An Analysis Of SVS English Materials Based On Key Competences In English Subject

According to the Framework of Developing Chinese Students' Key Competences issued by Chinese Ministry of Education in 2016,key competences refer to the students' essential character and key capabilities by which they can adapt to the lifelong development and social development.Key competences also refer to students' integrated performances combining with their knowledge,skills,emotion,attitude and the sense of value.Each subject should serve for the development of students' key competences.English,as a subject in secondary vocational school(SVS),plays an essential role in developing secondary vocational students' key competences.So English instruction should focus on fostering students' key competences in English subject.English teaching materials,as the carrier of key competences in English subject,are the main resources from which both teachers and students learn the target language.Thus the materials can play an important role in the cultivation of key competences in English subject.This research is to analyze a set of SVS English materials New Concept Vocational English(the basic module)based on the previous studies and from the perspective of key competences in English subject.The following two questions are to be answered.1.What elements of key competences in English subject are embodied in the SVS English materials New Concept Vocational English(the Basic Module)?2.What do the students and teachers think about the SVS English materials New Concept Vocational English(the Basic Module)from the perspective of key competences in English subject?Based on the previous studies,the goal,content,implementation and evaluation of the materials were examined from the perspective of key competences in English subject to know what elements of key competences in English subject are embodied in the materials.The students and teachers were investigated to know their attitude towards the materials.According to the problems revealed,the revision suggestions for the materials are provided.The major findings are as follows.1.From the perspective of key competences in English subject,the materials to some extent have involved the cultivation of students' language ability,cultural awareness,thinking quality and learning ability.But the involvement of them is inadequate and there are some problems in the goals,content,implementation and evaluation.2.Both teachers and students have positive attitude towards the cultivation of language ability and cultural awareness but hold negative attitude towards the thinking quality and learning ability.In the light of the major findings,the suggestions for the revision of the SVS English materials were provided.1.The goals of the SVS English materials should definitely reflect the cultivation of students' language ability,cultural awareness,thinking quality and learning ability.2.The content of the SVS English materials should be revised from the perspective of key competences in English subject and much more attention should be paid to the humanistic education.The phonetic knowledge,discourse knowledge and pragmatic knowledge should be added.The discourses and tasks should be designed to cultivate students' thinking quality especially the critical thinking.The materials should provide much more learning strategies for different types of knowledge.3.The implementation of the SVS English materials should focus much more on the development of students' cultural awareness,thinking quality and learning ability through language learning.The difference between Chinese thinking and English thinking should be introduced through teachers' instruction,which can promote students' cultural awareness,thinking quality and learning ability.The teachers' book should provide much more instruction strategies about how to cultivate students' key competences in English subject.4.The evaluation in the SVS English materials should reflect the diversity and the difference of the students.It would be better if the teachers' book can provide detailed suggestions and requirement of the evaluation.