On the Factors Affecting Effective English Teaching in Vocational Colleges

陈毅　韦宛彤

Abstract Based on the previous researches， this thesis explores the present situation of effective English teaching in GUET Vocational College， by taking students from grade 2015 as study objects， and focusing on factors of students， English teachers， textbooks， and evaluation system， then points out the existing problems and analyzes the reasons based on the results of the questionnaires， and finally puts forward some practical solutions， trying to offer some suggestions for effective English teaching in the college.

Key words Higher Vocational College； effective teaching； college English teaching

中圖分类号：G424 文献标识码：A DOI：10.16400/j.cnki.kjdks.2016.04.050

Introduction

With the development of the social economy， and the industrial transformation and development of Guangxi Beibu-Gulf Economic Zone， industries are now making higher requirements for the comprehensive quality of the talents. English is an important approach or tool for these highly skilled talents enabling them to receive new technical information from the whole world.

Current English teaching in GUET Vocational College

GUET Vocational College， which is supported by Guilin University of Electronic Technology， is an influential college of Guangxi Beibu-Gulf Economic Zone. Whereas， research from employment feedback in the past two years reveals that the graduates from our college have a lot of difficulties in using English on a daily working basis. As an English teacher in GUET Vocational College， the author noticed there are many problems in English teaching in the college.

1） What are the learning and teaching situations in GUET Vocational College？ What are the major problems？

2） What are the major reasons in the present situation？

3） In what way could English teaching in the college become more effective？

In order to find out the current teaching situation in the college， the author designed a questionnaire. In order to ensure the data obtained representative， the author carried out a questionnaire survey on English teaching among 200 non-English major students from different majors.

From the survey， when asked about the satisfaction about their English teachers， only 1 percent of students do not feel satisfied with the English teachers personality. 36.5 percent of the students feel satisfied with the English teachers teaching methods， while the rest think “So so” （56.5 %）， or “Bad” （7%）. On the question “Did the English teacher have specific ways to help the English-poor students？”， only 28.5 percent of the student answer “Yes”， 62 percent of the students answer “Sometimes”， and the rest， 9.5 percent， of the students choose “No”. On the question about satisfaction of textbooks， there are only 24.5 percent of the students who think the textbooks are suitable for them， 32.5 percent of the students think the difficult level of the textbooks is appropriate. As for the evaluation system， 58.5 percent of the students do not think the final exam they are taking can show their English ability efficiently， and half students hope there would be some more ways to evaluate their English ability.

Analysis of the factors affecting effective teaching in GUET Vocational College

After doing research， using the experience of other research achievements for reference， and combining with the survey results， the author finds that there are many factors leading to low effective English teaching in GUET Vocational College.

1. Factors of teachers

English teachers are organizers of teaching activities， and practitioners of teaching methods. Teachers qualities and accomplishments are key points to motivating college English teaching levels. The author found out that there are some problems which exist in the English teachers which would bring negative effects to English teaching in GUET Vocational College. They are teaching faculty， structure of teachers， qualification of teachers， and teaching concepts. The Basic Conditions for Ordinary Universities /Colleges （2004） makes one standard requirement is that the student-faculty ratio should not exceed 18 to 1. There are almost 2，500 freshmen in 2015， while there are only 12 full-time English teachers. Concerning professional titles， there are only one associate professor， four lecturers， and seven teaching assistants. Teachers teaching concepts refers to the teachers systematic and essential understanding of teaching activity. It is not a student-oriented concept if English teachers ignore students interests， English ability and their study goals， carry out the unified teaching syllabus unquestioningly， use the unified textbooks， and evaluate English teaching only by the final examination English tests.

2. Factors of textbooks

Books are carriers of knowledge. Textbooks are the basis for teaching. Textbooks are instruments for fulfilling teaching objectives. Teaching results are affected by the quality of the textbooks， as well as students suitability to the textbooks. What students ask for is some professional English knowledge related to their majors. Obviously， it is unreasonable for different quality students from different majors to use the same textbooks.

3. Factors of the evaluation system

Teaching evaluation is an important part of college English teaching in higher vocational colleges. In order to fulfill teaching objectives， a college should have an all-sided， objective， scientific， precise evaluation system. The evaluation system for English learning in GUET Vocational College mainly consists of two parts， one is daily performance which takes 30 percents of the final total grade， and the other one is final exam result which takes 70 percents. This kind of evaluation system does not show students real English knowledge and their applied English abilities objectively.

Suggestions for effective English teaching

1. The improvement of teachers quality

Teachers professional quality is the basic quality requirement for those who work as teachers. Students quality depends on the teachers quality. The author believes that， in order to improve the English teachers professional quality， we should focus on three aspects， building a contingent of “double-qualified” teacher， changing teachers teaching concepts， and recruiting highly-qualified English talents. “Double-qualified” teacher refers to a teacher who has achieved Teacher Certification and Vocational Qualification at the same time. “Double-qualified” teachers have compounded talents and have both educational teaching ability and work experience. Teaching concepts are teachers rational conclusions by reflecting teaching practice. Teachers teaching judgments and teachers teaching anticipation are influenced by teaching concepts. The teaching faculty in GUET Vocational College is not enough. It is a good way to improve English teachers professional quality by recruiting highly-qualified English talents.

2. Producing reasonable class teaching

Reasonable teaching means both teachers and students should obey objective teaching rules， making the best of limited class time to finish teaching contents and fulfill teaching objectives. Firstly， English teachers should do good preparation before class. A good preparation for classes is the precondition and the basis for effective teaching. Secondly， produce distinctive school-based English textbooks. By considering both the students majors and their future work positions， English teachers could produce practical school-based English textbooks base on students English foundations. Thirdly， use suitable teaching methods. Teaching method is an umbrella name for ways or means teachers use during teaching activities， by which teachers and students work together to fulfill teaching objectives and finish teaching tasks.

3. Evaluation system

As a unique subject， English teaching in vocational college must focus on teaching students language knowledge； equally important is training students practical English skills. Based on Constructivism Learning Theory， the author puts forward that an effective English class should consist of the following six parts. First， students participate in the class actively and enthusiastically. Second， there should be effective interactions， not only between students and teacher， but also between students and students. Third， students learning materials， study time and learning space should be fully guaranteed. Fourth， students form an actual understanding about the knowledge. Fifth， students self-monitoring ability and reflective ability should be enhanced during the class. Sixth， students gain positive emotional experience during the class. The evaluation formula for final grades could be： final grade = daily performance （50%） + final examination （50%）， while daily performance = attendance （5%） + class performance （20%） + homework （5%） + learning attitude （10%） + unit tests （10%）， and final examination=oral English test （15%） + final test （85）.

Conclusion

To conclude， English teaching in vocational college is a very important part for higher education. There would be specific requirements for English teaching in different stages of development， different districts， and different colleges. Therefore， how to improve effective English teaching in vocational colleges is a problem for English teachers who are working in vocational colleges.

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