在中國普通高校建立復(fù)合式雙語課程體系探討

【摘 要】普通高校學(xué)生的英語應(yīng)用能力普遍較低，所以對于英語要求較高的外經(jīng)貿(mào)專業(yè)的學(xué)生而言，更需要有效和長期的系統(tǒng)訓(xùn)練。雙語教學(xué)作為提高學(xué)生英語應(yīng)用能力的重要手段被引入中國已經(jīng)多年，但實際效果至今并不十分理想。筆者根據(jù)自身的雙語教學(xué)體驗，就如何通過建構(gòu)普通高校國際經(jīng)貿(mào)專業(yè)的縱向雙語課程體系以及橫向和縱向雙語課程體系的相互作用，來完成對學(xué)生的系統(tǒng)訓(xùn)練，進(jìn)行了初步探討。

【關(guān)鍵詞】雙語教學(xué) 縱向雙語課程體系 國際經(jīng)貿(mào) 英語應(yīng)用能力

【中圖分類號】G642【文獻(xiàn)標(biāo)識碼】A【文章編號】1006-9682(2009)09-0047-03

【Abstract】English skills of students in many Non-key Universities is relatively weak， even including the students of International Business Specialty to which English abilities are basic qualification and a fundamental competence. Bilingual education is implemented to improve students’ English skills whereas its practical effectiveness is not as salient as that is anticipated so far. This paper consider one of causes is the lack of a progressive， complex bilingual curriculum system which characterizes recursion， persistence and exposure chance of English learning in terms of interactive of a horizontal and especially a vertical bilingual curriculum system. Research in the paper is based on writer’s bilingual teaching experience.

【Key words】Bilingual Education Vertical Bilingual Curriculum System International Business Specialty English skills

1、Introduction

Bilingual education has been implanted in Chinese tertiary education for about 8 years yet its practical effectiveness is still controversial， partly because the natural shortage in teacher resource and quality exposure-language outside classroom. This weakness is especially obvious in Non-key universities where students have more poor English ground.

Basically， there are three bilingual education models popular used and academically researched in Chinese universities， which usage density can be likened to a pyramid. On the top is the immersion model， the highest level， using original English textbook and 100 percent English of class language， slides， assistant materials， etc. This kind of models is usually seen at the occasions of china-foreign cooperation in running a school. xIn the middle is the transitional model， referring to use original English text book and teach in Chinese and English alternatively， for instance， half to half. On the bottom is the maintenance model， the lowest level， using Chinese as dominated class language only combined with original English textbook. Actually， it’s very difficult to put a Chinese version of bilingual model to the mold of what these three conceptions really mean in the western countries from where they come from and even it self is regarded as artificial constructs and have no tight representation of system by some scholars.[1]However， we quote these three conceptions herein this paper in order to make brevity and simplicity.

Which model is to be adopted highly depends on students’ English abilities that could be upgraded by progressively adjustment of model conversely. Wisely choose different models is the key job in establishing a horizontal bilingual curriculum system which refers to moving from lower to higher level in the model pyramid for a specific subject according to the improvement of students’ English. Meanwhile， we must consider another very important system， vertical bilingual curriculum system which means allocating a series of bilingual subjects to 4-year university time， bearing period objective and working progressively and systematically as a whole. Vertical bilingual curriculum system emphasizes the intensity， recursion and progressiveness of bilingual training， particularly significant for Non-key universities to build up a sophisticated English training system that is just the weakness point presently. Vertical bilingual curriculum systems works with horizontal bilingual curriculum systems together to reinforce the effectiveness of bilingual education. This paper discusses how to establish a vertical bilingual curriculum system and its cooperation with horizontal system， taking International Business Specialty in Non-key universities as an example and highly involving writers’ teaching experiences.

2、Status quo examination

International Business Specialty undoubtedly requires students use English， the global business language， fluently and adroitly. However， according to writer’s experience teaching in a Non-key university， the first bilingual subject usually arranged in the sophomore year can only adopt maintenance model even for those classes average English level is not bad. Students confronting an original English textbook and tons of academic vocabularies for the very first time have to spend a lot of time to get used to this new pedagogy. Confused， frustrated， lost， students always find it needs triple or even more time devoting to this subject than any other. Getting through hardly， however， at the end of term， they usually acquire a little experience of how to use an original English textbook and how to think in English at more or less. This is very import cognitive experiment for a language learner and exact turning point where need refueling and encouragement. If stop or interrupt from here， no further bilingual subjects continued， what they learn will be put on the shelf immediately and nothing can push them to make breakthrough. Unfortunately， all of these happen in many Non-key universities. A vertical bilingual system based on the conception of time duration allows students to adjust their methodology and find out an efficient way suitable to them， completely experience an acumination process， mitigating their fear of using a second language， find confidence which is the soul for a language learner. Besides of all， vertical bilingual curriculum system provides exposure-language as much as they can which is definitely crucial for students in Non-key universities. In the vertical bilingual curriculum system， encouraged by independent leaning and under assistance of teachers， students have chance to learn how to become a wise learner， a kind of soft skill that is much more important in the era suffocated by information and knowledge cramming everywhere. However， some Non-key universities or some faculties do not pay much attention to this consideration.

