Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
635
manner to a predictable set of learning outcomes (p. 9). The technological perspective is clearly manifested in the Syllabus Revision Teams
(2000) commentary on the 2000 national junior secondary English
syllabus. The new syllabus was developed to interface with recent
developments in language education by updating teaching methodology,
incorporating progressive and scientific theories on language teaching
and learning, and applying new research findings about language
development.
The Chinese policy makers are not alone in taking a technological
perspective on foreign language education and viewing CLT as the
solution to the perceived problems. As a matter of fact, reform endeavors
informed by a technological perspective are the norm rather than the
exception around the world (Coleman, 1996b; Tudor, 2001). For example, a recent study (Nunan, 2003) on educational polices and
practices in seven Asian countries and regions found that all the
educational systems have officially subscribed to some form of CLT in
their top-down efforts to improve the effectiveness of classroom teaching. Similar foreign language policies are also found in other Asian
countries and other parts of the world (Ho, 2003; Holliday, 1994; D. F. Li,
1998). As noted by the researchers, however, there is almost invariably a
gap between policy imperatives and classroom realities in those places.
This gap raises the important question of what factors prevent official
methodological prescriptions and other policy directives from being
implemented in many English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) classrooms.
Motivated by that question, this study examines ELT in Chinese
secondary schoolsa sector of the education system which has been at
the forefront of recent ELT reform efforts, is affecting the largest
number of English language learners in the country, and has a vital role
to play in raising the national level of English proficiency (Hu, 2002a).
Specifically, this study addresses three questions: (a) What differences
and similarities in instructional practices exist in secondary-level EFL
classrooms across China? (b) To what extent has the officially promoted
CLT methodology been incorporated into classroom teaching? (c) What
contextual factors interact with the ELT reform policies to facilitate or
inhibit the adoption of the officially espoused teaching methodology in
different parts of China? Given the predominance of the technological
perspective over the global landscape of foreign language education, a
study of ELT practices in China, where the reform endeavors embody a
technological view on pedagogical effectiveness, can have wider implications for the international TESOL community.
636
TESOL QUARTERLY
BACKGROUND
Since English was first taught in China in the 1800s (Bolton, 2002),
first grammar-translation methodology (GT) and later audiolingualism
(ALM) have enjoyed considerable popularity (see Fu, 1986). CLT was
brought to China in the late 1970s by international ELT specialists
working in some Chinese universities. Initially, it failed to receive support
(L. M. Yu, 2001). In fact, there was strong resistance to it (Burnaby &
Sun, 1989; X. J. Li, 1984). Until recently, Chinese and Western ELT
specialists have had a heated and continual debate on the necessity,
appropriateness, and effectiveness of adopting CLT in China (e.g.,
Anderson, 1993; Burnaby & Sun, 1989; Cortazzi & Jin, 1996a, 1996b; Hu,
2002a; Jin & Cortazzi, 1998; X. J. Li, 1984; Liao, 2004; Rao, 1996).
Despite a lack of consensus among researchers regarding the appropriateness of CLT for China, the Ministry of Education (known as the State
Education Commission between 1985 and 1997) was impressed by the
high profile that the methodology enjoyed internationally and was
convinced that it would provide the best solution for the widespread
problem of students low competence in using English for communication even after years of formal instruction in the language. Consequently,
CLT was promoted intensively in a top-down manner through syllabus
design and materials production (Adamson & Morris, 1997; Hu, 2002b).
Recent research (e.g., Hu, 2003; Zheng & Adamson, 2003) suggests that
CLT has gained some ground. However, indications also show that the
adoption of CLT practices does not occur across the board but varies as
a result of local contexts (Hu, 2003). Furthermore, it is important to
note that certain quarters tend to equate CLT simplistically with so-called
good and progressive pedagogy (e.g., Liao, 2004; L. M. Yu, 2001).
