Middle School English Teachers' Role In The New Curriculum

A new curriculum reform in the fundamental education is under way in China, in which the construction of the National English Curriculum Standards is an important part. The standards points out the goal of the new English curriculum as the attainment of the students' comprehensive ability to use the English language which results from the overall development of both language knowledge and language skills as well as emotions and attitudes, learning strategies and culture awareness. The goal exceeds the previous one that emphasizes the students' command of the language knowledge about English. To achieve the new goal, the English teachers, who are the operator of the curriculum, will have to abandon their old role which concentrates on teaching the students English knowledge.The practice of the new English curriculum has caused the innovation of the course books. Among the new English course books for junior middle school which have passed the examination by the Ministry of Education, the New Junior English for China (NJEC) series produced by the People's Education Press are outstanding and being adopted by junior middle schools in most provinces of China. The NJEC is different from the old junior English course books in that it is aimed at enriching the students' knowledge about a wider world, including a humanistic approach, integrating tasks and activities so that the students' learning is more effective and efficient. The course books are the foundation of teaching. The NJEC poses a great challenge to the junior middle school English teachers and its adoption makes it a must for them to change their roles.This thesis examines the National English Curriculum Standards and the NJEC and defines the roles of the junior middle school English teachers in the new curriculum setting. This thesis also points out how to facilitate the change of the role on the basis of an interview and questionnaire-based survey of what the teachers are thinking and how they are behaving in their teaching with the NJEC.