Study On The Foreign Language Planning Awareness Of Teachers For English Majors

In the twenty-first century, with the increase of international communication andcooperation, foreign languages are of great significance and thus foreign languageplanning has become a crucial part of language planning in different countries andregions. Theoretically, teachers are the class practitioners of language planning. Theirlanguage planning awareness which includes awareness of understanding, awareness ofimplementation as well as awareness of reflection is of much importance to theoptimization of language planning.The present study investigates English major teachers’ awareness of the currentnational language planning the National English-teaching Curriculum for EnglishMajors in Universities (the NECEMU for short).102English teachers from6universities in Chongqing are selected as research subjects. The study aims to explorethe situation of English major teachers’ foreign language planning awareness throughthe quantitative and qualitative study. The research findings are as follows: in general,foreign language planning awareness of teachers for English majors needs to beimproved. Specifically, the English teachers surveyed have good awareness ofunderstanding as most of them regard themselves as the class practitioners and clearlyunderstand the content of the NECEMU. Besides, they have inadequate awareness ofimplementation of this policy because many of them have encountered some conflictsbetween the NECEMU and reality, teaching belief or students requirements.Furthermore, their poor awareness of reflection on the foreign language planning isobviously apparent as statistic shows. In addition, there is a positive correlation betweenawareness of implementation and awareness of understanding as well as awareness ofreflection.Based on the research findings, the influencing factors of foreign languageplanning awareness will be summarized from macro, meso and micro perspectives. Thenational policy–making process, the attitude of universities towards foreign languageplanning and personal factors are all considered to be influential to teachers’ foreignlanguage planning awareness. Therefore, a series of constructive suggestions arepresented in the last part of this research. At the macro-level, the government needs torevise foreign language planning and formulate regional planning over time by establishspecial organization and encourage forefront teachers to participate in the policy- making process. At the meso-level, the authorities in the universities may pay muchmore attention to foreign language planning and promote the professional developmentof language teachers. Ultimately, at the micro level, teachers for English majors need tocommit themselves to self-enrichment with the purpose of improving foreign languageplanning awareness.