This section will discuss the literature in relation to EFL education in China and will involve cultural references when discussing the educational context in China. Considering cultural aspects in English language learning is important when investigating Chinese students. Scholars recognise that the traditional Chinese cultural background can influence Chinese learners and teachers, as well as the English language teaching and learning process (Littlewood, 2000; Wen & Clement, 2003; Yu, 2006). According to Wen and Clement (2003: 18), it is important to recognise “the linguistic, communicative and social psychological variables that might affect students’ willingness to communicate in a Chinese setting.” Language learning is an integration of cognitive and sociocultural aspects (Hu, 2001; Wen & Clement, 2003). English language is totally different from Chinese language with different cultural aspects, and language learning should emphasise the development of the actual application in real social contexts (Yu, 2006).
In China, educators and departments realise the importance of developing communicative competences in English language teaching (Hu, 2001; Yu, 2006). According to the College English Curriculum Requirements developed by the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China (2007), the aim of English language teaching is to develop learners’ communicative competence in order to further social as well as international communication. There are clear similarities here with the aim of language learning in the Scottish context. However, developing communicative competence needs more communicative opportunities for learners to practice their English language skills in real social contexts. As a result of limited opportunities for practicing English language and the traditional role of the teacher as authoritative figure in China, Chinese English learners may not develop their
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communicative competence adequately calling into question whether the curriculum requirements in practice have been achieved (Yu, 2006).
In China, English language learning is predominantly teacher-centred (Hu, 2001; Wen & Clement, 2003). Due to the Chinese culture of learning, particularly the influence of Confucianism, the role of the teacher is authoritative in the teaching and learning process (Hu, 2001). The basic tenets of Confucianism are: benevolence (Ren 仁), righteousness (Yi,
义), propriety (Li, 礼), filial piety (Xiao, 孝), and loyalty to one’s ruler (Zhong, 忠) (Fan,
2010). The core values of Confucianism refer to respecting one’s ancestors, strengthening basic human relationships, and implementing family determination more than individual determination (Fan, 2010). Influenced by Confucianism, learners are required to respect their teachers, and to obey the teachers’ arrangements and decisions in classroom activities (Littlewood, 2000). This requirement underlines the dominating authority of teachers in the classroom process and tends to result in limited interaction and discussion among learners. The more active learners wish to interact and communicate with teachers frequently, whilst less active or passive learners would rather be quiet in the classroom, due to time constriction and fewer opportunities to build and develop interactive relationships with teachers (Shi, 2006). According to Nunan (2012), language learning should consider the learner’s needs and the learning process to this should involve more participation of learners. In the absence of this, the dominant teacher-centred instruction may result in English language learners not developing their communicative competence because of having fewer opportunities to practice and having less interaction in Chinese English language classrooms. Yu (2006) also argues that the teacher’s authority in the classroom constrains the interaction among learners, which also constrains their development of communicative competence. Although the curriculum requires a focus on learners’ communicative competence development, it may not provide adequate opportunities for the students to communicate in the classroom process in practice.
In China, passing exams is treated as the learning goal (Zhou, 2013). Since the imperial period, exams have been treated as the way for Ministers of Government to select able people so that they can contribute to the Chinese economy, politics, culture, and society (Zheng & Cheng, 2008). Due to the history and the influence of Confucianism, China has a culture of exam-oriented education in English language learning and teaching (Shi, 2006). Within this culture, the role of the teacher is considered to be one of knowledge transmitter. This shares attributes with teacher-centred teaching methods and tends to concentrate on lecturing thus
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executing identical teaching regardless of the diverse learning needs in the class (Zheng & Cheng, 2008). Because of the exam-oriented teaching goal, the teaching process includes little consideration of the learners’ communicative learning needs. In this case, there is more teacher-centred instruction and less opportunity for the learners to communicate in the classroom process.
According to the College English Course Requirement (The Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, 2007), assessing English language competence is also used as a way of testing the learner’s academic achievement. However, the requirements focus on assessing the abilities of listening, reading, speaking, writing, translating, and the range of vocabulary. The College English Course Requirement emphasises language skills as well as the knowledge of vocabulary, which to some extent contribute to translating skills. However, translating skills do not necessarily improve communicative competence, as they focus more on the Grammar Translation Method (Hu, 2001). In addition, according to Cheng & Wang (2004), 74.5% of teachers use the Grammar Translation Method to teach English in China, and most of them prefer to translate English grammar rules into Chinese for their students. Indeed, for English language learners in higher education, one of the most popular English language tests in China are the College English Test Band 4 (CET-4), Band 6 (CET-6), and Spoken English Test (CET-SET) and university students must pass the CET-4 to achieve the requirement for a bachelor’s degree (Anne, 2010). The CET consists of four sections: listening comprehension (35% of the total test), reading comprehension (35%), cloze or error correction (10%), and writing and translation (20%) (Zheng & Cheng, 2008). It can be seen that the “receptive” skills assessments contribute to the largest part of the test (with 70% in total). The writing and translation sections as “productive” skills assessment contribute to a small part of the overall score. Although the CET-SET could test English language learners’ speaking skills as part of their “productive” skills, the CET-SET is not mentioned as a compulsory test for candidates (National College English Testing Committee, 2006). Therefore, the CET tests learners’ “receptive” language skills with little emphasis on “productive” language skills.
Compared with teaching EAP in Scotland, Cheng (2016) reported that the EAP approach was not widely implemented in Chinese higher education. Although the Ministry of Education (MOE) (2001) had established a policy to apply English-medium instruction (EMI) with the intention of improving the quality of university English language courses in China. However Chinese University English language teaching remained predominantly
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test-oriented and used materials to teach for the test (Chen & Klenowski, 2009). And some studies argued that University EFL education in China may be restricted by the limited teaching time (Hu, 2002; Zheng & Dai, 2013). A comprehensive study by Zhu & Yu (2010) argued that the effectiveness of EMI on students’ learning progress and understanding in their disciplines in the Chinese university context still need to be examined empirically. In addition, compared with the EMI in the English language classroom in Scotland, Chinese universities were mainly Mandarin-medium instruction (Cumming, 2018). Although EAP was not widely implemented in the Chinese university context, Cai (2010) believed the necessity and importance of teaching EAP in tertiary level education in China, in order to improve students’ academic literacy and international competitiveness. University students did not confirm the effectiveness of the university EFL courses on their English language proficiency (Zhang, et al., 2015) but there was a belief that the English language speaking environment was helpful for their language learning (Zhang & Cui, 2010). This may be a reason high numbers of Chinese students wish to learn English language in a native-speaking environment.
Guidelines in the requirements of English language teaching in China to some extent lead to the application of the Grammar Translation Method in practice. Although university English language teaching requirements show that English language teaching should be focusing on developing learners’ language skills and communicative competence, the practice of teachers in China may still focus on teaching English grammar rules to students. The reason for the distance between the English course requirement and real teaching situations may be related to the cultural aspects and the traditional importance of exams in China (Cheng & Wang, 2004; Yu, 2006; Hu, 2001). In addition, the exam-oriented learning methods share a similar approach to the teacher-centred teaching methods (Hu, 2001). Teachers are the dominant authority in the classroom and this approach reduces the learners’ participation in the classroom process. This coupled with a focus on exams may lead teachers to ignore the learners’ needs and only follow the examination goals (Yu, 2006; Hu, 2001).