A Glimpse into Language Teaching and the Application of Curriculum Elements.docx

A Glimpse into Language Teaching and the Application of Curriculum Elements.docx

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AGlimpseintoLanguageTeachingandtheApplicationofCurriculumElements

AGlimpseintoLanguageTeachingandtheApplicationofCurriculumElements

Introduction

Withglobalizationgoingonandtheworldbecomingeversmaller,foreignlanguagelearninghasbecomeanevermorepressingchallengeforChineselearners;hencetheurgentneedforappropriateforeignlanguageteaching,ortoputitexactly,Englishlanguageteachingthatenablesgoodresultsandsatisfactoryeffects.Foryears,Chinesescholarsandeducatorshavebeenendeavoringtofigureoutthemostapplicable,practicalandfeasibleEnglishlearningandteachingideologyandmethodologytothisend.ThisessaywillfirstlyofferabriefglimpseofthecurrentsituationoftheEnglishlanguageteaching（ELT）inChina’suniversitiestogetherwithsomebreakdownofthecurriculumsetup.Followingthisisamorespecificexplorationofmethodology,oneofsixelementsofcurriculum.Thispartwilltracetheevolvementofmethodologyanditslatestdynamics.Finally,somepersonalproposalsconcerningpossiblechangeswillbeoffered.

ABriefGlimpseoftheCurrentSituationofELTinUniversities

Currently,ChinesestudentsusuallystarttolearnEnglishstartingfromGrade3inprimaryschool.Forsome,theymayalsostartmuchearlier,say,attheageof3,dependingontheirparents’affordabilityandmindset（HuWenzhong,2007）.TheywillcontinuewithEnglishlearningthroughoutthesixyearsatjuniorandseniormiddleschools.ItisalsocompulsorytoattendEnglishcoursesatthefirst2yearsinuniversity.Assomestudents,fullyawareoftheimportanceofEnglish,tendtokeeplearningEnglish,generallyastudentmayspend12to14yearsinlearningEnglish.Everyoneknowsquitewellhowimportantandusefulaforeignlanguage,especiallyandparticularlyEnglish,is,butnoteveryonehasasatisfactoryoracceptablemasteryofEnglishafteroveradecade’sEnglishlearning.Asuniversityis,inmostcases,theterminalofone’sschoolingandthegateway,ithasbecomeaevermorepressingtaskforuniversitiestocultivateandpreservegraduateswithproperEnglishabilitytokeeppacewiththenewdevelopmentsofhighereducationinChina,furtherteachingreform,enhanceteachingquality,andmeettheneedsofthecountryandsocietyforqualifiedpersonnelinthenewera.Inthiscircumstance,theEducationMinistryhasdrawnuptheCollegeEnglishCurriculumRequirementsclearlyregulatingthat“Undertheguidanceoftheoriesofforeignlanguageteaching,CollegeEnglishhasasitsmaincomponentsknowledgeandpracticalskillsoftheEnglishlanguage,learningstrategiesandinterculturalcommunication.Itisasystematicwhole,incorporatingdifferentteachingmodelsandapproaches”（CollegeEnglishCurriculumRequirements）.WithsuchguidelinesforEnglishinstructiontonon-Englishmajorstudents,collegesanduniversitieswhodifferfromeachotherintermsofteachingresources,students’levelofEnglishuponenteringcollege,andthesocialdemandstheyface,aresupposedtoworkoutascientific,systematicandindividualizedEnglishsyllabustoguidetheirownEnglishteachinginaccordancewiththeabovementionedRequirementsandinthelightoftheirspecificcircumstances,thuspavingthewaydiversifiedyetharmonizedEnglishcurriculumsetupamonguniversities.

ThefirstelementofEnglishcurriculumisneedsanalysis（alsoknownasneedsassessment）thatcanbedefinedasaseriesofprocedurestocollectinformationaboutneedsusuallytofindouthowmuchlearnersknowandcandoandwhattheyneedtoknowanddo（necessities,lacksandwants）andoccasionallytofindoutneedsofschools,teachers,trainers,parents,educationpolicymakers,MoE（MinistryofEducation）officials,academicspecialistsaswellasemployers;orjusttoputitsimply,whatisneeded.InthecaseofuniversityEnglishcurriculum,universitystudentsthathavereceivedseveralyearstraininginEnglishandhavecertainknow-howofthislanguageintendtofurtherpolishtheirlistening,speaking,reading,writing,andeventranslatingabilityandsoforthtogetamorefavorablefootinginjob-seeking.Inlightofthis,contentenablingandfacilitatingtheabovementionedcontentsareofferedinuniversityEnglishcourses（Johnson,1989）.

Goalsandobjectives,whichslightlydifferfromeachother,arethesecondelementimplyingwhatistobeachieved.Whilegoalsaregenerallong-termstatementsofwhatlearnersshouldbeabletodowhentheyleavethecourseorschool,objectivesarespecificshort-term,focusingonwhatlearnerswilllearnandtheprocessesassociated.Somecurriculumdesignersbreakgoalsdownintosmallerwell-specifiedperformanceobjectives（Nation,2010）.TheobjectiveofuniversityEnglishcurriculumistodevelopstudents’abilitytouseEnglishinawell-roundedway,especiallyinlisteningandspeaking,sothatintheirfuturestudiesandcareersaswellassocialinteractionstheywillbeabletocommunicateeffectively,andatthesametimeenhancetheirabilitytostudyindependentlyandimprovetheirgeneralculturalawarenesssoastomeettheneedsofChina’ssocialdevelopmentandinternationalexchanges（Apple,2004）.

