Progress and Challenges of China College English Reform: An Analysis of a Prevalent Teaching Material “Experiencing English”

Jing Zhang

doi:doi:10.11648/j.edu.20140305.13

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Progress and Challenges of China College English Reform: An Analysis of a Prevalent Teaching Material “Experiencing English”

Jing Zhang

Published in Education Journal (Volume 3, Issue 5)

Received: 7 August 2014 Accepted: 25 August 2014 Published: 10 September 2014

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Abstract

As communicative language teaching (CLT) has gained prominence over the traditional language teaching methods, the ultimate goals of language teaching are not only language knowledge but also the function of language, thus students’ communicative competence becomes the focus of the compilation of teaching materials. This paper aims to analyze “Experiencing English” by the criteria of the 5 components of a communicative curriculum, i.e. Language Arts, Language for a Purpose, Personal L2 Use, Theater Arts, and Beyond the Classroom, to see if its design, organization and material selection are in conformity with the development of learners’ communicative competence. Results show that “Experience English” has well incorporated language knowledge, the negotiation of meaning, the development of communicative competence, and the cultivation of autonomous learning, and also put an emphasis on abilities such as problem solving, self expression, and creative use of language. Challenges of College English teaching in China are discussed as well.

Published in	Education Journal (Volume 3, Issue 5)
DOI	10.11648/j.edu.20140305.13
Page(s)	272-277
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), College English Teaching, Material Compilation

References

[1]	Hymes, D. (1971). Competence and performance in linguistics theory. In R. Huxley & E. Ingram (eds.), Language acquisition: Models and methods (pp. 3-28). London: Academic Press.
[2]	Canale, M., & Swain, M. (1980). Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics, 1, 1-47.
[3]	Sato, K., & Kleinsasser, R. C. (1999) Communicative language teaching (CLT): Practical understandings. The Modern Language Journal, 83, pp. 494-517.
[4]	Savignon, S. J. (1997). Communicative Competence: Theory and Classroom Practice (2nd ed.) New York: McGraw Hill. -- (2003). Teaching English as a communication: a global perspective. World Englishes, 22 (1), 55-66.
[5]	Section of Higher Education, Ministry of Education. (2004). College English Teaching Requirements (on Trial). Beijing: Higher Education Press
[6]	Experiencing English Integrated Book. (2002). Beijing: Higher Education Press.
[7]	Experiencing English Extended Book. (2002). Beijing: Higher Education Press.
[8]	Experiencing English Listening and Speaking. (2002). Beijing: Higher Education Press.
[9]	Jia, G. (2003). Modern Internet technology and College English reform in teaching models. Foreign Language World, 6, 22-29.
[10]	Liu, Yaming, Lan Ge and Jie Zhang. (2007). Incorporate multi-media network into College English classrooms. In Xinxin Zhang (Ed.) Practice and Innovation: Papers on College Education and Reforms in Beijing University of Science and Technology (pp. 52-58). Beijing: Higher Education Press.

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Jing Zhang. (2014). Progress and Challenges of China College English Reform: An Analysis of a Prevalent Teaching Material “Experiencing English”. Education Journal, 3(5), 272-277. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20140305.13

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Jing Zhang. Progress and Challenges of China College English Reform: An Analysis of a Prevalent Teaching Material “Experiencing English”. Educ. J. 2014, 3(5), 272-277. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20140305.13

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AMA Style

Jing Zhang. Progress and Challenges of China College English Reform: An Analysis of a Prevalent Teaching Material “Experiencing English”. Educ J. 2014;3(5):272-277. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20140305.13

