Is EFL a Modern Trojan Horse? Teaching and learning Engilsh as a foreign language: an adverse perspective

THROUGHOUT China, the National language, Mandarin, is spoken by only 53% of the Chinese population (Yan 2005), while most primary schools, and all middle and senior-middle schools, colleges and universities have mandatory English instruction (cf. Niu Qiang & Martin Wolff 2004a). Shakespeare says that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but linguistic imperialism - defined by Robert Phillipson (1992) as the dominance asserted and maintained     

The Perceptions of Administrators Concerning the One Florida Initiative

The purpose of this study was to discover the perceptions of Florida law school administrators on the impact of the OFI （one Florida initiative） and the addition of two MSI （minority serving institution） law schools on diversity in Florida＇s legal profession. This research explored the impact of Governor Bush＇s EO （executive order） on diversity within the SUS （state university system） of Florida law schools. Further, this study examined the impact of the creation of two MSI law schools after implementation of the OFI, as perceived by the administrators. The concept of CRT （critical race theory） provides modern legal debates outlining the usefulness of historical civil rights policies in opinionated climates. This study will examine the role of CRT in relation to affirmative action and desegregation case law. CRT forms the framework for examining the impact of the creation of two MSI law schools in the state of Florida. In conclusion, this study found that minority representation in law schools has improved in Florida as a result of the OFI as well as the addition of two MSI law schools. Black representation, however, continues to lag behind other races, particularly the Hispanic population. This study concluded that the OFI has helped improve minority representation in the legal profession.     

Questioning to the Feasibility of Offering English Courses in the Primary Schools in China

After entering 21 st century,our country has started an incomparable huge English teaching revolution. English has been taught in more and more universities,colleges,high schools,and even primary schools since the early 1990 s. After the decision,which made by China` s Ministry of Education,of offering English courses from Grade 3 in primary schools nationwide in China from county-level in the fall of 2001 was carried out step by step,the starting age of foreign language learning for children have been discussed in China. Many experts and scholars in foreign language teaching and research fields paid close attention to it and held different opinions about offering English courses in primary schools. This study aims to do some research in theory to query the feasibility of offering English courses to the primary school students in China. The mainly underlying theoretical framework in this thesis is the critical period hypothesis discussed by Rod Ellis in Understanding Second Language Acquisition. By referring to his argument about age,the thesis seeks other two theories to support the idea that it is inappropriate to offer English courses in primary schools.     

Changes in learning process caused by the implementation of ICT in education in Estonian in-service and pre-service teachers perceptions

The current paper reports on a qualitative study examining in-service and pre-service teachers perceptions about changes in the learning process caused by the involvement of ICT （Information and Communication Technology） in Estonian schools. Based on five in-service and five pre-service teachers＇ interviews, findings indicate some positive, some negative and some in-between （considered by teachers as positive from one side and as negative from the other side） changes in the student＇s and teacher＇s roles in the learning process and teaching process. Interviews were recorded and transcribed. Content analysis was used as the data analysis method. The paper discusses estimated changes by both groups in the Estonian educational system. A comparison of in-service and pre-service teachers＇ opinions has been provided.     

Analysis on the Strategies for the Autonomous Development of English Teachers in High Schools

The professional development of English teachers in high schools is not only a hot focus of teachers’ education, but also an important turning point in the students’ English learning. English teachers are constantly improving their own personal quality and teaching effect under their autonomous development model and goal. It is necessary for English teachers in high schools to rethink and change their own teaching methods, transform the educational ideas, and make educational methods innovative. Meanwhile, they are required to continuously improve their own teaching practice ability. Thus, development and innovation can be unceasingly sought by them in the process of thinking, criticizing, and denying. In addition, the autonomous factors restricting the continuous professional development must be changed. In this paper, the strategies for the autonomous development of English teachers in high schools are discussed according to the requirements for the professional development so as to produce profound significance to the sustainable development of the teachers.     

