NORHANA BINTI MAT PILUS (PQB170014)

NUR ATIKAH BINTI ADANAN (PQB170015)

LIMITATIONS OF ENGLISH TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH IN CHINA

With the development of society, oral English teaching and learning has been the top in
English teaching and learning in China. In Chinese, English Foreign Language (EFL) context,
learners’ factors like differences of thinking and teaching environment must be taken into
consideration to improve the oral English teaching and learning, because learners must overcome
the negative influence of them. Therefore, instructors are supposed to motivate students, help
them bridge the gap between Chinese and western thinking and utilize the modern teaching
technology in oral English teaching in China so as to improve students’ oral ability.

Yuehong Wei, Li Zhang (2013) in a research did a survey on Barriers of Oral English
Learning for College Students in China. According to the results from the survey, there are some
barriers in oral English learning in China. Among them, the autonomous ability, negative transfer
of mother language, how to choose the proper words and oral English learning environment
hinder Chinese college students’ oral English learning to great extent. To the contrary, the
attitudes to oral English learning are not the barriers in learning process. Instead, they can
promote the motivation in the oral English learning. What’s more, more than half participants see
the differences between Chinese and Western thinking as the biggest barriers in oral English
learning. Most of them are proud of their achievements in oral English learning and think that the
oral English learning can satisfy their own interests. Therefore, thinking training, encouragement
and fairly evaluation are the effective ways to resolve the difficulties in oral English learning

According to Yuehong Wei, Li Zhang (2013) most learners rely on their teachers in oral
English learning and they cannot learn it autonomously. There are more than 60% learners who
agree that the barriers of oral English learning are the negative transfer of mother language,
difficulties in choosing the proper words and oral English learning environment. Learners cannot
practice oral English autonomously and they cannot make their own learning plan but rely on their
teachers. One barrier for oral English learning is lack of autonomy. The survey also found that
94% learners agree that the difference of thinking between China and west influence their oral
English learning to some extent. 53% learners took the difference of thinking between china and
west as the most difficult part in oral English learning. Therefore, the biggest barrier to learners in
china is how to overcome the difference of thinking between china and west. Other than that, 88%
learners agree that the mother language always influence the oral English and 75% learners
agree that they always translate Chinese into English when they speak in English. In this case,
the mother language will hinder the oral English learning in China. From the survey also, a
conclusion is made that because oral form needs communications between people, some
learners may be shy or not confident then dare not open their mouth. Learners need the
encouragement from the teachers. Here, they argue that affective factors sometimes can also
prevent the oral English from being improved. 75% learners don’t agree that culture learning can
be neglected. So learners should attach more importance to culture in oral English learning.
Intercultural competence can also influence the oral English learning.
NORHANA BINTI MAT PILUS (PQB170014)
NUR ATIKAH BINTI ADANAN (PQB170015)

Yuehong Wei, Li Zhang (2013) proposed in order to overcome the barriers, oral English
teaching should take the students as the center in teaching process. The teachers should help
learners train their English thinking, promote their motivation, resolve the problems that the
mother language leads to, speak English flexibly according to certain situation, make good use of
teaching resources and environment and follow the teacher’s order actively. What’s more,
learners should avoid the passive attitude and affection in oral English learning, so teachers
should motivate the learners correctly and make learners be interested in it neglecting the worries.
In oral English teaching, teachers should provide adequate sources for students to imitate so as
to resolve the phonological and thinking problems. Oral English learning should involve some
intercultural communication, so there should be some culture acquisition tasks for learners in oral
curriculum in China. Teachers should emphasize the culture acquisition and cultivate the
sensitivity of culture and thinking through practice. Meanwhile, vocabulary fossil can be removed
after the thinking training. Learners cannot rely on vocabulary reciting, especially remembering
the Chinese meaning for each word while they should understand the English meaning of each
word which can help them improve their English thinking.

Võ Thị Hoàng Yến (2012) in his research found that influences of Confucian Worldview
on learning practice and communication avoidance in EFL classrooms with special reference to
Chinese EFL contexts. The process of learning in China has been greatly influenced by the
Confucian tradition. In fact, two of the three above countries most influenced by Confucian
philosophy are China and Japan (Yum [5]). Culture is defined as the set of behaviors, materials,
world view, values, symbols and designs for living which are a tradition of a society and which are
transmitted from generation to generation within one group of people. Therefore, culture directly
affects the philosophy of teaching and learning, epistemological beliefs (Chan & Elliott [6]),
learning styles (Kennedy [7]) and the conception of what is good teaching (Patt, Kelly, & Wong
[8]). Similarly, Ballard and Clanchy [9] argued that culture influences attitudes to knowledge, and
therefore styles of teaching and of learning, which characterize the educational process. Within
the Confucian tradition, students learn through cooperation, by working for the common good, by
supporting each other, and by not elevating themselves above others (Reid [10]). Besides, the
cultural norms for Asians are characterized by absence of verbal aggression and direct
expression of one’s feelings, and the avoidance of confrontation. Therefore, the influence of
Confucian cultures on learning philosophy and practice is totally different from that of Western
cultures on learning and teaching processes.

References

Yuehong Wei & Li Zhang (2013) The Survey on Barriers of Oral English Learning for College
Students in China English Language Teaching; Vol. 6, No. 6; 2013

Võ Thị Hoàng Yến (2012), Cultural Differences: A Barrier to Native English Teachers in English
as a Foreign Language Contexts