European Journal of Education Studies
ISSN: 2501 - 1111
ISSN-L: 2501 - 1111
Available on-line at: www.oapub.org/edu
doi: 10.5281/zenodo.216479
Volume 3 │ Issue 1 │ 2017
A STUDY ON PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS OF
PRIV“TE UNIVERSITY’S ENGLISH TE“CHING –
A CASE STUDY OF A BEIJING PRIVATE UNIVERSITYi
Zhao Jingya
Beijing Language and Culture University, China
Abstract:
Aims: As a part of university education, college English teaching in private universities
is important. The aim of this article is to conduct a survey about the English teaching in
these private universities, trying to find out the problems in teaching and learning of
English in these private universities, and analyze the deep reasons behind these
problems, based on the teaching and learning of English at a university in Beijing.
Study Design: This research has been undertaken both from qualitative (mainly from
related theories and researches) and quantitative studies (including questionnaire
survey, and interviews with teachers and students). The qualitative study could give a
basic understanding about the teaching and learning of English conditions in private
universities, while the quantitative research was aimed at getting precise statistics
which could be used for evaluating whether the results from qualitative study were
right or wrong. Data collection involved several research methods, such as document
analysis, questionnaire survey, and interviews with teachers and students. Then, a deep
analysis of the data was conducted to find out the problems existing regarding college
teaching of English at a private university and to analyze the reasons behind these
problems. Finally, the author suggested some solutions to solve these problems.
Methodology: 1) Document analysis: the author could not come into contact with all
private universities’ administrators to investigate this research and the author then
turned to analyze their published papers in order to find out teaching and learning of
English conditions in private colleges. 2) Interviews: the author interviewed some
teachers and administration-related people about the English teaching and learning in a
This paper is supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities and the Research
Funds of Beijing Language and Culture University. The project number is 16YCX 120.
i
Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved.
© 2015 – 2017 Open Access Publishing Group
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A STUDY ON PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS OF PRIV“TE UNIVERSITY’S ENGLISH TE“CHING –
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Beijing private university. 3) Questionnaire: the author conducted a questionnaire
survey among 200 students about their satisfactory level on their teaching and learning
of English.
Results: Although private universities have made great improvements in teaching and
learning of English, problems (such as unclear teaching objectives, the lack of scientific
teaching methods, the shortage of advanced teachers, and students lacking in study
motivation) still exist.
Conclusion: We can solve these problems through the related theories and work
together with the related people.
Keywords: private college; English teaching and learning; problems and reasons;
suggestions
1. Introduction
With China’s economic and education reform, private universities are being built in
China. Private universities are higher educational schools which are implementing
undergraduate education but their financial supports come from non-government
sponsored expenditures of education and they need new codes of management under
new systems. Although private universities are facing challenges and difficulties, they
will finally develop into fully dependent institutions of higher learning. Quality
improvement in teaching and learning of students plays a very important role in a
private university’s development. “s a part of university education, college English
teaching is also important. Thus, it is very important to do research on teaching and
learning of English in private universities.
2. Literature Review
2.1 Important Definitions
A.
Private Universities
Specifically, private universities are higher education institutions run by Nongovernment sponsored institutions (including enterprises, institutions, and social
organizations), based on non-state financial education funds. It is a concept in contrast
with the public colleges which are run by the government. In China, the foundation of
private universities can be dated back to 1980s and within about the last 20 years of
development, private universities can be found in almost every province in China. As of
June 21, 2013 there were 2198 private universities and 298 adult higher colleges in
China. Those private universities play very important roles in education.
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B.
College English Teaching
College English refers to English taught to these non-English major students who are
studying in college. "College English", as the name suggests, refers to the teaching of
public English compared with professional English teaching. College English teaching
involves a wide range in teaching contents and a large number of students. It is a
compulsory course to all non - English major students with a teaching scale more than
other disciplines. We can see that college English teaching is very important in terms of
college education.
This study summarizes the features of English teaching in private universities on
the basis of private university characteristics and the concept of college English teaching
of English. College English teaching in private universities is performed by teaching
public English courses that are taught to non-English major students who study in
private universities based on non-state financial educational funds.
2.2 The Related Research about English Teaching in Private Universities
Research about private university teaching and learning of English dates back to
1980s.The research on the problems of college English teaching in private universities
mainly concentrates on the following aspects:
A.