Identity and ESL Pedagogical Implications of Hip-Hop/ Rap Music

Since its naissance back into the 70s of the last century,Hip-Hop and Rap music has been utilized as a channel for identity expression and formation by African Americans especially urban youth.From a sociolinguistic point of view,it is through the use of a particular language register–generally termed as African American English(AAE)–that the rappers get to portrait,narrate and elaborate their own ideologies closely concerning various aspects of their life and status.Broadly,the influence of Hip-Hop culture has gained it major momentum among urban youth across the globe.In countries where English is used as a foreign language(EFL),Hip-Hop is well received by young speakers who wish to express their own personality and alleviate pressures from schools,family and society(Li,2004).Given the multiplicity of features in Hip-Hop texts,this article argues that it can be informative to EFL in general and English pronunciation teaching in particular.     

A Survey on Students’Oral English Ability in High School

Oral communicative ability is of great importance to measure students’English ability.However,it long exists that English course of high schools focuses on grammar.In economically backward cities where high schools don’t treat speaking as a necessity,there is a prevailing phenomenon of high marks but dumb English.Based on the fact above,the author adopts some methods to conduct an investigation among teachers and students in a high school in Shanxi province.After an elaborate collection of data and a comprehensive conclusion of information related to students,the author points out problems existing in students’oral communication in the Grade Two;by analysis,the author points out some possible reasons for these problems;and lastly,the author puts forward some suggestions to these problems accordingly.     

How to Improve Students' Listening Ability

At present, the purpose of middle school English teaching is to improve students＇ skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. However, the teachers and the students yield to the examinations, which result in many problems in English learning, particularly in English listening. The main causes of it are as follows： （ 1 ） Teachers and students think it＇s not important to practice listening in junior one and junior two. They prefer tactics for the examination of entering schools of a higher grade. （2）Listening is not taught systematically to students, such as how to choose words, make sentences, organize paragraphs, conceive the whole essay and so on.     

Developing schools as professional learning communities： The TL21 experience

Over the last 2 decades, Irish schooling and society have gone through a period of significant structural and policy-driven change. To meet the emerging needs of the knowledge/learning society, schools and teachers are challenged to develop their capacities as ＂active learning communities＂. This places greater demands on teachers and schools to reflect on their classroom practices, to utilise a wider repertoire of pedagogic styles more suited to the needs of the 21st century learners and so that meaningfully collaborate with their fellow professionals. Teaching and Learning for the 21st Century （TL21） was a 4-year （2003-2007） multi-pronged research and development project involving the Education Department at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth （NUIM） and 15 post-primary schools. The project sought to address a number of key aims in terms of developing schools as professional learning communities, including addressing the isolation and insulation which teachers can, and do experience in their day-to-day professional lives and prioritize quality in teaching and learning as a key challenge for school development planning. This paper attempts to succinctly frame the key developments and findings which emerged over the duration of this process.     

How to Sharpen the Vocational School Students' Mouths

1.Poor language learning environment In our oral English classes,our teacher always creates suppositional context of situation,such as shopping center,hospital,hotel,etc.Why should we do this? Because there isn't the real situation to practice our oral English.What's more,the specialized oral English classes are not common in junior school.If any,time is limited in class.In addition,a lot of schools in China do not have enough facilities such as English laboratory,LCD,and other multimedia.So the students...     

A Study on the Language of Legal Document

With the development of economic globalization,legal English has been developing very fast as one kind of ESP.Compared with general English,legal English is a special language style,which is characterized by stability,oddities and exactness.The language used in legal document belongs to a special kind of legal English,and has its own language characters like other social dialects.The paper analyses the features of the language of legal document from lexical and syntactic level.     

Adapting Teaching to Match Learning Styles

The teaching of English as a foreign language （TEFL） experienced a major methodological shift in the1970s and 80s, with a move away from the Grammar-Translation （G-T） and Audio-lingual Approaches, which had been so popular throughout the 1950s and 60s, towards Communicative Language Teaching （CLT） and other humanistic approaches.     