A basic assumption underlying this study is that methodology is not
only relevant to research on classroom practices in China but may also
provide a framework for investigating the design and procedures of
classroom instruction. Some researchers and language educators may
find such a research perspective suspect. The notion of methodology has
attracted many criticisms in recent years and has lost the popularity that
it once enjoyed. Some researchers and language educators question the
usefulness of the notion because classroom practices subsumed under
different methodologies can be very similar (Brown, 2000; Swaffar,
Arens, & Morgan, 1982). Others contend that methodologies do not
capture teachers thinking or reflect what actually transpires in classrooms (Katz, 1996). Some note that methodologies reflect a top-down
view of teaching and marginalize the role of teachers by prescribing for
them what and how to teach (Richards, 1987). Others observe that
methodologies are often based on assumptions rather than research
637
(Richards & Rodgers, 2001). Some point out that it is inherently difficult
to research the effectiveness of different methodologies and that the
results of comparative method studies are typically inconclusive (Ellis,
1994; Freeman & Richards, 1993). Others dismiss the whole notion as a
futile search for the best methodology, given the great diversity of
teaching and learning contexts (Bartolome, 1994; Tedick & Walker,
1994). Finally, methodologies, especially those originating in the West,
have been criticized for embodying a politically and culturally imperialist
stance (Pennycook, 1989; Phillipson, 1992). Because of these perceived
problems, Richards (1987) suggests that the language teaching profession should go beyond teaching methodologies and focus on exploring
the nature and conditions of effective teaching and learning. In a similar
vein, Kumaravadivelu (1994) calls for a shift away from the conventional
concept of method toward a postmethod condition which motivates a
search for an open-ended, coherent framework based on current theoretical, empirical, and pedagogical insights (p. 27).
These criticisms draw attention to a number of methodology-related
problems and help to foster an awareness of the problems that may arise
from the uncritical promotion of and a paralyzing obsession with the
best methodology. It is important to point out, however, that the
perceived problems often do not originate so much in methodologies
per se as in their misuse. As Larsen-Freeman (1999) and Holliday (1994)
have cogently argued, methodologies are valuable when they are used
sensitively, sensibly, and inquiringly. Moreover, the criticisms do not
negate the usefulness of examining classroom instruction from a methodological perspective in contexts where one or another methodology is
clearly exerting an influence on teachers work. In this regard, the influx
of criticisms leveled at methodology itself is revealing: It suggests that
methodologies can influence classroom teaching in one way or another,
though such a state of affairs is considered undesirable, counterproductive, or problematic by the critics. Furthermore, some of the criticisms
themselves imply the need to research the interactions between teaching
methodologies and contextual influences.
These considerations have led to the position taken in this article that
to the extent Chinese EFL teachers are concerned with methodology, it
can offer a useful framework for examining ELT practices in Chinese
schools. In this regard, there is no shortage of indications that teaching
methodology is a deeply ingrained notion in China and affects classroom
teaching in at least five ways. First, policy directives on educational
reform hold that teaching methodology is crucial to the quality of
teaching (e.g., Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, 1985). All
these reform directives call for the replacement of traditional teaching
methodologies with innovative and progressive ones. In response to the
call, curriculum standards and syllabuses for secondary-level ELT devote
638
TESOL QUARTERLY
THE STUDY
Participants
The study involved 252 Chinese students attending a 6-month, fulltime communication skills program at a university in Singapore between
2001 and 2003. They had just completed their secondary education and
enrolled at 16 major Chinese universities before they came to Singapore
and attended the intensive English program. They were aged between 18
and 21. Of the participants, 31% (n 78) were female. Based on a
placement test, their English proficiency ranged from a low intermediate
to a low advanced level.
CONTEXTUAL INFLUENCES ON INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES
639
To address the three research questions presented earlier, the participants were grouped according to two criteria. The first criterion was
whether a participant had completed his or her secondary education in
a coastal or inland province. The categorization of the provinces was
based on a geo-economic schematization found in Hayhoe (1996). The
second criterion was whether the secondary school in question was
located in the capital city or in another part of the province. The two
criteria were intended to reflect differences in socioeconomic development between provinces and within a province. That is, the coastal
provinces have been more developed in the last 2 decades than the
inland provinces, and the capital city of a province, as its chief administrative, economic, and cultural center, has been generally the provinces
most developed area (Hayhoe, 1996). The two criteria resulted in four
groups:1
1. CC Group: Students from capital cities of coastal provinces.
2. OC Group: Students from other places in coastal provinces.
3. CI Group: Students from capital cities of inland provinces.
4. OI Group: Students from other places in inland provinces.
Table 1 presents the demographics of the four groups.
