schools minister, announced yesterday that training will be provided for 8,000 primary schools – half the country's total – to switch to the Shanghai "mastery" approach. "We are seeing arenaissance in maths teaching in this country, with good ideas from around the world helping to enlivenour classrooms," he said.

昨天，教育部长尼克·吉布宣布此类训练将在8000所小学(也就是半数英国小学课堂)中进行，要将教学方法转换为上海的“精通式”教学法。吉布称：“我们预见到数学教学将在整个英国复兴，我们从世界上别的国家吸收优秀理念，来让我们的课堂充满生机。”

"I am confident that the steps we are taking now will ensure young people are properly prepared for further study and the 21st-century workplace, and that the too often heard phrase "can't do maths" isconsigned to the past."

“我对现在采取的措施很有信心，一定能让年轻人为未来的学习和21世纪的工作做好充分准备;而且我们太经常听到的‘数学差’的说法将成为过去时。”

He has pledged ￡41million to provide textbooks and training for two teachers from each participating school, although the scheme will be voluntary. Mr Gibb and his predecessor as schools minister, Liz Truss, arranged exchanges between maths teachers in Shanghai and England, and set up 35 specialistmaths teaching centres to encourage the "mastery" approach.

吉布说，将拿出4100万英镑(约3亿6千万人民币)为参与此计划的学校提供教科书，并为每校培训两名教师;当然，是否参加这个项目取决于学校的意愿。吉布先生和前任教育部长丽兹·特鲁斯已经安排了上海和英国之间的数学教师交流项目，并且专门设立了35个数学教学中心，以推动“精通式”教学法的实施。