A Study On The Student’s Ecological Niche Under The Perspective Of Ecology

Recently,ecology has played an increasingly important role in College English Teaching research.A large number of researchers have achieved great success in studying college English teaching by using the theory of ecology.However,the current research just focuses on the macro perspective of ecology and little research has been done on the micro perspective of the student’s ecological niche in the process of college English teaching.In fact,it is very useful and important to study the student’s ecological niche to optimize the ecological system of college English teaching in order to obtain better results.Based on previous research,this study examines the student’s ecological niche in the process of college English learning,trying to explore the current situation of the student’s ecological niche while at the same time finding out ways of expanding the student’s ecological niche.The sample for the data is 411 sophomores and 5 teachers from Yunnan Normal University.When data were collected,students had just done the CET 4 in June,2018.The research methods used in this study are a combination of questionnaire and interview in order to quantitatively and qualitatively answer research questions.Then the collected data were analyzed in depth using SPSS 25.0.What has been found after the data analysis are as follows.Firstly,there is a significant difference between male and female students in the ecostate,which is not obvious between Arts and Science students;the ecorole of the student’s ecological niche is at a medium level;it is also clear that a student’s intercultural communication competence is the weakest among the mentioned six abilities in ecorole;furthermore,there are significant differences between male and female students in five categories i.e.learning strategy ability,critical thinking skill,communication and cooperation ability,intercultural communication competence,and information literacy competency,but not in innovation capability;there are no significant differences between Arts and Science students in four categories i.e.learning strategy ability,communication and cooperation ability,innovation capability,information literacy competency but there are in critical thinking skill and intercultural communication competence.Secondly,according to the quantitative data,the main external factors that affect the student’s ecological niche can be divided into five categories:the textbook factor,the teacher factor,the classroom factor,the school curriculum factor,and the family factor.Among these the family factor ranks first.According to the qualitative interview answers,the main external factors that influence the student’s ecological niche can be classified as four factors:pressures of trying to obtain English qualifications,a teacher’s personality,a student’s English education background,and the learning environment factor(family and dormitory).Generally speaking,both quantitative and qualitative data have emphasized the family factor.It is thus clear that families play a very important role in influencing the student’s ecological niche.Thirdly,from teacher’s point of view,the student’s ecological niche can be improved in three ways:the choosing of appropriate teaching materials,the cultivating of a student’s self-regulated learning ability,encouraging students to participate in all kinds of college English contests;and from the students’ perspective,their ecological niche can be expanded five ways:reading as many original English works as possible,acquiring some knowledge about western history and culture,taking part in all kinds of English contests,placing themselves in a real English language context,and developing English learning plans and strategies.In the light of the above findings,it can be concluded that College English could be regarded as an ecosystem in which each factor has its own ecological niche,and they are connected and influenced by each other.The student is an indispensable factor in the college English teaching ecosystem.Thus,both teachers and students should spare no effort to find ways to expand the student’s ecological niche.Most importantly,it is time for them to take ecorole into consideration,and make any changes that are needed to improve an ecostate so as to expand the student’s ecological niche.This present study,however,has some limitations such as a small sample size,and an imperfect questionnaire and synchronic research method.Future research should try to avoid such limitations and explore the issues deeply and comprehensively.