This paper presents some reflections on non-English major postgraduate English teaching reform. The author points out some understandings on the English proficiency of non-English major postgraduate students and curri...This paper presents some reflections on non-English major postgraduate English teaching reform. The author points out some understandings on the English proficiency of non-English major postgraduate students and curriculum changes in the reform. The author thinks that postgraduate English teaching reform is a systematic project, with a goal to meet the practical needs of postgraduate students and improve their ability to use English in their study and work. Hence, every effort of the reform should be made to satisfy the practical needs of the students and to make their English study contribute to their achievements in their own subject area.展开更多
Interest is one type of motivation and it is a vital factor in oral English learning. This paper concerns how to develop, keep and promote non-English majors' interests in oral English. It suggests combine interests ...Interest is one type of motivation and it is a vital factor in oral English learning. This paper concerns how to develop, keep and promote non-English majors' interests in oral English. It suggests combine interests with teaching contents, teaching activities and other factors.展开更多
Non-English majored learners are poor in language out. It is pointed out the widespread problem reflected in their writing is that the learners are lack of the consciousness of the thinking differences between Chinese...Non-English majored learners are poor in language out. It is pointed out the widespread problem reflected in their writing is that the learners are lack of the consciousness of the thinking differences between Chinese and English, and a negative Chinese transfer brings about expressing barriers. Five main lexical problems are presented to illustrate. It is suggested that the learners' awareness of the thinking differences be raised so as to improve language output.展开更多
This paper has addressed key notions about ESP and examined issues in ESP curriculum design. The content of the paper was determined by a need identified based on author's professional experience as an EMP instructor...This paper has addressed key notions about ESP and examined issues in ESP curriculum design. The content of the paper was determined by a need identified based on author's professional experience as an EMP instructor designing and delivering the content-based language lessons--language preparation for Doctoral Degree Applicants in medicine. The author believes that in English class teachers should adopt a student-centered approach, have some knowledge of the special subjects and choose appropriate materials that fit all medical students. This approach has achieved satisfactory result in helping students know about the latest breakthroughs in biomedical fields, communicate with colleagues of other countries and contribute to foreign medical journals.展开更多
This paper is on the study of motivational changes of Chinese non-English major students in their first two years of college English learning. The current study was carried out through the quantitative research method...This paper is on the study of motivational changes of Chinese non-English major students in their first two years of college English learning. The current study was carried out through the quantitative research method. The research question to be addressed is:During the first two years of college English learning, does non-English majors' learning motivation (i.e. types of motivation and motivational intensity) change? The analyses of the data reveal that motivational changes do exist in the first two years of college English learning. Generally, most types of motivation (i.e. intrinsic interest motivation, information medium motivation, personal development motivation, and social responsibility motivation) decrease significantly except for the slight increase of immediate achievement motivation, and the decline of motivational intensity is also obvious.展开更多
Tremendous data and materials indicate that British-American literature course, as the compulsive course for English major students, has been overlooked by the authority of various administrative departments and stude...Tremendous data and materials indicate that British-American literature course, as the compulsive course for English major students, has been overlooked by the authority of various administrative departments and students as well. The majorities of teachers and students have formed the conception of attaching more importance to skill-gaining than literature-acquisition. Furthermore, there are large quantities of questionnaires and analyses conducted by the author in this essay; meanwhile, this essay offers some countermeasures to solve the current situation of British-American literature course展开更多
English majors' B.A. (Bachelor of Arts) thesis writing is an important part and test of the students' four-year undergraduate education. It lays solid foundation for their future study and work. Yet serious proble...English majors' B.A. (Bachelor of Arts) thesis writing is an important part and test of the students' four-year undergraduate education. It lays solid foundation for their future study and work. Yet serious problems exist during the process. The author of the paper collects and analyzes the 289 titles of English majors' B.A. writing in the recent two years in Changchun University, China. The results of the analysis reveal that almost 40% of the titles are on literature every year and among them there are some similar titles. In view of this situation, the author first explores the reasons that caused those problems. One of the important reasons is that the increasing of the supervisors and reference materials cannot keep the pace of the expanding of students' numbers. The author, after that, makes some reflections on those problems, then proposes five practical supervising strategies, and makes some relevant suggestions for English major's thesis writing. Meanwhile some other related problems in thesis writing in China are also discussed.展开更多