Research about Private Universities’ Students with Low English Scores, Low
English Proficiency, and Have Deviation in English Learning “ttitudes
In articles like Analyze the Advantages and Disadvantages of Separating the
Administration of English Test with English Teaching in Private Universities’ English
Teaching [1], Research on Improving the Education Quality of the Private University [2]
and On the English Teaching Reform in Private Universities [3] and so on, many
researchers conducted analysis regarding the English proficiency of the students in
private university. They found out that those students have low English proficiency and
their self-training abilities are also low and their college entrance examination scores are
about 100 points lower than those who received the admission in the first group and 50
points lower than those who received the admission in the second group. Regarding the
background of the increase in college admission, many students with low scores enter
into private universities. In articles like Research on the Construction of New Model
about English Teaching in Private University [4], The Special Orientation of the English
Teaching Requirement in Private University [5] and Exploration about Reform of
English Teaching in Private University [6], scholars also point that the majority of
students in the same class fear learning English. They are weak in their abilities such as
listening, speaking, reading and writing of English, which pose great difficulties and
pressure on English teaching.
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B.
Research on Private Universities’ Ignoring Their Own Characteristics
The book published by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China
Measures for the Establishment and Administration of Independent Colleges [7] gives
us a description about the developments and problems existing in private colleges.
Private universities are higher education schools, which are implementing
undergraduate education. The financial support of those private universities comes
from non-governmental funds. They will finally develop into fully dependent
institutions of higher learning. That is to say, those private universities make money
from students. Thus in the process of administration, they tend to ignore the study
conditions of the students, which may make things worse. Exploration about Current
Situations and Models of Teaching Management in Private Universities [8] and How to
Improve the Teaching Management Quality in Private Universities under New
Situations [9] point out that the cultivation mechanism of the independent college is
monotonous, and those universities do not give full attention to the advantages they
have.
C.
Research about the Teachers’ Group Construction Needs to ”e “djusted in
Private University
In the article called Independent College English Teachers' Quality Report [10], Yu Feng
& Hu Haipeng gives us a picture about the teachers’ basic conditions. 6.6% teachers are
51 years old or more; 10.1% teachers are between 36 years old and 50 years old, while
74.3% teachers are below 36 years old. About their educational background: teachers
who received their doctorate degree diploma make up less than 0.4%; those who
received their master degree diploma make up 29.8% and 69.8% teachers only received
got their bachelor degree. About the academic research conditions: most teachers do not
do any academic research and those who have published some academic papers are out
of their career purpose. From this report, we can see that those teachers who teach in
private universities, with relatively low education backgrounds, lack teaching
experiences and they do not have enough academic research achievements.
D.
Research about the Monotonous Teaching Model of Private Universities
Liu Haoran (2009) [10] Wuchangqing (2008) [4] say that nowadays the teaching models
in private universities are still outdated. Namely, the teachers are in the leading
positions in the whole class and students listen to their teachers without speaking a
word. They also say that in most private universities, English is taught in large lecture
classes and students have little chance to practice speaking, writing and so on. Zhao
Changyu (2008) [2] and Zhangwenqin (2010) [11] make several suggestions on the
monotonous teaching of English model. And PanQinghua (2010) [12] suggested that we
must adjust the monotonous teaching of English model in private universities and we
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A CASE STUDY OF A BEIJING PRIVATE UNIVERSITY
should introduce new English models of teaching and improve the teacher’s quality at
the same time.
From the above analysis, we can find that teachers of English in private
universities play a very important role in English teaching of English. So we should
give those teachers teaching more training. Also, other problems still exist in private
universities’ English teaching and learning. Thus, further research is necessary.
3. Methodology
This research was undertaken both from (mainly from related theories and researches)
and quantitative studies (including questionnaire survey, and interviews with teachers
and students).The qualitative study could give a basic understanding about the
teaching and learning of English conditions in private universities, while the
quantitative research was aimed at getting precise statistics which are used for
evaluating whether the results from qualitative study were right or wrong. Data
collection involved several research methods, such as document analysis, questionnaire
survey, and interviews with teachers and students.
3.1 Introduction about the Beijing Private University which I used for sample
The Beijing private university is a full-time modern vocational education university
approved by the Beijing Municipal Education Commission, combining engineering,
professional higher education, vocational higher education, and vocational skills
education. It was located in Shangdi Information Industry Park, Haidian District,
Beijing and was founded in 1996. It soon became a famous private university with more
than 16,000 students in 2015. This university soon became a model for other private
universities.
3.2 Related Research Methods and Process Used in This Research
a.
Document analysis and class observation
The author turned to analyze their published papers in order to find out the private
college English teaching and learning conditions, because the author could not come
into contact with all administrators to investigate this research. Then the author made
summaries about the useful information. After communication with the concerned
person, the author had the chance to observe 5 classes about their English teaching and
study conditions and mainly focused on the teacher’s teaching teaching style and
methods, class discipline and teacher-student interaction and students’ learning the
textbook they used, their attitude in English class, their communication with their
teacher and their attitude toward English assignments). The teacher and the students
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were aware of the author’s presence, but the author only observed and made records
objectively without participation in the English class.
b)
Interviews
The author interviewed some teachers and administration-related people about the
English teaching and learning at this Beijing private University. She then interviewed
the vice president of this school to obtain a basic understanding about the English
teaching and learning in this school. This interview was mainly based on the following
questions: 1) Do you think this private university gives enough importance to the
English teaching and learning (both in aspects about teaching resources used in
teaching English and English teacher’s training?
