Second Language Teaching Curriculum

王雪霏

1. Introduction

With the development of teaching English as a second language， second English-language teaching curriculum has already become an essential part of English teaching studies. Curriculum development is an educational activities， which try to determines what students learn in schools， how to plan， measure and evaluate the teaching and learning activities in school or educational systems （Richard， 2001）. Language curriculum development refers to an interrelated set of elements involving in 'designing， revising， implementing， and evaluating language programs'（Richard， 2001， p. 2）.

This essay will discuss on The China National Curriculum of College English Majors and focus on the context of the English major program of Shandong Economic University in six elements.

2. The Context

China National Curriculum of College English Majors is codified by English Group of the Teaching Guiding Committee for College Foreign Language Majors under the Ministry of Education. This nationwide curriculum is published as the instruction of undergraduate English major teaching in Chinese universities. Hence， all of the English majors of Chinese university are supposed to follow this curriculum.

My context is the English major program of Shandong Economic University. In this context， China National Curriculum of College English Majors is the basic curriculum. All of the teaching activities are around this curriculum. More specifically， in this university， English major is business-oriented. In fact， China National Curriculum of College English Major is a rough curriculum. During our teaching process， the curriculum is improved by our teaching group.

In Chinese education system， students usually learn English from their secondary school. Because of the heavy pressure of the entrance examination， middle school teachers usually teach English by grammar-translation approach which is time-consumed and exam-oriented. As a result， Chinese students are usually good at English grammar and China-style English examination. However， their listening and speaking skills are weak. In addition， Teachers usually use code-switching to interpret knowledge； therefore， students rarely access the authentic texts， not to mention the good verbal skills （Harmer， 2007）.

Thus， this kind of English skills of middle school students goes on to that of most English-major undergraduates. Although the students have learned English for at least 6 years， most of their levels are just intermediate or even lower. This is also the situation of English major freshmen in Shandong Economic University. In following 4-year-undergraduate study， the students will learn the language program which is guided by China National Curriculum of College English Majors. Because this is a national curriculum， some parts are very general. I will specify them in my contexts.

3. The six elements of this curriculum

3.1 Need analysis

‘Needs analysis means developing a curriculum by collecting the learners needs （Brown， 1995）. In other words， it tries to figure out what the learners have known in the past and what they want or need to know in the future （Nation and Macalister， 2010）. Needs analysis guarantee the course or program can provide the learners relevant and useful knowledge to know （Nation and Macalister， 2010）. ‘Good needs analysis involves asking the right questions and finding the answers in the most effective way （Nation and Macalister， 2010， p. 24）. According to Richards （2001）， curriculum development assumed that learners needs should be the priority of a successful educational program.

In China National Curriculum of College English Majors， there is no interpretation of need analysis. This is a big defect of this curriculum. But before we began our teaching to freshmen in Shandong Economic University， we tested students first. This test included listening， reading and writing. From this test， we could find where the students are at present. This is a typical way to find some necessities and lacks of the learners （Nation and Macalister， 2010）. This test is a way to get the objective need analysis of our learners. By this test， we found that the students are good at spelling， grammar and some vocabulary， but their written expression and listening skills are weak.

But this test is not comprehensive. The need analysis in our school missed what the students want. To put it differently， our need analysis just focus on the objective needs and ignore the subjective needs. Considering this， self-reports， which is a good way to get what the students want， can be another part of our need analysis. According to my experience， improving the speaking skills and communicative competence are urgent for the students. Whats more， as business English majors， they also need to learn knowledge and skills of doing business.

3.2 Goals and objectives

Need analysis can get large quantities of information which need to be absorbed and used by the curriculum in some way （Brown， 1995）. The goals and objectives is an important and effective way to use the information （Brown，1995）.According to Brown （1995）， every language program should have clear purposes.

The goals in a curriculum are usually long-term and general statement of learning purposes， whereas the objectives provide short-term and specific purposes of the program.

In English major program of Shandong Economic University， the goals are from China National Curriculum of College English Majors. The students are expected to

● use English proficiently in the daily life and learn knowledge of English for special purposes

● broaden the knowledge of science and humanity

● acquire the basic knowledge of the work they will take up after graduating

● acquire study skills， thinking skills and creativity skills， improve moral and psychological quality

● develop the scientific and cultural qualities

（English Group of the Teaching Guiding Committee for College Foreign Language Majors under China Ministry of Education， 2000）

The objectives describe a learning outcome. According to China National Curriculum of College English Majors， the objectives of English-major program are formulated for every academic year. The description of the objectives is related to the goals but more precise. The objectives are present in 10 aspects： pronunciation， grammar， vocabulary， listening， speaking， reading， writing， translation， reference book operation and cultural refinement. The objectives reflect most of the goals， except English for special purposes. In my context， except these 10 aspects， the students are also taught business English and some business knowledge. This point will be related to learn knowledge of English for special purposes.

3.3 Syllabus

To satisfy learners needs and achieve the goals and objectives， the syllabus are designed to decide what should be taught and learned. According to Brown （1995）， each teacher organizes their teaching by deciding on the order of the things they will present to the students. According to McKay （1978）， the term syllabus can be used here （Brown， 1995）. A syllabus shows us what should be studied and how to present them in sequence （McKay， 1978）.

