A Case Study Of The Implementation Of The School-based English Course In High School From The Perspective Of Key Competencies

Since the school-based course was incorporated into the three-level curriculum management system in 2001,its significance has been continuously consolidated in practice.The ultimate goal of the school-based course is to complement the national course and local course to cultivate students' Key Competencies which consists of the most important abilities the students need to obtain to meet the requirements of their lifelong development and social development in the future.This study investigates the current situation of the implementation of the school-based English course from the perspective of Key Competencies.The research questions are as follows:(1)What are the attitudes of teachers and students towards the implementation of the school-based English course?(2)How does the school-based English course cultivate students' Key Competencies?(3)What problems exist in the process of the implementation of the school-based English course? What causes these problems?To answer the questions above,this research conducts a case study in Hangzhou Xuejun High School by adopting Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences and Rogers' theory of Humanistic Education as the theoretical basis,employing questionnaire,classroom observation,and interview as research methods.The research has found that most teachers and students are in favor of the implementation of the school-based English course.The teachers design a variety of activities in the school-based English course to cultivate students' competencies.Among the activities,debate,role-play and presentation are the most frequently used ones,which can promote students' language competence and their ability to cooperate as well as facilitate the development of their Key Competencies with emphasis on thinking quality,cultural awareness,and learning ability.However,some problems have been found in the implementation of the course.For students' part,some of them only care about the exams and pay little attention to the content beyond the outline of the examination.For teachers' part,they lack sufficient training and platforms for communicating and sharing resources with other teachers.Teachers often feel confused about how to really implement the school-based English course to cultivate students' Key Competencies.Based on the above conclusion,the research calls upon students to realize the importance of the school-based English course,the school to make more efforts in the field of teacher training.Besides,it is suggested that teachers should learn more about the Key Competencies and try to establish platforms for communicating and sharing resources with other teachers.