Chinese Teachers' Views of Western Language Teaching: Context Informs Paradigms

This article reports the views of 24 Chinese (People's Republic of China) teachers of English on the appropriateness and effectiveness of language-teaching methods (here defined according to Canale & Swain, 1980) for use in Chinese situations. The Chinese teachers believed that the communicative approach was mainly applicable in China only for those students who planned to go to an English-speaking country, and, as nonnative speakers, they noted their limitations with respect to the sociolinguistic and strategic competence in English that is required for using this approach effectively. The teachers also cited various constraints on implementing Western language-teaching methods, including the context of the wider curriculum, traditional teaching methods, class sizes and schedules, resources and equipment, and the low status of teachers who teach communicative rather than analytic skills. An examination of these views in light of the context and theory of Western language teaching demonstrates that the Chinese teachers' concerns have considerable justification. Various suggestions are made as possible means of adapting Western language-teaching methods to the situation in China. A considerable amount of ink has been spilled on the subject of the appropriateness and effectiveness of importing methods for the teaching of English as a second or foreign language to the teaching of English in the People's Republic of China (hereafter referred to as China). In this debate, some have emphasized the importance of Chinese current/traditional ways of teaching and learning (Harvey, 1985; Sampson, 1984; Ting, 1987; Wang, 1986). Others have noted the value of adopting Western approaches in China (Li, 1984; Maley, 1984, 1986; Spencer, 1986). Most of these authors and others have focused on the need to adapt Western practices to the demands and conditions for language learning and teaching in China (Scovel, 1983).