Hui DU School of Education University of South Australia

1. How far is it from the reality to the goal? Reflections on the goal of College English teaching in China Hui DU School of Education University of South Australia

2. Part I: Introduction • College English: an English course offered to non-English major students in Chinese universities 2

3. Document shift College English Syllabus (CES): Reading College English Curriculum Requirements (CECR): Listening & speaking 3

4. Change of primary goal of teaching • College English aims to develop in students a relatively high level of competence in reading, an intermediate level of competence in listening, speaking, writing and translating, so that they could exchange information in English (CES, 1999: 1). • The objective of College English is to develop students’ ability to use English in a well-rounded way, especially in listening and speaking, so that in their future studies and careers as well as social interactions they will be able to communicate effectively… (CECR, 2007: 18). 4

5. Part II: Research questions • What is the English speaking environment in China? • (2) What is the situation of College English teachers? • (3) What is classroom interaction like in College English classrooms? • (4) What are the students’ opinions on the shift of teaching goal? • (5) What are the teachers’ opinions on the shift of teaching goal? 5

6. Table 1: Research questions and data sources and methods 6

7. Part III: Methods • This research is based on (a) documentary analysis; (b) classroom observation; and (c) interview, focusing on the reality of College English classroom teaching in relation to the goals of teaching: (a) English speaking environment; (b) teachers; (c) classroom interaction; and (d) teachers and students’ opinions on the goals. 7

8. A qualitative study, an “‘exploratory-interpretive’ one which utilises a non-experimental method, yields qualitative data, and provides an interpretive analysis of that data” (Nunan, 1992:4). 8

9. A case study approach, which “aims to understand social phenomena within a single or small number of naturally occurring settings” (Bloor & Wood, 2006:27). • “We gain better understanding of the whole by focusing on a key part”(Gerring, 2007:1). • case: “a phenomenon of some sort occurring in a bounded context”(Miles & Huberman, 1994:25) 9

10. Research sites: three Chinese national universities. - U1: pharmacy - U2: hydro-electricity - U3: agriculture • Critical sampling (Patton, 2002:236) 10

11. This study adopts Gumperz’s (1999) methods of observation and interview used in “Interactional Sociolinguistics (IS)” • IS “has its origin in the search for replicable methods of qualitative sociolinguistic analysis” (op.cit.:453) • IS “applicable to communicative situations of all kinds” (op.cit.:469). 11

12. Documentary analysis: “the collection and analysis of documents at a research site as part of the process of building a ground theory” (Richards, 2002:168). • Sources of documents - China Scholarship Council of P.R. China - Ministry of Education of P.R. China - Ministry of Commerce of P.R. China 12

13. Part IV: Data collection Table 2: Data collected in three Chinese national universities Key to Column 3: IRC: Intensive Reading Class; LC: Listening Class 13

14. Interview with the dean Situation of College English teachers 14

15. Documentary data November 2007: • the number of international students in Chinese universities; • the number of investment programs in China by other countries or regions; • the number of Chinese universities, College English teachers, students; • information about the reform in College English teaching in China 15

16. Part V: Data presentation • English speaking environment in China • Interviews with 3 deans on the situation of teachers in 3 Chinese national universities • Full transcript of classroom interaction in two classrooms • Interviews with 12 teachers and 120 students on their opinions on the change of teaching goal 16

17. V-1: English speaking environment in China • Language is both personal and sociocultural (Emmitt & Pollock, 1997:7). • Taken as a whole, speech is many-sided and heterogeneous; straddling several areas simultaneously – physical, physiological, and psychological – it belongs both to the individual and to society (Saussure, 1983:11). 17

18. (a) Inside campus “Abstract of statistics of international students in Chinese universities”: • 2004: 110,844, 85,112 Asian students 76.78% • 2003: 77,715 63,672 Asian students 81.3% (China Scholarship Council, 2003; 2004) 18

19. Table 3: Diploma Students from English speaking countries in Chinese universities in 2004 Source: http://csc.edu.cn/gb/downloaddoc/2004/2003lhtj.doc 19

20. Table 4: Non-diploma students and scholars from English speaking countries in Chinese universities in 2004 Source: http://csc.edu.cn/gb/downloaddoc/2004/2003lhtj.doc 20

21. 2004 diploma students, non-diploma students and scholars - Australia 1,159 - Canada 1,205 - U.K. 1,046 - U.S.A. 8,480 Total: 11,890 10.72% (of the total 110,844 international students in Chinese universities) 21

22. Table 5: Diploma Students from English speaking countries in Chinese universities in 2003 Source: http://csc.edu.cn/gb/downloaddoc/2004/2003lhtj.doc 22