As can be seen in Table 2, which presents the participants selfreported biodata and background information about their formal English instruction, the study represented 225 secondary schools. The four
groups did not differ in age but varied considerably in the percentage of
students who started formal learning of English in primary school (3 to
4 contact hours a week), with the CC and the OI Groups having the
largest and the smallest percentage, respectively. All the remaining
students started formal English instruction in secondary Grade 1, and,
like the rest of the participants, had 4 to 5 hours of weekly instruction
throughout junior and senior secondary education (6 years in total).
Because of the differences in the starting grade, the CC Group outstripped the OC and the OI Groups by at least one year of formal English
instruction. The last column of Table 2 gives the number of students in
each group who used, as their core English textbooks, the Junior/Senior
English for China series developed by the Peoples Education Press under
the Ministry of Education. Although all the students in the OI group
used the two series, half of the CC Group used other textbooks, some of
which were published abroad.
1
Admittedly, the two criteria gave only a simplified and broad representation of the relative
levels of economic, social, and cultural development of the different regions. Nonetheless, it
can be argued that such classifications were adequate for an exploratory study that aimed to
identify broad patterns of ELT practices rather than present fine-grained ethnographic
descriptions.
640
TESOL QUARTERLY
TABLE 1
Demographics of the Participants
Coastal
Inland
Capital
city
Province
Beijing
Fujian
Guangdong
Jiangsu
Liaoning
Shandong
Shanghai
Tianjin
Zhejiang
Total
Other
place
4
2
3
7
9
8
5
3
7
Anhui
Chongqing
Gansu
Guizhou
Heilongjiang
Henan
Hubei
Hunan
Jiangxi
Jilin
Shaanxi
Shanxi
Sichuan
7
16
12
14
18
8
48
Capital
city
Province
75
Other
place
6
8
0
0
4
3
4
3
4
3
7
2
7
6
2
2
8
6
11
10
6
9
5
3
10
51
78
Note. Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Chongqing are municipalities rather than provinces.
Questionnaire
A questionnaire was developed and administered to the participants
shortly after they began the intensive English program. The questionnaire consisted of three parts. The first part elicited biodata and
TABLE 2
Biodata and Background Information
Group
CC
OC
CI
OI
Age
Gender
(M/F)
No. of
schools
Start of
English learning
(Primary/
Secondary)
1820
1820
1820
1821
26/22
55/20
34/17
59/19
43
65
48
69
25/23
21/54
17/34
7/71
Average
years of
English
learning
Textbooks
(PEP series)
7.6
6.6
6.8
6.1
24
55
32
78
641
TESOL QUARTERLY
room practices. For one thing, Swaffar et al.s conclusion does not apply
to all classrooms or all practices associated with different methodologies.
The literature of ethnographic classroom studies has numerous classrooms where distinct sets of instructional practices are adopted as a
result of the different methodologies subscribed to (see, e.g., Holliday,
1994). For another, considerable research indicates that differences in
methodological orientations can be captured in quantitative terms
(Frhlich, Spada, & Allen, 1985) and that teachers committed to
principles underlying a particular methodology tend to frequently use
many instructional practices associated with it (Mangubhai, Marland,
Dashwood, & Son, 2004). Swaffar et al. also acknowledged this tendency
when they said that the differences among methodologies are to be
found in the ordered hierarchy, the priorities assigned to the tasks (p.
