Curricula Innovation in Chinese College English Listening Teaching

WANG Rui　WANG Ying

【Abstract】With the development of researching on the nature of listening comprehension， more and more linguists have now inclined to advocate that the nature and principles of listening comprehension deserve more systematic attention in language teaching program. This work aims at elaborating an outline of a curricular innovation in response to the pedagogical aims and challenges in teaching listening in Chinese higher education by employing the authentic material during the teaching process.

【Key words】listening competence； listening teaching； innovation； authentic material

1. Introduction：

As one of the core components under the umbrella of ‘Communicative Competence （Hymes 1971）， listening skill in second language acquisition （SLA） has been undeservedly neglected in language teaching in the past few years for most educators assumed that it could be drilled through exposure to the target language and the practice of grammar， vocabulary and pronunciation rather than being taught separately （Hedge， 2000； Richards， Renandya 2002）. There is no exception in China， under the great influence of Grammar-Translation Methodology （GTM）， the content of teaching and learning activity in Chinese Higher Education is systematically programmed based on textbooks and explicit syllabus （Sun， Chen， 2002）.

2. Challenge in Listening Class

In the traditional curriculum as familiarized in my previous experience， in order to improve the competence of comprehension， listening activities in classroom are mainly carried on through ‘imitation and memorization of sound and grammatical elements （Vandergrift， Goh， 2012，）. Due to the test-orientated teaching context in China， students are required to repeat the details including individual sounds as well as phonological features and explain the meaning of what they have heard to match the syllabus of the examination even though a wide range of activities such as role play， video watching are incorporated in my listening class according to the principles of communicative language teaching （CLT） approach， which emphasizes that the learners language proficiency should be trained through the exposure to real-life language environment. With the focus on authentic input， realistic practice， and the production of language output， CLT requires that the language program not only offer the students authentic linguistic patterns but also authentic opportunities to practice in use of the target language. The main purpose of teaching listening is still to reinforce the input by asking learners to write details down and the texts applied in the class are dominated by created written discourse， considered to possess high level of lexical density and grammatical complexity （Vandergrift， Goh， 2012）. The fact that many learners， especially the low proficiency level ones， get frustrated and demotivated in reciting the expressions from these artificial materials has become one of the main problems in my listening teaching experience hence the employment of authentic materials in listening class is highly demanded.

3. Employing Authentic Material

Teaching materials， as the key factor that generate considerable impact on classroom teaching setting， is described by Richard （2001） as the foundation ‘for much of the language input leaners receive and language practice that occurs in the classroom. There are a great variety of advantages in using authentic material in language teaching， which have been claimed by researchers （Peacock， 1997）.

Firstly， authentic material plays an important role in stimulating the learners motivation （Richard， 2001）. Even through the classroom situation may not be as real as the English language environment outside， it is more likely that students can be greatly encouraged in learning the target language if the authentic resources containing the topics which are highly relevant to the learners interests. Secondly， the leaners needs can be combined with the authentic texts which may consequently forge the connection between the knowledge that students learn in the class with their needs in the real world （Richard， 2001）. For example， some micro-skill of listening could be used in classroom teaching. By this I mean teachers can train the learners listening skill by asking the students to identify the names of countries or famous people that they are interested in the daily life. In addition， the information cited in the authentic texts normally reflects the typical cultural background related to the target language. Students can be informed of what is going on in the real world and deepen their understanding of the value in the target language community by learning through the material.

4. Implication of the Innovation

From the pedagogical perspective， it is quite necessary to mention one implication generated from using authentic material. Richard （2001） demonstrates that the difficult language and unneeded linguistic patterns can be found in authentic material which raise up the question as to how language teachers should select material appropriately. Guaritento and Moley （2001） suggest the use of authentic material should be associated with the learners level of language proficiency. Hence， teachers should choose less difficult texts to build up confidence for the beginners in short-term and select more challenging resources for higher level of learners in order to create chances for them to practice applying their listening strategies in the learning process.

5. Conclusion

As one crucial role in classroom teaching， instead of examining answers， language teachers should lead students to go over a listening process in support of authentic material. Meanwhile， the difficulties in authentic material that the students encountered in listening should also be taken into account. Only by supplying more opportunities for the students to indulge in authentic environment in accordance with their needs and language proficiency， can teachers help the learners to engage themselves in a more inviting environment for listening practice， one that I believe will greatly enhance the learners listening competence.

References：

[1]Guariento，W.and Morley，J.，2001.Text and task authenticity in EFL classroom.EFL Journal，55（4），pp.347-53.

[2]Hymes，D.，1971.Competence and performance in linguistic theory.In R.Huxley & E.Ingram（Eds.），Language acquisition：Models and methods.London：Academic Press.

[3]Hedge，T.，2000.Teaching and learning in the language classroom.Oxford：Oxford University Press.

[4]Peacock，M.，1997.The effect of authentic material on the motivation of EFL learners.ELT Journal，51（2），pp.144-156.

[5]Richards，J.C.，2001.Curriculum development in language teaching.Cambridge：Cambridge University Press.

[6]Richards，J.C.and Renandya，W.A.，2002.Methodology in language teaching：an anthology of current practice.Cambridge：Cambridge University Press.

[7]Vandergrift，L.and Goh，C.C.M.，2012.Teaching and learning second language listening.New York：Routledge.