A Case Study of Reform on College English Stratified Teaching and Ultimate Goal

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Abstract. Through exploration of reform of college English stratified teaching and ultimate goal management among non-English majors in Yibin Vocational and Technical College, this paper studies a teaching mode that suits with the new situation and teaches students in accordance with their aptitude and discusses a kind of college English teaching method and teaching quality management method that suits with non-English majors in vocational higher schools and higher colleges under the background of popularization of higher education in Sichuan Province and on the basis of the credit system, with the aim of enhancing college English teaching quality.

Key words: Non-English majors, College English, Reform of stratified teaching, Ultimate goal management

1. Introduction

Development of vocational higher school education in China will facilitate English teaching in vocational higher schools. With entry of China into WTO, the country has participated in the international economic process to a larger extent. This proposes higher demands on education in China, especially cultivation of talents in vocational higher school education. In addition to perfect international concepts, competition consciousness, innovation and pioneering spirit and rich professional knowledge and skills, they are also required to possess good English level and language communication competence. Considering this condition, it is an important aspect in vocational higher school education to improve English level among the compound talents in the front line of production and management. For the time being, although study on college English teaching among non-English majors has become a widely concentrated topic, it is still a subject that deserves in-depth study.

2. An analysis of the status quo of college English teaching among non-English majors

2.1 The status quo of college English teaching in higher vocational schools

Whether in vocational and technical higher colleges in areas with developed economy and education or in vocational higher schools in areas with backward conditions, the source of students is much complicated than the source of undergraduates which includes senior middle school graduates, senior vocational school graduates and technical secondary school graduates. Although these students have possessed certain English foundation and knowledge, the entire English level is not high. Since there is a great difference between the teaching goal positioning between senior vocational schools and technical secondary schools, this brings great difficulties to English teaching in the vocational higher schools and technical higher schools. Coherence in English teaching is quite strong, and it is quite necessary to adjust the original teaching methods in face of these students with complicated source of students, different knowledge structures and levels, uneven English levels and weak English foundation. Modernized teaching facilities and teaching means are open for enrichment and improvement. However, there are still a lot of vocational higher school English teachers who still remain at the stage of “chalk + coursebook” and the entire English teaching level is still open for further improvement.

2.2 Problems existing in college English teaching in Yibin Vocational and Technical College

2.2.1 Unclear positioning of teaching goal

The goal of college English teaching in vocational higher schools in China is to cultivate students who get a mastery of certain basic English knowledge and basic English skills, place particular emphasis on demand on relevant professional technology, strengthen cultivation of professional knowledge and skills and improve students’ capacity in application of English in practical work. In his report about “study on reform of college english teaching in vocational higher schools and technical higher schools”, Lou Yingxian, the President of School of Foreign Language in Shanghai Second Polytechnic University, he also emphasized that English teaching in vocational and technical higher schools should “be based on the goal of application, on the degree of sufficiency and be centered with practical application”, and he advocated English teaching based on exam of application competence. However, the college English teaching goal in Yibin Vocational and Technical College has been unclear, which ignores the basis and neglect cultivation of competence, in which teachers give a lecture according to the coursebook, lacking in definite teaching goal and merely finish the teaching task within one year.

2.2.2 Outdated teaching mode and lack of characteristics

At present, college English teaching in Yibin Vocational and Technical College has always been following the single teaching mode. On one hand, students are deficient of solid English basis and there is great difficulty for them to learn higher level knowledge, so they blindly depend on their teachers and the coursebook, but lack thinking and application. On the other hand, in order to prevent students from being weary of studying and being feared, the teachers adopt a variety of teaching means, but ignore the teaching effect. The thinking mode of students is restrained, which also restrained the functioning of students’ learning potential. As a result, students have no other choice but to passively accept what they are taught. For quite a long time, a large majority of college English teachers in Yibin Vocational and Technical College have not had enough knowledge in the essence of vocational higher school education, as a result of which they often mechanically copy the mode of undergraduate education with or without consciousness, take the compressed path of undergraduate education, and lack their own characteristics. For the time being, all sorts of vocational and technical schools have gradually formed their own characteristics in terms of professional cultivation goal and arrangement of the setting of the professional curriculum has been gradually standardized. Nonetheless, which level college English teaching is supposed to attain as in Yibin Vocational and Technical College that has the actual situation without any professional background? How should the curriculum be arranged?

