论文部分内容阅读
【Abstract】 English has been acknowledged as the most important foreign language in China for many years， and English teaching and learning now occupies the attention of millions of Chinese. Despite the great efforts that have been put into English teaching and learning， English proficiency of many Chinese learners still leave much to be desired， and it poses great challenges for English teachers and educators even our educational system as a whole. In this paper， I will make some recommendations for improving the existing situation for English language teaching in China.
【Key Words】 English teaching China
【中图分类号】G64.23 【文献标识码】B 【文章编号】2095-3089（2013）24-0-01
1. Existing problems for English teaching
Though great improvement has been made in the field of English learning and teaching in China， there still exist many problems.
1.1 For many years， examination-oriented education has been a great challenge for English language teaching in China. Instead of testing students’ language ability， paper-and-pencil tests assessment on language knowledge has always been the priority for both teachers and students. Chinese teachers’ focus is on the delivery of the English knowledge， grammar points， for example， but not the development of students’ language ability. To some extent， it is understandable， as language ability is not easy to be evaluated， as least not so evident as the result of the paper-and-pencil tests assessment.
1.2 The textbooks are stereotyped. The classroom discourse is also stereotyped and mechanical. In many primary and secondary schools in China， English teachers are still using one singe textbook to teach. Students are required to do lots of repetitive practice and mechanical memorizing. Though “students-centered” models are strongly encouraged in the process of language teaching， it is still not widely adopted. Most English classes are， in reality， “teacher-centered”.
1.3 The hard environment leaves much to be desired. Language teaching only occur in the classroom， which is often not spacious and even confine students’ movement. Students seldom have chances to be involved in authentic language environment， which will be beneficial for students’s language development.
2. Suggestions
What can we do with the existing situation？ This is a question raised and discussed widely in the field of English teaching and learning. Of course， there is no once -for-all solution to this situation， and we cannot expect an immediate positive outcome. However， changes need to be made. As a teacher， I believe that there are some measures that could be taken . 2.1 The testing system needs to be improved . As long as the testing system remains unchanged， any reform of teaching methods will just be loud empty talk. The English examinations should be designed to test the real ability of students ' use of English in different social contexts. I strongly recommend the use of spoken tests in our English assessment process. Paper-and-pencil tests are necessary， however， they are not sufficient and effective enough to test students’ command of the language. If spoken tests are added to the current testing system， it will be of great help to reveal students’ real ability to communicate by using English. Teachers and teachers will also pay more attention to the cultivation of language ability in their daily teaching and learning.
2.2 The relationship between students and teachers should be eased. The elimination of estrangement between students and teachers will largely depend on the teachers. It should not be difficult for teachers to treat students as friends， to become easier to approach and to negotiate meaning with them rather than instruct like a commander in an army. As teachers， we should improve our communication with our students ； we should give them the freedom to air their own perspectives and respect the views and values of students. In this way， it should be easier to carry out various teaching and learning activities in which students are allowed to actively participate.
2.3 Teachers should increase their own awareness of the varieties of the English language that are linked to social identity. They should acquire knowledge of English varieties， and come to understand them in order to assist students in understanding that we should talk differently in different times and spaces.
2.4 It would be more satisfying if the education administrators added new material related to variety of the the English language in our textbooks. For example， gender differences in politeness expression， or ethnic differences in narrative conventions （ McKay & Hornberger ， 1996 ）. However ， this process might require a certain length of time， and there is still much that we can do with the existing textbooks. Firstly ， we can use the contents in the textbook as lead-ins， and create a range of participation opportunities for students， and help students experience a wide variety of language forms and functions. These can be both oral and literate （ McGoarty ， in McKay & Hornberger ， 1996 ） .
3. Conclusion
The ultimate goal of language teaching is to equip learners with adequate ability to realize mutual communication. Although problems still exist for English language teaching in China， various measures can be taken to improve the existing situation. That will require efforts from the policy makers of related educational department， educators， teachers and of course， learners themselves. With the concerted efforts form all parties involved， effective communication of English will certainly become reality one day.
Sources list
[1] McGoarty ， 1996 ， language attitudes ， motivation ， and standards. In S . L . McKay & N . Hornberger （ eds ） Sociolinguistics and Language Teaching . Cambridge University Press.
[2] Numrich ， C ， . 1996 ， On Becoming a Language Teacher ： Insights from Diary Studies . TESOL Quarterly ， Vol 30 ， No . l ， p131 - 135.
