Referring to the well established foreign language proficiency evaluation scale frameworks such as the CEFR （Common European Framework of Reference for Languages） in Europe and ILR （The Interagency Language Roundta...Referring to the well established foreign language proficiency evaluation scale frameworks such as the CEFR （Common European Framework of Reference for Languages） in Europe and ILR （The Interagency Language Roundtable） scale in the United States, Chinese language education authority is dedicating great efforts to the contruction of the Chinese targeted and tailored national proficiency evaluation system. This initiative will tremendously subvert the traditional language learning and testing mechanism, bring phenomenal transformations and innovations to the future language learning and teaching approaches and methodologies, and meanwhile impose great influence on the language concerning administration and profession.展开更多
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
In this paper, 3 different foreign/second language-learning classrooms will be presented. There will be a comparison between those classes and TEFL classes in China, including background of different education systems...In this paper, 3 different foreign/second language-learning classrooms will be presented. There will be a comparison between those classes and TEFL classes in China, including background of different education systems and different teaching methodologies and approaches. In the end, some suggestions will be given to Chinese TEFL classes. The aim is mainly to show the differences between language teaching and learning in the UK and in China, and also to give people a chance to think deeply over the current TEFL teaching and learning in China.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
The English language is seen by the Chinese as a tool of significant pragmatic value, both by the individual and the state. Discourse on English language education within China has, both historically and at present, p...The English language is seen by the Chinese as a tool of significant pragmatic value, both by the individual and the state. Discourse on English language education within China has, both historically and at present, pitted the pragmatic value of English against concerns of cultural and linguistic erosion and imposition. Concerns over the corrupting impact the English language may have on the Chinese language, and further on Chinese culture, uneasily coexist with an acceptance of the English language＇s role as the key to modernization and economic development. Voices of past and present, have at their core a desire for the protection of a reified cultural identity or essence. However, cultural and linguistic influence has not merely been imposed upon China from external forces, but has been actively drawn in by domestic forces. Such domestic forces range from foreign language education policies that meet the demands of a globalized market-driven economy, to a market demand for English language media such as TV programs, movies and literature. Ultimately, the presence and significance of these domestic forces undermines a view of the English language as a vehicle of cultural imperialism in China.展开更多
文摘Referring to the well established foreign language proficiency evaluation scale frameworks such as the CEFR （Common European Framework of Reference for Languages） in Europe and ILR （The Interagency Language Roundtable） scale in the United States, Chinese language education authority is dedicating great efforts to the contruction of the Chinese targeted and tailored national proficiency evaluation system. This initiative will tremendously subvert the traditional language learning and testing mechanism, bring phenomenal transformations and innovations to the future language learning and teaching approaches and methodologies, and meanwhile impose great influence on the language concerning administration and profession.
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In this paper, 3 different foreign/second language-learning classrooms will be presented. There will be a comparison between those classes and TEFL classes in China, including background of different education systems and different teaching methodologies and approaches. In the end, some suggestions will be given to Chinese TEFL classes. The aim is mainly to show the differences between language teaching and learning in the UK and in China, and also to give people a chance to think deeply over the current TEFL teaching and learning in China.
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The English language is seen by the Chinese as a tool of significant pragmatic value, both by the individual and the state. Discourse on English language education within China has, both historically and at present, pitted the pragmatic value of English against concerns of cultural and linguistic erosion and imposition. Concerns over the corrupting impact the English language may have on the Chinese language, and further on Chinese culture, uneasily coexist with an acceptance of the English language＇s role as the key to modernization and economic development. Voices of past and present, have at their core a desire for the protection of a reified cultural identity or essence. However, cultural and linguistic influence has not merely been imposed upon China from external forces, but has been actively drawn in by domestic forces. Such domestic forces range from foreign language education policies that meet the demands of a globalized market-driven economy, to a market demand for English language media such as TV programs, movies and literature. Ultimately, the presence and significance of these domestic forces undermines a view of the English language as a vehicle of cultural imperialism in China.
