China English' or native speaker based standard?

: a study of college teachers' and students' perceptions of the ideal pedagogic model of college English in mainland China

Abstract

By focusing on the ideal pedagogic model of college English in mainland China, this study explores college teachers’ and students’ perceptions towards ‘China English’ in the context of World Englishes, as well as their views about introducing ‘China English’ as part of the teaching model and the possibility of including ‘China English’ and World Englishes into the existing curriculum. In addition, the study also intends to identify the participants’ teacher preference (i.e., the local English teachers — LETs, the native-speaking English teachers — NETs, or both) for teaching of college English in China. The research employed three methods including questionnaire survey, match-guise technique, and interviews (group and individual) to investigate the perceptions and views as conceived by the non-English majors and their Chinese teachers of English. It is revealed that China’s college teachers and students, when compared to the participants in the previous studies, are more familiar with the terms like ‘World Englishes’, ‘China English’, and ‘Chinese English’. Most of them believe that ‘China English’ should be fully codified and developed into a well-established variety of English before being adopted as a teaching model. Most of them still insist on adopting Standard English (i.e., American English or British English) as the pedagogic model in the present situation. At the same time, they agree that select features of ‘China English’ and World Englishes should be incorporated into the existing curriculum for college students in mainland China and that ‘China English’ is easier for China’s English learners to acquire. Furthermore, they also contend that college English should be taught by both LETs and NETs so that the students can benefit from both of their teaching. Moreover, this study suggests that the present pedagogic model is not the main reason for college students’ less-than-satisfactory English learning effectiveness. Instead, some other reasons were identified, including learning English simply as a subject for exams rather than as a tool for communication, and a lack of a conducive environment to practice English skills, particularly speaking skills. Taken together, the data obtained from the three research methods yield (to a greater or lesser extent) informative findings suggesting that Standard English is still perceived by college students in mainland China as a more desirable model of English. This is believed to have significant implications for teaching of college English in China. It suggests that ‘China English’ should be well codified and promoted before being adopted as the pedagogic model so that English learning may become easier for China’s learners. It also proposes that the curriculum design of college English should include the introduction of the well-defined characteristics of ‘China English’ and World Englishes. Besides, more LETs should have chance to be trained in English-speaking countries and more NETs should be recruited so as to provide students with a better and more conducive English learning environment. Last but by no means least, college English should be taught as a tool of communication rather than a subject for exams.

Date of Award	2 Oct 2007
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	City University of Hong Kong
Supervisor	Chor Shing David LI (Supervisor)