[GDUFS:Past and Present] The English Teaching of GDUFS Reformed

    As one of the oldest faculties at GDUFS, the Faculty of English Language and Culture never stops exploring ways to better education. Recently, the faculty upgraded its OPTS (online pronunciation training system) and took part in revising the CECL course (Communicative English for Chinese Learners). What’s their reason for doing this? After talking to two teachers from FELC, you’ll probably have an idea.

About the upgrading of the EPTS

Ms LIU Ying took part in the application of the old system and the development of the new. She accepted the interview and talked about her experience. According to her, the brand new online training system has overcome many technical problems often encountered when the old one was in use. For example, the new system adapts well to up to date web browsers. The interface of the system is simple, easy to use and requires no special teaching sessions for beginners as before.

Ms LIU

Compared with the first website developed 16 years ago, the new system being developed has enabled teachers and developers at FELC to find new ways to strengthen students’ pronunciation skills. For instance, the system is able to identify individual pronunciation problems and provide training exercises accordingly. Apart from that, students can evaluate each other’s pronunciation. Students’ pronunciation records will be sent to other students anonymously, and they will rate each other’s records in the system. “Though students’ ability to rate others’ records is limited now, they may improve by applying the theories learned and rating more often,” Ms LIU said, with her chin propped up on the back of her right hand, smiling.

Though Ms LIU and her colleagues still face a lot of challenges on how to turn every detailed design into reality, she thinks it quite worthwhile because the new features and functions of the system serve innovative teaching better than before.

About the Revision of CECL

Morning found Dr. FENG working on her computer by the window. She was radiant in an exquisitely embroidered qipao (the tight-fitting traditional Chinese dress for women) with short and wavy hair.

FENG Wei is the editor of Book 3 of CECL. From her perspective, there are three reasons why CECL needs to be revised. Firstly, the time when the CECL textbook was the students’ only learning source is gone. Students now have quick access to more learning materials thanks to the Internet. Secondly, as the educational reformation in primary and secondary education goes deeper, the new students’ English ability is quite different from the previous ones in many aspects. Therefore, the textbook should be revised to keep in pace with the times and meet students’ needs.

Dr.FENG

Although some content in CECL has been changed, its concept - “Whole Person Education”, and its motto - “Think, Feel and Communicate” put forward by Professor LI Xiaoju, stays the same, according to her. “During the revision, we used a task based framework to make explicit some of the implicit mechanisms of the original CECL,” said Dr. FENG. She took the unit of History &Government in Book 3 as an example and explained the four crucial steps in learning CECL. The first step is to warm up. In that unit, it means that students should think about the concept of history on their own first. Then came the target input part. That is to say, students are given a large amount of relevant information to digest, and in that case, they read chronology, Chinese history and world history, by different writers. While reading, their critical thinking is provoked. Thirdly, students should do the Language Work to find out what expressions are used in the texts and how they are used appropriately. Lastly, students should reinforce their knowledge of these expressions by using them in their own writings.

Teamwork is important in the learning process. Different students probably hold different views upon one issue. To accomplish the task given, persuasion and concession are usually necessary. Hence, students learn the art of communication in English.

Indeed, the new CECL’s contents has become closer-to-life and easier-to-apply, yet you should know that it’s the outcome of many teachers’ efforts. “The challenge was how to keep the consistent style of CECL and how to let different teachers make good use of their advantages,” Dr. FENG recalled.

Looking back, Dr. FENG thought that she was very happy to see the concept and motto of CECL, which was put forward by Prof. LI Xiaoju, was accepted by more and more people.

Besides, it’s interesting that both teachers mentioned the relationship between the teachers and the students. They both think that students should be more active and try to explore on their own. What’s more, Dr. FENG pointed out that especially in CECL classes, students and teachers are equal, and they need to learn together. Teachers need to “learn with their students”, according to her.

All in all, GDUFS does pay much attention to advancing its teaching concepts and approaches. Let’s hope that GDUFS may treasure the past and brave challenges to embrace a better future.