The Differences Study of the College English Teaching in Language Acquisition between China and the U.S.

Bao+Hongfang

【Abstract】Chinese students start to learn English since primary school， many students achieve high scores in the National College Entrance Examination， whereas， most college students can not express their ideas clearly and fluently in English， this phenomenon of high marks and low abilities of students indicates that there are some disadvantages in the field of English teaching in China. In order to change the current situation of English teaching， college English teachers should change the traditional “scripted” teaching methods in English teaching. Therefore， through the comparison study of the teaching differences in language acquisition between China and the United States， I do hope it can provide new ideas and practical references for the reform and exploration of Chinas college English teaching.

【Key words】English Teaching Differences； Language Acquisition； China； the U.S.

【摘要】中國学生从小学开始就开始学习英语，很多同学在参加高考英语考试时都能获得高分，然而很多大一新生却无法用英语流利、清楚地表达自己的观点。学生在学习上高分低能的现象表明，在中国当前的英语教学领域中有很多弊端。为改变当前英语教学中存在的诸多弊端，大学英语教师在英语教学中要改变传统“应试型”的教学模式。因此本文拟通过对中美大学英语教育在语言习得中教学方法差异性研究，希望能为当前的大学英语教学提供改革思路和有益的借鉴。

【关键词】英语教学差异 语言习得 中国 美国

Chinese students start to learn English since primary school， when they enter colleges， most of them have learned English more than ten years， many students achieve high scores in the National College Entrance Examination， whereas， most college students can not express their ideas clearly in English. The phenomenon of high marks and low abilities of students indicates that there are some disadvantages in the field of English teaching in China. In order to change the current situation of English teaching， college English teachers should change the traditional “scripted” teaching methods in English teaching.

Thorough the observations in ESL class in St. John University， I felt that teachers in St. John University pay much more attention to cultivate students applying ability of using the language. Therefore， through the comparison study of the teaching differences in language acquisition between China and the United States I do hope it can provide new ideas and practical references for the reform and exploration of Chinas college English teaching.

1. Differences in the Role of The English Teachers and Students

The language teachers in the U.S. College make each semesters syllabus for their own courses， the syllabus usually covers necessary information that students should know about the courses. In first class of the new semester， each student will get the syllabus and should fulfill their duties according to the requirements in the syllabus. Most contents in their textbook will be previewed by the students before each new class， during the class， teacher usually designs lots of questions for students to discussion instead of teaching the contents of the textbook， and the main task of the students are to participate in the discussion proactively. The role of the language teachers in the U.S. University more looks like a guider， an advisor， an assessor as well as an organizer. Usually students are dominated in the class. According to the coursed that I observed， I found teachers usually assign certain tasks to students in the class， the main task of students is to make presentation. Students usually spend much more time in preparing the presentation. During the process of preparing the presentation， students abilities in listening， speaking， reading and writing will be improved. The role of a teacher in the class is to offer valuable suggestions for students and to organize various kinds of teaching activities according to different teaching contents. Compared with them， the role of the most college English teachers in China looks more like a leader and controller， because they spend much more time in dominating the class by explaining the language points of the textbook， or transmitting some grammar knowledge and writing skills to students in the class. Therefore， students are more likely to become an acceptor since they have fewer chances to participate in the discussions proactively and to apply what they had learned into practice in the class. In to improve the teaching quality， college English teachers should change their roles in teaching. Teachers should encourage students to get involved in the courses passionately by designing more tasks to students and by changing their roles from teacher centered to the roles of learner centered.

2. Differences in Classroom Settings and Arrangements

As an international visiting scholar， I am really very glad to have the honor to audit the classes given by different professors. They are so kindly and friendly， which make me feel ease at home. When I audited their classes， I was deeply appealed by the harmonious atmosphere of their classes. Before giving new lessons， a teacher usually resets up the classroom according to the teaching task .The students usually are divided into small groups or sit in semi-circle/ round circle style according to the needs of the teaching contents. The number of the students in each class will not exceed 25. The main task of a teacher is to create equal chances for each student to present their ideas during the discussion and to help those absent–minded students to get involved in the discussion. According to the different teaching activities， the classroom can be laid out as “pairs” “enemy corners” “opposing teams” “face-to-face” “panel” “ buzz groups” and “wheels” etc. Sometimes the classroom will be reset up more than two times in one class. For example， if a teacher wants their students keep an eye contact and interact with other group members passionately， the classroom can be laid out into a circle or horseshoe， which plays an important role for students in the process of translinguistic learning. While compared to the classroom settings in the second language acquisition of China， sometimes there are almost 90 students in one class， it is impossible for a teacher to reset the classroom for different teaching purposes， which greatly reduced the effective interactions between students and teacher. If we want to really improve the teaching quality of college English class， flexible classroom settings and arrangements should be provided to our students， and the number of students in one class also should be strictly controlled.

3. Differences in the classroom teaching methods and strategies

One of the great differences that I observed in auditing the professors class in St. Johns University， is the main task of a teacher is to teach students how to use a word， an idiom， or a phrase instead of just teaching them the basic meaning of a word， an idiom or a phrase. After teaching some new words， a teacher will ask students to design certain scenarios that can use these words in daily life. After discussing， students will select the best scenario that the words or idioms can be used in daily life. I like this teaching method very much， which teaches students how to use the language that they had learned. In my opinion， this teaching method should be widely used in the college English teaching in China. Most English teachers in China usually adopt the method of test as the means of checking students understandings， which will make students feed up with what they have learned and make them have too much pressure to attend the class. Gradually， students will lose their passion and enthusiasm in the process of acquiring the second language. Therefore， more self-study tasks and more scenarios practices should be encouraged in college English teaching in China， only by this way， can we cultivate more talented students with intercultural communicative competence.