31). This means that the methodological orientations of classrooms can
be distinguished based on quantitative differences in the instructional
practices adopted in those classrooms. Finally, even when a mixture of
instructional practices associated with different methodologies is found
in the same classrooms, statistical procedures can help researchers
determine if the instructional practices form subsets that reflect different
underlying dimensions and then compare the classrooms on the identified dimensions. One such statistical procedure, which has been used in
this study, is factor analysis.2
Factor analysis is a statistical procedure for uncovering or confirming a
number of common factors underlying a set of observed variables by
studying the covariation among those variables (Hatch & Lazaraton,
1991; Long, 1994). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is used to test the
expected relationships among a number of variables and the hypothesized underlying dimensions in a dataset. CFA has been chosen for this
study because it could determine whether the instructional practices
covered by the questionnaire indeed formed three subgroups to reflect
the distinctions commonly made in the literature among the three
methodologies of interest (i.e., GT, ALM, and CLT). Based on the CFA
results, indexes (i.e., factor-based scales) were developed for further
statistical analyses (Kim & Mueller, 1994). These factor-based scales
reduced the large number of variables involved to several values without
losing the information found in the original variables (Hatch & Lazaraton,
1991). The factor-based scales were then used as dependent variables in
a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and post-hoc tests to
identify differences and similarities in the instructional practices reported by the four groups of participants. The significance level was set
at .05 for all the statistical tests.
2
I thank one of the anonymous reviewers for recommending the use of factor analysis and
MANOVA in this study.
643
RESULTS
Analyses of the interviews and response essays yielded patterns of
differences and similarities that were largely consistent with those
identified in the questionnaire data. Because of space limitations,
however, only the results from analyses of the questionnaire data are
presented in this article, though the interviews and written responses are
drawn on in interpreting and discussing the findings from the questionnaire data.
As a preliminary analysis, a CFA was run on the questionnaire data,
using SPSS (2002). To conduct the analysis, the response categories for
each questionnaire item were converted into a numerical scale ranging
from 0 (never) to 3 (usually). Because the literature generally associates
the 40 instructional practices with three teaching methodologies, a 3factor solution was imposed on the analysis. The maximum likelihood
method was used to extract the factors (Kim & Mueller, 1994; Long,
1994), and the factor solution was rotated using the direct oblimin
method to obtain a simpler and more readily interpretable structure
(Kim & Mueller, 1994). The three factors accounted for a reasonable
amount (44.78%) of the total variance in the data, with Factor 1
explaining 27.44%, Factor 2, 10.82%, and Factor 3, 6.52%. Table 3
presents the 40 questionnaire items classified according to the methodology literature and the results of the CFA.
Although a factor loading of .30 or above is conventionally considered
to be substantial, a cutoff value of .50 was used for reasons explained
later. Loadings above the cutoff are in bold typeface in Table 3. An
examination of the items with loadings above the cutoff on Factor 1
revealed that all 13 items describe instructional practices typically
associated with CLT in the methodology literature. Therefore, it made
644
TESOL QUARTERLY
TABLE 3
Questionnaire Items and CFA Results
(Maximum Likelihood Extraction and Direct Oblimin Rotation)
Instructional Practice
Factor 1
Factor 2
Factor 3
h2
.477
.033
.629
.439
.460
.392
.014
.051
.504
.700
.316
.501
.166
.711
.226
.542
.713
.134
.271
.521
.637
.064
.368
.428
.457
.450
.180
.109
.636
.656
.485
.475
.484
.337
.107
.089
.653
.799
.464
.646
.173
.115
.696
.534
.175
.730
.255
.567
.305
.703
.683
.588
.654
.687
.142
.049
.045
.134
.245
.391
.390
.464
.311
.536
.501
.487
.398
.431
.459
.401
.248
.191
.224
.309
.110
.213
.131
.738
.690
.602
.413
.522
.768
.645
.093
.052
.219
.416
.153
.666
.432
.572
.515
.464
.333
.313
.721
.161
.307
.529
.450
.114
.146
.214
.579
.066
.449
.370
.662
.465
.086
.193
.425
.317
.451
.246
Pedagogical orientation
1. Focus on students knowledge about
English (GT)
2. Predominant attention to reading
