Initial teacher preparation and teachers’ continuing professional development are two significant pillars of the teacher education enterprise. The former encompasses a wide range of teachereducation initiatives at th...Initial teacher preparation and teachers’ continuing professional development are two significant pillars of the teacher education enterprise. The former encompasses a wide range of teachereducation initiatives at the levels of diploma, bachelor’s degree, postgraduate diploma, and even master’s degree for teacher licensure purposes. These are widely documented in the literature.What is important is how teacher professional development contributes to bolstering the teachereducator force, which is relatively insufficiently documented due to the very fact that different educational systems have somewhat different expectations of such programs in relation to the ideologies and theories underpinning the teacher professional development program design and curriculum offering. Taking stock of a postgraduate diploma program in English language teaching(PGDELT) for teachers’ continuing professional development with a 31-year history housed at a premier teacher education institution in Singapore, which has successfully graduated over 1, 000 English language teachers for colleges and universities in China, I intend to highlight some of its key features, as a former student and then a lecturer on the program, in order to draw implications for sustainable growth of language teacher education programs, especially those whose main purposes are to prepare teachers of English as a second or foreign language(ESL/EFL) and provide continuing professional development opportunities for such inservice teachers.展开更多
This is a study of the feasibility and effects of teaching listening with films and TV programs. The research is a part of the English Learning Program directed by ZHANG Zhen, which is sponsored by Academic Affairs Of...This is a study of the feasibility and effects of teaching listening with films and TV programs. The research is a part of the English Learning Program directed by ZHANG Zhen, which is sponsored by Academic Affairs Office of Leshan Normal University. The researcher of the program sought for theretical bases from Krashen＇s Input Hypothesis, the Motivation Theory, the Context Theory, and the Communicative Language Teaching Theory. Then the author introduced a pilot study conducted by utilizing films or TV programs to teach listening from September 2010 till now. The statistic results from the experiment suggest that there is indeed some correlations between teaching listening with films or TV programs and a learner＇s listening comprehension in general in language achievement tests at certain stages. The scores of the students from the experimental group are improved after two years of teaching with the new methods. Analyses and discussions have been done based on a questionnaire and an interview. The results showed that both the teachers and the students had positive attitudes towards teaching listening with films or TV programs. Most of them view this method as an effective way in ELT （English language teaching）, because it provides more opportunities for contextual practice, lower their anxiety; it can also help to motivate them, stimulate their active participation and increase their activities as well. Therefore, this method can be used to cultivate students＇ communicative competence. Consequently, we can draw the conclusion that this method has some advantages over teaching listening with the pre-taped materials in New College English. It may play an important role in ELT, especially in listening teaching. Based on the statistic analyses and the survey, some activities and techniques are provided for the teacher on how to teach listening with films or TV programs. The roles that an English teacher plays in this method are illustrated at the end of the thesis.展开更多
This study presents comparisons regarding current elementary foreign language programs in China and the USA.The design features a comparative analysis approach combined with deductive thematic analysis to collect,anal...This study presents comparisons regarding current elementary foreign language programs in China and the USA.The design features a comparative analysis approach combined with deductive thematic analysis to collect,analyze,and compare relevant data.Data were collected from samples such as governmental documents,organizational guidelines,national statistical reports,published scholarly works,audiovisual materials,and textbooks.Preceding the research,primary categories were identified,used to group data,and then look for similarities and differences.Categories for comparison were:(a)program types,(b)curriculum standards,(c)instructional methods,and(d)assessments.Results indicated US programs could benefit from consistency,widespread support and demand,state-to-state organization and/or alignment,equitable teaching materials,and attention to all student populations.China's program,while organized,could benefit from more authentic,real-life-context,other-culture-oriented practices,flexibility,and deeper,genuine information about English-speaking countries’cultures.This research contributes to scholarly conversations regarding comparisons of elementary foreign language teaching in China and the USA,while also supporting worldwide comparisons and exchange of ideas.展开更多