3、Bilingual allocation and arrangement

Bilingual allocation refers to the time allotment given to one language or the other in bilingual education.[1]In China， Ministry of Education recommended a national-standard allocation from 5% to 10%. As for the micro-allocation， which means how to distribute bilingual subjects to each term and how to arrange the language in the curriculum， is decided by every single university. Unquestionably， the earlier students accept bilingual training， the more exposure-language opportunity students can get. However， bilingual teaching usually can only starts from the second academic year from where specialty subjects opened to bilingual teaching normally starts. Some theory-oriented subject is not suitable for bilingual teaching especially in Non-key University， making bilingual subjects go to the second half of sophomore years in most of cases. In the vertical curriculum system， from here， one bilingual curriculum is distributed to one term(one academic year includes two terms)consecutively until the first half of senior year. Given this allocation， there are four subjects must open sequentially to bilingual teaching which unfortunately rarely happen in Non-key university now due to shortage in teaching resource or this or that. The essential of vertical bilingual curriculum system is to keep training discontinuously and one bilingual curriculum for one term is the compromise choice at least anyway for some Non-key university although the sliding bilingual allocation， the percentage of subject or period of target language increasing by the time， is the superior choice and popular used by western bilingual education. The failure of bilingual education in many Non-universities lies in sparsely and immethodical bilingual curriculum distribution which mark the lack of necessary prepositive training(we will talk about it in the next section)and persistent allocation especially in the last few terms.

In Non-key University， bilingual teaching should wisely choose practice-oriented subjects instead of theory-oriented subjects. As for International Business Specialty， International Business Practice， International Business Correspondence， International Business Negotiation， Cross-Cultural Communication are practically suitable to use bilingual teaching. If possible， Multinational Corporation， International Investment， International Financial also can be designed as bilingual subjects.(All above subject titles are quoted from the university in where writer is teaching)Universities and faculties arrange these subjects in order and decide which model is used， that we will talk about in next parts.

4、Structurally Prepositive training

As we mentioned before， in the view of writer， bilingual teaching is not always effective partly because prepositive training is scanty. Business English class should be arranged as the transitional class to bilingual education even though there is general English class in freshman and sophomore years whose functional objective is somehow different from EAP(English for Academic Purpose). EAP approach aims to develop the students’ language skills in order to support their study or research in the content area.(Flowerdew Peacock， 2001)EAP program can provide some prepositive trainings of CBI(Content-Cased Instruction)， similar to pedagogy of bilingual education， while traditional language education program usually focus on language itself. The Some scholars suggest that EAP is not necessary while bilingual subjects are arranged. Arguably， students in Non-key university are deadly need more English training where EAP can， more and less， use the language as a medium of instruction and ultimately push students prepare vocabulary inventory for bilingual education followed or they will find they are on the moon during the class.

5、Combining effect of two systems

Suppose two system runs along the same timeline but perpendicular to each other — horizontal curriculum system on horizontal， wave from left to right， vertical curriculum system on vertical， wave from down to up. Each step up vertically cooperate an adjusted move on horizontal form left to right which refers to the adjustment of bilingual model from easy to difficult. The primary characteristics of vertical curriculum systems is considering bilingual model in terms of whole curriculum system instead of a single subject alone. Put every resource you can get and plan a phased progressively system in which every step or period has its specified teaching objective， bilingual practice and assessment accordingly. The key point is teachers responsible of different subject should sit down together and discuss how to harmonize pedagogic process and practice in order to prevent teaching on its own way. This coordination even can extent to teachers in English language facility whose pedagogy directly affect the acquisition of bilingual education. That’s a responsible education.

Now， we take the international business specialty as example to discuss how to build up a vertical bilingual curriculum system. Put international business practice as he first bilingual subject in the second half of sophomore year. Maintenance model is recommended. According to personal experience of writer， original textbook and 100 percent English slide make student stressful where teacher should spend some times on teach them how to learn a bilingual class， such as， how to use a original textbook， how to take notes， how to preview and review， etc. Chinese reference books are recommended in this phase and Chinese/English both are on the assessment paper. Chinese is still the dominated language for students to understand conceptions and key points. The objective of this phase is to let students catch some feeling and encourage them do not give up. Cross-cultural communication can be set in the firsthalf of junior-year which still use Chinese/English as class language but increase the percent of English depending on the improvement of students. Presentation or acting or other performance is encouraged in this phase to practice students’ spoken English and express the understanding of different culture. International business corresponded can be settled on the second half of junior-year which has very similar context with international business practice. Bilingual model moves to transitional model and students need to learn thinking in English. English assessment paper is designed. The last term for bilingual teaching， the first half of senior-year， can adopt international negotiation which practice speaking， writing and listening very much together. Everything happen in class is English except the class language where a few code-switching are allowed in the case of necessity or totally immersion model is used in the case of possibility.

6、Conclusion

Language learning is a lifetime work which has a recursively developmental process. Although bilingual education in 4-year of university can not forge a students into a native speaker， yet the more involvement of English， the more students can learn. This is undoubtedly. For specialty like International Business or other business-based specialties， bilingual education is the way how student should live and study while bilingualism is the lifestyle of 21 century. For Non-key Universities， programming a reasonable and effective bilingual education system is what should do urgently to make every student to be a global citizen and let nobody behind.

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