The Influence of English Reform in China on English Teaching and Learning

陳曦

【Abstract】According to the latest English reform by Education Department， English exams will be held twice a year in College Entrance Exam. Some people are doubtful whether it means the position of English is on the decrease in China and it directly affects English teaching and learning. However， in fact， no matter how reform is， English， as an international language， will never be out of date. And the reason why we should reform is that it really exists many problems in English teaching and learning all the time such as mechanical memory and dumb English etc. So， English reform is inevitable. In this thesis， the author analyses four mainly problems of English teaching and learning and puts forward some solutions to change the situation. Meanwhile， the author mentions that China can learn some successful experience from other non-native English countries. In all， Chinese teachers should try to change traditional teaching methods， pay more attention to some English practical skills like communicative ability and find a best way to let students learn English well.

【Key words】reform； English teaching； English practical skill

The cause and necessity of English reform in our country

On the one hand， lets have a look at “time consuming”. In most middle school， English course is generally 3-5 hours a week. And according to 5 class hours a week， 18 weeks a term， 12 semesters in high school， the time of students spending on English learning is 1080 class hours， 43200 minutes—720 hours—30 days. That is to say the time of our secondary school students in the middle school spending on learning English is merely 30 days. However in these 30 days， according to the“1986 secondary school English Syllabus”， students not only need to master about 1800-2000 words and a certain number of idioms and fixed collocation， but also should read some English newspapers or magazines independently. In fact， most students cant finish this hard task in time especially oral English. At present， there still exists a phenomenon that a lot of English students have spent a lot of time and effort but gained little achievements. At the same time， another behavior is that we often see this kind of student who has good English writing， reading， and high scores but when communicating with foreign people， they would be red-faced and even speechless at sea. It is called dumb English problem.

One the other hand， the traditional English teaching ignores the function of students' main body. For a long time， English teaching has been based on teachers， ignoring the main function of students. This method means that the teachers need to spend most of the time explaining in class， and students' practice opportunities are little， so that students become passive recipients of knowledge of language. In fact， the primary task of learning English is “l(fā)earning” instead of “teaching”. A scholar once said： “effective language teaching should not violate the natural process， but should adapt to the natural process， should not hinder learning， and should contribute to the learning and promote learning； you can't make students adapt to the teachers， and should make the teachers suit the students.” English is different from other basic subjects， which is a practical course. Its teaching effect should be based on students' learning effect and the effect of learning depends largely on the students' subjective initiative and participation. Therefore， classroom teaching must take the students as the center and make the class full of liveliness and enthusiasm.endprint

The significance of English Reform on English Teaching and Learning

Our English teaching has been through hundreds of years. Each period has its own problem， so reform is always followed. But no matter how the reform is， English will still be important in Chinese schools. The recent English reform in College Entrance Examination has been shocked many Chinese again， which stimulate a hot discussion. All the time， some people advocate to being indifferent of English and spending most time on learning traditional Chinese. They think the contemporary students spend too much time on English so that they know little about Chinese. Many students are occupied with English clubs in their spare time. When the reform happens， it seems to accept their point but to some extent it affects English teaching and learning seriously. Even it directly affects the recruitment of English teachers and the interest of students enthusiasm in learning English. More and more English major students cant find appropriate jobs because middle or senior schools comparatively decrease the number of English teachers. And students behave worse than before in English classes because they think it unnecessary to learn English. But I have to say that in the economic globalization， English， as an international exchange tool， will never lose its position. The reform is just using another way to emphasize on English.endprint