Researching the uses of the english language in the law job market in the sultanate of oman: implications for policy-practice improvement

The Sultanate of Oman is a developing country that has accepted the English language as a significant tool for modernization. This was best interpreted in the opening of Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) in 1986, which has delivered its different academic programmes totally or partially through the English language. One of the colleges of SQU has been the College of Law. It was opened in 1997 to help contribute to effective implementation of nationalisation and national development in the Sultanate of Oman, which English language proficiency is a part and parcel of. However, graduates exiting the College so far have been unable to fulfil this strategic aim due to policy-practice drawbacks. Evident weaknesses in their English language and legal knowledge have provoked repeated complaints from the employers in both sectors. Accordingly, a decision was made to introduce a bilingual programme through which approximately 30 % of the subjects at the College of Law would be taught in English. This study, therefore, researches the uses of English language in the Law job market in the Sultanate of Oman and its implications for policy-practice improvement. A questionnaire was designed and distributed to 182 graduates of the College of Law, SQU. Findings have shown that while the new programme has the potential to serve national development and Omanisation, the College faculties have a pivotal role to play in influencing a positive implementation of the plan.     

Beyond Textbook Instruction: Stories from ELT Teachers in Oman

ABSTRACT

The government of the Sultanate of Oman actively promotes the value of English as a global lingua franca to support modernization and national economic growth. This policy, however, creates difficulties for many teachers, who find themselves implementing certain practices that conflict with a vision of English language teaching (ELT) that accords with humanist values. They find themselves adopting forms of instruction that reduce English to a matter of drills and skills. This essay draws on an inquiry that I facilitated with the help of four Student Teachers during their practicum. The inquiry involved asking them to keep reflective journals in an effort to place their teaching in a critical perspective exposing the contradictory nature of their professional situation. The journals show their struggle with the ELT status quo at their cooperating schools, while revealing their commitment to opening up educational opportunities for their students beyond what the curriculum prescribes.     

大学英语教学的转型发展——专门用途英语

在世界经济全球化的背景下,中国国际竞争力的提升急需既精通专业且英语素质良好的复合型人才。然而,承担培养外语人才重任的大学英语教学却忽视了学生的专业特点,缺少针对学生的需求分析。本文基于一项针对大学生英语学习满意度的调查,剖析大学英语教学的困境及其原因,阐述需求分析对大学英语课程的意义,提出大学英语教学由通用英语转向专门用途英语的必要性与可行性,以及实施专门用途英语教学的途径,探索大学英语教学改革的方向。     

基于多种理论的成人师范"英语教学法"课程改革

新的英语课程标准从实验到全面推行,激发了成人师范院校对英语教育专业的改革,特别是“英语教学法”课程的改革。基于人文主义心理学要求,建构主义学习理论和反思教学模式的基础,“英语教学法”课程应更新成人师范院校教学双方的教学理念,建构英语教学理论知识的体系,突出英语师范教育的鲜明个性,提高学生教育实践能力,为基础教育课程改革培养合格的师资。     

New Headway English Course教材特色及其对我们的启示

不论是传统的还是新的英语教学思想，都把语言知识。如语音、语法、词汇及听、说、读、写四会技巧的培养作为学习目标。牛津大学出版社于1998年出版的New Headway English Course系列教材对语言的展现。语言知识的学习，四会技巧的培养，课堂活动的组织都有精妙之处，不仅克服了传统教材之不足，而且仍然充分体现着传统的和互动式教学法互补的教材编写思想，其深刻的教学法思想可归纳为以下几点：1、语法学习走出枯燥，成为归纳与演绎并举的发现过程。学生受到激发后，自己归纳出语言规则，而且能在有趣的语言上下文中能充分理解语言规则。2、在爽心悦目的课堂活动中，轻松的语言输入过程在不知不觉中带来了学习者的语言输出。在学生各自英语知识的范围内，技能得到了充分训练。3、语言学习活动多样化，各项技能训练既相互独立，又互相配合，习得过程与学习收获相辅相成。4、教材内容更新快。5、新的学习项目系统化的循环往复保证了学习的有效性。这套教材的编写者已然看到了课堂教学活动中会发生什么，看到学生所需要的是什么，并在每项活动中扮演什么角色，着眼于如何使学习环节自然，流畅，互为依托，以及教师该如何引导学生有效地学习。这套教材对国内教材编写很有启发。如能借鉴这套教材编写新的学习材料，将更大的促进国内的英语教学。     

English Language Teaching in China: A Bridge to the Future

In this paper, the authors outline the development of ELT in the PRC in the last 10 years or so as seen in the wider context of educational reform in the country and the new direction towards quality education. Despite the influence of communicative language teaching and other language teaching approaches from outside the country, ELT in China has retained some of its essentially “Chinese characteristics”. As for the future of ELT in the PRC, the authors feel that, given the growing importance of English and the enormous energy and enthusiasm in the PRC for learning the language in both the formal and informal contexts, ELT will continue to flourish. After all, for many individuals and for the country itself, English is a bridge to the future.     

