Requirements of the Course:
1. A final exam concerning what has been learnt take up 70% of the total.
2.The other 30 % includes 10% of active class participation, and 20% of presentation performances
3. The rewards will be evaluated on the quality of each part.
4. Scores on each part
5% will be reduced on one absence without any reason. 2.5% will be reduced on a failure of one
assignment. Scores will be rewarded on the organization, the fluency and the logical persuasion of the
presentation.
Introduction
1. The Status Quo of LEFL
1.1 Non-native Language Learning
1) The Chinese culture
2) Few Opportunities to Use the Language
3) The Primary Task— ―Enable the learners to command the four basic skills of language for use in the
widest possible
range of different situations” ( Halliday
2003:257 Language as Social Semiotic:
the Social Interpretation of Language and Meaning)
4) In most cases, the general English instruction provided in secondary schools is proven to be an
inadequate preparation for further language use in high education.
5) “Much more work with less benefit ”(费时低效）
As a result, English learning is quite different in universities and difficult while English teaching is
found exactly inefficient.
Reason: Not as much from a defective knowledge of the system of English as from an unfamiliarity with
appropriate use of English
( Exam-oriented or driven, English taught in China)
1. 2 The Reasons Found
1) The philosophical theory advocated by Confucius ― Learning as accumulation of knowledge and
reading of many books‖ (积累知识，博览群书)
(Example: a. rote learning as a basic acquisition technique;
b. Teacher’s authority in class;
2) Result: “ The importance of linguistic knowledge such as vocabulary and grammatical rules is
overemphasized by neglecting the significance of how to apply the knowledge in communication.”
(Dai Wei-dong 2001:323)
That is, “knowing a lot more about what, with insufficient procedure knowledge, knowing how.”
3) Conclusion:
A. Both knowledges (declarative knowledge and procedure knowledge, “ knowing how”) are
required to succeed in real-life communication, with more emphasis on the use of acquired knowledge.
B. The situation in China: Chinese learners often “neither understand the language they have been
learning as spoken by a native speaker in a ‘real life’ condition, nor make themselves understood in
it, nor talk acceptably on subjects relevant to life outside the classroom.”
(Richards 2002: 86)
2. Main Problems of TEFL in China
1) The Influence of Age or Maturational Constraints A. The learning begins at 10 with the children at 12 or 13 in the countryside
B. Mother tongue influence
( First in Chinese, then in English)
Example: a. I think I don’t like your book.
b. Aren’t you a student? Yes, I am not.
C. Krashen, Long, and Scarcella (1982) argue that acquirers who begin learning a foreign language in
early childhood through natural exposure achieve higher proficiency than those beginning as adults.
This shows that children are superior to adults in their innate lan -guage-specific endowment or
propensity (tendency) for acquiring fluency and naturalness in language learning.
2) Ignorance of central role of the oral and aural medium
A. In language learning, listening plays a decisive role in the development of speaking abilities.
B. In communication, every interlocutor plays a double role—both as a listener and a speaker. Speaking
feeds on listening, which proceeds it.
C. But in real situations, learners pay too much attention on reading and writing. (exam-oriented)
目前在具体的教学中教师还很难实施《课程标准》的教学要求，学校的教学仍然是以应试为主（82.9%），教师也只能从某种方面实施新的教师要求，关注学生的综合素质发展（17.1%）。(周流溪、王笃勤“中国中学英语教学现状调查”（摘要）
3) Ignorance of social-cultural aspect
A. Pragmatically language is a form of social action because linguistic communication occurs in the
context of structured interpersonal exchange, and meaning is thus regulated.
B. It is hard for a foreigner to choose the forms appropriate to certain situations where it is appropriate
for a native speaker.
Example 1: a. The teacher suggested (propose)that the boy go to the concert.
b. The teacher suggested (imply) that the boy went to the concert.
2. a. You aren’t so good in English, are you?
b. Yes, I am not. (a Chinese learner)
―文化教学不只是文化知识的教学，要使文化从知识转化为能力，同样需要学生在交际中去体验，在完成任务时去习得。而教师目前在这些方面做的还比较少，对学生在文化学习中的主体性调动不够，只有23.1％的教师能够组织学习参与文化知识的收集和陈述。” (周流溪、王笃勤“中国中学英语教学现状调查”（摘要））
4) The Influence of the Affective Factors
“The affective side of the learner is probably one of the most important influences on language
learning success or failure”
( Oxford 1990: 140)
A. The affective factors related to foreign language learning are emotions, self-esteem, empathy ( ability
to imagine and share others’ feelings ) and , anxiety, attitude and motivation.
B. Clearly, the sensitivity of adult learners to making mistakes, or fear of ―losing face‖ has been the
explanation for their inability to be competent in communication.
5) The Qualifications of Foreign Language
Teachers in China
A. An investigation, carried out by Dai Wei-dong, the President of SISU, shows that the most
difficult problem to be solved concerning English teach -ing is teacher qualification. The situa -tion in
China: A great shortage of qualified teachers at all levels.
(1)In 2003 there were 19 million students in universities, but there were only 50,000 teachers.