Can you give some comparison
about the differences in English teaching and learning between this private university
and those universities founded by the government? 3) What are the problems in this
private university and how you plan to resolve these problems?
Then the author interviewed the director of Human Resources about the
teacher’s information. The interview was mainly based on questions like can you give
me a detailed summary about the education background of those English teachers? 2)
What kinds of team building programs and training systems have been implemented in
this private university?
The director who is in charge of the English teaching was also interviewed. The
author mainly asked him the following questions: 1) How do you organize the English
teaching and learning and what do you think of it in this university? 2) How do you
evaluate teacher’s teaching and students learning?
Does the teacher have enough
resources (like multi-media teaching equipment, books, and academic funds)?
Then the author interviewed 10 teachers about their opinions about English
teaching and learning in this university. The main questions were 1) are you satisfied
with your work in this school and do you want to have the chance to have advanced
study?
What’s the biggest barrier you experience in English teaching?
Do you
think this private university gives enough importance to English teaching and learning?
4) Do you feel the English teaching and learning materials are appropriate for your
students? 5) What kind of teaching methods and strategies do you use in your English
class? 6) Can you give us brief summaries about the characteristics of your students and
their learning conditions? 6) Do you make the teaching objectives according to the
syllabus? 7) What are the problems in English teaching and learning in this university
and can you give some strategies to deal with these problems?
c.
Questionnaire
The author made a questionnaire survey among 200 students about their satisfactory
level in their English teaching and learning in the Beijing private University based on
those interview results. The contents of the questionnaire survey contained three parts.
It was made up of 15 multiple choice questions and two open-ended questions related
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to conditions of university aspects, teacher aspects, and aspects about the students
themselves. 200 questionnaires were handed out and collected back. 130 male students
and 70 female students participated in this survey.
4. Problems in English Teaching and Learning in the Beijing Private University
Based on the data obtained through the above research methods, the author made a
deep analysis about the problems that exist in English teaching and learning in the
Beijing private university:
4.1 Positioning and the Teaching Goal is not Clear
College English Curriculum Requirements [13] gives us a clear description about the
teaching goal of college English teaching: college English teaching is an important part
of higher level education and English should be required for all college students. The
teaching of English should focus on basic knowledge of English and applied skills,
cross-cultural communication and learning strategies, combined with multiple English
teaching modes and methods, based on the theories of foreign language teaching. That
is to say, the purpose of English teaching is to cultivate students’ English
comprehensive application abilities, especially the listening and speaking abilities. But
this situation should be based on the actual situation of college students and
adjustments may need to be made. Many private universities do not have clear teaching
goals in English teaching and they set English teaching goals based on imitation of
some public university, but this is not appropriate. Because the English foundation of
private college students is relatively weak, students have difficulties in basic grammar
so we cannot force them to have a leap in English listening, speaking, reading, and
writing. For example, at this private university in Beijing, 60% of students fear English
learning and they do not have good English learning habits, which leads to deep
frustration in learning of English. In this situation, the teaching goal of the private
university should be to make adjustments according to the actual situations of students’
English proficiency. College English Curriculum Requirements [13] also proposed that
the students’ proficiency and actual teaching may vary, so the college English teaching
should be based on classification, guidance and make a consideration about students’
aptitudes. So the private university should make a clear understanding about the actual
language proficiency of students and pinpoint their teaching goals based on those
actual situations.
4.2 The Teaching Method is not Scientific
Private universities keep their outdated teaching models with a teaching syllabus and
monotonous teaching model. English teachers are the center of the whole class without
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concerning the different English levels of students while the students listen to their
teacher passively without speaking a word. And most classes are large group classes.
The teaching equipment includes blackboards and chalk. What students need to do is to
make notes and do assignments. This can easily lead to students’ losing interest toward
English learning and they may not think about whether the teacher’s teachings are right
or wrong since they never ask questions about their learning. In the Beijing private
university, the students have a weak foundation in English. According to the entrance
examination test, 80% students have a vocabulary of less than 1000 words. They cannot
follow up the large group class (more than 50 students). In this large group class, the
teachers and students do not have enough chances to communicate neither do students
have enough time to express themselves. It is also difficult for teachers to control the
discipline of so many students. What’s worse, those students have English class in their
first and second semester study and in the third and fourth semester, they do not learn
English at all, which worsens their probability of finding a job.