Syllabus,thethirdelement,canbesimplyreferredtoaswhatistaught,namelycontent（formsandfunctions）tobecoveredinasubject,course,orcourses,listingofsuchitemstobelearnedasknowledge,skillsandtasksetc.Itfallsintotwoforms:

product（-oriented）syllabusandprocess（-oriented）syllabus.Aproduct-orientedsyllabusfocusesonthingslearntattheendofthelearningprocess（outcomes）ratherthantheprocessitself.Itcanbefurtherclassifiedasgrammatical,lexical,phoneticanddiscoursalintermsofitsform,orfunctions,notions,socialinteractionandproblemsregardingitsfunctions.Inthecontrary,aprocess-orientedsyllabusfocusesontheskillsandprocessesinvolvedinlearninglanguage.Itcaneitherbetask-based,negotiated,postmodern,ormixed（layeredorintegrated）.Takevocabularyasanexample.ThebasicrequirementrightnowforuniversityEnglishlearnersisthatontheirgraduationtheyshouldbewithanacquisitionofatotalof4,795wordsand700phrases（includingthosethatarecoveredinhighschoolEnglishcourses）with2,000wordsactivelyused.Thatistosay,withinacertainperiodofteachingandlearning,thesyllabusshouldincorporatealltheserequiredvocabulary.

Asformethodology,thefourthelement,inlanguageteachinghasbeendefinedandsummarizedinavarietyofways,amongonenotionholdsthatmethodologyisthebridgebetweentheoryandpractice（Burns,2012）.Howitistaughtisjustthecoredefinitionofmethodology;nevertheless,withinmethodologyitself,alineofdemarcationbetweenmethodsandapproachesisusuallydrawn:

whilemethodsarelabelledasinvariableteachingsystemswithsetsofprescribedforms,rules,routinesandhabitformationandtechniques,approachesarereferredtoaslanguageteachingandlearningtheoriesandbeliefsofwhichtheinterpretationandapplicationtakediversifiedformsintheclassroom.Methodologyalsooffersmultipleforms:

content-based,task-based,negotiated,text-based,ESA（namelyEngage,StudyandActivate）（Willis1996）,corpus-drivenandthelike.RecentlyEnglishclassroomsinuniversitieshavebeenshiftingtomoretask-basedinordertomakeamorecompetentEnglishspeakerofthestudents.

Connotationofthefifthelement—assessment—isaboutwhatistestedandhowitistested.Inprinciple,assessmentshouldshowwhetherneedsanalysishasbeenrespondedto,checkifgoals/objectiveshavebeenattained,andifelementsofthesyllabusarecontained,inadditiontoreflectingthemethodology.Typeofteststobeconductedcanfocusonproficiency,placement,diagnostic,short-termachievement/progress,orend-of-courseachievement.Avarietyofassessmentapproachesalsoexist:

observation-drivenapproach,portfolios,peer-assessment,self-assessment,individual,collaborativeorelectronic.Takeproficiency.AtthemomentmanyuniversitiesregulatethattheirundergraduatesshouldobtainaCET（CollegeEnglishTest）Band6certificateoratleastaCETBand4certificatebeforegraduation;otherwisetheymayriskfailingtogetthediploma.

Lastbutnotleast,thesixthelementevaluationistomeasurehowsuccessfulthecourseis.Evaluation“focusesoncollectinginformationaboutdifferentaspectsofalanguageprogramme”（Bachman,1990）.Theevaluationcouldbeformativeorsummative,descriptiveorjudgmental,andinternalorexternal.Methodologyadoptedinthisveryevaluationrangesfromquantitative,qualitativeandtomixedmethods,withvaryingresultsdependingoncertaincircumstances.InChinatheevaluationfallsinto2aspects:

thatofstudents’learningandthatoftheteachers’teaching.Theformeriscomprisedofassessmentsthatcanbeeitherformativeorsummative,andthelatterismainlythemedwiththeteachingprocessesandeffectsthatshouldnotbecomprehensive,subjectiveandcompletebytakingintoaccountbothstudents’testscoresandteachers’attitudes,approaches,andmethods,thecontentofthecourses,howarethelessonsareorganized,andthecorrespondingeffectsaftertheteachingtakesplace.

MainstreamtheoriesofcurriculumdevelopmentforteacherstoadoptarefromBrownandRichards.Browndefinescurriculumdevelopmentasasetofactivitiesthatarehelpfulandusefultothegrowthofconsensusamongstaff,faculty,administrationandstudents.Headditionallynotesthatthesesetsofcurriculumactivitieswillprovideaframeworkunderwhichteacherscanbetteraccomplishwhatevercombinationofteachingactivitiesismostsuitable,thatissay,withthisframeworkitispossibletoac