How to Improve Spoken English Teaching through Role play in College Schools in China

In the present competitive society, English becomes more and more important, and how to master English becomes one popular topic for everyone. English is a communicative tool, however, traditional teaching method used in English teaching is not very suitable, and the traditional teaching is very boring and inefficient. The traditional teaching does not give students a real world situation to practice their English speaking and it does not cultivate their learning interests. This phenomenon continued in the students English learning for many years, and students can not use the English to communicate in their daily life. This phenomenon appears in oral English teaching in college schools as well, In order to solve the problems, the paper firstly describes the problem of English spoken teaching in college schools in Chi na. And then it analyzes the performance of problem and the cause of problems. The aim is that we find the problem and deficiency of Eng lish spoken teaching in college schools and use Role play as an effective way to solve these problems. Moreover, how to uses the role play specifically in the spoken English teaching, So that the role play can help teacher change traditional teaching method, enhance students’ oral communication ability, cultivate the students’learning interests and improve spoken English teaching in colleges.     

Canada

The duality of Canadian life has been called the ＂Twin Solitudes. ＂One Canada, English and Calvinist （加尔文教徒） in origin, tends to be staid and smug and work obsessed. The other, French and Catholic, is more creative, lighthearted, and inclined to see pleasure as the end purpose of labor. These two peoples live side by side throughout Quebec and in the nine provinces of English Canada, but the blending occurs in particularly intense fashion in Quebec province＇s largest city, Montreal. French speakers, known as Francophones, constitute 66% of the city＇s population, while most of the remaining population are speakers of English -- Anglophones.     

How Far Are the Theories about Collaborative Writing Usable in a Chinese Learner Context?

With the development of communication,the role of English is changing from being the language merely for the understanding of other cultures to being a tool of communication. English writing is regarded as equally important as speaking,listening and reading. This study aims to focus on collaborative writing as a effective teaching and learning tool in a Chinese Learner Context.     

The Use of English in Public Life in China

English as a world language has been paid much attention not only by individuals but also by governments in metropolises as well as small cities in China.Both individuals and governments in Tianjin,one of metropolises and Jiaozuo,one of small cities in China have realized the importance of English.Such a realization has resulted in the wide use of English in public facilities,such as traffic signs and tourist indicators,and English banking service Also,individual Chinese of different ages have a strong desire to learn English.Through comparing the use of English in a public life in these two cities,the authors intend to show a wide use of English in public life in China.     

On Chinese Student Learning English

English is regarded as one of the most important languages in the world. It is an international official language used by more than half of the earth. As the pace of globalization speed up, different countries contact with each other more frequently. Under this circum stance, China appears a wave of interest in learning English. Today, China has become the largest market for English teaching in the world. The discussion in this paper is focused on the importance of English learning and some experiences in English learning. It gives us a vivid explanation about the interactive functions of English learning and Chinese language study.     

Problems and Countermeasures in Oral English Teaching in Senior Middle Schools

The English language is widely used now and there is no need for us to talk about its importance.English teaching is aimed to enable students to obtain basic English knowledge and to have the ability to use it in communication by the training of listening,speaking,reading and writing.In middle schools,oral English teaching is usually neglected by teachers and students.This article tries to find out the problems and then give us some countermeasures so as to improve oral English teaching.     

A Report on a Short-term English Training Course

On the morning of July 17th, 2009, the English training programme for teachers from primary and high sehools was launehed as scheduled, which was jointly sponsored by the Education Bureau of Tongzhou, Jiangsu Province and Canadian Bond Education Group. Six experts in English teaching were invited to carry through the short-term training programme for 300 English teachers from 90 schools in this area. Mrs Silvia, the chief of the experts,     

Origin of “Long time,no see”

"Long time no see" is a very interesting English expression used as a greeting by people who have not seen each other for a while. The essay shows how Chinese people and native English speaker think about "Long time no see". Meanwhile, it does research upon the historical appearances of the phrase.