Making Use of Facilitative Techniques in Vocational English Courses in China

陳雪潔

1. Introduction

As the deepening of international communication， English become more and more important in the world. Many countries make policy of requiring their students to learn English. In China， English is one of the required courses and all the Chinese students should start to learn English in junior high school. However， although Chinese vocational school students has an at least six-years study of English， their English are still pretty poor.

This paper aims at convincing English teachers of vocational school to use facilitative techniques in their classes. Students of vocational school is very different from students in college， they have lower interests and more anxiety toward English. In order to help them overcome these difficulties， I will firstly present two facilitative techniques： learner-centered teaching and Task-based language teaching. Then， by connecting them with teaching principles， I will analyze the advantage of these two facilitative techniques and explains how they can meet students need. Finally， some recommendations are giving to show how these techniques can be used in class and how they cooperate with each other.

2. Using facilitative techniques in vocational English courses in China

2.1 Students common features of English learning in vocational school

Students of vocational school have some common features in learning English. First， most of them have a poor English basic skill. According to Wu Dan （2006）， over 70% vocational students cannot even finish an essay. In their paper， there were full of grammar and structure mistakes （p. 60）. It is because they have poor English skills when they enter the vocational school， and in vocational school， the teacher always ignores their English level and the needs of them.

Second， students of vocational school always have a lot anxiety on speaking English. Because most of the students in vocational school are up to eighteen years old， they tend to embarrassed when they do something they dont good at. Speaking nonstandard English makes them reluctant to open their mouth. The less they speak and practice， the poorer their English become， and the more anxieties they will get when speaking English.

Third， students have a little interest towards English. English teachers in vocational schools class always teach according to the textbook. They stand in front of classroom， focusing on finishing their lesson plan instead of students acceptable degree of the lesson. English class in vocational school is a typical spoon-feeding education—boring and inefficient. Moreover， after entering into vocational school， each student has his or her own major. They have only two English classes in each week （except for English major）. Since they can finally get rid of English， and focus on their own major which they really like， they devote most of their time and energy into their favorite things and learn English just for passing the exam.endprint

2.2 The facilitative techniques which can be used in the ELT class

Considering students abilities， their anxiety， and the low interest towards English， using some facilitative techniques can help them overcome these shortcomings.

2.2.1 Learner-centered teaching

Learner-centered teaching （LCT） moves the focus from the teacher and instruction to the student and learning. It pays attention to the learners needs， styles， and goals. According to Schweisfurth （2015）， there are some basic characteristics that should be at heart of practice towards the learner-centered teaching， including respect for the rights of learner， reinforce the importance of dialogic teaching and proper assessment （p. 263）.

The mutual respect between teachers and students is one of the most important characteristics of learner-centered teaching. Students needs， styles and goals should be firstly taken into consider， and the rights of students need to be respected in the forms of feedback that are used （that is， no corporal punishment or use of humiliation）. As was mentioned above， most of the vocational school students have poor English abilities and low interests toward English. Therefore， a. instead of using English all the time， English teacher should use both Chinese and English to explain the knowledge， the basic line is to make students understand； b. what is taught needs to be built on students existing knowledge and skills. According to meaningful learning principle， “the process of making meaningful associations between existing knowledge/experience and new material will lead toward better long-term retention than rote learning of material in isolated pieces” （Brown， 2013， p. 66）； c. the feedback should be reasonable and effective. Because most of the vocational students are grown-ups， they will feel embarrassed when being criticized in front of all the class. In order to avoid this problem， teachers can firstly give positive feedback， then gently propose their opinions and help their students correct the mistakes. This also follows the teaching principle of the anticipation of reward， which clearly expresses the important of reward （Brown， 2013）.

