A Comparative Study Of FLP Designs Between China And USA

Curriculum is, actually the set of courses and their content which are connected insome order, offered based on the scheduled standard. The curriculum aims at studyingthe whole range of education. Both in China and U.S.A, the curriculum, however,always is the indispensable part. And it directs the academic teaching faculty to designand develop the study contents. In the terms of theory, curriculum is not onlyestablished by the inner structure, different countries’ curriculums need to rely on theirown education syllabus. Depending on the different economy development and thesocial requirements of different nations, their own curriculum program will be different.Firstly, though there are many studies on the FLP designs at homes and abroad,they are usually in regard to the macro level. Just from the general situation and thedevelopment of the FLP designs, including few details from the micro level. Secondly,the domestic studies always with respect to the English education, not refer to the FL,and just give some general descriptions about the whole abroad FLP designs, few givesthe details on one university. The last thing is, this study includes the FLP designsbetween China and U.S.A. in terms of different curriculum components, whichcomprehensively, systematically and deeply to study the two countries’ FLP designs.The aim of the thesis is based on the theoretical framework of the constructivismcurriculum, from the teaching goals, syllabus design, and curriculum structure, thosefactors to make a parallel study between the FLPs design in Beijing University and inUC Berkeley.The thesis based on the constructivism curriculum theory, which tries to deal withthe following issues:1. What are the merits and demerits of the two FLP designs?2. Are there similarities and differences between the two FLP designs?The findings of the thesis are that:1) Generally, the curriculum of the FLP is thesame between the two universities;2) The FLP design in UC Berkeley pays moreattention on the professional major study, whereas in Beijing University, the basiclanguage skills count a lot;3) The credit system are different between two universities;4)According to the constructivism curriculum, the FLP in Beijing University still followthe traditional curriculum design, the whole curriculum can’t satisfy the practical needs of the students. Whereas the FLP in UC Berkeley accords with the constructivismcurriculum, whole curriculum based on the constructivism principles to help thestudents construct their complete and practical knowledge system.In the last chapter, the paper is presented by the author of the limitation, and whoalso gives the suggestion to the further study. In the hope that the thesis can offer aminor reference for the FLP design study in the future.