An Investigation Into Education For International Understanding In Middle School’s English Teaching

With the ever-closer global connections and the needs of our country’s social development and educational reform,what we must cultivate in the future is international talents with multicultural knowledge.So basic education must pay attention to education for international understanding(EIU).EIU mainly refers to cultivating talents who recognize and respect their own national culture,understand the cultures of other countries,and treat the diversity of the world from an objective and open perspective.Cultivate talents who care about common global issues,understand the common destiny of mankind,have a sense of global responsibility,and have a critical awareness and a spirit of cooperation.Subject penetration is an indispensable form of EIU,and the penetration of EIU in English teaching has also become the main form of international understanding education.In general,there are relatively few studies on EIU in middle school English teaching in our country.This research will carry out a study on EIU in English teaching in middle schools from the aspects of English curriculum standards,test papers of Entrance Examination for Senior High Schools,middle school English textbooks,teachers,and students.The author mainly explores the following questions through a questionnaire survey,literature research,and text analysis:1.How does the English curriculum standard meet the requirements for EIU?2.What are EIU resources in the PEP English textbooks?3.What is the current situation of EIU among middle school English teachers and students?4.What is the content of EIU in the English test papers of the Entrance Examination for Senior High Schools in Wuhan and its proportion of the score in the test paper?Results show that: Firstly,the requirements for EIU are reflected in the curriculum standards,but the specific content,teaching methods,testing methods,and the goals of EIU are not clearly stipulated.Secondly,EIU resources are rich in PEP English textbooks,but it is significantly different in the distribution of EIU topics,among which "International Culture" is most involved,while "International Connection" is rarely included.Thirdly,among the three dimensions of EIU for middle school students,their cognitive attitude level,at 4.17,is the highest.However,their knowledge reserve level and skill level are not satisfactory.So students lack the basic knowledge reserve and relevant cultivation of EIU.As to teachers,the dimension of school support is the lowest,only at 2.49.It means that most middle schools provide little support for EIU.Lastly,the examination of EIU is involved in the English test papers,but the EIU resources are not balanced,and they account for only a tiny proportion of the total score of the test papers.In addition,the proportion of scores for EIU examined in the test papers varies from year to year.There is no common standard up to now.In response to the research results,the author puts forward some suggestions in terms of curriculum standards,textbooks,test papers,teachers,and students,aiming to improve EIU in middle schools.