23. Table 6: Non-diploma students and scholars from English speaking countries in Chinese universities in 2003 Source: http://csc.edu.cn/gb/downloaddoc/2004/2003lhtj.doc 23

24. 2003 diploma students, non-diploma students and scholars - Australia: 918 - Canada: 557 - U.K.: 657 - U.S.A.: 3,693 • Total: 5,825 7.49% (of the total 77,715 international students in Chinese universities) 24

25. If we exclude the short-term students and scholars from English speaking countries coming and going only within six months, • 2004: 868 • 2003: 648 25

26. In May 2008: - U1: 2 (8,982 undergraduates) - U2: 2 (11,072 undergraduates) - U3: 3 (12,900 undergraduates) 26

27. The above situation shows that it is hard for both learners and teachers to have access to English speaking environment outside classrooms on campus. 27

28. (b) Outside campus • of the 44,001 programs (for example, enterprises) invested by other countries and regions until 2005, 38,016.71 programs were from the top ten investment countries/regions, which actually accounted for 86.41% of the total. (Ministry of Commerce of P. R. China, 2005) 28

29. Table 8: Programs from the top ten investment countries/regions until 2005 79.31% Source: http://info.feno.cn/2007/1108/c000040463.shtml 29

30. Documentary analysis shows that whether inside or outside university campus, English speaking environment outside classrooms is very limited. 30

31. V-2: Situation of College English teachers • By interviewing three deans in three Chinese national universities, I collected the data of College English teachers in these universities in terms of their (a) workload, (b) class sizes, (c) academic ranks, (d) academic qualifications, (e) age, (f) gender, and (g) experiences of studying or working in English speaking countries. 31

32. Table 8: Teachers’ Rated and Actual Workload TET: Temporarily employed teachers 32

33. Table 9: Teacher- Student Ratio and Class Size Actual class sizes: 46-90 33

34. Table 10: College English Teachers in Academic Ranks 34

35. Table 11: Academic qualifications of College English teachers 35

36. Table 12: College English teachers by age 36

37. Table 13: College English teachers by gender 37

38. Table 14: Teachers with experiences of studying or working in English speaking countries *As a part of the collaborative program of master of education between an Australian university and a Chinese university, this teacher spent two months in Australia before completing her master studies. 38

39. 0.9% of the 94 teachers had such an experience. • All the 9teachers’ time spent in English speaking countries added up to 38 months. • 99% of the teachers have never had the experience. 39

40. V-3: Classroom interaction • Full transcript of classroom interaction in two classrooms - IRC - LC 40

41. Terms and definitions • Classroom interaction: the pattern of verbal communication (Richards, 2002:74). • Classroom discourse: the type of language used in classroom interactions (op. cit.:73). • Move: the basic semantic unit in interactive talk – it is the smallest unit of potential interaction (Thornbury & Slade, 2006:117) • Turn: everything the current speaker says before the next speaker takes over; it consists of one or more moves” (Stenström, 1994:30). 41

42. Table 15: Pedagogical functions of the moves of teacher talk in two classrooms 42

43. Table 16: Basic patterns of interactions in two classrooms 43

44. Table 16: Basic patterns of interactions in two classrooms Key: T: teacher; S: students; IRC: Intensive Reading Class; LC: Listening Class 44

45. V-4: Data of interview • Interview question: There is a change in the primary goal of the teaching of College English: from a focus on reading in CES to a focus on listening and speaking in CECR. What do you think of the change? 45

46. Table 18: Comparison of that teachers and their students’ opinions 46

47. 47

48. Against : Reading was what the students would be needed most in their future For, but …: For the change, but they suspected that some problems may prevent the goal from being achieved For Language learning is a process of listening, speaking, reading, and writing; (2) Listening and speaking rather than reading and writing should act as key criteria of knowing a language; (3)Without listening & speaking, without communication; (4) Improvement in listening and speaking can lead to that in reading and writing. 48

49. Discussion Are there any great needs for all College English students to have strong abilities in listening and speaking? • Needs analysis, “the process of determining the needs for which a learner or group of learners requires a language and arranging the needs according to priorities” (Richards & Schmidt, 2002:353) • In a foreign language environment there is no fossilization (Han, 2008), “the relatively permanent incorporation of incorrect linguistic forms into a person’s second language competence; also referred to as stabilization” (Brown, 2007:382). • “Limited opportunity for L2 practice is the most salient characteristic of FL contexts” (Dekeyser, 2007:186). 49

50. Situation of teachers • Teachers are “a key factor in the successful implementation of curriculum changes” (Richards, 2001:99). 50