公外专科英语教学方法探究

公外专科英语教学的目的不仅要求学生掌握一定的英语语言知识，还要培养学生的语言技能和语言综合能力，为进一步提高和应用英语打下基础。本文从教学实际出发，对专科英语的教学原则、教学内容和具体的教学方法分别进行探讨，旨在提高专科英语的教学质量。     

Language learning,teaching and educational reform in rural Thailand: an English teacher's perspective

This article discusses English language teaching in Thailand through a biographical case study of a teacher working in a government school in the rural north-east. It explores a particular context of teaching and learning, showing how an individual comes to be a teacher and deals with the day-to-day demands of teaching, as well as reflecting on the place of English in a society where it is a foreign language. The article contends that case studies of this type have the power to illuminate the context of teaching, to enable us to come to a fuller understanding of the demands of being a teacher of English in societies where it is a foreign language, and thus to provide essential data on the realities of teaching in various contexts. This data may then be used to inform centralized programmes to reform English language teaching which at present rarely consult the principal change agents – teachers – prior to their implementation. Curriculum reform programmes in Thailand have been criticized for their lack of impact at the classroom level and the article maintains that, if these programmes are to be effective, they should be based on an understanding of the local contexts of teachers' work.     

English language teaching curriculum in Iran: planning and practice

The present study investigates English language teaching (ELT) curriculum planning in Iran's Ministry of Education and its implementation by teachers. We studied programme evaluation; needs analysis; the ELT-specific documents; communication channels between planning and practice levels; teacher evaluation and student assessment; interpretation and re-examination of national policies within the Ministry; and the criteria set for ELT material development. Instrumentation included: curriculum documents; interviews with Ministry officials, material developers and headteachers; and teacher questionnaires. Results attested to the lack of any ELT-specific document for material development and absence of research-based needs assessment as the foundation of the programmes. Also, there are no pre-defined linguistic and professional criteria for evaluating teachers, and planning for students' assessment is limited to a set of general guidelines. Moreover, there is neither a programme evaluation nor an ELT evaluation model and national-level policies are not re-examined at planning level. Results also indicate that politico-ideological beliefs of material developers are as important as their expertise and communication channels between planning and practice levels are of a top-down nature. It is argued that the gap between planning and practice results from a highly centralised policymaking process in which local policymakers (i.e. teachers) are not involved.     

Common European framework of reference for languages (CEFR): insights into global policy borrowing in Malaysian higher education

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) has emerged as a global policy in language education which has been ‘borrowed’ by nations across the world. This paper presents a critical analysis of Malaysia’s borrowing of the CEFR as part of English language curriculum reform with particular reference to policy motivation and implementation processes as outlined in the English Language Education Roadmap for Malaysia (2015–2025). The analysis draws on Phillips and Ochs’s (2003, “Processes of Policy Borrowing in Education: Some Explanatory and Analytical Devices.” Comparative Education 39 (4): 451–461.) framework for examining educational policy borrowing to highlight challenges as well as prospects of the implementation of the global policy in higher education in Malaysia.     

人－文化的生物－－论英语教学中外教与本土教师的合理搭档

中国空前的改革开放力度，使中国的英语教学领域也因中国社会的飞速发展正在发生着巨大的变化。大批外籍教师在中国英语教学中的参与，给中国的英语教学带来了许多英语及其承载的多姿多彩的英语化。这种英语化的多元性在当今的英语教学中，与中国传统化，包括中国传统的英语教学化既发生冲突，又相互适应。外籍教师与中国本土教师分别为不同化的生物，为不同的化所塑造。在英语教学中，看到中外教师的各自优势，认识到中外教师在教学中搭配的必要性与合理性，是一个十分重要的问题。在这种搭配合作中，一些值得注意的问题不可小视。     

(Re)conceptualisation of ELT professionals: academic high school English teachers’ professional identity in Korea

This study investigates Korean English teachers’ responses to the current English Language Teaching (ELT) policies and reveals the attributes of their professional identity from their responses. Data collected from different narratives demonstrate that the teachers value the principles of communicative language teaching, but are not supportive of teaching English in English and do not regard oral competence as a prerequisite for ELT professionals, both of which are the main concern of the current policies. The teachers emphasise human education, having practical knowledge and willingness to learn something new, and using different methods or materials depending on the students’ needs and levels. These understandings of the meaning systems of their professional identity provide some implications for the establishment of professional standards and desirable pedagogies, as well as the reform of the English curriculum. First, broader attributes of the teachers’ qualities need to be reflected into professional standards. Second, the state needs to form a partnership with the teachers that leads to producing a more feasible and coherent curriculum. Third, to be accredited as professionals, English teachers’ active reflection on their own teaching is indispensable.     

