Implementation of Theme—based Instruction in Higher Vocational English Teaching

YANG++Mei

Abstract： The traditional English teaching approach at higher vocational English （HVE）， with over teacher-orientated classroom， low efficient passive cramming teaching method， cannot meet the needs of teaching objectives and students future career. In TBI English class， knowledge of future vocation and career is closely integrated with language study and particular efforts are made to arouse students interest and stimulate their motivation.

Key words： Theme-based Instruction；Higher Vocational Education；College English teaching

1 Introduction

【中圖分類號】G650

One of the requirements of The Basic Requirements for English Teaching of Higher Vocational Education （2000） for students is： “English courses in Higher Vocational and Technical Education are to train students ability to use the language as a target， and highlight the usability and content-specific.” [1] But the current English teaching in Higher Vocational Colleges is confined to textbooks， which limited the theme development， and the emphasis on the teaching of language knowledge focuses on grammar and discourse competence， but neglects language skills， which cannot meet the students needs for English.

2 Theme-Based Instruction （TBI）

Theme-based Instruction（TBI）is named as theme-based language instruction. In this approach， language activities are organized by a major theme or a series of themes related to non linguistics areas.[2] Language skills are the primary target.

3 Implementation of TBI in HVE

3.1 The objectives and materials of English teaching

The English teaching aimed to cultivate the students comprehensive proficiency in applying English， autonomous learning ability and intercultural communication competence， as well as the future vocational ability. The textbook of the English course is Comprehensive English of English for Careers as the textbook， which was published by Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. This brand new series teaching materials of “English for Careers” are developed aiming at higher vocational college non-English major.

3.2 TBI English teaching procedure

The implementation of TBI in English class is based on Stollers Six-Ts Approach. The Six-Ts Approach provides the means for developing a coherent theme-based curriculum.

（1）The first step for implementation of TBI English class is theme determination. Themes are the central ideas that organize major curricular units； they are chosen to be appropriate to student needs and interests， institutional expectations， program resources， and teacher abilities and interests.[3]endprint

Generally speaking， a class explores more than one theme in a given term or semester. The following themes related on real world practical knowledge in industry and vocation activities are carefully selected by the teacher. （see table 3.1）.

（2） Texts， defined in a broad sense in TBI， are content resources （written and aural） which drive the basic planning of theme units. Text selection will depend on a number of criteria： Students interest， relevance， and instructional appropriateness provide a first set of guidelines for determining text selection.

Following the determination to use “set up my own company” as a theme， various texts are collected and examined. According to the criteria of selecting texts， interesting and appropriate materials from many sources were selected （see Table 3.2）.

The texts are selected by teacher for students to learn first theme. There are video： Google； images： famous enterprises， companies with their Logos； texts： Google， Microsoft， TAF profile， Apple Inc.； audios： Reception， company profile， position introduction and so on. The text selected from not only the text book， but also internet， magazines， etc.

（3） Topics are the subunits of content which explore more specific aspects of the theme. They are selected to complement student interests， content resources， teacher preferences， and larger curricular objectives. （See Table 3.3）

The lessons of English teaching are essentially theme-based. That is， each teaching unit is sequence of topics tied together by the assumption of a coherent overall theme. Based on text selections， related topics were considered and then a set of topics was designated for the theme unit. Topics， for the set up my company theme included companys logo， company introduction， company organization chart， companys product， companys service and other issues of company.

（4）Threads are linkages across themes which create greater curricular coherence. They are， in general， not directly tied to the central idea controlling each theme unit. Rather， they are relatively abstract concepts （e.g. responsibility； ethics， confidence， power） that provide natural means for linking themes， for reviewing and recycling important content and language across themes， and for revisiting selected learning strategies. （See Table 3.4）

Threads are the important linkages among themes and other teaching materials.

Take the thread of “integrity” as an example， it could easily link the themes specified above if students are asked to consider a. the footstone of setting up your own company and starting your business； b. the rules of conducting social engagement； e. the most important thing during your future career.endprint

（5） Tasks are the basic units of instructional activities and techniques utilized for content， language， and strategy instruction in language classrooms. In the Six-Ts Approach， tasks are planned in response to the texts being used. （See Table 3.5）

Text materials are evaluated in terms of the language and learning strategy needs of vocational college students. Generally speaking， tasks typical of a vocational English teaching context are designated as important for students as complementary to text resources； From the above point of view， the teacher designs series of significant learning tasks that would provide a sense of closure to the theme and give students an opportunity to apply and/or practice content and language learned throughout the theme.

4 Conclusions

Based on the implementation of TBI in English class， the author concludes the following findings. In TBI class， students English learning motivation and interest increased obviously and significantly； Students have the chance to handle with a considerable amount of language while finding and learning material content； Students have many opportunities to attend to language， to use language， and to negotiate content through language in natural authentic or real word discourse contexts；， and allow them to expect the bright future career through the practice of career-oriented themes and topics as well as the tasks.

Bibliography

[1] 教育部高教司.高職高專教育英語課程教學(xué)基本要求[M].北京：高等教育出版社，2000.

[2] Brinton D， Snow M. & M. Wesche M. Content-based Second Language Instruction. [M] New York： Newburry House. 1989.

[3] Stoller， F & Grabe. A Six-TS Approach to Content-based Instruction [M].London： Longman. 1997.

[4] 都建穎. 以內(nèi)容為依托的英語教學(xué)法[M].武漢：華中科技大學(xué)出版社，2011.endprint