Exploring Issues Affecting the Development of Vocational College Students’ English Language Skills in China： Insights from Learning and Teaching

【Abstract】 English teaching and learning in vocational colleges in China is to develop students English language skills to meet the needs of their future career and studies. However， in order to help students better develop their English language skills， this paper attempts to look into the relevant issues related to both students learning and teachers teaching.

【Key words】English language skills； teaching and learning； vocational colleges

【作者簡介】金盛，苏州托普信息职业技术学院。

1. Issues related to students learning

1.1 Students previous educational background and English proficiency

In recent decades， with the trend of college enrollment expansion on a large scale in China， the number of college students has been growing dramatically. However， compared with undergraduate universities， most of vocational college students graduate from secondary vocational schools， and only a small part of them come from general senior secondary school. In this sense， the majority of these students previous academic performances are relatively weak and the differences are significant among them， particularly in English proficiency.

In terms of English learning and language proficiency， prior to entering colleges few of these students have received comprehensive English listening and speaking skills training， and their vocabulary sizes are limited. For those students who have good English level， they normally have strong ability of autonomous learning and are more willing to engage in classroom learning and activities. While for those students who have low level of English， they lack self-regulated leaning ability and are unwilling to engage themselves in classroom discussion and learning. In this case， it is difficult for teachers to deliver knowledge， manage classroom teaching， and conduct the communication and interaction between the teacher and students.

1.2 Students English learning interest， motivation and attitudes

Students attitudes， motivation and interest in learning English are the key factors that influence the improvement of students English language skills. However， nowadays in daily English classroom most of the vocational college students are unwilling to listen to teachers instruction， speak in English or engage in activities， mainly because of their lack of interest， clear learning aims and good learning attitudes. Students low interest in learning English is mainly generated or affected by their bad performance， learning habits， and attitudes in learning English in their secondary school learning periods.

Meanwhile， due to the influence of the long-standing Chinese tradition of examination-oriented education， most vocational college students purely view classroom English learning as a training programme for the purpose of passing exams， instead of focusing on raising the awareness of developing their English communication skills for practical use in their future careers. All these lead to bad results in English teaching and learning as well as students lower proficiency in English.

1.3 Students classroom participation and performance

Students classroom participation and performance directly affects the quality of teaching and learning in vocational college English. However， the current vocational college English classroom is featured as teacher-centredness， repetitious exercise， silent and passive learning. And， lack of questioning， creative and critical thinking， student-teacher interaction and communication is easily found in daily classroom teaching and learning. It is often the case that some students may be totally absent-minded and unwilling to participate in classroom activities and communicate with their classmates or teacher， and their only focus or interest lies in their mobile phones.

Furthermore， students tend to accept everything that their teacher teach and then take down notes without any questioning and reflection. This may be partly caused by students own personality， interest and confidence after many years of English learning. Another reason comes from teachers poor classroom management and boring teaching activities and teaching contents.

2. Issues related to teachers teaching

2.1 Teachers classroom teaching pattern， methods and means

The traditional way of “monologue-like” English teaching pattern， which is teacher-centred， has still been adopted in the present vocational colleges. Teachers tend to teach in light of his or her own tastes and preferences but without fully taking into account students own interests and needs. Thus students are likely to write down everything that teachers put on the blackboard， who are acted as a passive knowledge receiver. Meanwhile， because of teachers “monologue-like” teaching pattern， students also have fewer opportunities to consider and analyze problems and express their own ideas in English. In this sense， the development and application of students English language competence is greatly hindered by the teachers.

Furthermore， task-based language teaching and grammar-translation methods are mainly adopted by most of vocational college teachers， but communicative and situational language teaching methods as well as multimedia technology means are rarely combined and used in daily vocational college English classroom. Hence， students who are heavily dependent on teachers are likely to lack opportunities or be unwilling to communicate and interact with other students. Students are also immersed in a boring and monotonous classroom climate， which is difficult to motivate their interest in learning and cultivate their courage and ability to think and speak independently and creatively.

2.2 Teachers teaching assessment system

In fact， great importance has been attached to the cultivation of students practical skills and application on the basis of the general aim of vocational college education. Also， the overall goal of vocational college English teaching is to develop students practical and communicative English skills by mastering the basic language knowledge such as phonetic， lexical and grammatical knowledge etc. Therefore， vocational college English teachers assessment of students should be based on the above mentioned general aim of English teaching and vocational college education.

However， under the influence of traditional exam-oriented education system in China， the current assessment system of vocational college English teaching mostly focus on the scores and passing rate of related tests such as Pretco A & B and CET 4 & 6， which is outdated and difficult to effectively assess students real language skills and reflect teachers teaching results. Moreover， all these above mentioned tests are purely book or written knowledge of English and are mainly concerned with acquiring the basic English language knowledge. Acquiring the basic English language knowledge doesnt mean mastering the English language skills. Besides， students English language skills are hampered by the dominance of traditional “written test-only” or “written test-mainly” English teaching assessment， and as a result students oral English communicative skills are neglected easily and unable to be assessed.

2.3 Teachers teaching materials and contents

The selection of teaching materials and contents plays an important role in vocational college English teaching and developing students English language skills. And it should be based on the Basic Requirements for HVTE English Course and both students and teachers needs. However， the present interest， complexity， practicability and suitability of teaching materials and contents are unable to meet students needs and the requirements for developing students English language skills.

To begin with， the current teaching materials are primarily aimed at dealing with textbook knowledge and exams by following traditional teaching methods to instil the basic knowledge of English language， for example vocabulary and grammatical rules into students， without attaching sufficient importance to students English language skills in the real life and employment environment. In this regard， less attention is being paid to the development of students listening and speaking skills in daily classroom teaching. Then， although most of the themes and units in textbooks are closely related to social and daily life， among which they lack focus， logicality and coherence. Furthermore， most of the teaching contents are unable to embody the features of vocational education to satisfy the needs of students future employment. Finally， the supplementation and extension of teaching contents should be assisted by the integration of all sorts of activities by using multimedia such as video clips， music， TV shows etc.

3. Conclusion

To sum up， through this study， it indicates that both students learning and teachers teaching play an important role in developing students English language skills. In order to better develop students English language skills， it is more important to look into the present situation and issues of vocational college English teaching and learning. However， while teaching it is better for vocational college English teachers to focus more on students characteristics， needs and interest， try various teaching methods and means to motivate students to learn English， and cultivating interest is better than to directly deliver knowledge. Also， in view of different learning environment and individual differences among students， teachers not only need to set their own objectives for teaching but also to encourage students to set their own different goals for learning.

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