Motivation is an inner state that arouses individual's desire for a goal and maintains their efforts in a certain direction and time. By analyzing the current situation of motivation problems for English majors in Ni...Motivation is an inner state that arouses individual's desire for a goal and maintains their efforts in a certain direction and time. By analyzing the current situation of motivation problems for English majors in Ningbo Dahongying University, the author puts forward some suggestions on strengthening learners' motivation with a view to developing the learners' autonomous learning abilities. The author finds that using the content of regular college classroom teaching as a meaningful context for the development of responsibility can enhance the learning effect. The teacher's guiding role in autonomous learning should never be ignored.展开更多
The status of English grammar teaching in English teaching has weakened and even once disappeared in part English class; until the late 1980s, foreign English teachers had a consistent view of the importance of gramma...The status of English grammar teaching in English teaching has weakened and even once disappeared in part English class; until the late 1980s, foreign English teachers had a consistent view of the importance of grammar teaching. In recent years, more and more domestic scholars begin to think about the situation of China and explore the grammar teaching method. This article will review the explicit grammar instruction and implicit grammar teaching research, collect and analyze the integration of explicit grammar instruction and implicit grammar teaching strategy and its advantages in the grammar teaching.展开更多
The present paper probes into the feasibility of flipped classroom teaching model in writing for non-English majors The flipped classroom teaching model changes the teaching structure in the traditional classrooms. It...The present paper probes into the feasibility of flipped classroom teaching model in writing for non-English majors The flipped classroom teaching model changes the teaching structure in the traditional classrooms. It puts students at the center of study in the whole study process, gives more autonomy to students both in class and outside of class, and involves students in the cooperation and interaction with their peers or the teacher. The process of writing teaching in the flipped classrooms via ICLASS is designed in the present paper and hopefully it will help non-English major students to improve their overall proficiency in writing.展开更多
This paper explores agency fluctuations and identity transformations in Chinese English-majors and how they are related to the process of English learning. By tracing a group of students for four years in a Chinese un...This paper explores agency fluctuations and identity transformations in Chinese English-majors and how they are related to the process of English learning. By tracing a group of students for four years in a Chinese university and conducting qualitative analyses to their oral narrations of learning experiences at different periods, the study has found that most participants started and ended their university life at relatively high levels of agency, with inevitable ups and downs in between. Agency fluctuations in the learners are the result of their identity positioning and repositioning within a complex and ever-changing context. Concordant or conflicting identities may co-exist within an individual learner and keep changing across different situations. Learner identities will cause increase or reduction in their investment in English learning, while their learning experience will in turn reinforce or undermine their identities. The study sheds light on the intricate relationships between agency, identity and language learning and therefore has important implications for English learning and teaching in China.展开更多
The spoken English learning of non-English major learners is quite different from the English majors the learning ways. Therefore, it requires that the learners make changes and choices of the learing ways according t...The spoken English learning of non-English major learners is quite different from the English majors the learning ways. Therefore, it requires that the learners make changes and choices of the learing ways according to their specific characteristics and conditions, so as to enhance the efficiency of learning of English. This paper makes s concrete analysis about the necissesity of spoken learning major and non-English major learners, discusses the widespread problems on spoken English learning , especially means and the overall of English of English major and non-English major learners, and proposes some practical strategies that are applied in the process of spoken English learing.展开更多
As a new affective variable in the field of L2 (Second Language) Acquisition, the study of WTC (Willingness to Communicate) has attracted widespread attention since the 1990s, which is not only an effective way to...As a new affective variable in the field of L2 (Second Language) Acquisition, the study of WTC (Willingness to Communicate) has attracted widespread attention since the 1990s, which is not only an effective way to promote language learning but also an important language target itself. Based on the data got from the questionnaire, the present study intends to explore the level, gender difference, correlation with academic .performance, and influencing factors of English majors' WTC inside classroom using both quantitative and qualitative research method. The results reveal that English majors' WTC inside classroom is comparatively high; there is no significant gender difference in English majors' WTC inside classroom, and there is significant positive correlation between WTC inside classroom and academic achievement; furthermore, language capacity, language anxiety, and communicative atmosphere are the main influencing factors展开更多