& writing (GT)
3. Emphasis on formal accuracy (GT/ALM)
4. Predominant attention to aural
& oral skills (ALM)
5. Balanced attention to the four
language skills (CLT)
6. Focus on students ability to use
English (CLT)
Instructional content and presentation
7. Explanation of grammar rules (GT)
8. Illustration of grammar rules (GT)
9. Explanation of texts sentence by
sentence (GT)
10. Parsing of sentences in texts (GT)
11. Contrastive analysis of Chinese
& English (GT/ALM)
12. Explicit & direct correction of
learner errors (GT/ALM)
13. Use of English in conducting a lesson
(ALM/CLT)
14. Inductive teaching of grammar (ALM/CLT)
15. Teaching of communicative functions (CLT)
16. Cultures of English-speaking peoples (CLT)
17. Use of open-ended questions (CLT)
Language practice
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
645
TABLE 3 (continued)
Questionnaire Items and CFA Results
(Maximum Likelihood Extraction and Direct Oblimin Rotation)
Instructional Practice
Factor 1
Factor 2
Factor 3
h2
.396
.351
.086
.674
.666
.081
.103
.648
.150
.109
.609
.714
.126
.368
.400
.384
.515
.423
.461
.451
.166
.601
.145
.380
.197
.391
.683
.172
.080
.053
.423
.201
.371
.202
.154
.468
.425
.696
.002
.082
.780
.313
.613
.485
Learning materials
35. Structure-based textbooks (GT/ALM)
36. Adherence to prescribed textbooks
(GT/ALM)
37. Teacher-developed materials (CLT)
38. Authentic materials (CLT)
Assessment
39. Knowledge about grammar & vocabulary
(GT/ALM)
40. Ability to use the target language (CLT)
sense to label the factor CLT practices. Similarly, all the items but one that
loaded on Factor 2 are practices commonly characterized as ALM; thus,
it was reasonable to interpret the factor as representing ALM practices.
The only exception, Item 24, is generally considered a CLT activity but
loaded on the ALM factor. In the interviews, most participants gave
routine classroom expressions and teacher-student dialogues patterned
on textbook models as examples of teacher-student interaction in
English. This way of thinking about teacher-student interaction would
explain why the item loaded on the ALM factor. As expected, all 13 items
that loaded on Factor 3 are widely regarded as typifying GT. Consequently, it was reasonable to take the factor as representing GT practices.
It should be noted, however, that 9 of the 10 items classified under two
methodologies in the literature loaded on only one factor rather than
two. It should also be noted that 5 instructional practices (i.e., Items 23,
26, 29, 36, and 37) had loadings below the cutoff on all the factors.
Despite these minor discrepancies, there was a good match between the
factor structure and common classifications of the instructional practices
in the methodology literature.
The 2 statistic associated with the CFA was significant (2 1601.706,
663 df, p .001). The 2 test provides a goodness-of-fit estimate for a
factor solution. A significant 2 is often taken to indicate that the solution
646
TESOL QUARTERLY
See Kim and Mueller (1994) for a discussion of factor-based scales in practical research.
647
TABLE 4
Descriptive Statistics
Dependent
variable
CC (n = 48)
OC (n = 75)
CI (n = 51)
OI (n = 78)
SD
SD
SD
SD
CLT
1.94
6.58
1.49
8.60
1.78
5.88
1.02
6.43
ALM
GT
1.78
1.86
6.04
7.05
1.73
2.03
5.46
8.01
1.85
1.94
6.55
6.85
1.66
2.24
4.64
7.55
level at one end and the OI Group mean just above the occasionally level
(equal to 1.00) at the other end.
Table 5 presents the results of the MANOVA. The results rejected the
null hypothesis of no between-groups difference. Following Norus=iss
(1994) recommendation, the univariate test results were examined to
identify where the differences might be. The groups were found to differ
significantly for the CLT practices: F (3, 248) 35.345, p .001. The
groups also differed significantly for the GT practices: F (3, 248) 5.246,
p .003. However, they did not differ for the ALM practices: F (3, 248)
1.022, p .383. Post-hoc analyses (the Tukey honest significant difference procedure) revealed that all pairwise comparisons except the one
between the CC and CI Groups were significant at .05 for the CLT
practices. In the case of the GT practices, only two pairwise comparisons
(CC vs. OI and CI vs. OI) were statistically significant.
To sum up, the analyses identified several patterns of instructional
practices. First, secondary-level EFL classrooms in different regions of
China show a mixture of methodological orientations. This is reflected
in Table 4, which shows that with only two exceptions (OC and OI for
CLT), the group means of reported frequency for the ALM, CLT, and GT
instructional practices either approach or are above the frequently level.