Another important characteristic of learner-centered teaching is the applying of dialogic teaching. Dialogic teaching is based on the mutual respect between teacher and student， student and student. It erases teachers absolute authority into the class， and also give each student equal chance to practice. Moreover， dialogic teaching stresses on cooperation. Not only students can solve problem together， but also teacher and students can cooperate with each other and reach the finally goal. Teachers of vocational school are always reluctant to integrate into students to solve the problem. They always feel they are the authority of the knowledge， and refuse to accept students ideas. This will finally lead to spoon-feeding education. Dialogic teaching will make teaching effectively. Whats more， students of vocational school have more anxieties than those who in college school. They dont want to open their mouth because they know their English is poor， also they are afraid of teachers criticism and others ridicule. Dialogic teaching put students and teacher into a same position. It will first push student to practice. Gradually he or she will realize he needs not to be afraid because no one will judge him or her.endprint

After teaching the knowledge， the assessment for learning is very important for evaluating students acceptable situation. However， considering the features of vocational students， difficult assessment will reduce students motivation， while easy one will lead to careless. Therefore， the assessment processes should be meaningful for students so that their learning is improved by it. They also should be based on and built on what students have acquired and be informative and relevant both to teachers and learners. Formative assessment should be more used as it not only reinforces what students learn， but also helps them to correct their mistakes gradually with little suffering from anxiety.

2.2.2 Task-based language teaching

Task-based language teaching （TBLT） has become a significant topic in the field of second language acquisition since early 1980s. It stresses on using task in language teaching. Therefore， knowing the definition of a task is very important to understand the TBLE. The term “task” has been defined by many researchers. Long （1985） defines task as “a piece of work undertaken for oneself or for others， freely or for some reward” （p. 89）. Breen （1987） comprehends task as “a range of work plans” （p. 23）. Nunan （1989） states that task is “a piece of classroom work which involves learners in comprehending， producing or interacting in the target language while their attention is principally focused on meaning rather than form” （p. 10）. Skehan （1998） lists features of task as： a. meaning is primary； b. there is some sort of relationship to comparable real-world activities； c. task completion has some priority； d. the assessment of tasks is in terms of outcome （p. 95）. Ellis （2003） gives the meaning of task as a “work plan” that requires learners cognitive processes via the inclusion of Skehans four criteria. Despite being various by nature， these definitions of task have some common points. A classroom task is an activity having a particular goal and it contains communicative language use in the process. Because task has a certain relationship with the extralinguistic world， it goes beyond the common classroom exercise. The type of discourse emerging from task is aimed to be similar to the one that emerges naturally in the real world. By summarizing the definition of the task， we can easily conclude some characteristics of TBLT.

First， “tasks ultimately point learners beyond the forms of language alone to real-world context” （Brown， 2013， p.61）. Instead of teaching language into pieces， teacher in TBLT class using task to combine language with real world. The task is always related to students own needs， wants or desires， so according to intrinsic motivation principle， the learners perform the task with a lot of interest and motivation because they find it is fun， interesting， useful， or challenging when doing the task. Moreover， connecting the language skills with real context will help students realize when they can use the typical knowledge in the real world， and this also fits the principle of autonomy， which convinces teacher to help students using knowledge out of the class. Vocational students always find that English is boring and useless. If the teacher can use a meaningful task， which is closely related to their real life， and explains to the students the importance of the task， students will have more interests on the English， and then devote more energy into the task. After doing so， they will get more intrinsic motivation because they have finished the task all by themselves， and they will more likely to use the knowledge outside of the class， at same time， the knowledge can also be reinforced through using.endprint

Second， the tasks specifically contribute to communicative goals. TBLT pays more attentions on the use of language rather than simply teaching the language skills. Teacher in TBLT class often creates a communicative task that pushes students talk. It not only helps students get used to communicate in English， but also builds their communicative competences， which meet the teaching principles of willingness to communicate and communicative competence. Vocational students are always not willing to talk in English. By pushing them practicing through doing the task， they will get the chance to speak English； gradually， they will adapt to the language pattern and speak English more fluently.