4.3 Private University, with Rigid Teaching Thought, Did not attach Enough
Importance to the Cultivation of the Integrated Use of English
One problem existing in current college English teaching is that the teaching thought
relatively lags behind and it mainly behaves in the following aspects:
On one hand, they do not solve well the contradiction between unity and
diversity. For more than ten years, the developments and reforms of private universities
teaching English, in fact, are based on the road of standardization of foreign language
teaching. That is to say, they gradually establish and perfect a unified teaching outline
and test system. The unified syllabus and test systems do play a positive role in terms of
promoting college English teaching in China. But the unified outline and examination,
to some extent, constrained the development of college teaching of English because they
do not adapt to the development requirements of personalization and diversification of
higher education.
On the other hand, the cultivation of universities of English application ability is
not enough. The syllabus clearly puts forward that the teaching goal of college teaching
of English is to cultivate students' strong ability of reading and accurate listening,
speaking, reading, writing and translation ability. It gives too much emphasis on
reading ability and ignores other abilities, which leads to Mute English . It is obvious
that this lagging behind teaching thought is no longer suitable for the rapidly changing
society. Private College as a higher education form developed in recent years, has
limitations adhering to the original thoughts on the teaching ideas (to achieve unity)
seriously deviating from their own characteristics. The principle of private colleges is
not out of public welfare purpose but for profit concerns for the operators. To some
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extent, they will not give enough attention to non-professional major subjects which
leads to great limitations to the private universities teaching of English.
4.4 Faculty Construction Is Insufficient
The faculty construction is insufficient in private universities, which can be found from
two perspectives:
On the one hand, teacher's academic qualification is relatively low in the private
university. That is they are low in their education background and are weak in
competence and skills. Most teachers in the Beijing private university are fresh
graduates or postgraduates, who have problems regarding their changing roles from
being students to becoming teachers. In addition, many of them are not normal school
students, without any systematic teachers training, effective class organization abilities,
and English academic abilities. According to the interview with the director of Human
Resources, 83.3 % teachers in this university only obtain bachelor degree diplomas
from the common university undergraduate education, and only less than 15% of
teachers hold their master degree diploma. Even some teachers are graduates from
private universities. There are limited training opportunities for teachers in this school.
On the other hand, private universities’ teachers have poor comprehensive
abilities. The teaching ability is proportional to the teachers' quality. In the existing
private colleges, many teachers have some deficiencies which are more or less common
phenomena among these private universities (the University the author conducted
research included). In the student questionnaire about teachers teaching and class
observation, it was found that 1/3 of teachers in that private university have deficiencies
in reading and writing (some teachers do not use complete sentences in class and they
choose words or phrases instead). About 1/3 of teachers do not use English as the only
teaching language in class, and their teaching focuses on grammar and words, taught in
Chinese, which shows that those teachers are weak in spoken English. On the other
hand, from the point of scientific research, teachers seldom do any academic research
programs in this university. I cannot find any articles published in national journals.
Academic research is an important way of cultivating the talent and
improvement of the teachers' own quality. Standing in the forefront of scientific
research, teachers can continuously put forward problems, find new research results,
and use those findings to impart new knowledge to students. Secondly, scientific
activities can promote classroom teaching, guide students extracurricular activities of
science and technology, combining theory and better practice. Through the above
analysis, it is not hard to conclude that private university teachers' quality is low and
less scientific research activities involved.
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4.5 Private University Students Lack of Good Motivation and Study Method to
Learning of English
Those students have low English proficiency and their self-training abilities are also
low. Their college entrance examination scores are about 100 points lower than those
who received admission into the first group and 50 points lower than those who
received admission into the second group. Students' English foundations are not good
and study levels are uneven. With the enrollment expansion of colleges and universities
in recent years, some students with weak academic foundations enter into private
colleges and universities. For example in the private university the author conducted
research at, students’ English scores vary from a minimum of 9 points to a maximum of
116 points. Also, most students fear learning English. Their English listening, speaking,
reading and writing ability is generally not strong. Most students have a weak English
base and uneven English proficiency. This creates many difficulties for basic English
implementation and organization of teaching of English in the classroom. Through the
results of interviews with the teachers, and students, we can observe that students
experience problems in learning attitude, motivation, and learning method such as:
firstly, most of the students think that English learning of English is dispensable.
Secondly, some students think textbook knowledge taught in the classroom by their
teacher is only to cope with the exam. Thirdly, some of the students want to learn
English better, but have not found a good method.
So, we have come to learn that there are so many problems in private college
English teaching and learning that we must find out the deep reasons that lead to these
problems.
5. Reasons That Lead To Problems Regarding English Teaching in Private
Universities
5.1 The School Property Influence its English Teaching in Private University
Private colleges and universities are depending on self-raised funds to run universities.
The school funds, venues, students, and teachers are acquired from the market, which
drives private colleges to the properties of the corresponding characteristics, which are
different from public universities autonomy and inflexible operation mechanism.
Private colleges in our country basically have the following limitations:
A.