[3] 茹克叶﹒穆罕默德，2012，Foreign language teaching methodology， Intellectual Property Press.
【Key Words】 English teaching China
【中图分类号】G64.23 【文献标识码】B 【文章编号】2095-3089（2013）24-0-01
1. Existing problems for English teaching
Though great improvement has been made in the field of English learning and teaching in China， there still exist many problems.
1.1 For many years， examination-oriented education has been a great challenge for English language teaching in China. Instead of testing students’ language ability， paper-and-pencil tests assessment on language knowledge has always been the priority for both teachers and students. Chinese teachers’ focus is on the delivery of the English knowledge， grammar points， for example， but not the development of students’ language ability. To some extent， it is understandable， as language ability is not easy to be evaluated， as least not so evident as the result of the paper-and-pencil tests assessment.
1.2 The textbooks are stereotyped. The classroom discourse is also stereotyped and mechanical. In many primary and secondary schools in China， English teachers are still using one singe textbook to teach. Students are required to do lots of repetitive practice and mechanical memorizing. Though “students-centered” models are strongly encouraged in the process of language teaching， it is still not widely adopted. Most English classes are， in reality， “teacher-centered”.
1.3 The hard environment leaves much to be desired. Language teaching only occur in the classroom， which is often not spacious and even confine students’ movement. Students seldom have chances to be involved in authentic language environment， which will be beneficial for students’s language development.
2. Suggestions
What can we do with the existing situation？ This is a question raised and discussed widely in the field of English teaching and learning. Of course， there is no once -for-all solution to this situation， and we cannot expect an immediate positive outcome. However， changes need to be made. As a teacher， I believe that there are some measures that could be taken . 2.1 The testing system needs to be improved . As long as the testing system remains unchanged， any reform of teaching methods will just be loud empty talk. The English examinations should be designed to test the real ability of students ' use of English in different social contexts. I strongly recommend the use of spoken tests in our English assessment process. Paper-and-pencil tests are necessary， however， they are not sufficient and effective enough to test students’ command of the language. If spoken tests are added to the current testing system， it will be of great help to reveal students’ real ability to communicate by using English. Teachers and teachers will also pay more attention to the cultivation of language ability in their daily teaching and learning.
2.2 The relationship between students and teachers should be eased. The elimination of estrangement between students and teachers will largely depend on the teachers. It should not be difficult for teachers to treat students as friends， to become easier to approach and to negotiate meaning with them rather than instruct like a commander in an army. As teachers， we should improve our communication with our students ； we should give them the freedom to air their own perspectives and respect the views and values of students. In this way， it should be easier to carry out various teaching and learning activities in which students are allowed to actively participate.
2.3 Teachers should increase their own awareness of the varieties of the English language that are linked to social identity. They should acquire knowledge of English varieties， and come to understand them in order to assist students in understanding that we should talk differently in different times and spaces.
2.4 It would be more satisfying if the education administrators added new material related to variety of the the English language in our textbooks. For example， gender differences in politeness expression， or ethnic differences in narrative conventions （ McKay & Hornberger ， 1996 ）. However ， this process might require a certain length of time， and there is still much that we can do with the existing textbooks. Firstly ， we can use the contents in the textbook as lead-ins， and create a range of participation opportunities for students， and help students experience a wide variety of language forms and functions. These can be both oral and literate （ McGoarty ， in McKay & Hornberger ， 1996 ） .
3. Conclusion
The ultimate goal of language teaching is to equip learners with adequate ability to realize mutual communication. Although problems still exist for English language teaching in China， various measures can be taken to improve the existing situation. That will require efforts from the policy makers of related educational department， educators， teachers and of course， learners themselves. With the concerted efforts form all parties involved， effective communication of English will certainly become reality one day.
Sources list
[1] McGoarty ， 1996 ， language attitudes ， motivation ， and standards. In S . L . McKay & N . Hornberger （ eds ） Sociolinguistics and Language Teaching . Cambridge University Press.
[2] Numrich ， C ， . 1996 ， On Becoming a Language Teacher ： Insights from Diary Studies . TESOL Quarterly ， Vol 30 ， No . l ， p131 - 135.
[3] 茹克叶﹒穆罕默德，2012，Foreign language teaching methodology， Intellectual Property Press.