Guangwei Hu

Contextual Influences on Instructional Practices: A Chinese Case for an Ecological Approach to ELT

This article reports on a study investigating English language teaching (ELT) practices in secondary-level classrooms in China. A sample of 252 secondary school graduates from different parts of the country completed a questionnaire on various instructional practices. Analyses of the data revealed that whereas classroom instruction in socioeconomically developed regions has taken on some features of communicative language teaching (CLT), instructional practices in the less developed areas are still characterized by traditional language teaching methodologies. The regional differences in instructional practices are traced to various economic, social, and cultural factors. The analysis shows that what transpires in the foreign language classroom is inevitably shaped and constrained by contextual influences. This conclusion high-lights the need for an ecological perspective to replace the technological one that predominates in international endeavors to reform language education. The article concludes by discussing what the adoption of an ecological approach entails in the Chinese contexts for ELT.

Using peer review with Chinese ESL student writers

Peer review has a prominent place in process-oriented writing instruction. In this paper, I share my developing use of peer review in an academic writing course for Chinese ESL learners. After reviewing the relevant literature, I describe the context in which I implemented peer review and conducted practitioner research into its productive use. Next, I present and discuss the training activities and follow-ups I used to prepare my students for effective peer review. The various instructional practices have been experimented with and refined in a 3-year action research effort to best facilitate my students’ acquisition of academic writing skills and hence enhance the quality of classroom life. In conclusion I summarize student performance in my most recent writing class and consider several instructional changes that are likely to help students understand better and thus benefit more from peer review.

Recent Important Developments in Secondary English-language Teaching in the People's Republic of China

This paper reports on reforms in English-language teaching (ELT) in the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) since the mid-1980s. It begins with a brief review of ELT during the Cultural Revolution and in the immediate following years to provide a background against which more recent developments can be examined. It then examines recent important developments in curriculum policy, syllabus design, textbook production, examinations, and research that are producing, and will continue to exert, profound influences on ELT in the PRC. These developments are discussed not only at the national level but also with specific reference to Shanghai, which has been in the forefront of ELT reforms in the country. Also discussed are a number of issues arising from the reforms that include the demands of content-based English instruction (CBEI), teaching about target language culture, teacher training, and lack of solid empirical research.

English language education in East Asia: some recent developments

Abstract This article presents an overview of the perceived importance and accelerated spread of English language education, both formal and informal, in three East Asian countries (i.e. China, Japan and South Korea) against the backdrop of globalisation and emergent ideological, sociocultural and educational trends. It begins with a review of the recent developments in English language education in each of the countries, the ostensible reasons for English language education and the ideological issues contributing to the recent English language education initiatives. This is followed by a discussion and a critique of the common trends and themes manifested in the three countries’ recent initiatives to reform and improve English language education. The article concludes with a number of policy recommendations for English language education in East Asia and other countries, where English does not have an institutional role to play.

The Misleading Academic Discourse on Chinese–English Bilingual Education in China

Although official promotion of content-based English language teaching started in mainland China only at the turn of the century, this form of language instruction, widely known in China as “Chinese–English bilingual education,” has gathered great momentum in the last 6 years and is now rattling across the country like a juggernaut. So-called Chinese–English bilingual education has always been controversial. Although small numbers of opponents have raised concerns about potential negative consequences and the constraints compromising optimistically envisioned goals, their voices have been drowned in the overwhelming academic discourse by a growing contingent of vocal advocates. This discourse is a driving force behind “the great leap forward” for Chinese–English bilingual education. This article problematizes the prevalent discourse on bilingual education in China. Based on analysis of systematically selected data sources, it contends that the academic discourse with its misconceptions, misrepresentations, and misinterpretations has misled stakeholders of bilingual education.

The craze for English-medium education in China: driving forces and looming consequences

The problematic of the use of English as a teaching medium in China. This paper presents a critical review of the Chinese-English bilingual education initiative from a sociological perspective. It consists of three major sections. The first section briefly discusses French sociologist Pierre Bourdieus (1986, 1991) theoretical work which informs the current critical review. The second section examines some of the major driving forces behind the runaway expansion of English-medium instruction. The final section analyses the implications and consequences of such instruction for China.

Exploring the relationship between metacognitive awareness and listening performance with questionnaire data

This study sought to provide a nuanced understanding of the relationship between metacognitive awareness and listening performance by eliciting from 113 English-as-a-second-language (ESL) Chinese learners their metacognitive awareness with regard to knowledge of listening strategies used and perceptions of difficulty and anxiety following a listening lesson. Data were collected through the Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (MALQ) and an official sample IELTS listening test. Responses were examined for how different aspects of metacognitive awareness represented by the MALQ factors related to listening performance and for individual differences in metacognitive awareness across these factors. The results showed a significant positive relationship between learners’ metacognitive awareness scores and listening performance and that their metacognitive awareness accounted for 22% of the variance in listening performance. Analysis of individual factors showed a significant relationship between listening performance and the strategies of directed attention and problem solving as well as an overall moderate-to-low sense of confidence among the participants in the study. It also revealed considerable intrapersonal variation in different aspects of metacognitive awareness. The paper discusses the results as well as the use of the questionnaire as an instrument for eliciting and interpreting learners’ metacognitive awareness about listening.

Investigating Language Learner Strategies among Lower Primary School Pupils in Singapore

To date, very few empirical studies can be found on primary, especially lower primary school pupils’ use of language learner strategies. The few studies that exist often employ research techniques such as questionnaires and think-aloud protocols as studies on adults do. However, we know very little whether the research methods commonly used with adult learners can be applied to lower primary school pupils (grades 1–3). Practically no published study in this area reports the problems associated with eliciting language learner strategy data from children. In addition, not much is known about whether children as young as primary one can be differentiated in terms of learner strategies they use in completing language tasks. This paper shares the problems that we encountered in eliciting strategies from lower primary school pupils in Singapore and presents some preliminary findings on these learners’ use of language learner strategies.

A public policy perspective on English medium instruction in China

Abstract Language education for ethnic majority and minority students alike has recently received much policy attention in the Peoples Republic of China. An outcome of this policy attention is the Chinese–English bilingual education initiative which turns on the use of English as a medium of instruction for Han majority students at the primary and secondary levels of education. This paper draws on the public policy perspective on language policy formulated by François Grin and analyses the English medium instruction initiative in terms of four principles that can guide policy evaluations, namely normative justification, practical feasibility, allocative effectiveness and distributive justice. Implications then are derived from the analysis for a policy deliberation on the use of English as an instructional medium in trilingual provision for autochthonous ethnic minorities in China. The paper concludes by sketching a policy alternative to English medium instruction for both majority and minority students.

Chinese University Students’ Perceptions of Plagiarism

This study examines Chinese undergraduates’ perceptions of plagiarism in English academic writing in relation to their disciplinary background (i.e., hard vs. soft disciplines), academic enculturation (i.e., length of study in university), and gender. Drawing on data collected from 270 students at two universities in China, it finds clear discipline-based differences in participants’ knowledge of plagiarism and perceptions about its causes; an enculturational effect on perceived acceptability of and condemnatory attitudes toward plagiarism, with senior students being less harsh than their junior counterparts; and complex interactions among disciplinary background, length of study, and gender. Furthermore, it reveals conceptions of (il)legitimate intertextuality (i.e., textual borrowing) differing from those prevalent in Anglo American academia and clearly punitive stances on perceived plagiarism. These results suggest the need to take an educative rather than punitive approach to source use in English academic writing.