Adapting Communicative Language Teaching Approach to China’s Context
1. Introduction
With the development of market economy, China is accelerating its steps to join the world family in commerce and cultural partnership. With the recent accession to the WTO, the long-awaited Olympic Games in Beijing, China has made learning English a national priority. English, with its unique status, has been taught in China for more than 100 years. Today, English is becoming more and more popular. It is a compulsory course for all Chinese students from primary school to university.
Clearly it is relatively easy to demonstrate the importance of English in current China. This essay intends to argue that to achieve success in English learning for Chinese students the methods of teaching must be reconsidered. Therefore this article is structured as follows: First, analyzing different types of English teaching methods in China and then focusing on the CLT Method. By analyzing and contrasting these English teaching methods, the need to change current English teaching methods in China will be discovered. Finally, explaining the problems of adopting the more modern CLT Approach and giving suggestions on how it may best be adapted to the Chinese context.
2. A Brief Introduction to English Teaching Methods in China
2.1 Grammar-Translation Method
English has been taught in China for more than 100 years. In the beginning stage, people did not have any experience on modern language teaching and learning, so they followed a European language teaching method
YE Jin (1978- ), Master of education, lecturer of School of Foreign Language, Shenzhen University; research fields: English language teaching methods, cross-cultural communication, educational assessment,which is used in teaching Greek and Latin in Middle Ages in Europe—Grammar-Translation Method. Some Chinese students become accustomed to this method in learning English and generally showed great interest in language structures and linguistic details. Most of them believe “we would like to know what
With the development of market economy, China is accelerating its steps to join the world family in commerce and cultural partnership. With the recent accession to the WTO, the long-awaited Olympic Games in Beijing, China has made learning English a national priority. English, with its unique status, has been taught in China for more than 100 years. Today, English is becoming more and more popular. It is a compulsory course for all Chinese students from primary school to university.
Clearly it is relatively easy to demonstrate the importance of English in current China. This essay intends to argue that to achieve success in English learning for Chinese students the methods of teaching must be reconsidered. Therefore this article is structured as follows: First, analyzing different types of English teaching methods in China and then focusing on the CLT Method. By analyzing and contrasting these English teaching methods, the need to change current English teaching methods in China will be discovered. Finally, explaining the problems of adopting the more modern CLT Approach and giving suggestions on how it may best be adapted to the Chinese context.
2. A Brief Introduction to English Teaching Methods in China
2.1 Grammar-Translation Method
English has been taught in China for more than 100 years. In the beginning stage, people did not have any experience on modern language teaching and learning, so they followed a European language teaching method
YE Jin (1978- ), Master of education, lecturer of School of Foreign Language, Shenzhen University; research fields: English language teaching methods, cross-cultural communication, educational assessment,which is used in teaching Greek and Latin in Middle Ages in Europe—Grammar-Translation Method. Some Chinese students become accustomed to this method in learning English and generally showed great interest in language structures and linguistic details. Most of them believe “we would like to know what
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