下载掌阅APP，畅读海量书库
立即打开
When studying the change and development of ELT in China and those of Chinese English teachers, it is important to have a general idea about the change and development of the English curriculum in Chinese middle schools. The reason for this is that most of the teachers involved in this research work in middle schools. Change and development in the English curriculum are therefore significant external factors affecting changes in teachers' practice, and consequently became an important issue in the fieldwork.
At present, among all the foreign languages taught in schools, English has undoubtedly had the largest number of learners, an estimated number of 50 million in the regular education sector and 150 million in the non-formal education sector with a total number of 500,000 full time English teachers (Wang Qiang & Wang Lei, 2000).
English language teaching in China experienced unique patterns of change and development at the political level. During the Cultural Revolution, English teaching was at its lowest point. After the Cultural Revolution, English was formally restored to the school curriculum, and there have been a number of changes and developments in the past 20 years. These changes and developments have greatly affected teachers and they have passed through four phases (Wang Qiang & Wang Lei, 2000).
In 1978, a new national syllabus and a set of textbooks were produced based on audiolingualism and the grammar translation method (MOE, 1978). The textbooks were characterized by oral and written drills of sentence patterns together with some literary texts for explanation and translation (English, 1—6, 1978). This series of textbooks was used for a few years and was then criticized because the learning load was too heavy for the students.
In 1986, the syllabus and the textbooks were revised. The difficulty level was reduced. Also, the linguistic items were dispersed throughout the textbooks instead of being squeezed into one or two books as before (English, 1—6, 1986). In addition, texts were made more interesting and informative, and supplementary readings were added to the books. However, the teaching and the textbooks adopted a similar pedagogical approach as in 1978. In classrooms, English was taught basically as a structure, and grammar and vocabulary were stressed.
In 1978 and 1986, both the syllabus and the textbooks had a feature typical of the centralised education system in China. This feature can be summarised as "one syllabus and one set of textbooks", which means that the Ministry of Education (MOE) made decisions on the content of the syllabus and the press under the direct control of MOE, that is, the People's Education Press (PEP), produced a set of textbooks to match the syllabus. As a result, all schools in China used the same set of textbooks guided by one syllabus. However, with the rapid social and economic development and the policy of decentralization, the feature of "one syllabus and one set of textbooks" was gradually replaced by the feature of "one syllabus and several sets of textbooks", which made it possible for more sets of textbooks for schools to choose from. Therefore, in 1993, a new syllabus (MOE, 1993) was designed together with a few new sets of textbooks. Among these textbooks, Junior English for China (JEFC, 1993) and Senior English for China (SEFC, 1993) by the People's Education Press (PEP) and Longman, are the most widely used textbooks in the middle schools all over China; also, there are textbooks for 4-year middle schools by Beijing Normal University (BNU) and textbooks compiled for Sichuan Province, Guangdong Province, and Shanghai. With the appearance of these materials, teachers at the classroom level began to feel the pressure of change, because the notion of communicative language teaching was the concept underpinning these textbooks.
By the late 1990s, English language teaching in China was criticized, and problems were identified by researchers. For example, many teachers' were criticized (Wang Qiang & Wang Lei, 2000) for putting too much emphasis on the delivery of knowledge about language while ignoring the development of students' language ability. Classroom teaching continues to be largely teacher-centred, which does not foster students' interest and motivation for learning or developing their individuality. students' learn passively, with their only purpose being to pass examinations. The content is monotonous and the evaluation is too knowledge oriented. Therefore, an important policy document was issued in 1999, which aimed to build a new National English Curriculum Standard (NECS) (MOE, 2001). This has been regarded as an important stage in the change and development of English teaching in schools in China, and it has caused great changes and developments to be expected from teachers.
As Wang Qiang & Wang Lei (2000) stressed, the urgent need for the changes and developments in teachers is based on the following reasons.
With the rapid social and economic development, and in the light of the world knowledge economy and information technology, there is an increasing demand for English. A higher level of ability to use the language in communication is very much stressed.
Quality education is to be implemented at all levels in Chinas educational system, and this assumes the existence of a holistic approach to education. Education should nurture students' creativity and improve their practical abilities.
Reforms in education at all levels were launched and a new English curriculum for schools began to be designed in 1999. It was piloted in 2001 and will be implemented fully in about three to five years time.
To pave the way for the implementation of the new curriculum, and to address present needs and changes, the 1993 syllabus was revised in early 2000 and became effective in September 2000.
Meanwhile, at a more practical level, some major changes have been emphasised in the 2000 Revised Syllabus, which has become the main guide for language teachers'. It...
sets the students' interest and motivation as well as developing learning strategies as the first priority of the course
sets higher requirements for the use of the language, lowering the requirements for knowing about grammar
increases the vocabulary size from 600 to 800
increases the amount of input in listening and reading
promotes the use of both formative and summative assessment forms
(MOE, 2000).
At the same time, the National English Curriculum Standard (MOE, 2001) attracted the attention of all who are involved in English teaching. NECS was produced by a committee with 13 members representing scholars, educationalists, teacher trainers, teaching and research fellows, and curriculum experts in China.
The characteristics of NECS can be summarised as follows. It...
stresses quality-oriented education and language ability
divides language teaching and learning into nine levels covering from primary 3 to senior 3 and sets detailed performance objectives for each level
emphasises the use of language and increases vocabulary
establishes a new assessment system
advocates the effective use of modern educational resources and multimedia in learning
Compared with the previous change and development in English language teaching in China, the revised 2000 syllabus and the NECS in the subsequent 5 years are obviously putting great pressure on teachers. Wang Qiang & Wang Lei (2000) claimed that English language teaching in China was entering a new phase of rapid development. Teacher training and materials development are all under way to prepare both teachers and students to meet the new challenge and changes. It states that teachers' should adjust their views on language and language teaching and use a more student-centred approach (MOE, 2001). It requires that teachers should provide more chances for student participation in classroom teaching. Language input should be authentic, interesting and practical. teachers are encouraged to use modern teaching technology to create a better learning environment and develop teaching resources.