2.2.3 Insufficient teaching infrastructure and construction of the teachers team open for improvement

Yibin Vocational and Technical College is escalated from a technical secondary school. Thus, insufficient funds invested and insufficient emphasis after escalation causes teaching infrastructure to be unable to satisfy the new requirements for the concept of running a school. The college only has five language labs and more than ten multi-media classrooms (used together with other majors in the college), which affects the quality of college English teaching and the teaching level. With expansion of the scale in running a school and increase in the number of students, the teachers team is unlikely to finish the current college English teaching task. Furthermore, quite a large number of English teachers still have deviation in terms of the education concept, have not enough knowledge in the basic characteristics and particularity of English teaching in vocational higher schools, which makes it difficult to adapt to college English teaching in vocational higher schools.

2.3 The status quo of students in Yibin Vocational and Technical College

With expansion of recruitment of students year by year in Yibin Vocational and Technical College, the quality in source of students becomes lower. At present, there are approximately a number of 12,000 students in this college and the quality in the source of students is even lower than the quality of the source of students in other ordinary institutions of higher learning, which mainly include secondary higher school and vocational higher school graduates who are mostly non-English majors, so the English level of students is even lower. The passing rate of SCET-2 and SCET-3 by students from two grades in Yibin Vocational and Technical College is quite low, respectively less than 40% and 20%. Furthermore, the English level in different departments and different classes is quite uneven. In addition, this college employs the credit system teaching in its true sense, namely, complete credit system, which allows students to select the curriculum and teachers in the campus network. How to adapt to the new situation and find out a sort of mode that suits with college English teaching among non-English majors in vocational and technical higher schools under the background of popularization of higher education in Sichuan Province and on the basis of the credit system? In order to enhance the college English level among students in this college and improve the teaching quality, this college explores reform of college English stratified teaching and ultimate goal management among non-English majors.

3. Reform of stratified teaching and the route of technique in ultimate goal management

3.1 Positioning and requirements of curriculum teaching

The public course in Yibin Vocational and Technical College is constituted by public compulsory course, public limited optional course and public free elective course. The setting and opening of the curriculum highlights the curriculum concept of vocational higher school education of “employment oriented and capacity based”.

The teaching task of public courses is assumed by the basic education section. In the process of teaching, the basic education section ought to insist on the principle of “combining with social needs, combining with professional cultivation plan and combining with students’ actual level”, teach students in accordance with their aptitude, lay necessary cultural foundation for students’ learning professional courses, strengthen students’ capacity of adaptability in all aspects and try to enhance students’ social competitive strength in employment.

In the past few years, the leaders of Yibin Vocational and Technical College have attached great importance to reform and construction of public courses. The teaching and research section of the basic education section gradually positions the basic, applicable and developmental functions of public courses through sufficient survey and practice and has almost improved reform of “stratified, classified and itemized” teaching of public courses so as to satisfy demands of different types and levels of students from different majors on public courses.

According to the requirements of the college and the teaching affairs office, stratified teaching is implemented for college English curriculum. Prior to the formal selection of courses, the college requires students to select Level A or Level B according to their performance in NMET. Level A is the basic requirement level and Level B is aimed for students with weak English level and belongs to a lower requirement level. Students can select a module that suits his own major to learn according to the professional requirement and employment demand. College English is only open for one academic year under the credit system and has eight credits. Teaching of college English curriculum is positioned to be lay a solid foundation and focus on students’ capacity in comprehensive use of language. The passing rate of SCET-2 is regarded as an element in assessment of teachers’ teaching quality at the end of a semester. The diplomatura junior college students’ are required have a passing rate of SCET-2 ranking the top of the same kind of vocational and technical colleges in Sichuan Province.

3.2 Measures for reform of teaching

3.2.1 Implementation of stratified teaching

Stratified teaching is implemented according to students’ English performance in NMT, namely, Level A and Level B. Level A accounts for 70% and is the basic teaching goal, while Level B accounts for 30% and is the lower teaching goal. Students are required to select a level on the campus network and after listening to a trial lecture for two weeks, students select a teacher to carry out the teaching on the campus network. According to different requirements of Level A and Level B, teachers adopt different teaching methods that are helpful for students’ learning. If a teacher has not been selected by 30 students, then he is unable to open a class. This teacher will have no class to teach at this semester and the department will assign different arrangements.