This research is designed to investigate interlanguage fossilization in Chinese college students' written output. Twelve common linguistic errors from 20 Chinese EFL (English as a foreign language) learners' writi...This research is designed to investigate interlanguage fossilization in Chinese college students' written output. Twelve common linguistic errors from 20 Chinese EFL (English as a foreign language) learners' writing assignments are observed. Results show that among 12 typical errors, five types of errors are declining while the rest are increasing, indicating a tendency towards fossilization. Analysis shows that negative/corrective feedback has played a key role in reducing fossilization of some errors, but it does not work in every case. Some errors tend to be fossilized for several reasons. First, language items that do not have a direct form-function relationship are likely to be fossilized. Second, advanced learners create their own language system and neglect the basic rules of grammar. Third, task difficulty takes learners' attention away from form to meaning. Fourth, ingrained thinking patterns have a great impact on how learners organize their thoughts in writing. It is true that many Chinese EFL advanced learners reach a plateau in the process of acquiring English. However, attention, consciousness, and training of self-monitoring ability will help destabilize their interlanguage system.展开更多
文摘This paper presents some reflections on non-English major postgraduate English teaching reform. The author points out some understandings on the English proficiency of non-English major postgraduate students and curriculum changes in the reform. The author thinks that postgraduate English teaching reform is a systematic project, with a goal to meet the practical needs of postgraduate students and improve their ability to use English in their study and work. Hence, every effort of the reform should be made to satisfy the practical needs of the students and to make their English study contribute to their achievements in their own subject area.
文摘Interest is one type of motivation and it is a vital factor in oral English learning. This paper concerns how to develop, keep and promote non-English majors' interests in oral English. It suggests combine interests with teaching contents, teaching activities and other factors.
文摘Non-English majored learners are poor in language out. It is pointed out the widespread problem reflected in their writing is that the learners are lack of the consciousness of the thinking differences between Chinese and English, and a negative Chinese transfer brings about expressing barriers. Five main lexical problems are presented to illustrate. It is suggested that the learners' awareness of the thinking differences be raised so as to improve language output.
文摘This paper has addressed key notions about ESP and examined issues in ESP curriculum design. The content of the paper was determined by a need identified based on author's professional experience as an EMP instructor designing and delivering the content-based language lessons--language preparation for Doctoral Degree Applicants in medicine. The author believes that in English class teachers should adopt a student-centered approach, have some knowledge of the special subjects and choose appropriate materials that fit all medical students. This approach has achieved satisfactory result in helping students know about the latest breakthroughs in biomedical fields, communicate with colleagues of other countries and contribute to foreign medical journals.
文摘This paper is on the study of motivational changes of Chinese non-English major students in their first two years of college English learning. The current study was carried out through the quantitative research method. The research question to be addressed is:During the first two years of college English learning, does non-English majors' learning motivation (i.e. types of motivation and motivational intensity) change? The analyses of the data reveal that motivational changes do exist in the first two years of college English learning. Generally, most types of motivation (i.e. intrinsic interest motivation, information medium motivation, personal development motivation, and social responsibility motivation) decrease significantly except for the slight increase of immediate achievement motivation, and the decline of motivational intensity is also obvious.
文摘Tremendous data and materials indicate that British-American literature course, as the compulsive course for English major students, has been overlooked by the authority of various administrative departments and students as well. The majorities of teachers and students have formed the conception of attaching more importance to skill-gaining than literature-acquisition. Furthermore, there are large quantities of questionnaires and analyses conducted by the author in this essay; meanwhile, this essay offers some countermeasures to solve the current situation of British-American literature course
文摘English majors' B.A. (Bachelor of Arts) thesis writing is an important part and test of the students' four-year undergraduate education. It lays solid foundation for their future study and work. Yet serious problems exist during the process. The author of the paper collects and analyzes the 289 titles of English majors' B.A. writing in the recent two years in Changchun University, China. The results of the analysis reveal that almost 40% of the titles are on literature every year and among them there are some similar titles. In view of this situation, the author first explores the reasons that caused those problems. One of the important reasons is that the increasing of the supervisors and reference materials cannot keep the pace of the expanding of students' numbers. The author, after that, makes some reflections on those problems, then proposes five practical supervising strategies, and makes some relevant suggestions for English major's thesis writing. Meanwhile some other related problems in thesis writing in China are also discussed.