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@article{10.11648/j.edu.20140305.13,
  author = {Jing Zhang},
  title = {Progress and Challenges of China College English Reform: An Analysis of a Prevalent Teaching Material “Experiencing English”},
  journal = {Education Journal},
  volume = {3},
  number = {5},
  pages = {272-277},
  doi = {10.11648/j.edu.20140305.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20140305.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.edu.20140305.13},
  abstract = {As communicative language teaching (CLT) has gained prominence over the traditional language teaching methods, the ultimate goals of language teaching are not only language knowledge but also the function of language, thus students’ communicative competence becomes the focus of the compilation of teaching materials. This paper aims to analyze “Experiencing English” by the criteria of the 5 components of a communicative curriculum, i.e. Language Arts, Language for a Purpose, Personal L2 Use, Theater Arts, and Beyond the Classroom, to see if its design, organization and material selection are in conformity with the development of learners’ communicative competence. Results show that “Experience English” has well incorporated language knowledge, the negotiation of meaning, the development of communicative competence, and the cultivation of autonomous learning, and also put an emphasis on abilities such as problem solving, self expression, and creative use of language. Challenges of College English teaching in China are discussed as well.},
 year = {2014}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Progress and Challenges of China College English Reform: An Analysis of a Prevalent Teaching Material “Experiencing English”
AU  - Jing Zhang
Y1  - 2014/09/10
PY  - 2014
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20140305.13
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PB  - Science Publishing Group
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AB  - As communicative language teaching (CLT) has gained prominence over the traditional language teaching methods, the ultimate goals of language teaching are not only language knowledge but also the function of language, thus students’ communicative competence becomes the focus of the compilation of teaching materials. This paper aims to analyze “Experiencing English” by the criteria of the 5 components of a communicative curriculum, i.e. Language Arts, Language for a Purpose, Personal L2 Use, Theater Arts, and Beyond the Classroom, to see if its design, organization and material selection are in conformity with the development of learners’ communicative competence. Results show that “Experience English” has well incorporated language knowledge, the negotiation of meaning, the development of communicative competence, and the cultivation of autonomous learning, and also put an emphasis on abilities such as problem solving, self expression, and creative use of language. Challenges of College English teaching in China are discussed as well.
VL  - 3
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Author Information

Jing Zhang

School of Foreign Languages and literature, Shandong University, Jinan, China

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APA Style

Jing Zhang. (2014). Progress and Challenges of China College English Reform: An Analysis of a Prevalent Teaching Material “Experiencing English”. Education Journal, 3(5), 272-277. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20140305.13

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ACS Style

Jing Zhang. Progress and Challenges of China College English Reform: An Analysis of a Prevalent Teaching Material “Experiencing English”. Educ. J. 2014, 3(5), 272-277. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20140305.13

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AMA Style

Jing Zhang. Progress and Challenges of China College English Reform: An Analysis of a Prevalent Teaching Material “Experiencing English”. Educ J. 2014;3(5):272-277. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20140305.13

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@article{10.11648/j.edu.20140305.13,
  author = {Jing Zhang},
  title = {Progress and Challenges of China College English Reform: An Analysis of a Prevalent Teaching Material “Experiencing English”},
  journal = {Education Journal},
  volume = {3},
  number = {5},
  pages = {272-277},
  doi = {10.11648/j.edu.20140305.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20140305.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.edu.20140305.13},
  abstract = {As communicative language teaching (CLT) has gained prominence over the traditional language teaching methods, the ultimate goals of language teaching are not only language knowledge but also the function of language, thus students’ communicative competence becomes the focus of the compilation of teaching materials. This paper aims to analyze “Experiencing English” by the criteria of the 5 components of a communicative curriculum, i.e. Language Arts, Language for a Purpose, Personal L2 Use, Theater Arts, and Beyond the Classroom, to see if its design, organization and material selection are in conformity with the development of learners’ communicative competence. Results show that “Experience English” has well incorporated language knowledge, the negotiation of meaning, the development of communicative competence, and the cultivation of autonomous learning, and also put an emphasis on abilities such as problem solving, self expression, and creative use of language. Challenges of College English teaching in China are discussed as well.},
 year = {2014}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Progress and Challenges of China College English Reform: An Analysis of a Prevalent Teaching Material “Experiencing English”
AU  - Jing Zhang
Y1  - 2014/09/10
PY  - 2014
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20140305.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.edu.20140305.13
T2  - Education Journal
JF  - Education Journal
JO  - Education Journal
SP  - 272
EP  - 277
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2327-2619
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20140305.13
AB  - As communicative language teaching (CLT) has gained prominence over the traditional language teaching methods, the ultimate goals of language teaching are not only language knowledge but also the function of language, thus students’ communicative competence becomes the focus of the compilation of teaching materials. This paper aims to analyze “Experiencing English” by the criteria of the 5 components of a communicative curriculum, i.e. Language Arts, Language for a Purpose, Personal L2 Use, Theater Arts, and Beyond the Classroom, to see if its design, organization and material selection are in conformity with the development of learners’ communicative competence. Results show that “Experience English” has well incorporated language knowledge, the negotiation of meaning, the development of communicative competence, and the cultivation of autonomous learning, and also put an emphasis on abilities such as problem solving, self expression, and creative use of language. Challenges of College English teaching in China are discussed as well.
VL  - 3
IS  - 5
ER  -

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