The Importance of Cultural-Orientation in Foreign Language Teaching

Dr. Lee Hyun Chong

President of Sangmyung University in Seoul, Korea

In a world of rapid globalization and ever increasing international trade and communication, the understanding of not just foreign languages, but also the culture from which the languages come from is vital.

Languages and language learning have been affected by globalization and this effect can be observed all over the world. The largest language blocks in the world are now Chinese, Spanish and Portuguese, Arabic and English and these languages have superseded other languages in importance. When a student learns a foreign language and a foreign culture, both countries benefit and as such we should be encouraging more globalized education.

As learning a foreign language becomes ever more important, we need to ensure that language learners are taught in the most effective manner possible, and that they learn not just language, but an understanding of the culture from which it comes so that true communication is possible.

To facilitate this growth we should overcome impediments to globalization including: overcoming language barriers, cooperating bilaterally and multilaterally, increasing the number of dual degree programs, enhancing learning mobility, and encouraging a bilingual culture.

Education should be recognized as a global, not a local enterprise. Borderless education, transnational education, bilateral and/or multicultural education leading to bicultural personality build ups will ensue.

What to Teach in English-major Education in China?

An Implication from Recollections of Senior Professors on Their Learning and Teaching

Prof. Zhang Shaojie

Professor of English and Vice-president of The Northeast Normal University

There is a great concern nowadays about what to teach in foreign language education as major in China. There are simply two apposing ideas: one holds that humanistic education should be highlighted and the other maintains that skills training should be focused. So the question arises as to whether to emphasize humanistic education or skills training. This presentation takes a position on the side of the former by drawing on a discourse analysis of recollections of Chinese senior professors on their learning and teaching and discussing the implications underlying their discourse on English-major education in present China.

An Empirical Study of the Effect of Localized CBI Curriculum for English Majors at the Fundamental Stages in the Chinese Context

Prof. Chang Junyue

Vice Dean of the School of English Studies in Dalian University of Foreign Languages

This study focused on the effect of localized CBI (Content-Based Instruction) and its CBI curriculum for English majors in Chinese context. A quasi-experiment was conducted with tests and questionnaires as data collection instruments, and the data were analyzed through SPSS software.

The study indicated that the localized CBI curriculum for English majors produced more positive impacts on the students’ learning of English language knowledge, their development of English language skills, and their acquisition of systematic disciplinary knowledge. The effects were especially significant in students’ achievement in the aspects of content-area knowledge, vocabulary, and reading, achieving the general objectives of the current national curriculum more effectively than the conventional teaching and its skill-based curriculum for English majors. The findings are of great significance to the reform of the teaching philosophy for English majors, the current national curriculum, and the formulation of the future national curriculum for English majors.