Unlimited expansion in enrollment
As is known, a non-government college depends on funding from multiple sources
(personal or corporate social groups).The original intention of the operators is the
pursuit of economic interests or or maximizing these interests in addition to the public
education benefits. In this process, many colleges and universities neglect the teaching
quality and the quality of students. Private universities with unlimited enrollment
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expansion completely ignore the integration of internal resources, external resources,
and the size of the faculties. What’s worse, school library construction cannot meet the
requirements of students' learning, which seriously negatively affects student learning.
B.
The management system lacks integrity
Private universities introduce those investors who have never been involved in the
education of school management. These people know how to run a business, an asset,
but when it comes to running an educational cause, their principles are sometimes
contrary to education itself. Their management focuses on the benefits rather than the
quality of teaching and student learning.
5.2 The Ambiguous Attitude of Students toward English Learning
From the results of interviews with teachers and students, we can find the
characteristics of private university students in the university where the author
conducted his/her research:
A.
Students’ cognition of English learning
The family conditions of private school students are relatively rich. They are spoiled
from home, students’ self-discipline is poor, and their self-management abilities are
weak, without clear goals of learning English. The students can't bear any challenges
and failures. Because of their weak foundation in English learning, they can't express
themselves in front of many students. They tend to attribute their poor English to their
poor abilities rather than pay more efforts to English learning.
B.
The Students' English Learning Attitude
Private college students, generally speaking, do not have good study habits.They
generally believe that as long as they have entered into the university, there is no need
to study hard. English is not a professional course. The only reason for learning English
is to pass the English examinations. Due to social, family, and individual factors, private
university students don’t form good learning habits and good attitudes toward English
learning.
5.3 The Selection of Teaching Material is not Appropriate
With the reforms of English teaching in college and the developments of a variety of
teaching theories, along with college English teaching materials continuously changing,
private college English teaching materials need to give full consideration to the
characteristics of the students. For example, in the university where the research was
conducted, 90/200 students feel that their teaching materials are too difficult to
understand. In the process of the interview, many teachers also put forward that the
textbooks are not suitable for the students. The textbooks they use have a high level
starting point and large quantities of vocabulary, along with long and difficult text with
demanding comprehension, placing more challenges upon the English teaching
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process. ”ecause the students’ English foundations are poor, it is difficult for them to
digest the knowledge in the textbooks, which makes them frustrated.
5.4 Teachers' Structure Is Imperfect
The current non-government college faculty is composed of three parts: part-time
teachers (postgraduate students from public colleges and teachers), retired teachers
(from public universities), and the school full-time teachers (mostly fresh graduates).
Although these part-time teachers have rich teaching experiences, they teach students
for economic reasons and they do not teach very seriously. According to the
communication with students and their work attendance provided by the director of
Human Resources,
sometimes they are absent with unreasonable excuses, which
seriously affects the normal teaching order. Retired teachers, with rich teaching
experience and a strong sense of responsibility, can ensure the quality of teaching. But
their physical strength is not enough; the class reaction is relatively slow; the classroom
teaching of information is not wide enough; and they are not willing to prepare a lesson
to supplement new knowledge. All of these often lead to students having a low
efficiency in English study.
Full-time teachers in private universities are young without rich teaching
experiences. Their classes are active with positive interaction with students. They can
work with the students in a timely fashion and can tutor after class. But these teachers
are hired after graduation and their knowledge reserves are insufficient. They can’t
completely fit the requirements of higher education. To summarize, the teachers in the
private university need improvement to meet their students’ learning of English needs.
6. Solutions toward Those Problems in Private Universities Teaching English
6.1 Attach Proper Importance to College English Teaching
In response to severe challenges put forward by the 21st century and the new situations
in colleges and universities (that is, expanding enrollment) and making the college
English teaching reform smoothly, we must carefully study the college English teaching
requirements. [14] College English teaching and learning should consider the
differences between different areas and different universities. College English teaching
can be divided into general requirements, high requirements, and higher requirements.
College English graded teaching not only respects the rule of understanding, but also
earnestly implements the classified guidance according to their aptitudes. The principle
not only fully gives the teaching unit of teaching autonomy, but also fully embodies the
principle of linking to the high school English teaching. [15] Although it did not give a
clear definition for non-government funded colleges teaching English, but has certain
guiding significance for private universities. In this case, our country's non-government
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colleges must have a clear position on teaching English. Every college should establish
their own teaching orientations in accordance with their students’ actual level of
English proficiency. The normal requirements include:
a.
Listening: Students should understand teaching in English; should understand
everyday English conversations, general theme lectures; should understand a speed
slower than English radio and TV shows.
b. Speaking: Students should use English to make communication in the learning
process, to discuss a topic, to make conversation about daily life, and should make a
brief speech about familiar topics after preparation.
c.
Reading: students should understand basic general topics of English articles and
their reading speed should reach 70 words per minute.
d.
