A Study On The College English Curriculum Development From The Ecological Perspectives

The new round of College English Teaching Reform started in early 2002. One of the important tasks is the formulation of College English Course Requirements. The College English Course Requirements released in 2004 is the first national syllabus that proposed the integration of modern information technology with college English teaching. With the publication of the College English Course Requirements, extensive experiments, research and discussions were conducted by teachers, experts and scholars on the implementation of the computer and network-based college English teaching model. By the end of 2008, over 1000 universities had participated in college English teaching reform by promoting the new teaching model.However, little research has been conducted on the development of a computer and network-based college English curriculum, the feasibility of the new teaching model, or whether the college English teaching reform can attain the results expected. In consideration of the above situation, the research started from analyzing the state of current college English teaching, aiming at obtaining a full picture of the implementation of the new teaching model as well as the implementation of college English teaching reform. Then the research investigated the changes in the curriculums brought about by the intruding technology and located the mismatches which occurred within the three school based curriculums. This provided a basis upon which suggestions were proposed for the development of a computer and network-based college English curriculum, and upon which strategies were formulated for teacher professional development programmes on technology.Therefore the research questions that guided this study are as follow:1) What changes have taken place in college English teaching when information technology is incorporated into the curriculum?2) What effects do the changes have on the normal functions of the curriculum? Are there any mismatches in the curriculum? If so, what are they?3) How can those changes be made compatible to reach harmony of functioning in the curriculum system? 4) What are the effective strategies for the development of teacher professional development programmes on technology?To better conduct the research, this study was based on three universities in Jiangxi Province, using both quantitative and qualitative analyses. Data was collected from the following three main sources. (1) Two questionnaires were distributed to 180 second or third year undergraduate students and 75 teachers from Nanchang University, Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, and Gannan Normal University. (2) Forty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with each of the teacher participants from the three universities during the period from October 2009 to March 2010. (3) Curriculum documents such as national college English syllabuses issued at different stages, school-based curriculums, textbooks, course outlines, lesson plans, administrative regulations, and staff development policies of the three universities comprised the documents data base.Research findings can be summarized as follows:1) The integration of computer and network technology has brought about a series of changes in traditional college English curriculum. Teaching objectives changed from transmitting language knowledge to cultivating students'ability to use the language; teaching content changed from lectures on vocabulary, phonology, grammar, syntax and textual knowledge to lectures on learning strategies, learning methods and introduction of learning resources; courses offered changed from face-to-face instruction to the combination of face-to-face instruction with computer and network-based autonomous learning; textbooks changed from paper textbooks to paperless textbooks, digital textbooks, even web edition textbooks; teacher's roles changed from information transmitter to facilitator, guide and teaching resources constructor; student'role changed from passive receiver to active knowledge processor; teaching model changed from duck-stuffing style of teaching to the combination of autonomous learning, coaching and face-to-face teaching; learning methods changed from passive learning to active construction, exploration and cooperation; teaching and learning environment changed from brick and mortar classroom to computer, multimedia-assisted classroom, even virtual classroom; teaching resources changed from textbook, teacher, supplementary materials and library to online learning materials, cyber resources, and online database; assessment changed from standardized, summative assessment, with focus on learning results to the combination of formative and summative assessment, with focus on learning strategies, learning process and learning results.2) The changes in the above mentioned aspects resulted in the following mismatches in the school-based curriculums in the process of implementing the new teaching method: mismatch between perception and practice; mismatch between the new teaching model and the teaching conditions; mismatch between the new teaching model and students'autonomous learning ability; mismatch between the new teaching model and teachers'online teaching ability; mismatch between the new teaching model and the school administration, mismatch between the new teaching model and existing evaluation system; mismatch between technology and technology use; mismatch between the new teaching model and traditional teaching methods; mismatch between teaching objectives and the teaching content.The research findings may offer some implications for the development of computer and network based college English curriculums as well as teacher professional programmes on technology. To effectively develop a coherent computer and network-based college English curriculum, the following principles should be followed: curriculum components should be compatible, constraining factors such as resources available, time, teachers'and students'beliefs, attitudes, skills, knowledge and other pragmatic constraints should be taken into consideration and curriculum implementation should be consistent. Teacher professional development plays a vital role in the implementation of the new curriculum, thus traditional professional development programmes should be changed in terms of content, forms and ways so as to better prepare teachers for the implementation of the new teaching model or the reform of college English teaching.The research broadens the perspective of computer and network-based college Englsih curriculum development, which is of great theoretical and pratical significance to the integration of information technology into college English curriculum.