Third， teacher plays an important role in TBLT class. A task-based curriculum specifies what a learner needs to do with the English language in terms of target tasks and organizes a series of pedagogical tasks intended to reach those goals. However， it not means that teacher just puts all the elements together and produces a TBLT class； on the contrary， all the elements should be carefully designed. The task should be logic and rigorous， all the elements must serve for the purpose of the task. In the pre-task procedure， the direction must be specifically explained and teacher must make sure all the students understand what they should do. During the task solving procedure， teacher should walk around of the class， observing the groups， and giving suggestions if necessary. In the post-task procedure， teacher must deliver a clear bottom-up or top-down lesson to students， and let student practice based on the new knowledge.

2.3 Using learner-centered teaching and task-based language teaching into EFL class

As is mentioned above， some characteristics of LCT and TBLT benefit vocational students. However， these two techniques will do good to students on condition that they can be used correctly. How to combine them together in vocational schools English class is a basic question for English teacher. If we using task in EFL class and the task what we design is based on students need， by doing so， we can combine LCT and TBLT in one class. Therefore， what kind of task is and how the task is used should be considered wisely. Here are some recommendations about the task for English teacher of vocational school.

First， the tasks must not be too hard， nor be too simple for vocational students. Teacher should find a suitable task for their students. Difficult task will make student lose their confidence towards English， while simple one will slow down their progress and make them lose interests on English.endprint

Second， the task should be related to students life. Vocational students often view English as a useless language， because they think they will never use it into the real world. However， English skill is one of the enter key of most famous companies. Therefore， teacher should try to create a task which is related to students life and the real world. It should not only convince them the importance of English， but also help them to use it in real life.

Third， the task should have a specific purpose. The purpose of the task is never about stimulating students motivation or interests， because it is too vague and general. On the contrary， the purpose of the task should be a specific one， like teaching students to use subjunctive mood， or helping students be familiar with the conception of culture shock. Because of the low competence of vocational students basic English skills， the task should also be completed with the using of some basic skill， such as writing and speaking. As a result， by doing this task， vocational students will at least equip with some knowledge of English.

Fourth， the assessment and feedback must be proper. After doing the task， the evaluation part is also important for students. Because the test can easily cause students anxiety， teacher should use some skills on the evaluation. For example， teacher can ask students to give an oral-presentation about the task， or their feeling towards the task. By this way， students can give some out-put without worrying about their scores， at the same time， teacher can evaluate the condition of students acquisition and adjust the task for a better result. The feedback is also very important in the class. Teacher should find a balance towards giving feedback. Too many criticisms will lead to frustration， while too many praises will cause complacence. Whats more， teacher should try to giving some details into the feedback. It not only helps students correct mistakes， but also make them feel that their answers are very important to teacher， and therefore， they will become more willing to talk and practice.

3. Conclusion

By considering the common feature of the vocational students and the characteristics of learn-centered teaching and task-base language teaching， we can conclude that the two techniques can cooperate with each other and benefit vocational students if being correctly used. The bottom line is designing and practicing task wisely.

All in all， despite different type of the facilitative techniques and suggestions， the teacher always plays an important role in the class. He or she should consider students need and their personality， pick out useful materials， design feasible task， operate task logically and tightly， push students to practice， and for the most difficult part， they should always remember not to talk too much， because student is the center of the language class.

References：

[1]Breen，M.（1987）.Learner contribution to task design.Englewood Cliffs，N.J.：Prentice Hall.

[2]Brown，H.D.（2013）.Teaching by principles：An interactive approach to language pedagogy （3rd ed.）.Beijing：Tsinghua University Press.

[3]Ellis，R.（2003）.Task-based language learning and teaching.Oxford：Oxford University Press.

[4]Long，M.（1985）.A role for instruction in second language acquisition：Task-based language teaching.Clevedon：Multilingual Matters.

[5]Nunan，D.（1989）.Designing tasks for the communicative classroom.Cambridge：Cambridge University Press.

[6]Schweisfurth，M.（2015）.Learner-centred pedagogy：Towards a post-2015 agenda for teaching and learning.International Journal of Educational Development，40，259-266.

[7]Skehan，P.（1998）.Task-based instruction.Annual Review of Applied Linguistics，18，268-286.

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