Writing: Students should complete the general writing task, describe their
personal experiences, give perceptions and feelings surrounding events, should write
common practical writing, make a general topic outline, and write no less than a 120
word essay in half an hour.
e.
Translation: Students, with the help of a dictionary, should perform EnglishChinese translations about a familiar theme or article. The English-Chinese translation
speed should be about 300 words per hour. Students should make Chinese-English
translations at the rate of about 250 Chinese characters per hour. There should be no
major language errors and the understanding in the translation should be accurate.
f.
Vocabulary: Students should master 4795 words and 700 phrases, of which 2000
words are active vocabulary, namely the students should be able to apply these words
in both oral and written expression on the basis of cognition.
”ecause private school students’ foundation is poor, so they can also adjust their
requirements according to the actual need. Shu Dingfang & Chen Suyan [16] gives us a
specific description about how the University of Nottingham makes evaluation
regarding each student and teacher in teaching English. Students and teachers work
together to further understand and make clear English learning objectives, learning
resources, and comprehend learning styles after entering into university. Private
universities should learn from this model.
6.2 Private Colleges and Universities Ought to Introduce Scientific Teaching Models,
Updating Teaching Content
The traditional teaching models are not suitable for private colleges teaching English.
So we need to start with a successful teaching model with appropriate content. Private
colleges teaching English patterns and designs can be summarized by the following
principles: the principle of cohesion, culture and originality. Therefore, in the reform of
private universities, we must avoid the tendency of blindly following the transplanting
of Western second language theories and practices when we introduce the new college
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teaching of English methodology. One of the characteristics of private college students
is the lack of autonomous learning ability, so it is important to strengthen the
cultivation of a student’s autonomous learning ability. “ccording to domestic and
foreign scholars, research findings on foreign language, autonomous learning can be
divided into several aspects:
Attitude: learners are responsible for their own learning and actively devote
themselves to learning.
strategies in order to finish their learning tasks independently.
Ability: the learners should cultivate English learning ability and the learning
Environment: the learners should be given plenty of opportunity to exercise their
own learning ability.
Positive learning attitudes, independent learning abilities, and rich resources are
the main components of autonomous learning. Private universities should focus on
cultivating and correcting the students' learning attitude, changing the idea of
undermining attitude toward learning English. They should let the students know that
language learning not only meets the needs of working environments and social
cohesion but also has a great significance in self-improvement and the realization of
their values. The most important methods to cultivate the students' independent
learning ability is changing students' learning mentality, establishing the confidence
of students' learning, so students who don't like learning English can find the fun of
learning and form the habitats of autonomous learning. The school should create a
good learning environment and should attach great importance to the construction of
campus culture, which will promote the construction of study style. Campus culture
refers to a school that has a specific cultural atmosphere and spiritual environment.
Private universities should regularly hold English contests, English corners, English
interactive activities, and invite some famous people to make speeches. All of these
ideas will make sure that students are immersed in in a strong cultural atmosphere of
learning English.
6.3 Strengthen the Cultivation of Teachers' Ability
The teachers’ faculty construction is the key to ensure the quality of private college
English teaching. To build a highly efficient unified team of teachers of English, we
should pay attention to the following:
a.
Promote orderly continuing education training and pay attention to the
cultivation of teachers' mental health. Private universities should make improvements
respecting their teachers’ abilities to teach, be innovative at the core of their teaching,
provide overall planning and distribution of training year by year and should also
attach great importance to teachers' latest knowledge on enrichment and improvement.
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b.
Emphasis on teachers’ team construction, and improve the foreign language
teachers' scientific research ability. Private college teachers, most of which are young,
take the double pressure of family and society. They are very busy with the realization
of the interests of the individual in or after the teaching process .Thus to improve the
teaching quality; they must build a team of teachers. First of all, we should understand
the purpose of each teacher, and make sure that every teacher can find a sense of
belonging and sense of worth as they teach. [17]
The academic research should meet the needs of teachers' personal development;
ensure that the teachers' professional knowledge, teaching methods, theories and
practices can make improvements, meeting the needs of social development.
6.4 Develop the Students' Learning Interest, Motivation and Study Method
In the process of English teaching, teachers should integrate theory with practice. The
example should combine the actual life and be vivid, which will help students
understand better the content of what they have learnt. Teachers should make use of
aids teaching skills efficiently and give full play to the function of the language lab and
multimedia. Language learning is a process of exposing to input and giving output. In
today's modern teaching, input is not only teachers’ spoken language and the students'
study. Many schools have multimedia teaching equipment and the students can view
the film, learn English songs by audio-visual way of learning English. Finally, private
college English teachers should pay attention to the students' learning psychology. They
need more patience with their students and timely communication with the students. In
the actual teaching, the teacher adjusts the progress of the class according to student's
psychological change.