3.2.2 Formulation of ultimate teaching goal and implementation of goal management

Since the passing rate of SCET-2 each year in this college is generally low, the college specially works out “SCET-2 Goal and Assessment Method in Yibin Vocational and Technical College” in order to realize the total goal of SCET in the college and to define the obligations. The specific work is assigned to relevant responsible personnel and departments and a rewarding and punishment mechanism is set up to try to finish the goal.

3.2.2.1 The total goal of the whole college in SCET-2

The total goal of SCET-2 assigned by the college to the foreign language teaching and research section is calculated based on the passing rate of the first test. College English is opened only for one year in the college, with 8 credits and altogether 128 credit hours. The credit hours have not reached the requirement of the Ministry of Education.

Let’s take students in 2009 as an example and the total goal in 2009 is as below:

3.2.2.2 Individual teaching goal of teachers

According to the reality of stratified teaching under the credit system, the English performance in NMT of students at Level A and Level B who learn college English and the relevant condition of the actual credit hours, the personal teaching goal of teachers is assigned according to different levels.

The personal teaching goal of teachers at Level A:

The basic goal: students in the class of the teachers at Level A have a passing rate of SCET-2 that is 5% more than that of the average passing rate of the whole province.

The personal teaching goal of teachers at Level B:

The basic goal: students in the class of the teachers at Level B have a passing rate of SCET-2 that is 70% of the average passing rate of the whole province.

3.3 Methods of assessment on teachers

Assessment on teachers is divided into assessment of the teaching quality and assessment of the teaching convention.

The final assessment of teachers who have a college English course in foreign language teaching and research section is the responsibility for the total goal of the college with the collective responsibility mode. After the total goal is finished and according to the reward and punishment condition of the college, the personal teaching quality of all teachers and their situation of finishing the goal are then assessed.

3.3.1 Assessment index of teaching quality

Assessment index of the teaching quality is shown in Table 2.

Let’s take students in * in the college as an example.

There are 10 teachers whose students’ passing rate in the SCET-2 is up to the standard and there are 9 teachers whose students’ passing rate in the SCET-2 is not up to the standard. These 9 teachers have not been rewarded as final teaching assessment quality award and only get allowance for the number of the students whose passing rate is up to the standard.

3.3.2 Assessment of teaching convention

3.4 School performance of students at the end of the term and processing method of the credits

Students in 2009 are no longer organized for the final exam. The performance of the final exam is based on the performance in SCET-2 and on the ordinary performance assessed by their teachers, with specific regulations otherwise stipulated by the teaching affairs office. And assessment on teachers is no longer made by separation of teaching and exam at the final examination of the course which is taught by the teachers.

3.5 Teaching effect

On the basis of credit system, teachers teach students in accordance with their aptitude and conduct holistic optimization of a formation plan and a teaching plan. The principle is “integration of research, reform and practice”. First of all, students in 2009 are selected and are experimented on the basis of the formation plan, with integration of summary, analysis and research to conduct holistic optimization of the teaching plan. Then, students in 2010 and 2011 are practiced, reformed and studied. Finally, a summary is made and the teaching plan is promoted.

Thus, it can be seen that, the performance of students in SCET-2 increases year by year after the college implements college English stratified teaching and ultimate goal management.

4. Conclusion

After having implemented the stratified teaching in college English and management of ultimate goal in Yibin Vocational and Technical College, we have enhanced the teaching quality of college English classroom and have really “realized the goal of cultivating students’ capacity in comprehensive use of language and highlighted the applicability and pertinence of teaching content”. And we have also improved students’ interests in learning college English and their English level. Study on this subject serves as a modest spur and we sincerely hope that this study will encourage our peers all over the country to conduct studies on the characteristics of college English teaching in vocational higher schools, studies on reform of college English classroom teaching, studies on methods and characteristics of college English teaching and studies on characteristics of students’ learning method and encourage our peers to provide direct, indirect and shortcut guidance in innovation of opinions, innovation of theory and innovation of teaching, etc. Through exploration of reform of college English stratified teaching and ultimate goal management among non-English majors in Yibin Vocational and Technical College, this paper studies a teaching mode that suits with the new situation and teaches students in accordance with their aptitude and discusses a kind of college English teaching method and teaching quality management method that suits with non-English majors in vocational higher schools and higher colleges under the background of popularization of higher education in Sichuan Province and on the basis of the credit system, with the aim of enhancing college English teaching quality.

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