Reflections on Chinese Level—Based College English Teaching

王瑞芳

Abstract：As an age of intellectual economy and information，communication among different countries has been imperative.English，an instrument for communication，has played an increasingly important role in the international society.The influence of English on the college English teaching in China is definitely undeniable，especially as a country with 6.8 million college graduates in 2012.In fact，after Ministry of Education released the document – College English Curriculum Requirements in 2007，more and more universities began to take steps to reform college English teaching.One of the most sweeping reforms is level-based English teaching.This paper will combine my working experience with many international college students to further explore the effects of level-based college English teaching in China.

Keywords：reflection；level-based college English teaching；China；comparison

1.Level-Based College English Teaching

For decades，English has been a compulsory university course in China that has a very vast area and the uneven development in economics and cultures.With the development of college recruitment expansion，students from different districts have various English language proficiency，which brings forward a problem for college English teaching.Level-based English teaching is that students are divided into several stages according to their English language proficiency and then to set up different teaching objectives，teaching requirements and students management systems.The level-based teaching of college English，conforming to the needs of social development，is a challenge to traditional unitary teaching methods and teaching pattern.

2.Working Experience in America

This summer，I spend 3-month working with Americans and many international students who are from America，Thailand，Bulgaria，Kosovo，Russia，Mongolia，Italy，Turkey，Ukraine and Jamaica.I am the only Chinese and English major international student here.I find that Jamaican college students can speak English as fluently as native Americans.Students come from Europe，like Russia，Ukraine，Kosovo，Italy，Turkey and Bulgaria，whose English pronunciation and listening skills are better than Asian college students.Other Asian international college students from Thailand，China，and Mongolia，their listening skills and oral English are weaker than other international students.

3.Advantages of Level-Based College English Teaching

According to Humanism Learning Theory，the foundation of humanism learning objective includes the following principles：Students will learn best what they want and need to know；Knowing how to learn is more important than acquiring a lot of knowledge；Self-evaluation is the only meaningful evaluation of a students work；Feelings are as important as facts；Students learn best in a non-threatening environment（Krashen 28）.Level-based English teaching has following advantages：

First，level-based English teaching could take most students into consideration.In traditional class，teachers will make a certain teaching objective to satisfy the medium-level students，which ignores the top-level and low-level students.Second，level-based English teaching could promote teaching efficiency and save teachers labor.In level-based English teaching model，a teacher would be in charge of some teaching work of one English level instead of limiting and isolating by grade or class.Third，level-based English teaching could better meet different students needs，for example，low-level students just want to pass the CET4，while the top-level students may hope to get good grades in IELTS to pursue future study abroad.

4.Disadvantages of Level-Based College English Teaching

The current level-based teaching model surely can make up for some shortcomings in traditional teaching model.Nevertheless，this teaching also has adverse influence on students psychology and may result the following three problems.First，preparatory work is hard.Preparatory work includes establishing reasonable classification standards，informing specific institutions，conducting psychological guidance，etc.Second，interest and pertinence in classroom teaching need to be improved.Many non-English majors do not think that college English course would help them improve English or pass CET.Third，some regulations may result in intelligence discrimination.According to the current institution，students in different levels are requested to take part in CET 4 in different semesters.Even if students learn English in the model of graded teaching，teachers should not treat them in a graded standard.

CONCLUSION

The 21st century is an era which is full of more and more fierce competition and challenges，while the focus of the competition is the talent competition，especially the competition of first-class talents with high quality，which depends on education.To participate in international competition and integrate with the globalization of world economy，China must be equipped with all-round college students to adapt to the construction of modernization.The aim of college level-based English teaching is to make students adapt to the trend of the society better and become more competitive in the future.

WORKS CITED

Krashen，S.D.Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition.Oxford：Penguin Press，1982.