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A Study of College Teachers’ and Students’ Perceptions of the Ideal Pedagogic Model of College English in Mainland China 关于中国大陆大学师生对以 ‘中国英语’还是 Native Speaker 的英语 作为标准教学模式的调查研究 Submitted to Department of English and Communication 英文与传播系 in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Philosophy 哲学硕士学位 by HE Deyuan 贺德远 September 2007 二零零七年九月 To my mother ii Abstract By focusing on the ideal pedagogic model of college English in mainland China, this study explores college teachers’ and students’ perceptions towards ‘China English’ in the context of World Englishes, as well as their views about introducing ‘China English’ as part of the teaching model and the possibility of including ‘China English’ and World Englishes into the existing curriculum. In addition, the study also intends to identify the participants’ teacher preference (i.e., the local English teachers — LETs, the native-speaking English teachers — NETs, or both) for teaching of college English in China. The research employed three methods including questionnaire survey, match-guise technique, and interviews (group and individual) to investigate the perceptions and views as conceived by the non-English majors and their Chinese teachers of English. It is revealed that China’s college teachers and students, when compared to the participants in the previous studies, are more familiar with the terms like ‘World Englishes’, ‘China English’, and ‘Chinese English’. Most of them believe that ‘China English’ should be fully codified and developed into a well-established variety of English before being adopted as a teaching model. Most of them still insist on adopting Standard English (i.e., American English or British English) as the pedagogic model in the present situation. At the same time, they agree that select features of ‘China English’ and World Englishes should be incorporated into the existing curriculum for college students in mainland China and that ‘China English’ is easier for China’s English learners to acquire. Furthermore, they also contend that college English should be taught by both LETs and NETs so that the students can iii benefit from both of their teaching. Moreover, this study suggests that the present pedagogic model is not the main reason for college students’ less-than-satisfactory English learning effectiveness. Instead, some other reasons were identified, including learning English simply as a subject for exams rather than as a tool for communication, and a lack of a conducive environment to practice English skills, particularly speaking skills. Taken together, the data obtained from the three research methods yield (to a greater or lesser extent) informative findings suggesting that Standard English is still perceived by college students in mainland China as a more desirable model of English. This is believed to have significant implications for teaching of college English in China. It suggests that ‘China English’ should be well codified and promoted before being adopted as the pedagogic model so that English learning may become easier for China’s learners. It also proposes that the curriculum design of college English should include the introduction of the well-defined characteristics of ‘China English’ and World Englishes. Besides, more LETs should have chance to be trained in English- speaking countries and more NETs should be recruited so as to provide students with a better and more conducive English learning environment. Last but by no means least, college English should be taught as a tool of communication rather than a subject for exams. iv Acknowledgements An MPhil thesis would only become a reality with the guidance, support, and help from many people. First and foremost, I acknowledge my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. David Chor Shing Li, for his continuing encouragement, valuable suggestions and feedback, careful reading and critical comments, and patient guidance throughout my study period. Dr. Li is the most conscientious and responsible supervisor one could find — giving prompt feedback, challenging me with the most “antagonist” questions, urging me to make academic achievements, showing me using his own experiences as examples how to perfect my learning and research, and many more. Besides, he always brought to me up-to-date knowledge and expertise in his research areas. All in all, Dr. Li has influenced and is still influencing my future career since he is such a good, highly qualified supervisor gifted with great charisma; I have benefited not only from his rich experience in academic research, but also from his personal merits: earnest, kind, sincere, and caring. My heartfelt thanks go to all the participants in the four universities in China. Their views and comments gave me boundless inspirations. Without their cooperation and contributions, this thesis would never have been possible. Special thanks go to Yongchang Fu, Zijuan Gao, Shoubin Liu, Ying Liu, Manding Luo, Jie Song, Tianqin Yan, Shenghua Yao, Yi Zeng, Wei Zhang, and Linghui Zhu, who helped me get into contact with my participants. v I’m enormously indebted to Prof Andy Kirkpatrick, Prof Tony Hung, Dr. Graham Lock, Dr. Wai King Tsang, Dr. Kenneth Rose, Dr. Angel Lin, Dr. Mee Ling Lai, Dr. Zhichang Xu, and Dr. Jianda Liu who gave me generous help and valuable suggestions in my thesis writing and courses study in City University of Hong Kong. I would like to extend my gratitude to many friends, Susanna Chan, Agnes Chen, Chunyan Chen, Xiao Chen, Elaine Chow, Xiao Han, Fuquan He, Shujun Jiang, Fiona Kwok, Hongtao Li, Ruya Li, Quanzhou Liao, Gongcheng Lin, Enoch Man, Taiquan Peng, Xiaomei Wang, Emy Wong, Ivy Wong, Changchun Xue, Stella Yan, Carton Zhang, Zhijin Zhong and among many others, for their kind support and willingness to share ideas, information, and feelings. Their friendship and understanding made my two-year journey to MPhil thesis colorful and enjoyable. Also, I wish to express my profound gratitude to my family, my parents, my sisters, and my brothers. They have been so supportive and encouraging that I can always feel their deep care and love for me although we are thousands of miles apart. Last, but by no means least, I’m thankful to my wife, Candace Zhang, whose deep and warm love is the most important source of courage and motivation for me to pursue my dream. Being so thoughtful and being always there for me, she has helped me in the most special and tender way! Needless to say, I alone am responsible for any remaining inadequacies in the dissertation. vi Table of Contents Abstract.......................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements...................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ......................................................................................... vi List of Abbreviations..................................................................................... x List of Tables ................................................................................................ xi List of Figures............................................................................................. xiii List of Appendices ..................................................................................... xiv Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................. 1 1.1 Research background ·····························································································1 1.2 Incentives···············································································································3 1.3 Research questions·································································································9 1.4 Methodological design and data collection methods ············································11 1.5 Organization of the thesis·····················································································15 Chapter 2 Literature Review ...................................................................... 17 2.1 The globalization of English ················································································17 2.1.1 The reasons for the globalization of English ..............................................................18 2.1.2 The models and categories for the globalization of English.......................................19 2.2 A debate on the model of English to teach in mainland China ·····························23 2.3 Current research aspects of ‘China English’·························································28 2.3.1 ‘China English’: the term and the key arguments.......................................................29 2.3.2 People’s familiarity with some terms beyond the research circle...............................39 2.3.3 Specific linguistic levels and characteristics of ‘China English’ ................................40 vii 2.3.3.1 Phonology............................................................................................................40