AnAnalysisofInterculturalCommunicationEnglishTeachinginChinese HighSchoolfromthePerspectiveofPost—MethodPedagogy

【Abstract】The post-method advocates that there is no best method to be adopted for coping with all foreign language teaching contexts but the most appropriate way for the particular teaching context， teaching subject and teaching content. The intercultural communication English teaching rightly echoes the macro ideas of post-method pedagogy and it is feasible in Chinese high school. Post-method pedagogy can offer theoretical and practical support to intercultural communication English teaching in Chinese context and provides important teaching enlightenment for English teachers.

【Key words】intercultural communication； English teaching； high school； post method

【作者簡(jiǎn)介】陳雁翔，廣西師范大學(xué)外國(guó)語(yǔ)學(xué)院。

1. Introduction

1.1 Post-Method Pedagogy

The post-method pedagogy was put forward by Professor Kumaravadivelu in 1994. It has no any fixed teaching methods， teaching models and teaching procedures and it is only comprised of a set of macro teaching ideas based on the adaption to specific teaching situation. Post-method pedagogy specially stresses the diversity， openness and particularity of foreign language teaching. It calls for an open， flexible and dynamic foreign language teaching concept which not only empowers learners and teachers great autonomy but also grants them tremendous developmental potential.

1.2 Intercultural Communication English Teaching in Chinese High School

Intercultural communication English teaching （ICET） refers to the teaching aiming at cultivating the intercultural communicative competence of English learners. In order to reach this learning outcome， students are supposed to： get familiar with the features of history， geography， culture of English countries；

English learning itself calls for ICET since English language is the unity of instrumentalism and humanism. As a part of culture， language is the carrier of culture and language is essentially rooted in culture. Then， the drawbacks emerged from traditional ways of teaching call for teachers highly cultivation awareness of cross-cultural talents. English teachers had added it into one of teaching objectives though， however， under the pressure of exam-oriented education system， they still seldom regard it as the key point or difficult point of a lesson since they consider the training of language skills and grammar knowledge as most predominated parts. With the more intensified globalization and frequent international communication， the increasing need for intercultural communicative talents reveals that English teaching should be adapt to the trends of the times. Last but not the least， ICET can motivate learners interest in English learning and improve their learning initiative. Moreover， with the advent of New National English Curriculum Standards for High School （2017 version）， the core qualities required for high school students includes language proficiency， cultural awareness， thinking quality and learning ability. All these reasons mentioned above make ICET in Chinese high school more imperative.

2. The Feasibility of Intercultural Communication English Teaching in High School Based on Post-Method Pedagogy

ICET based on post-method pedagogy is feasible in Chinese high school. Two main reasons concerning the parameters and strategies of post-method as follows back up the argument from the angle of Chinese setting.

For one thing， the demands of ICET coincide with the three parameters of post-method pedagogy. In a word， they all center on the particularity， practicality and possibility of language teaching. According to these three important aspects， intercultural communication English teaching thus can be organized in a more scientific way.

In terms of the particularity， ICET must adapt to actual social-cultural contexts， namely， taking the learning objects， teaching institution and teaching environment into consideration. In Chinese setting， high school students need to learn many subjects simultaneously， such as history， geography， physics， biology and so on. Naturally， they have the need to integrate the knowledge of multiple subjects and have the potential to apply knowledge of other subjects by using English. At a special age full of vitality and intellectual curiosity， they have great interest in the learning contents of intercultural communication English learning which are closely linked to the time they are living. China as a developing country in the process of economic transition surely has its particular education system. Teaching institution implements the New National English Curriculum Standards for Common Senior High School and adheres to the educational goal of cultivating innovative and pragmatic talents who have intercultural communicative ability. Furthermore， students are learning English in the teaching environment which is affected deeply by the globalization all the time but dominated by the class teaching system. Many efforts should be done to make the most of various resources and create favorable conditions for intercultural communication English teaching when facing the limitations of teaching place， teaching contents， teaching materials and finances.

In terms of practicality， ICET emphasizes teachers autonomy. It empowers teachers to construct context-oriented theories of practice and enables them to generate location-specific innovative practices. The goals of ICET demand different teaching activities and they could intertwine or coexist in a lesson. To cultivate learners cross-cultural awareness， for instance， the teacher makes a teaching design about comparing the festivals or national holidays between China and western countries. During the learning process， students need to combine the similarities and difference to generate their own understandings toward festivals around the world. Thus the activities could involve multimedia display， group cooperation investigation， group discussion， or group debate and so on. The skill training of listening， speaking， writing and reading is indispensable during learning activities. However， on account of these rich variety of activities， which teaching method， model or technique is most appropriate totally depends on the teachers ability of autonomously diagnosing specific teaching situation， distilling teaching theories and practicing their own theories. Teachers need to cherish the process of accumulating teaching experience in which their ability of adapting alternative to method is being developed.

In terms of possibility， ICET considers more carefully the learners characteristics and developmental needs shaped by social contexts. It introduces social contexts into classroom teaching so as to maximize the opportunities for learners to engage in real intercultural communication. Under the influence of globalization and rapid development of science and technology， learners receive a wealth of information from all over the world quicker and quicker. The learners nowadays in high school are digital natives who incessantly connect with world by smart devices and they come to classroom with known experience. In the relatively confined classroom gathering a certain number of learners with different characteristics， teachers cannot ignore the social-cultural reality that influences their identity formation， nor to separate the linguistic needs from their social needs. Involving learners in real intercultural communication English learning to reach their full potentials is quite necessary.

For another， the teaching objectives of intercultural communication English teaching coincide with specific requirements of the ten macro strategies of post-method pedagogy. The five teaching objectives mentioned above echo parts of macro strategies： raise cultural awareness， promote learner autonomy， foster language awareness， facilitate negotiated interaction， contextualized linguistic input， integrate language skills and ensure social relevance. It can be seen that they all design for desired learning outcomes and center on the essence of foreign language learning， namely， the unity of humanism and instrumentalism which not only pays attention to the teaching of language knowledge and language skills but also the development of cultural awareness and communicative ability. Based on these goals， learners are expected to become effective learners， collaborative partners and critical thinkers.

Therefore， post-method pedagogy offers intercultural communication English teaching the theoretical and practical guidance. From the perspective of post-method pedagogy， the intercultural communication English teaching in Chinese high school cannot adopt a certain teaching method but adapt to the social culture of the target language， learners developmental needs in English learning， teaching contents， Chinese educational environment and specific school contexts. During the process of adapting to particular contexts， teachers can explore an alternative to method rather than an alternative method. That suggests the implication of the teaching belief “Never adopts. Always adapts.”

3. Conclusion

The post-method pedagogy renders English teachers to see intercultural communication teaching in a new light. It advocates that foreign language teaching should forgo the dependence on perfect method， model or technique and adapt to specific teaching object， teaching context and teaching content in a flexible way. Thus， teachers can gain important enlightenment on intercultural communication teaching， which not only inspires them to better grasp specific features and suitable environment of each teaching method， model or technique so as to make full use of their efficacy， but also make the best of individual initiative， reflectivity and creativity. In the long run， intercultural communication English teaching based on the post-method pedagogy is positively feasible in Chinese setting， and the specific application for teaching still needs further studying.

References：

[1]Kumaravadivelu，B.Toward a Post-method Pedagogy[J].TESOL Quarterly，2001，35：237-560.

[2]Kumaravadivelu，B.（1994）.The postmethod condition：（E）merging strategies for second/foreign language teaching.TESOL Quarterly，28，27–48.