unit-3-The-National-English-Curriculum

TheNationalEnglishCurriculumUNIT33.1AbriefhistoryofforeignlanguageteachinginChinaForeignlanguageteachingbefore1978Startingfromtheearly1900s---notachieveverymuch1949-1965Russian---thepredominantforeignlanguageEarly1960s---transferfromRussiantoEnglishduetothediplomaticbreakdownbetweenChinaandtheformerUSSR.1966-1976theCulturalRevolution---amuchmoredecentralizedsituationofforeignlanguageteaching,asmaterialsweredevelopedbysomelocalschoolsoragencies.Therewasonlyasporadicteachingofforeignlanguage,mainlyEnglish.Thematerialswereusuallysimpleandoftencontainedpoliticalelements.Intheearly1970’s,schoolsresumedteachingandEnglishreplacedRussianastherequiredforeignlanguageinsecondaryschoolsandwaslaterformallyrestoredintothenationalcurriculumin1978.ThedevelopmentofELTsince1978:RestorationRapidDevelopmentReformInnovation3.1AbriefhistoryofforeignlanguageteachinginChinaAphaseofrestoration(1978-1985)TheissueofthenationalsyllabusbyMOEin1978:Aimsandrequirements:thefocuswasonthestudyofbasicphoneticsandgrammar,aswellasacertainamountofwords.Studentsshouldbeabletoreadsimplifiedreadingmaterialsongeneraltopicswiththehelpofdictionariesandwereexpectedtodevelopapreliminaryabilityinlistening,speaking,writingandtranslation.Timeallocation:656hoursTextbookswerepublishedbyPEP,theonlyrecognisedpublisherthenundertheStateEducationCommitteetopublishtextbooksforschoolsinChina.Teachingmethod:audiolingualismTwopartsineachlesson:OralandwrittendrillsofsentencepatternsReadingtextstobelearnedthroughgrammar-translationThegrammarofthetextbooksfollowedthegradedsequenceoftensesandothergrammaticalitemsadvocatedbyZhangDaozheninAPracticalofEnglishGrammarwhichwasbasedonSovietpracticesprevalentinthePRCduringthe1950’s.(Adamson,1997)3.1AbriefhistoryofforeignlanguageteachinginChina1978-1982Englishwasgraduallyrestoredintothesecondarycurriculumandteachingqualitybegantobegivenmuchattention.TheestablishmentofNFLTRA(TheNationalForeignLanguageTeachingandResearchAssociation),ateachers’organizationThepublicationoftwojournals:ForeignLanguageTeachinginSchoolsbyBeijingNormalUniversityandEnglishTeachingandResearchatPrimaryandSecondarySchoolsbyEast-ChinaNormalUniversity.---providingaforumfordifferentideasandmethodstobeexchangedandchallenged.3.1AbriefhistoryofforeignlanguageteachinginChinaIn1983,aforeignlanguagebecamearequirementforadmissionintotheuniversity.1985surveyonsecondaryschoolEnglishteachingledbytheStateEducationCommission.Problemsfoundinthesurvey:Schoolleaverswereunabletouseevenverysimplelanguagetoexpressthemselvesafterspendingalmost900hoursinlearningthelanguage.Causes:Agrammar-basedaudio-lingualteachingmethod,rigidwrittenexaminationrequirements,shortageofqualifiedteachersandextremelylimitedresources.3.1AbriefhistoryofforeignlanguageteachinginChinaAphaseofrapiddevelopment(1986-1992)1986---arevisedEnglishsyllabusforsecondaryschoolsbasedontheexperiencesofteachinginthepastyearsandontheintegrationofthecurrentinternationaltheoriesonlanguageteachingandlearning.RewritingoftextbooksbyPEPnewaimsandrequirements:Englishisnotonlyinstrumentalbutalsocommunicativeandeducational.Englishteachingshouldnotonlyfocusondevelopingstudents’knowledgeaboutthelanguage,butalsodevelopingstudents’cognitiveability,positiveattitudesaswellaspersonality.Asfaraspedagogyisconcerned,itwasstatedthatteachingshouldfocusmoreontheuseofthelanguagetoimprovethequalityoflearning.3.1AbriefhistoryofforeignlanguageteachinginChinaAphaseofreform(1993-2000)Socialandeconomicdevelopment/thedevelopmentinthepolicyofnineyearcompulsoryeducationTheintroductionofcommunicativeapproachinlanguageteachingThe1993syllabus---“communication”wasusedintheobjectiveofteachingforthefirsttime.Alistofphrasesfor30situations,labeled“DailyExpressionsinCommunication”wasalsoincludedtogetherwiththediscretephoneticandgrammaticalandlexicalitemsspecified,reflectingasynthesisofthenewandtheoldapproaches.Ashiftofparadigmfromgrammartranslationandtheaudio-lingualmethodtowardamorecommunication-orientedlanguageteaching.AchievementsasaresultoftheapplicationofthenewsyllabusAlargescaleEnglishlanguageteachingandlearninginvestigationledbyProfessorZhangZhengdongetalin1999tothefirstgroupofseniorsecondaryschoolleaversthatusedJuniorEnglishforChinaandSeniorEnglishforChina:TheEnglishproficiencylevelsofseniorsecondaryschoolleaversin1990hadimprovedbyabigmargincomparedtoasimplestudydonein1985byMOE.3.1AbriefhistoryofforeignlanguageteachinginChinaAphaseofinnovationfrom2000Thisphaseischaracterizedbyafirmandurgentcallfromthegovernmentforquality-orientededucation.Problemsneededtobeaddressed:Anoveremphasisonthedeliveryofknowledgeaboutthelanguagewhileignoringthedevelopmentofstudents’languageability.Alackofconnectionbetweendifferentstagesofschooling.Littleallowancewasmadeforcateringindividuallearnerdifferences.Assessmentwasdonemainlyusingpaper-and-penciltestsfocusingmainlyonlanguageknowledge,givinglittleattentiontotheassessmentoflanguageability,andaffectivegains.Bothteachersandstudentsfeltoverburdenedbyexaminations.Curriculumin