TABLE 5
MANOVA Results
Statistic
Pillais Trace
Wilks Lambda
Hotellings Trace
Roys Largest Root
648
Value
Hypothesis df
Error df
.312
.688
.451
.449
9.612
11.034
12.272
37.084
9.000
9.000
9.000
3.000
744.000
598.850
734.000
248.000
.000
.000
.000
.000
TESOL QUARTERLY
DISCUSSION
The regional disparity in secondary-level ELT that the study identified
can be attributed to a host of policy, economic, social, and cultural
factors. Because of space constraints, these factors are presented in two
broad groups.
Resource Factors
The regional disparity in instructional practices can be accounted for
in large part by regional differences in resources for ELT, which include,
among other things, curricula, school facilities, and the teaching force.
These differences are themselves products of recent policies and striking
discrepancies in socioeconomic development across China. In its modernization effort, the Chinese government, constrained by limited national resources, has adopted development policies in favor of the more
developed coastal regions and urban centers (Hu, 2003; Paine &
DeLany, 2000). Although they have brought rapid socioeconomic advances to these advantaged places, these preferential policies have at the
same time exacerbated long-existing regional discrepancies in socioeconomic development (Hu, in press; Yang, 2001). To sustain economic
development in the advantaged regions and to address varying demands
on education resulting from the widening regional discrepancies in
CONTEXTUAL INFLUENCES ON INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES
649
TESOL QUARTERLY
Sociocultural Influences
Along with the resource factors, some sociocultural factors also
underlie the regional differences in instructional practices. One such
factor is the varying availability of authentic English-language materials.
Rapid socioeconomic development in the advantaged regions and their
CONTEXTUAL INFLUENCES ON INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES
651
TESOL QUARTERLY
653
CONCLUSION
This study has identified some broad patterns of instructional differences in secondary-level ELT across China and related them to a number
of social and material factors. An overarching conclusion that can be
drawn from the study is that instructional practices in EFL classrooms are
fundamentally subject to contextual influences. This conclusion is in line
with a growing body of research (e.g., Canagarajah, 1993; Holliday, 1994;
Tudor, 2001; van Lier, 1988) suggesting that contextual factors can
impinge on language teaching and learning in numerous significant
ways. It also highlights a major cause underlying the failure of recent
Chinese ELT reform efforts to effect CLT in Chinas vast underdeveloped
regions. That is, the reform efforts have taken a technological perspective and made methodological prescriptions that disregard contextual
diversity.
Several implications can be derived from this study for policy efforts
directed at improving the effectiveness of ELT in China. One obvious
implication is that the Chinese government needs to greatly increase
investment in the infrastructure for ELT in the inland, rural regions and
narrow the gap in economic and material resources between these
regions and the more developed coastal, urban areas. There are,
however, limits to the governments ability to do so. Given the current
level of Chinas development, the great socioeconomic disparity between
different parts of the country, the meager educational resources available, and the huge student population in the underdeveloped regions,
there is every reason to believe that significant improvement of the
socioeconomic conditions and educational infrastructure of the underdeveloped areas will take years to occur. This rather bleak prospect
makes it imperative to look for strategies that can improve the effectiveness of ELT under the existing contextual constraints. This conclusion
leads to the second implication of the study: An ecological approach to
ELT offers a viable reform strategy.
An ecological perspective on ELT recognizes the multifaceted interaction between the language classroom and the particular political, economic, social, cultural, historical, educational, and institutional context
in which it is situated. Unlike the technological perspective, which is
based on an autonomous assumption about the universal effectiveness of
the best teaching methodology (Coleman, 1996a), the ecological perspective operates on an ideological assumption and rejects the notion of
universally appropriate ways of teaching and learning (Hu, 2002a).
Although it recognizes methodology as an essential element of language
teaching, the perspective stresses that a particular methodology, no
matter how logical the underlying principles are, offers a potential but
does not in itself guarantee that a given result will be obtained (Tudor,
654
TESOL QUARTERLY
655
656
TESOL QUARTERLY
THE AUTHOR
Guangwei Hu is an assistant professor at the National Institute of Education,
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. His articles on language teaching and
learning have appeared in various academic journals, including Studies in Second
Language Acquisition and Teachers College Record.
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