Author

Jing Jiang

Date of Graduation

1988

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

The increasing needs of international contacts for modernization program have created favorable conditions for the study of English as a foreign language (EFL) in the People's Republic of China over the last ten years. Thanks to the support by the government, millions of people are involved in learning the language for quick acquisition. However, because of little improvement from traditionally instructional methods in EFL the teaching efficiency for acquisition remains relatively low. On the other hand, during last few decades, foreign language teaching, as a very specialized area of education, has experienced tremendous changes in theory and practice in most of the Western countries. The purpose of this study was to identify the current features of EFL teaching in China and search for better ways for improvement. The procedures included a literature review on foreign EFL specialists' observation of how English was taught in China and a questionnaire survey of Chinese students studying in the United States for their perception of how they had learned English in China. The other important aspect of this study was a systematic review of the studies on foreign language teaching in the Western countries, the United States in particular. Great attention was paid to the latest developments in foreign or second language teaching theory and methodology, especially the Communicative Approach and the Proficiency Movement. The main objective of this study was to analyze different theories and methodologies and to apply them to EFL curriculum development in China. Many new principles and concepts were identified, that can fit into EFL teaching practice in China. Eclecticism was suggested for integrating all existing theories and methodologies. A whole chapter was devoted to EFL curriculum and instructional development in approach, design, and procedure, offering a practical framework and working principles for designing EFL teaching models to achieve communicative proficiency in the learners. In this study, new findings and principles from many specialists both in foreign language teaching and curriculum studies were selected and quoted, and they are sure to be of great help to Chinese EFL curriculum change in the years to come.

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