In China National Curriculum of College English Majors， the syllabus mainly includes three kind of course. First， the courses are designed by training skills， such as listening， speaking， reading， writing and translation （English Group of the Teaching Guiding Committee for College Foreign Language Majors under China Ministry of Education， 2000）. Second， the courses are content-based. It includes English literature， linguistics， cultures of English-speaking countries （English Group of the Teaching Guiding Committee for College Foreign Language Majors under China Ministry of Education， 2000）. Third， the courses are text-based. It means teach the English used in Specific context. In Shandong Economic University English major program， students are taught international business， international trade and economics. These courses are all design by referring to the need analysis， goals and objectives of this curriculum.

This syllabus is an integrated one. According to Johnson （1981， p. 34）， a syllabus is a guidebook of teaching project. It should be clear and precise about what should be done， what standards to be met. It means， practically， syllabus should not be limited in one type but combine every useful type during the teaching activities. In general， the syllabus of China National Curriculum of College English Majors is content-based. Specifically， every kind of courses is organized in different form. For example， English skills are presented as the combination of a synthetic-formal and analytic-skill-based product syllabus.

3.4 Methodology

According to China National Curriculum of English Majors， the teaching should be learner-centered. This can respond the learners need. The class-structure is usually ESA （Engage， study， activate）. Teachers are demanded to use various methods to achieve the teaching purposes. Encourage students study by books， internet， and multimedia. Students are also encouraged to get experience as much as possible. This can realized by speech， debates， drama performances， editing and interviews.

However， the reality is most teachers still apply grammar-translation which makes the class still be teacher-centered. Some teachers will use task-based teaching， but they never use collaborative study. Communicative language teaching is very rarely. So far， the methodology used by teachers in this program is monotonous and this situation needs to be adapted.

3.5 Assessment

In Shandong Economic University English major program， there are three ways of the assessment which are all criterion-referenced. One is， in the end of every semester， that the students will have a term examination for every paper they have learned in this semester. This is achievement assessments which used to assess on what the students learned from the courses （Nation and Macalister， 2010）. The other two are the assessment determined by China national curriculum of English majors. This assessment divided into two forms. One is TEM （Testing for English Majors）， the other is dissertation.

Term-examination and TEM are both summative assessment. ‘Summative assessment serves to inform an overall judgment of achievement （Black， 1999）. to some extent， includes teacher assessment （Black，1999）. As a result， teachers are tempted to focus on teaching to the test （Black， 1999）. The test may become dominant and learners real need may be ignored （Black， 1999）. Thus， in this program， the learners need are neglected sometimes， because the big ratio of the summative assessment. This is also one of the main reasons of the monotonous methodology. But they check most English skills and knowledge， specialized English and cultural knowledge which are contained in the purpose and the syllabus.

3.6 Evaluation

Evaluation usually focuses on describing a program systematically （Richards， 2001； Hopkins 1989）. It is also the process of trying to measure the value and effectiveness of the educational activities. （Kelly. 2009） There is no statement about the evaluation of China National Curriculum of College English Majors. This is another obvious shortcoming of this curriculum， except for the deletion of need analysis.

The evaluation of our program is implemented by observation and questionnaires. The observation means teachers are observed on our classes by their colleges. Then the colleges will give a report about the class they have attended. On the other hand， the questionnaire is prepared for the students. They are asked to evaluate the courses at the end of every term. These questionnaires include the evaluation of teaching， materials， environment， learning outcomes， and the efficiency of the courses and so on. This is a good way to know the learners needs. Both ways of evaluation in English major program of Shandong Economic University are summative evaluations which characterize judging the course and focusing on the results， standards and groups （Nation and Macalister， 2010）.

4. Conclusion

In conclusion， this assignment discussed the curriculum of Shandong economic university English major program. This curriculum is base on China National Curriculum of College English Majors which is a national curriculum for all the undergraduate English major. This essay illustrates the six elements （need analysis， goals and objectives， syllabus， methodology， assessment and evaluation） of this curriculum and their relationships.

References：

[1]Black，P.，1999.Assessment，learning theories and testing systems.In：Murphy，P.，ed.1999.Learners，Learning And Assessment.London：Paul Chapman Publishing Ltd.pp.118-134.

[2]Brown，J.，1995.The Elements of Language Curriculum：A Systematic Approach to Program Development.Boston：Heinle & Heinle Publishers.

[3]English Group of the Teaching Guiding Committee for College Foreign Language Majors under the Ministry of Education，2000.China National Curriculum of College English Majors.

[4]Harmer，J.，2007.How to teach English.Essex：Pearson Education Ltd.

[5]Hopkins，D.，1989.Evaluation for School Development Oxford：Oxford University Press.

[6]Johnson，R.K..，1981.On syllabus and on being communicative.The English Bulletin（Hong Kong），7（4），39-51.

[7]Kelly，A.，2009.The Curriculum：Theory and Practice.London：Sage Publishers Limited.

[8]McKay，S.，1978.Syllabus：structural，situational，notional.TESOL Newsletter，12（5），11.

[9]Nation，I.S.P.and Macalister，J.，2010.Language Curriculum Design.Oxford：Routledge.

[10]Richards J.，2001.Curriculum Development in Language Teaching.Cambridge：Cambridge University Press.