Problems and Solutions in Secondary Vocational Schools English Teaching

【Abstract】With the development of secondary vocational education in China， many problems in English teaching have arisen， which has confused educators for years. This paper aims at arousing peoples attention to this issue， encouraging scholars and educators in this field to make contribution to the development of the English teaching in secondary vocational schools and push it to move forward.

【Key words】secondary vocational schools; English teaching; problems; solutions

【作者簡介】黃秦晉（1990-），女，漢族，陜西西安人，西安歐亞學(xué)院國際合作與學(xué)習(xí)中心，助教，翻譯碩士，研究方向：翻譯理論與實踐。

1. Introduction

The author once had an opportunity to teach in a local secondary vocational school for 5 months and realized some problems in the English teaching which are shown in many aspects. This paper shows how the problems are analyzed and what solutions can be suggested.

2. Research Design

Subjects： 105 students （with different English proficiency and majors）participated this survey.

Instrument： The primary instrument employed in this paper is the questionnaire on “Problems in Secondary Vocational Schools English Teaching.”

Procedures： Step One， Design the questionnaire. Step Two， Revise the questions according to the structure of the whole paper. Step Three， Ask the students to complete the questionnaire. Step Four， Collate and analyze the data， then come to results.

3. The Analysis of the Results

3.1 Problems in students

The students are lack of learning autonomy and enthusiasm. The survey shows that 17% of the students learn English passively， 63% of them have no feeling of it and only 20% of them learn English actively. 88% of the students believe that learning English will not help them to find jobs. 60% of the students have no interest in English and almost 71% believe that they do not like it because that it is difficult and they have no idea about how to learn it.

3.2 Problems in teachers

Students of secondary vocational school have a weak English foundation， and vary in learning levels. Some teachers simply set unvaried teaching goals. In addition， The phenomenon of working overload is very common and they barely have spare time to improve their own teaching level.

3.3 Problems in English teaching materials

The English textbook being used is lack of pertinence and applicability. The set of textbooks it is too difficult for the students in secondary vocational schools to master. On the other hand， the English textbook being used is not combined with the different majors of secondary vocational schools.

4. Solutions to the Problems

4.1 Improving teaching methods

Reflective teaching means regarding ones own teaching practice as a subject to rethink， analyze and summarize. The reflective teaching features consciousness and creativity. Teachers can have a reflection on their teaching after each class， each week， each month and each semester and it should be carried out regularly. The Audio-Visual Approach is a teaching approach in which the feelings of visual sense and sense of hearing are combined. It can improve the effect of classroom teaching by making full use of students various sensory feelings.

4.2 Improving English teaching materials

Several principles should be mentioned in the English teaching materials writing： the principle of basic learning， the principle of selectivity， the principle of task-based learning and the principle of communication. Practical tasks should be designed in the English textbook， and the students should be effectively guided through the whole process; at the same time， the textbooks should introduce the western cultures.

5. Conclusion

In conclusion， there exist many problems in the English teaching of secondary vocational schools： secondary vocational schools cut the teaching hours for English arbitrarily; students have little interest in learning English; teachers are lack of teaching enthusiasm and the English teaching material adopted by most secondary vocational schools are absence of pertinence and applicability. There is a great developing space in the English teaching of secondary vocational schools.

References：

[1]Ames， C. Classrooms： Goals， Structures and Students Motivation[J]. Journal of Educational Psychology，1992，8：261-271.

[2]Brown， H.D. Principles of Language Learning and Teaching[M]. Englewood Cliffs， NJ： Prentice-Hall，1980.

[3]Thomas Dessinger. The Evolution of the Modern Vocational Training System in England and Germany[J]. A Comparative View， 1994（1）：125-136.