文摘Motivation is an inner state that arouses individual's desire for a goal and maintains their efforts in a certain direction and time. By analyzing the current situation of motivation problems for English majors in Ningbo Dahongying University, the author puts forward some suggestions on strengthening learners' motivation with a view to developing the learners' autonomous learning abilities. The author finds that using the content of regular college classroom teaching as a meaningful context for the development of responsibility can enhance the learning effect. The teacher's guiding role in autonomous learning should never be ignored.
文摘The status of English grammar teaching in English teaching has weakened and even once disappeared in part English class; until the late 1980s, foreign English teachers had a consistent view of the importance of grammar teaching. In recent years, more and more domestic scholars begin to think about the situation of China and explore the grammar teaching method. This article will review the explicit grammar instruction and implicit grammar teaching research, collect and analyze the integration of explicit grammar instruction and implicit grammar teaching strategy and its advantages in the grammar teaching.
文摘The present paper probes into the feasibility of flipped classroom teaching model in writing for non-English majors The flipped classroom teaching model changes the teaching structure in the traditional classrooms. It puts students at the center of study in the whole study process, gives more autonomy to students both in class and outside of class, and involves students in the cooperation and interaction with their peers or the teacher. The process of writing teaching in the flipped classrooms via ICLASS is designed in the present paper and hopefully it will help non-English major students to improve their overall proficiency in writing.
文摘This paper explores agency fluctuations and identity transformations in Chinese English-majors and how they are related to the process of English learning. By tracing a group of students for four years in a Chinese university and conducting qualitative analyses to their oral narrations of learning experiences at different periods, the study has found that most participants started and ended their university life at relatively high levels of agency, with inevitable ups and downs in between. Agency fluctuations in the learners are the result of their identity positioning and repositioning within a complex and ever-changing context. Concordant or conflicting identities may co-exist within an individual learner and keep changing across different situations. Learner identities will cause increase or reduction in their investment in English learning, while their learning experience will in turn reinforce or undermine their identities. The study sheds light on the intricate relationships between agency, identity and language learning and therefore has important implications for English learning and teaching in China.
文摘The spoken English learning of non-English major learners is quite different from the English majors the learning ways. Therefore, it requires that the learners make changes and choices of the learing ways according to their specific characteristics and conditions, so as to enhance the efficiency of learning of English. This paper makes s concrete analysis about the necissesity of spoken learning major and non-English major learners, discusses the widespread problems on spoken English learning , especially means and the overall of English of English major and non-English major learners, and proposes some practical strategies that are applied in the process of spoken English learing.
文摘As a new affective variable in the field of L2 (Second Language) Acquisition, the study of WTC (Willingness to Communicate) has attracted widespread attention since the 1990s, which is not only an effective way to promote language learning but also an important language target itself. Based on the data got from the questionnaire, the present study intends to explore the level, gender difference, correlation with academic .performance, and influencing factors of English majors' WTC inside classroom using both quantitative and qualitative research method. The results reveal that English majors' WTC inside classroom is comparatively high; there is no significant gender difference in English majors' WTC inside classroom, and there is significant positive correlation between WTC inside classroom and academic achievement; furthermore, language capacity, language anxiety, and communicative atmosphere are the main influencing factors
文摘This research is designed to investigate interlanguage fossilization in Chinese college students' written output. Twelve common linguistic errors from 20 Chinese EFL (English as a foreign language) learners' writing assignments are observed. Results show that among 12 typical errors, five types of errors are declining while the rest are increasing, indicating a tendency towards fossilization. Analysis shows that negative/corrective feedback has played a key role in reducing fossilization of some errors, but it does not work in every case. Some errors tend to be fossilized for several reasons. First, language items that do not have a direct form-function relationship are likely to be fossilized. Second, advanced learners create their own language system and neglect the basic rules of grammar. Third, task difficulty takes learners' attention away from form to meaning. Fourth, ingrained thinking patterns have a great impact on how learners organize their thoughts in writing. It is true that many Chinese EFL advanced learners reach a plateau in the process of acquiring English. However, attention, consciousness, and training of self-monitoring ability will help destabilize their interlanguage system.