A Study On The Current Situation Of Students’ English Core Competencies In Senior High Schools In Qiannan

Core competencies as the concentrated reflection of the educational value of the subject,a process of the correct value concept,the necessary quality and the key ability which gradually formed via students’ learning.English core competencies consists of language competence,cultural awareness,thinking quality and learning ability.Under the background of the new curriculum reform,it is obvious that attaching importance to English knowledge and skills are far from enough.English core competencies which combines language competence,cultural awareness,thinking quality and learning ability,has emerged as the demands of the times.Therefore,the research on English core competencies has become meaningful.In this study,1072 student participants from 4 senior high schools in Qiannan were investigated on the current situation of students’ English core competencies.Based on the literature review,the present study adapted a 5-point scale questionnaire and semi-structured interview questionnaires for teachers and students on English core competencies to collect data.After collecting the data,descriptive statistics,independent-samples t-test,one-way ANOVA and thematic analysis were used to answer these questions as follows:1.What is the current situation of students’ English core competencies ?2.Are there any differences in English core competencies between the art oriented and science oriented students?3.Are there any differences in English core competencies for the students among different grades?4.What are the factors affecting senior high school students’ English core competencies?The research results are as follows:1.Students’ English core competencies in senior high school in Qiannan is at a medium level which is close to a low level.Among 4 dimensions of English corecompetencies,all of them are at medium levels.However,the level of thinking quality is the lowest which is close to the low level while the level of cultural awareness is a little higher than the levels of language competence and learning ability.2.There are significant differences between the art oriented and science oriented students and the level of art oriented students is significantly higher than that of science oriented students at different levels and overall.3.There are significant differences among different grades at language competence,thinking quality,learning ability levels and overall.Among them,there are significant differences between G1 and G2,G1 and G3 while there are no significant differences among G1,G2 and G3 at cultural awareness.4.The factors affecting students’ English core competencies were concluded into students’ and non-students factors.Students’ factors include language knowledge,language application,thinking habits,learning methods,self-development awareness and executive power.Non-students’ factors include the teachers’ narrow and old teaching views;the lack of the training of language competencies,cultural awareness,learning methods and thinking quality etc.in class;the restrictions of teachers’ teaching levels;the content-oriented of college entrance exam and more content in textbooks.Based on the results of the above research,there are 4 applications for teachers and students to improve students’ English core competencies in Qiannan:1.Activating class and focusing on thinking quality;2.Valuing differences and cultivating language cognition;3.Reinforcing “language competence--basis,thinking quality--core and cultural awareness & learning ability--two parallel lines simultaneously”,that is “one basis +one core + two lines” training;4.Permeating self-development awareness between teachers and students.