7. Conclusion
This article is an attempt to conduct a survey on the English teaching conditions in
private universities based on the teaching and learning of English in a Beijing private
university. Trying to find the problems that existed in the college teaching English of
private university, the author analyzed both from qualitative and quantitative studies.
Data collection involved several research methods, such as document analysis,
questionnaire survey, and interviews with teachers and students at the Beijing private
university. Based on the results received from document analysis, questionnaire survey,
and interviews, the author found that (1) The teaching goal is not clear. (2) The teaching
method is not scientific. (3) Private university, with rigid teaching thought, did not
attach enough importance to the cultivation of the integrated use of English. (4) Faculty
construction is insufficient. (5) Private university students lack good motivation and
study methods regarding English learning. The author analyzed the reasons that have
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A CASE STUDY OF A BEIJING PRIVATE UNIVERSITY
led to the problems from several perspectives. At last, the author has given four
suggestions to solve these problems that are to attach proper Importance to college
teaching of English; introduce scientific teaching models, updating teaching content;
strengthen the cultivation of teachers' ability and develop the students' learning
interest, motivation and study methods. The author is confident that the research would
help the Beijing private university in improving their college teaching of English as well
as the other private university teachers of English to learn something about their
teaching from this research.
References
[1]
Liu Xiaoli. (2009) Analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of separating the
administration of English test with English teaching in private universities’ English
teaching. Examination Journal, 26.
[2]
Zhao Chang Yu. (2008)Research on improving the education quality of private
universities. Journal of Forum on Contemporary Education,12.
[3]
Wang Yunxia. (2010) On the English teaching reform in the private university.
Journal of Science.
[4]
Wu Changqing. (2008) Research on the construction of new model about English
teaching in private university. Journal of Crazy English (Teachers), 01.
[5]
LiZuHua&ZouLi. (2007) The special orientation of the English teaching
requirement in private university. Journal of Education about Private University.
[6]
Li Yongfang. (2009) Exploration about reform of English teaching in private
university. Journal of Hubei University of Economics (Humanities and Social Sciences).
[7]
Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, (2008) Measures for the
Establishment and Administration of Independent Colleges.
[8]
Song Li & Guo Yingfu. (2011) Exploration about current situation and models of
teaching management in private universities.Journal Theory and Practice of
Contemporary Education, 05.
[9]
LiWei& SuXingren. (2004) How to improve the teaching management quality in
private universities under new situations. Journal of Southwest University for
Nationalities (Humanities and Social Science),05.
[10]
Liu Haoran.(2009) How to improve the English teaching quality in private
university . Journal of China Educational Technique & Equipment, 04.
[11]
Zhang Wenqin (2010) The existed problems and reasons and related strategies
on those problems in English teaching in private university. Journal of China Urban
Economy, 11.
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A STUDY ON PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS OF PRIV“TE UNIVERSITY’S ENGLISH TE“CHING –
A CASE STUDY OF A BEIJING PRIVATE UNIVERSITY
[12] Pan Qinghua. (2010).Problems and strategies in English teaching reform in
private university.Journal of Education Research Monthly, 11.
[13]
Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China. (2007) College English
Curriculum Requirements.
[14] Shu Dingfang&Zhuang zhixiang (2004). Modern foreign language teaching
theories and methods. Shanghai: Shanghai foreign language education press.
[15] Wang Shouren. (2008). To further advance the implementation of college English
teaching reform.Journal of Foreign Languages in China, 01.
[16] Shu Dingfang & Chen Suyan. (2009) the successful road to college English
teaching. Jornal of Foreign Language World, 06.
[17] Dai Weidong&Wang Xuemei. (2006). Construction of foreign language teaching
system with Chinese characteristics. Jornal of Foreign Language World, 04.
Appendix
A Survey about the English Teaching and Learning Conditions in a Beijing University.
This questionnaire is used for a research about the teaching and learning of English
conditions in Beijing private University, for the purpose of finding out the problems in
teaching and learning of English in these private universities and analyzing the deep
reasons behind these problems.
Firstly, thank you for all your support and cooperation about this survey. The
questionnaire results will be used only for research purpose and all students will fill
this questionnaire by secret ballot. So please answer all questions objectively, based on
the actual situation. And if you have any doubt about the purpose of this questionnaire
or any questions about this research, please feel free to connect with the author.
This first part of the questionnaire is about your personal background
information. (This part is used for knowing your study of English related background
without involving any sensitive personal information, please answer every question
objectively).
1. Gender: Male Female
3. Your Major:
4. You College Entrance Examination Record:
5. Your College Entrance Examination English
2. Age:
Record:
Part Two (survey about teaching and learning of English in this university. Please
answer each question with the most appropriate choice).
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1.
Are you satisfied with the resources for study English in this university? ( )
A. Yes. There are enough resources (like audiovisual system platform) for
studying English.
B. There are computers and PPTs used in the English class.
C. No, the only resources for study English is blackboard.
2.
