Comprehension, Appreciation, Association And Creation

English language teaching (ELT) involves two aspects: teaching and learning. What to teach, what to learn, how to teach, and how to learn have been continuously discussed by linguists and English-language teachers both at home and abroad. As there is a great variety of language teaching theories, opinions vary. However, based on these theories and my own teaching practice, I find that ELT is a systematic project whose natural procedure includes four sectors: comprehension, appreciation, association and creation. The success of the project depends on the completeness of these sectors. In view of English learning and teaching as a systematic project, the present paper firstly challenges the traditional approach of "Listening and Speaking Precede Reading and Writing", arguing that in China English should be taught as a foreign language and therefore top priority should be given to reading and writing, especially reading. Secondly it analyzes the relationship between the four language skills, pointing out that listening and reading are language input as well as the process of comprehension and appreciation, while speaking and writing are language output as well as the process of association and creation, and that these four skills are interrelated and one skill influences another either in production or reception. And then some suggestions are offered on curriculum design, teaching materials, teaching methods and testing methods for undergraduate English majors. Finally, a conclusion is made that any successful teaching and learning should include the four sectors: comprehension, appreciation, association and creation.