日本高校外语教师教育发展模式及其启示

日本的外语学习主要包括汉语、葡萄牙语、荷兰语等。20世纪末,为赶上信息技术革命和全球化的潮流,日本政府对英语教学及教师培养方面进行了大刀阔斧的改革,特别重视和支持高校英语教师教育。日本高校外语教师教育的培养途径、课程设置、管理机制、发展趋势等能为我国高校英语教师教育的改革、发展提供启示和借鉴。     

英语教师话语与大学生交际能力的培养

英语教师的课堂言语行为直接影响着学生的语言感知力,并对学生的外语学习有着非常重要的示范作用。随着大学英语教学改革的开展,教师话语（teachertalk）对英语教学,特别是对学生外语交际能力的培养方面所具有的影响已成为一个亟需关注的课题。     

A Probe into the Influence of English Language Teaching on Chinese Students’Language Development

A problem has been arising among many English learners who would have frequent contact with English culture and the language. That is: they are inefficient in both English and Chinese. It is extremely obvious as far as Chinese students' language development is concerned. In my paper, I want to explore how English language teaching(ELT) influences Chinese students' language development.     

多媒体网络技术和策略培训的整合——一次旨在促进学习者自主的教学改革

大学生自主学习能力已经成为近年来由国家教育行政部门主导的大学英语教学改革的一个热门话题。越来越多的教育专家和研究人员正在积极地探求如何培养大学生自主学习英语能力的方法和途径。在研究自主学习能力和学习策略培训密切关系的基础上探讨一种新的教学模式——整合多媒体网络辅助教学(CALL)和学习策略培训——在优化培养大学生英语自主学习能力模式方面的效果和可行性。     

“I love foreigners’ attitudes towards life”: Reproducing lifestyles in an Iranian English language teaching context

An important aspect of learning a foreign language is encountering the sociocultural orientations associated with it. The present qualitative study focuses on an Iranian setting of English language teaching (ELT) to explore the potential reflection and reproduction of certain cultural attitudes and lifestyles in this context. A total of 200 hours of 10 ELT classes with 62 students were observed and/or recorded in 4 months, and 20 teachers and students were interviewed. Based on a grounded theory approach, the bodies of data were explored through coding procedures and the emerging thematic structure was used to illustrate aspects of the possible reproduction of lifestyles. The context of concern appeared to provide a potential arena of naturalising aspects of imported lifestyles associated with the foreign language. Although students show various extents of adherence to their own culture, prolonged involvement in ELT discursive practices may contribute to the subtle alteration of their lifestyle orientations.     

学术训练导向视域下英美文学课堂教学改革

教育部于2012年4月印发的《高等教育专题规划》将提高人才培养质量置于十分重要的地位,而衡量高校人才培养质量的一个重要指标是学生的思辨能力.作为高校英语专业核心课程的英美文学,对学生思辨能力的培养起着重要作用.学术训练导向视域下英美文学教学改革,旨在通过课程学习引导学生阅读英语文学经典,通过英语文学论文的写作进行规范的学术训练,培养学生的创新思维,提高学生的语言能力与人文素养.     

Parents’ attitudes toward the english education policy in Taiwan

Taiwan, like many other countries in Asia, introduced considerable changes in English education policy in response to the need for English communication in the global market. During the process of implementing the new English education policy, the Ministry of Education (MOE) of Taiwan encountered several problems. Although researchers have examined other issues concerning the implementation of the English education policy, such as the shortage of trained English teaching personnel, the selection of textbooks and the difficulty of teaching a class of heterogeneous learners, parental attitudes toward or expectations for the English education policy itself remain unexplored. Parental opinions about English education and the extent to which parents support English education reform play a large role in the success of the implementation of the policy and are important factors for the government to consider when shaping future education policies. The perspectives of parents, therefore, should be included in a research-based examination. This study surveyed the opinions of Taiwanese parents on current English education policy and practice.     

关于学前英语教育师资培养模式的思考

我国学前英语教育的社会需求在不断增强,规模在不断扩大,学前英语教育已经成为新时期学前教育中不可回避的重大课题。目前关于学前英语教育的研究比较滞后,学前英语教育缺乏科学合理的指导标准,也未研究和制订有关学前英语教学的政策与法规,特别是学前英语教师的数量和整体质量与素质不令人乐观。本文着重分析和探讨学前英语教师应该具备的基本素质和学前英语教师培养的模式等,旨在促进学前英语教育,提高学前英语教学质量,推动学前英语师资队伍的建设工作。