A Survey On The Cultivation Of Junior High School Students’ Core Competences Of English

With the promulgation of The Opinions on the Reform in Curriculum in Depth and the Implementation of the Basic Task of Moral Values Establishment issued by the Ministry of Education,the implementation of key competence cultivation has become the key foothold of education curriculum reform.English Curriculum Standards for General Senior High Schools(2017 Edition,2020 Revision)summarizes the core competencies of English subjects into four aspects: language competence,cultural awareness,thinking quality and learning ability.In April 2022,English Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education(2022 Edition)issued by the Ministry of Education condensed the goals that should be achieved in the English curriculum in junior and middle schools based on the four aspects of core competency.It clearly states that the English curriculum concept should “play the leading role of core competency: English courses should focus on core competencies,reflect the nature and philosophy of the curriculum,and establish curriculum goals”.It can be seen that the reform of the compulsory education curriculum is based on the educational goal of“cultivating students’ core competency”.As a language subject,the importance of ensuring the continuity of English teaching is beyond doubt.The junior high school stage is a critical period for the cultivation of subject core literacy.At the same time,junior high school,as the basic stage of English learning,plays a foundational role in the learning of high school and college English.Therefore,it is of great significance to investigate the current situation of junior high school students’ English core competency.Based on humanistic theory,constructivist theory and holistic education theory,this study uses questionnaire survey method and interview method to investigate the current situation of core literacy cultivation among 321 students and 95 English teachers in Xi’an junior high school,aiming to explore two questions:(1)What is the current status of the cultivation of junior high school students’ English core competency in Xi’an?(2)What are the reasons for the current situation of the cultivation of junior high school students’ English core competency in Xi’an?This study found that:(1)the cultivation of the core competency of English subjects among junior high school students in Xi’an still needs to be improved.The development of students’ language competence,cultural awareness,thinking quality and learning ability is uneven.In terms of language competence,students’ language input ability is better than output ability;In terms of cultural awareness,students have good intercultural communication awareness,but the application of intercultural communication skills is insufficient;In terms of thinking quality,students have a sense of reflection but lack a sense of innovation;In terms of learning ability,students’ ability to master learning strategies is better than their learning attitude.At the same time,teachers pay attention to the cultivation of students’ language competence and learning ability,but neglect the cultivation of thinking quality: in terms of language competence,teachers neglect the cultivation of students’ oral skills;In terms of cultural awareness,teachers lack the necessary cultural knowledge to expand in teaching;In terms of thinking quality,the cultivation of logic is more valued by teachers than the cultivation of critical thinking and innovation.In terms of learning ability,teachers neglect the cultivation of students’ interest in learning.(2)There are several reasons affecting the cultivation of English key competency of junior high school students in Xi’an: Teachers do not provide sufficient positive guidance on the learning attitude of junior high school students;The pressure of the high school entrance examination makes the school too much pursuit of teaching progress,and the core literacy cultivation is weak;There are few training activities related to core literacy in junior high school English subjects,resulting in teachers lacking corresponding core competency guidance models.Based on the above findings,this study puts forward some recommendations from both teachers and schools:(1)Teachers should change their teaching concepts in a timely manner: when cultivating students’ language ability,they should create English teaching situations as much as possible and pay attention to the cultivation of oral skills;When cultivating students’ cultural awareness,teachers should pay attention to supplementing the cultural connotation behind the text,and at the same time improve students’ cross-cultural communication application ability;When cultivating students’ thinking quality,teachers should carry out rich teaching activities to activate students’ thinking and encourage students to express their ideas;When cultivating students’ learning ability,teachers should start from the interests of junior high school students and strengthen positive guidance for students’ learning attitudes.(2)Schools should form an English core competency training system suitable for the school: they should avoid blindly pursuing teaching progress and set up a flexible and relaxed teaching environment;At the same time,the training content should be adjusted to provide teachers with effective English core competency training guidance strategies;Teaching activities suitable for the cultivation of English core competency of junior high school students should be carried out;Diversified teaching evaluations should be formulated to pay attention to the formation of students’ abilities and literacy.