China's growing economic, military and political stability have, for the first time, started to gain international recognition. As China increasingly opens up to the world, its unique role in the context of economic globalization is becoming more pronounced, which is exemplified by its recent membership of the WTO and Beijing's successful bid to host the Olympic Games. Unsurprisingly, this has resulted in an explosion in the popularity of English language learning in China, which has, in turn, led to radical reform of the curricula, teaching methods, teacher education and assessment system...