1.2　Place of Listening Instruction in College English Courses in China

1.2PlaceofListeningInstructioninCollegeEnglishCoursesinChina

ThatmostChineseEFLlearners'listeningabilityisweakincomparisontootherskillssuchasreadingandwritingis,tosomeextent,relatedtothefactthatinChinatheinstructionalemphasisisunbalancedsothestudentsarenotabletodevelopallthelanguageskillsequally.Inthepast,ChinesestudentsweretraditionallytaughttoreadandwriteinEnglishsothattheycouldunderstandEnglishmaterialsinthefieldsoftheirfuturecareers.Fromtheperspectiveofthestudents,listeningwasviewedasapassiveprocessofmerelylisteningtoatextandthenfinishingtheafter-listeningquestions.Fromtheperspectiveoftheteachers,theapproachadoptedfocusedmoreontheproductoflisteningthantheprocess.Itwasassumedthatlisteningskillswoulddevelopautomaticallyifotherskillswereimprovedtoadesirablelevelandthereforeclassroominstructiononlisteningwasunnecessary.Asaresult,listeningactivitiesremainedvirtuallyatestofcomprehension,andlisteningcomprehensionbecameaskillinwhichChinesestudentsoftenfelttheyhadachievedtheleast.“Suchattributionsindicateasenseofpassivityandhelplessnessinlanguagelearnerswhichcouldeasilyresultintheirbecomingdemotivated,resignedtobeinglesseffectivelisteners”(Graham,2006).Insuchcircumstances,offeringlanguagelearnersmorelisteningactivitieswouldmostlikelyonlyaddtotheirsenseoffailure.

OnlyinthelastdecadehaslisteningbeguntobeacknowledgedinitsownrightinEFLeducationinChina.TheCourseofCollegeEnglishinChineseuniversitiesunderwentanation-widereformin2007withthepublicationoftheChineseEducationMinistry'sCollegeEnglishCurriculumRequirements,whichpointedoutthat“theobjectiveofCollegeEnglishistodevelopstudents'abilitytouseEnglishinanall-roundway,especiallyinlisteningandspeaking,sothatintheirfuturestudiesandcareersaswellassocialinteractionstheywillbeabletocommunicateeffectively”(p.18).TherequirementsforundergraduateCollegeEnglishteachingaresetatthreelevels—thebasiclevel,theintermediatelevelandtheadvancedlevel,andtherequirementsforlisteningofthethreelevelsareshowninTable1.

Table1TheRequirementsforListeningattheThreeLevels

(Source:CollegeEnglishCurriculumRequirements,p.19-22)

ThoughtheroleoflisteningisnowrecognizedasimportantinChineseuniversityEFLteaching,listeninginstruction,withonlyanaverageteachingtimeof12-14hoursineachterm,isbynomeansadequatetohelpstudentsdevelopthecompetenceneededtocomprehendlanguageinspokenform.Thereis,todate,stillagapbetweentherequirementsforlisteningandtheteachingoflisteninginChina.AmongthemajorproblemsconcerningtheteachingoflisteninginChineseuniversities,thetwomostsignificantare:

(a)TomostEFLteachersinChina,teachinglisteningisstillconfinedtofirstplayingarecordingofalisteningtext,thencheckingthestudents'answers,andfinallyinformingthemofthecorrectanswers.Suchinstructionalmethodsasrepetition,schema-raising,andstrategytrainingareseldomemployedandprobablyneverheardofbysomeEFLteachers.Infact,instructionintheuseoflisteningstrategiesonlybeganinthelastdecadeandstrategiesfordevelopingmetacognitiveawarenesshavebeenlargelyneglected.TheeffectsofmetacognitivelisteningstrategytrainingonChineseEFLlearners'listeningcomprehensionhavebeenlittlestudiedandlittleisknownabouttherelationshipbetweenthelearners'metacognitivelisteningawarenessandtheirlisteningcomprehension.

(b)Asamajorcomponentoflisteninginput,vocabularyisofprimaryimportancetoChineseEFLlearners'listeningcomprehension.AlsoincidentalvocabularyacquisitionthroughlisteningisapromisingsourceofnewvocabularyforChineseuniversityEFLlearners.Nevertheless,incidentalacquisitionofvocabularythroughlisteningbyChineselearnershashardlybeenresearchedinChina,neitherhastherelationshipbetweenChineselearners'EFLvocabularyacquisitionandtheirmetacognitiveawareness.