Your English teacher’s educational background?
A. My teacher is a non –major graduate of English, with few English teaching
experiences.
B. My teacher is a major graduate of English from language or normal
universities with rich English teaching experiences.
C. My teacher is major postgraduate or doctor of English.
3.
Are there enough English reading materials (books, newspapers and all kinds of
English Journals in your campus’ library?
A. There are lots of English reading materials and we can read the latest English
newspapers and English journals.
B. There are many examination oriented books, but no newspapers or English
journals.
C. There are only few English textbooks and English exercise books.
4.
Are there any English related activities (English speech contests and English
songs contests and so on)? ( )
A. There are a lot of English related activities in my campus (English clubs,
English speech contests, English –Chinese translation contests and so on).
B. There are some examination related activities (exam training activities, exam
imitation)
C. There are no English related activities and no English study atmospheres
5.
Does your school consider College English Test 4 as one criterion for your
graduation? ( )
A. Yes, College English Test 4 score is related to my Bachelor's degree certificate.
”. In our school, college English score is not required for ”achelor’s degree
certificate, but all the students are required to take part in College English Test4.
C. No, in my school college English Test 4 is a personal matter.
6.
Do you think that you teacher of English has qualified knowledge and teaching
qualification to teach you in English? ( )
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A. Yes, my English teacher has rich teaching experiences and adequate academic
knowledge.
”. My English teacher’s has qualified knowledge in English but he does not have
enough experiences
C. My English teacher’s knowledge and teaching experiences in English are both
unqualified, I do not think he is good enough to teach me and he makes all kinds
of mistakes in class.
7.
Does your English teacher adopt various teacher methods (multi-media, class
games and task-based teaching and so on) to make English learning more
interesting? ( )
A. My teacher of English is humorous, and adopts all kinds of teaching methods.
His class is quite interesting.
B. My teacher of English teaches us according to the syllabus and the class is not
so interesting but the class is in order.
C. Our teacher of English just reads the materials, adopts cramming methods of
teaching. The English class is boring.
8.
Does your English teacher adopt all kinds of methods to encourage student to
learning English?
A. Our English teacher not only imparts the examination knowledge but also
pays attention towards cultivating our English ability and he often shares with
us movies, songs and novels done in English.
B. Our English teacher only cares about the exam content and our English score
and he do pay attention to our preparation of the examination.
C. Our teacher of English does not communicate with students after finishing
their teaching task
9.
Which of the following items is more close to your teacher’s attitude toward
English learning? ( )
A. English is very important for your major study and your employment, so you
should learn English well and know about the western culture.
B. English is not as important as your major related curriculums. The only
objective of learning English is to pass the English related exams.
C. English learning is difficult for you and you do not have a good foundation of
English, so why don’t you put all your effort to major related English and before
the final exam, I will give you the test content.
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10.
Does your teacher cut down the English teaching according to the exam? ( )
A. Never, my English teacher always gives us teachings of English according to
the syllabus and we also have additional content for English culture.
B. My teacher of English sometimes cuts down the inappropriate content and
replaces them with more interesting English content, but all exam-oriented.
C. My teacher of English always teaches us according to her plan neither the
syllabus nor the exam.
11.
What’s your biggest motivation for study English? .
A. The interests toward English and western culture.
B. I regard English as equipment and also it is related to my employment.
C. Exam is the only drive for me to study English, no exam, no English study.
12.
How long do you spend studying English weekly?
A. About more than 15hours
B. About 10-15 hours
C. Less than 10 hours
13.
Do you think the textbooks of English are suitable for your English level?
A. The textbook of English we use is too difficult for me and I feel overwhelm by
it.
B. The textbook of English we used is a little higher than my English proficiency
but, that is the point I need to learn, so I think the textbook is appropriate.
C. The English textbook is too easy or I have no idea about the textbook, because
I do not know what the textbook plans to impart.
14.
Do you have your own English learning method?
A. I have a lot of English learning methods and sometimes our English teacher
imparts in us some self-training knowledge and now I can train myself in study
of English.
B. I have some English learning methods, but I feel that it is not enough and I
hope the teacher can impart some more knowledge about improving on my
English study of English.
C. I have no methods of learning English and I cannot learn English by myself
and hope the teacher of English can discipline my study of English.
15.
Are you satisfied with your learning of English here (including the campuses
learning equipment and teaching faculty in English)? ( )
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A. I am very satisfied with the learning of English and study here, and both the
learning equipment and teaching stuff in English are excellent.
B. I think the learning equipment and teaching stuff In English are not very good,
but I accomplished my aim about the English learning.
C. I am not satisfied with the learning and study of English here at all.
Part Three (Open Question):
1.
Are there any other problems about teaching and learning of English in your
University?
2.
Do you have any ideas about how to improve the teaching and learning of
English in you university?
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.
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