Exploration Of A Conceptual Framework For Intercultural Communicative English Language Teaching In China

While in recent years the attempt to realign foreign language teaching with an intercultural approach has gained currency internationally, the appeal for the integration of intercultural communication with English teaching has also grown stronger in China. However, consensus as well as endeavor of both international and Chinese foreign/second language teaching professionals in gearing ELT to the development of learners'intercultural communication competence (ICC) has not yielded a systematically consistent theoretical framework for an intercultural approach that applies to ELT in the Chinese context. Previous researches either ignore the intercultural and interactive nature of English teaching and learning, or fail to address the issue of internationalization and localization of English. And former definitions of ICC also seem inadequate for ELT. The present study will be devoted to a theoretical exploration of the dynamics within the process of English language education and their interrelationships, with a particular focus on the construction of a conceptual framework of an intercultural communicative approach to ELT (ICLT)in China.Drawing on studies in intercultural communication, applied linguistics, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, discourse studies and other researches related to the studies of language, culture and communication, the author bases her ideology for interculturalizing ELT in China mainly on three lines of thinking: 1) the perception of language, communication and culture as triunity in language teaching and learning; 2) the understanding of the English teaching/learning process as dialogic interactions between the learner and the culture Other and between their pertaining linguacultures; 3) the rethinking of ELT in China as intercultural literacy education oriented towards intercultural speakership of the learner as a full-fledged member of the global community powered with intercultural communication competence in English.The philosophy under the proposed model of intercultural communicative English education is that the triunitary relationship between language, culture and communication is best captured and exercised in an intercultural approach to the English language per se and to the English education programs. The author perceives intercultuality and interactivity as the dynamics in English teaching and learning. The interlock among language, culture and communication operates not only on the monolingual, monocultural level, but also across languages and cultures. The whole process of teaching/learning another language is a process of meaning negotiation and construction between the learners'native language and culture (LC1) and the target language and culture(s) (LC2). The interaction between LC1 and LC2 is ubiquitous in the ELT classroom and a full recognition of the dialogicality between the two can lead to a better understanding of how the target language and culture(s) should be taught and learned more productively in the LC1 contexts. In the present study, by contextualizing ELT both globally and locally, the author argues that the changed status and functions of English as an international language demands reorientation of ELT in China, which is to be characterized with an integration of internationalization and localization along with interculturalization.Having placed ELT into the general framework of intercultural and humanistic education, the author proposes a paradigm shift from communicative language teaching to intercultural communicative language education, in which both LC1 and LC2 are to be taken as resources for intercultural communicative English teaching/learning. It has been argued that the ultimate goal of ELT is to develop learners'intercultural communicative competence, which involves not just skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing in English, but more importantly the intercultural literacy education that enables the learner to cross boundaries and transcend linguistic and cultural differences in and through the target English language. A new model of intercultural communication competence and a framework for an intercultural communicative approach to ELT in China have been constructed based on the above understandings.For the implementation of the proposed ICLT, four fundamental principles have been outlined, namely the Principle of Interculturality, the Principle of Interactivity, the Principle of Unity of Language and Culture, and the Principle of Integration of the Global and the Local. With these principles as overall guidance, some general principles for curriculum development have been laid out in terms of goals and objectives, content, methods and assessment. To further illustrate the ideologies of the proposed ICLT and to facilitate its practical application in Chinese ELT, the author examines are made into the two national English curriculum guides currently in effect and the problems regarding the intercultural dimension of English teaching are pinpointed, such as the problems of separation of culture and language, excessive emphasis on the native-speaker model, inconsistence of teaching principles and syllabus design. The identified problems reflect misconceptions about the relationship between language, culture and communication, and the failure to recognize the intercultural and interactive nature of English teaching/ learning and the true value of English language teaching/learning for the Chinese. These problems also present the urgent need for reformation. Suggestions for revision of the national curriculum guides are offered for realignment of current ELT practice in China. To sum up, with the proposal for an intercultural communicative approach, the author wishes to call for the interculturalization of English education in China: teaching English for intercultural communication, of intercultural communication and as intercultural communication. The theoretical significance and practical value of the present study lies in that the presented ICLT conceptual framework lays the theoretical foundations and offers general guidelines for reorientation of Chinese ELT towards teaching intercultural communication competence and intercultural speakership with a more systematic and rational curriculum development. Directions for future research are also pointed out at the end.The present study is mainly concerned with ELT in China at the tertiary level. However, its findings and conclusions may have implications for English teaching at other levels and in other parts of the world, especially in places where English is more likely to be used as an international language.