This paper is a report of an experimental undergraduate composite program of Tourism Business Management and English. It introduces the characteristics of the program structure, faculty, learning materials, teaching a...This paper is a report of an experimental undergraduate composite program of Tourism Business Management and English. It introduces the characteristics of the program structure, faculty, learning materials, teaching and learning methods, and assessment approaches. The achievements of the program as well as the major problems it has experienc.ed are also discussed.展开更多
文摘Initial teacher preparation and teachers’ continuing professional development are two significant pillars of the teacher education enterprise. The former encompasses a wide range of teachereducation initiatives at the levels of diploma, bachelor’s degree, postgraduate diploma, and even master’s degree for teacher licensure purposes. These are widely documented in the literature.What is important is how teacher professional development contributes to bolstering the teachereducator force, which is relatively insufficiently documented due to the very fact that different educational systems have somewhat different expectations of such programs in relation to the ideologies and theories underpinning the teacher professional development program design and curriculum offering. Taking stock of a postgraduate diploma program in English language teaching(PGDELT) for teachers’ continuing professional development with a 31-year history housed at a premier teacher education institution in Singapore, which has successfully graduated over 1, 000 English language teachers for colleges and universities in China, I intend to highlight some of its key features, as a former student and then a lecturer on the program, in order to draw implications for sustainable growth of language teacher education programs, especially those whose main purposes are to prepare teachers of English as a second or foreign language(ESL/EFL) and provide continuing professional development opportunities for such inservice teachers.
文摘This is a study of the feasibility and effects of teaching listening with films and TV programs. The research is a part of the English Learning Program directed by ZHANG Zhen, which is sponsored by Academic Affairs Office of Leshan Normal University. The researcher of the program sought for theretical bases from Krashen＇s Input Hypothesis, the Motivation Theory, the Context Theory, and the Communicative Language Teaching Theory. Then the author introduced a pilot study conducted by utilizing films or TV programs to teach listening from September 2010 till now. The statistic results from the experiment suggest that there is indeed some correlations between teaching listening with films or TV programs and a learner＇s listening comprehension in general in language achievement tests at certain stages. The scores of the students from the experimental group are improved after two years of teaching with the new methods. Analyses and discussions have been done based on a questionnaire and an interview. The results showed that both the teachers and the students had positive attitudes towards teaching listening with films or TV programs. Most of them view this method as an effective way in ELT （English language teaching）, because it provides more opportunities for contextual practice, lower their anxiety; it can also help to motivate them, stimulate their active participation and increase their activities as well. Therefore, this method can be used to cultivate students＇ communicative competence. Consequently, we can draw the conclusion that this method has some advantages over teaching listening with the pre-taped materials in New College English. It may play an important role in ELT, especially in listening teaching. Based on the statistic analyses and the survey, some activities and techniques are provided for the teacher on how to teach listening with films or TV programs. The roles that an English teacher plays in this method are illustrated at the end of the thesis.
文摘This study presents comparisons regarding current elementary foreign language programs in China and the USA.The design features a comparative analysis approach combined with deductive thematic analysis to collect,analyze,and compare relevant data.Data were collected from samples such as governmental documents,organizational guidelines,national statistical reports,published scholarly works,audiovisual materials,and textbooks.Preceding the research,primary categories were identified,used to group data,and then look for similarities and differences.Categories for comparison were:(a)program types,(b)curriculum standards,(c)instructional methods,and(d)assessments.Results indicated US programs could benefit from consistency,widespread support and demand,state-to-state organization and/or alignment,equitable teaching materials,and attention to all student populations.China's program,while organized,could benefit from more authentic,real-life-context,other-culture-oriented practices,flexibility,and deeper,genuine information about English-speaking countries’cultures.This research contributes to scholarly conversations regarding comparisons of elementary foreign language teaching in China and the USA,while also supporting worldwide comparisons and exchange of ideas.
文摘This paper is a report of an experimental undergraduate composite program of Tourism Business Management and English. It introduces the characteristics of the program structure, faculty, learning materials, teaching and learning methods, and assessment approaches. The achievements of the program as well as the major problems it has experienc.ed are also discussed.
