Language Awareness: Perspectives And Methods

The research was inspired by one of my supervisor?s researches and my personal desire to learn more about the Language Awareness (LA) work in English as foreign language (EFL) teaching, and by the fact there is much to be done in current English teaching in secondary schools. Problems and issues arose in both the process and the result of language teaching and learning under the traditional approaches which once regarded as the most effective ones such as the Grammar-translation Approach and the Communicative Approach. Researchers in China highlighted the need to figure out a new approach to address the issues in all disciplines, including teaching and learning. With the worldwide use of English for communication, EFL teaching in China has been loaded with more demanding requirements and the teachers should help their students develop an awareness of the English language and its instructional norms and use rather than teach them the pieces of knowledge about the language. Only in this way can students? fluency and accuracy in language be guaranteed and can EFL teaching be tailored for them to develop the ability to ?fish? and feed themselves for a lifetime.The purpose of this dissertation was to provide a practically adequate understanding of the importance of LA, Awareness-raising Approach (ArA) and awareness-raising activities in EFL teaching from the perspective of the three volunteer teachers in Shanghai Normal University Affiliated Middle School (SHNUAMS) and their teaching styles in class, where LA was extensively demonstrated in the process of their teaching and learning. This qualitative case study employed a critical and realist stance. Two research questions guided the study in the teachability of LA and its influence over students? learning. Participants included three selected teachers. The field research consisted of interviews, observations and documentary analysis. Interviews mainly focused on participants? experience in teacher education and teaching. Observations were conducted to get to know teachers? teaching styles in class and their influences on students. Teachers? in-service training and lesson plans, in the form of documents, were used to draw or confirm the findings, making them more or less plausible.The research completes with a summary of what I perceived in the case study as an adequate understanding of ArA and its implications and a conclusion, which might facilitate EFL teaching and learning and cooperation amongst teaching staff in schools. In addition, limitations of the study were stated and avenue for further work suggested.