A Contrastive Study Of College English Syllabuses Of China Based On Teaching Theory

With the development of higher education in China and the globalization of higher education around the world,college English education becomes increasingly important.Consequently,as the flagship document guiding college English education in China,the college English syllabus has received immense attention from domestic scholars.However,previous academic studies mainly concentrate on one aspect of one selected college English syllabus while contrastive studies among different college English syllabuses have been rarely reported.Therefore,this thesis attempts to compare and analyze five college English syllabuses under the theoretical framework of Satomasao's teaching theory.These five college English syllabuses incorporate English Teaching Syllabus 1962,College English Teaching Syllabus 1985,College English Teaching Syllabus 1986,College English Curriculum Requirements 2004 and College English Curriculum Requirements 2007,all of which are issued by the Ministry of Education of China.The five syllabuses mentioned above are compared and analyzed herein based on Satomasao's teaching theory.Satomasao's teaching theory provides systematic teaching instructions and directions,which includes education theory and instruction theory.It can be summarized into six essences which include educational objective,teaching content,teaching process,teaching methodology,teaching education and teaching organization.The literature study approach and comparative analysis approach are employed to investigate the entire content of the five college English syllabuses in China from both horizontal and vertical aspects in this thesis,as such,the similarities and differences of the five college English syllabuses which were issued at different times are investigated.Through horizontal analysis and vertical analysis,the author finds that the similarities and differences of the five college English syllabuses are mainly reflected in teaching objective,teaching content,teaching methodologies,course design,teaching organization and teaching evaluation.From a diachronic perspective,the teaching objective is more explicit;the teaching contents are richer;the teaching methodologies are more scientific;the course design is more comprehensive;the teaching organization is more systematic;the teaching evaluation is more comprehensive.By further examination,the author finds that these similarities and differences of the five college English syllabuses reflect the changes of other English-related disciplines and the changes of English education policies in China.As for the changes of other English-related disciplines,the progressive updates of college English syllabus reflect that other disciplines tend to be more diversified.As for the changes of English education policy,the content in each college English syllabus reflect the English education policies of China at that time to some extent.On the other hand,the progressive updates of college English syllabus reveal the changes of English education policies in China.To a certain degree,this thesis opens up a new trail for the study of the college English syllabus in China and broadens the application scope of the teaching theory.